A/HRC/43/66 35. In the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development, States pledged to redouble efforts to substantially reduce illicit financial flows by 2030, with a view to eventually eliminating them, including by combating tax evasion and corruption through strengthened national regulation and increased international cooperation. 36. The Declaration on the Right to Development, which the General Assembly adopted by its resolution 41/128, outlines the principles that should guide policy decisions at the national and international levels with respect to financing for development. Under article 1, communities should have full sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources, and under article 2, the benefits of development should be fairly distributed. Member States are called upon to taking all measures necessary for the realization of the right to development and to ensure equality of opportunity for all (art. 8). In addition, at the international level, the Declaration places a duty on States to cooperate with each other, both to promote more rapid development among developing countries and to remove obstacles to comprehensive development (arts. 3 (3) and 4 (2)). There are strong existing international commitments therefore linking the right to development, financing for development and combating illicit funds. Article 57 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption refers to the “legitimate owners” of assets and the “victims of the crime”. Under the Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power, “victims” include persons who, individually or collectively, have suffered economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws operative within Member States. 37. In his report to the Human Rights Council in July 2019, the Special Rapporteur on the right to development recommended that States should shift from a donor-recipient paradigm to a genuine partnership with developing countries, as envisaged in the Declaration on the Right to Development and Sustainable Development Goal 17, and that States should base their development financing on the priorities of recipient partners and guarantee that beneficiary States have ownership of development projects carried out with that financing (A/HRC/42/38, para. 73). 38. Moreover, a human rights-based approach to asset recovery implies that communities in the country where illicit funds originate may be recognized as rights holders and thereby enabled as key actors in processes and decisions that affect them, rather than being passive recipients. Framing the repatriation of funds as a human rights issue therefore portrays the countries bearing the frozen assets as duty bearers towards the countries of origin, with an obligation to help the rights holders to pursue their human rights claims. 39. Sustainable Development Goal 8, to promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, is directly linked to the enhancement of socioeconomic rights, especially in developing countries. States, in the case of countries of destination as duty bearers, have an obligation to provide effective remedies for human rights violations, including legal and administrative procedures to facilitate the utilization of funds when recourse to justice takes more time than it should.10 From this perspective, the utilization of non-repatriated funds is a crucial component in supporting the realization of Goal 8. 40. The Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063 of the African Union further highlight the importance of tackling illicit financial flows. By some estimates, illicit flows from Africa could be as much as $50 billion per year, which is approximately double the official development assistance that Africa receives per year. Using the proceeds of the investment of illicit funds would be part of the contribution of countries of destination to development assistance. Stopping illicit financial flows from Africa is a key policy priority for the continent – and for the world – a priority reflected in the Special Declaration on Illicit Financial Flows adopted by the Heads of State and Government of the African Union in 2015. 10 8 This is indirectly addressed in the document entitled “Who will be accountable? Human rights and the post-2015 development agenda”, issued by OHCHR and the Centre for Economic and Social Rights (Geneva and New York, 2013).