A/HRC/17/37 E. Session IV: Discussion on the way forward and next steps 31. Participants requested that a second consultation be held in the region to enable the full participation of all States and “to reinforce regional positions”. In response, the Independent Expert stated that budgetary constraints rendered it difficult to hold a second consultation in the region but that he was amenable to such a meeting if the States in the region were prepared to muster the necessary resources and host the consultation. IV. A. Africa regional consultation Introduction 32. The Africa regional consultation was held in Addis Ababa on 4 and 5 November 2010. It was organized by OHCHR and co-sponsored by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The Independent Expert is grateful for this support, and for the contributions made by all participants. 33. In addition to the co-convenors (OHCHR and ECA), participants at the consultation included representatives from States in the region, parliamentarians, United Nations bodies, civil society organizations and academia. The African Development Bank (AfDB) was also represented at the consultation. 34. Opening remarks made on behalf of the Executive Secretary of ECA underlined the importance of analysing the impact of debt on the capacity of States to fulfil their human rights obligations and noted that the debt problem was not exclusively a problem of developing countries. B. Session I: Rationale and purpose of the guidelines 35. This session addressed the rationale and purpose of the guidelines. The session began with a briefing by the Independent Expert on the connection between foreign debt and human rights. The Independent Expert also provided a sketch of the content of the draft guidelines focusing on the following elements: (a) a new debt sustainability framework which accounts for the impact of debt service on the debtor country’s ability to fulfil its human rights obligations; (b) participation of national parliaments and civil society in debt sustainability analyses; (c) the shared responsibility of lenders and borrowers for new loans and future debt burdens, which extended to the impact of debt on human rights; (d) transparency in the negotiation and implementation of loan agreements; (e) prudent use by debtor countries of the additional fiscal space provided by debt relief; (f) human rightsbased poverty reduction strategies; (g) trade negotiations and trade liberalization guided by human rights considerations; (h) implementation of regulatory frameworks and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the actions of private actors did not undermine human rights; and (i) transparent, responsible, accountable and participatory governance. 36. The second presentation addressed the form and content of the guidelines. The speaker underlined the positive aspects of the guidelines, indicating that the proposed human rights-based approach to budgeting and monitoring could be a very useful tool for countries. The speaker further acknowledged the value of the holistic approach to debt in that the issue of debt was dealt with in the context of a country’s overall development strategy. Nevertheless, the speaker expressed some doubts concerning the enforceability of the guidelines and, in particular, whether all the provisions were realistic. 9