A/HRC/33/54 Activities of vulture funds undermine the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals 71. Lawsuits brought by vulture funds may slow down the progress made by both developed and developing countries in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals, in spite of strong support from the international financial institutions. Particularly relevant in this context is goal 17: “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development”. This goal targets assisting States in attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, as appropriate, and addressing the external debt of highly indebted poor countries to reduce debt distress. IX. Strengthening a human rights-based approach 72. Vulture funds take advantage of the lack of adequate regulation of a financial system that has traditionally been based on purely commercial interests and foreign to human rights-based approaches and concerns. Though relevant actions have been undertaken in previous years, and though human rights monitoring bodies have provided some valuable guidance in striking a better balance between the different interests at stake, human rights should be further mainstreamed in this context. 73. The international community should work to provide the basis for shaping a more coherent framework where both commercial interests and human rights concerns are accommodated. In this context, the interlinkages between an enhanced capacity of States to fulfil economic, social and cultural rights and sustainable development should be strengthened.84 74. Human rights law provides a number of standards that are applicable in this context and provides guidance to States, both individually and at the international level, on how to tackle the negative impact of the activities of vulture funds on the full enjoyment of human rights and the right to development. At the international level 75. The adverse impact of the activities of vulture funds on human rights cannot be effectively addressed in an isolated or partial manner. States are expected to cooperate in good faith in the process leading to the establishment of an international mechanism for sovereign debt restructuring. In this context, they should ensure that the obligation to service their debt does not lead them to derogate from their minimum core obligations with respect to economic and social rights. 85 Restructuring processes should aim at reaching an agreement that enables States to service their debts without compromising their capacity to fulfil their human rights obligations. 86 At national level 76. States should undertake concrete steps aimed at enacting human rights-compliant national legal frameworks to regulate the activities of vulture funds that take place within their jurisdiction, particularly disruptive litigation concerning sovereign debt. National laws should expressly exclude the possibility of seizing development cooperation funds, as well 84 85 86 See, in general, T. Karimova, Human Rights and Development in International Law (Routledge, 2016), pp. 31-86. Guiding principles on foreign debt and human rights (A/HRC/20/23 and Corr.1, annex), principle18. Ibid., principle 53. 19