A/HRC/7/9 page 10 32. It is also true, however, that other economic policy choices or debt decisions can lead to different results, depending on the specific context of the respective countries. In this regard, general guidelines can only attempt to indicate key elements of reform measures which need to be looked at critically in assessing their consistency with the human rights obligations defined in a country-specific context. Accordingly, the guidelines emphasize the crucial role of human rights impact assessment as a decision-making tool. 33. Nevertheless, it must be noted that, to date, there are no well-established and generally accepted tools or methodologies for human rights impact assessment, particularly in the context of economic reform and foreign debt management. Future work on the guidelines should therefore include elaboration of such operational tools, which may be built upon the existing analytical and monitoring tools developed by States, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations and human rights bodies. III. REVIEW AND FUTURE OF THE MANDATE 34. The Commission on Human Rights established the mandate of the independent expert in April 2000, against the backdrop of the negative effects on human rights observed as a result of structural adjustment programmes, particularly during the 1990s. At that time, economic reform measures in developing countries were usually implemented in accordance with the economic conditionality suggested, or in some cases imposed, by the international creditors, notably the World Bank and the IMF, as a prerequisite for new loan agreements or debt relief programmes. 35. In recent years, however, the situation has gradually changed to a limited extent. With the emergence of poverty reductions strategy processes, most economic reforms in developing countries are now designed and guided by more comprehensive poverty reduction strategies or national development plans. This has allowed a larger measure of country ownership and improved participation of stakeholders. Economic reforms led by the Governments themselves are, therefore, only indirectly influenced by debt considerations and pressure from creditors. Nevertheless, the linkages between debt burden, loan conditionality and economic reforms still exist; for example, a positive financial track record remains an important condition for granting debt relief. However, it has become more evident that economic reforms and foreign debt now tend to be identified as subsets of renewed and overarching poverty reduction strategies among other elements, such as development planning, social safety nets, anti-corruption, decentralization, trade liberalization and foreign direct investment. The rationale for examining foreign debt and economic reforms in terms of their impact on human rights within the same mandate has become less evident. 36. It should also be recognized that the impact of foreign debt and economic reform policies on human rights is felt across different dimensions and time frames. On the one hand, debt burden and debt relief operations have an indirect and longer-lasting influence on human rights through limited fiscal space, i.e., the available financial resources to finance human rights-related expenditure. On the other hand, economic reforms, such as the privatization of State-owned companies and the cutting of trade and agricultural subsidies can be the source of direct shocks to individual households and communities and result in the denial of the rights to work and to food and so on, in a relatively short period of time. In recent reports, and in the approach chosen for the draft general guidelines, the independent expert has attempted to take into consideration