A/HRC/13/51 Women, the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service and the World Citizen Foundation. 59. It was emphasized that the human rights obligations of States were not merely national but also extraterritorial in nature, and that the operationalization of this was crucial for the more effective enjoyment of all human rights by all. In this respect, some speakers suggested that a human rights mechanism should be established to hold States and international financial institutions accountable for their obligations. There was strong emphasis on the need for convergence of the discourse on human rights and development. From a development perspective, many speakers underlined the importance of accountability to people, especially to those most affected by crises. C. 1. International assistance and cooperation in combating poverty Improving policy coherence in international assistance and cooperation 60. The Head of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Section of Amnesty International, Meghna Abraham, spoke about the improvement of policy coherence in terms of international cooperation and assistance, particularly in the context of the Millennium Development Goals. She highlighted the importance of prioritizing the most marginalized and vulnerable sections of society, and upholding the principle of non-discrimination and equality in efforts to combat poverty. In this regard, it was stated that the weakness of the Goals was that their numerical targets risked shifting the primary focus away from the most marginalized and vulnerable groups towards groups that could be more easily addressed in terms of meeting numerical targets. This was not consistent with a human rights approach; failure to address underlying human rights violations would prevent reaching a given goal and may undermine the fulfilment of the others. 61. Ms. Abraham also underscored the lack of consistency and coherence between the human rights legal framework and the Millennium Development Goals. She recommended that the post-2015 development framework, including the Goals, firmly focus on human rights. The forthcoming Millennium Development Goals Review Summit of 2010 was an opportunity to influence the process looking forward to 2015, and would test the important role played by the Human Rights Council and other human rights mechanisms in ensuring that human rights perspectives are fully taken into account in the process. 62. The Director of the Human Development Sector of the World Bank, Steen Jorgensen, pointed out the need for comprehensive social policies rather than relying on separate welfare, labour, health and other social policies. There was a need to achieve equitable outcomes in terms of access to and quality of health care, education and social protection. The World Bank was in the process of finding effective ways to ensure that human rights dimensions and implications are integrated into its policies and programmes. 63. Mr. Jorgensen added that, in order for a social policy to be comprehensive, it was not only the equality of opportunity but also equality of results that mattered. He gave the example of developed countries providing funding for developing countries to cope with climate change, and suggested that the international community should consider whether similar policies could be pursued globally in social policy. With regards to social policies that required change, their focus should be on equitable outcomes in access to and quality of health, education and social protection, and improving the process of recognizing citizen rights and responsibilities. Consequently, further progress was required in ensuring the legal empowerment of the poor and in policy and institutional reform to improve public services consistent with international human rights and social security normative frameworks. GE.09-17229 13