A/HRC/17/37 was cancelled to enable the OHCHR regional office to follow up the invitations with States that had representation in Santiago. 20. Participants in the consultation included representatives from States, United Nations entities, civil society and the private sector. 21. The consultation was opened by the Regional Representative, OHCHR Regional Office for South America, who underscored the need for economic reform policies which are implemented specifically to guarantee the enjoyment of human rights and the need to discuss the causes and context under which human rights violations occur. He also recalled that the United Nations human rights treaty bodies have observed that high debt burdens and dependency on foreign aid can constitute an obstacle to State efforts to comply with their human rights obligations, such as access to water, food, housing, education and health.4 B. Session I: Rationale and purpose of the guidelines 22. This session focused on the rationale and purpose of the guidelines. It was noted that it was important to ensure that the guidelines adopted a framework that had clearly definable rights and responsibilities for debtors and creditors and that the guidelines were entrenched in a human rights-based framework. 23. Participants stressed that human rights should be at the centre of State public policies and that people should be the ultimate beneficiaries of these policies. It was further noted that while States had to service their foreign debt, that should not be done at the expense of basic social services or poverty reduction. 24. One participant proposed that the Independent Expert convene an expert working group to elaborate measures for a human rights-based approach to debt sustainability which could then be incorporated in the guidelines. C. Session II: Debt, debt relief and economic reform 25. In this session, presentations and discussions focused on debt, debt relief and economic reform. Presentations outlined the status of current multilateral debt relief initiatives and addressed how these supported human rights and development, as well as the 4 See, for example, the following concluding observations. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: E/C.12/1/Add.57 (Honduras); E/C.12/1/Add.71 (Algeria); E/C.12/1/Add.55 (Morocco); E/C.12/1/Add.63 (Syrian Arab Republic); E/C.12/1/Add.48 (Sudan); E/C.12/1/Add.78 (Benin); E/C.12/1/Add.62 (Senegal); E/C.12/1/Add.106 (Zambia); E/C.12/1/Add.60 (Bolivia, Plurinational State of); E/C.12/1/Add.100 (Ecuador); E/C.12/1/Add.66 (Nepal); and E/C.12/1/Add.49 (Kyrgyzstan). The Committee on the Rights of the Child: CRC/C/15/Add.156 (Tanzania, United Republic of); CRC/C/15/Add.190 (Sudan); CRC/C/15/Add.193 (Burkina Faso); CRC/C/15/Add.179 (Niger); CRC/C/15/Add.160 (Kenya); CRC/C/15/Add.174 (Malawi); CRC/C/15/Add.172 (Mozambique); CRC/C/15/Add.218 (Madagascar); CRC/C/15/Add.138 (Central African Republic); CRC/C/15/Add.204 (Eritrea); CRC/C/15/Add.130 (Suriname); CRC/C/15/Add.115 (India); CRC/C/15/Add.207 (Sri Lanka); CRC/C/15/Add.197 (Republic of Korea); CRC/C/15/Add.124 (Georgia); CRC/C/15/Add.152 (Turkey); and CRC/C/15/Add.186 (Netherlands (Netherlands Antilles)). Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-sixth Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/56/38), part one, para. 227 (Jamaica) and part two, paras. 161 (Guyana) and 227 (Netherlands); ibid., Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/55/38), para. 44 (Cameroon); ibid., Fifty-seventh Session, Supplement No. 38 (A/57/38), paras. 149 (Uganda) and 155 (Trinidad and Tobago). 7