A/HRC/7/15 page 22 budgeting. Most of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa (except Mali, Mauritania, the Niger and Gambia) have put a lot of effort into systematic reporting, but monitoring and evaluation results have not been effectively integrated.26 84. To conform to human rights principles, the monitoring and evaluation system has to be participatory in nature. Civil society has been actively involved in participatory poverty assessments during the preparation of poverty reduction strategy papers, but much less in subsequent implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Though all strategy papers acknowledge some role for non-governmental organizations in the official monitoring system, only a few countries, such as Malawi and Uganda, acknowledge their function as independent watchdogs. In Gambia, the Government is developing methods for increasing the participation of civil society in order to identify budgetary priorities, tracking of budget spending to key sectors and monitoring of the quality of public services at the national level. In Mozambique, the Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty established poverty observatories at the central and provincial levels, which institutionalized the participation of civil society in monitoring poverty reduction strategy papers. VII. DRAFT GUIDING PRINCIPLES 85. The Sub-Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights developed a comprehensive set of draft guiding principles, entitled “Extreme poverty and human rights: the rights of the poor”, which incorporated various relevant international instruments, building on international efforts and ongoing work in other forums, including the reports by the independent experts on the right to development and on extreme poverty. 86. The draft guiding principles recognize that extreme poverty and social exclusion constitute a violation of human dignity, and thus require prioritization in national and international policies for its eradication. They give great importance to the right to participation and encourage States to foster it through empowerment, thereby enabling the poor to become genuine partners in their development. They further recognize that all human rights are indivisible, interdependent and universal. The guiding principles focus on rights that have already been recognized in international instruments, such as the right to participate in public life, the right to fair justice (incorporating the principles of equality before the law), economic and social rights. All States and the international community are duty-bound to ensure these rights to everyone, especially those suffering from extreme poverty. The draft guidelines suggest that the international community has the additional task of providing a suitable international environment in areas of trade, investment, market, debt and so on. Lastly, the guidelines also take into account international human rights principles of non-discrimination, accountability and transparency and direct specific policies to be targeted at the most vulnerable groups, such as women, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities and the homeless. 87. The drafting of guiding principles dealing specifically with extreme poverty is a significant step towards recognizing the multifaceted problems faced by those suffering from extreme 26 N. Holvet and Robrecht Renard (2007), “Monitoring and Evaluation Under the PRSP: Solid rock or quicksand?”, Evaluation and Program Planning, Vol. 31, Issue 1, pp. 66-81.

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