A/HRC/27/59 local and regional authorities; recommendation Rec(2001)19 on the participation of citizens in public local life; and recommendation Rec(2004)1 on financial and budgetary management at local and regional levels. 9 20. Two sets of guidelines approved by the Governing Council of the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT) in 2007 and 2009, namely guidelines on decentralization and strengthening of local authorities, and guidelines on access to basic services for all,10 should be considered as important contributions to the international standard-setting process in the field of local government. By approving those documents, States Members of the United Nations committed themselves to the promotion of decentralization and strengthening of local authorities, as well as access to basic services for all. 21. The existing regulatory framework for local government also includes rules and guidelines that have been developed by the global and regional associations of local government. Thus, the Council of European Municipalities and Regions, the largest European association of local and regional governments that brings together the national associations of local and regional authorities from 41 European countries, has drawn up a number of normative documents, among them: the European Charter of Municipal Liberties (1953);11 the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life (2006); 12 the European Charter on Local and Regional Services of General Interest (2009). 13 22. United Cities and Local Governments, the largest local government organization in the world, founded in 2004, has greatly contributed to establishing a global normative framework for local government, particularly for cities. Special mention should be made of such important documents as the World Charter for the Right to the City (2005) and the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City (2010).14 IV. Role of different tiers of government in the implementation of international human rights obligations of the State 23. As a matter of international law, the State is one single entity, regardless of its unitary or federal nature and internal administrative division. In that regard, only the State as a whole is bound by obligations stemming from international treaties to which it is a party. Thus, by becoming a party to an international human rights treaty, a State assumes obligations to respect, to protect, and to fulfil human rights. More specifically, only States are obliged to submit reports as required by the respective universal and regional human rights treaties and only States can be the subject of individual or inter-State complaints under certain of such treaties. Furthermore, a State appearing before an international human rights complaints mechanism cannot defend itself by claiming that the alleged violation was committed by a local authority. 24. It should also be emphasized that, under general international law, a State, as represented by the central government, is responsible for all acts of all its organs and agents.15 It is commonly recognized that “the conduct of any State organ shall be 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 6 Available from www.coe.int/T/CM/adoptedTexts_en.asp. Available from http://unhabitat.org/?wpdmact=process&did=NjkxLmhvdGxpbms=. Available from www.ccre.org/docs/charter_municipal_liberties.pdf. Available from www.ccre.org/docs/charte_egalite_en.pdf. Available from www.ccre.org/docs/charter_sgi_en.pdf. See section VI of the present report. In that respect, a reference could be made, mutatis mutandis, to article 50 of the International