A/HRC/10/46
page 6
14. The former Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health, Paul Hunt, undertook a mission to
GlaxoSmithKlyne (GSK), a pharmaceutical company in London. The new Special Rapporteur,
Anand Grover, succeeded Paul Hunt on 1 August 2008. In August 2008, he participated in the
AIDS International Conference held in Mexico City. In October, he presented a report to the
General Assembly (A/63/263) prepared by his predecessor. The report discusses the importance
of effective, transparent, accessible and independent accountability mechanisms in relation to the
highest attainable standard of health. The annex to the report contains the Human Rights
Guidelines for Pharmaceutical Companies in relation to Access to Medicines, which are the
outcome of wide-ranging discussions and consultations spanning over five years and consider
issues such as transparency, management, accountability, patents, licensing and pricing in the
context of access to medicines.
15. Since he took office on 1 May 2008, the current Special Rapporteur on the right to food,
Olivier de Schutter, devoted much attention to the global food crisis. In particular, he examined
the extent to which the responses adopted at the international and national levels have integrated
the right to food. He also encouraged States to call for a special session of the Human Rights
Council on the food crisis, which took place on 7 May 2008. The Special Rapporteur presented a
report on the food crisis at the September 2008 session of the Human Rights Council, where he
was mandated to monitor the implementation of responses to the crisis at the national level and
report back on this in September 2009. The Special Rapporteur also participated in the
High-Level Conference on World Food Security: The Challenges of Climate Change and
Bioenergy, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 3-5 June 2008. The
Special Rapporteur also convened a multi-stakeholder consultation on 15-16 December 2008 to
discuss how the initiatives taken to support the agricultural sector in Africa could create an
enabling environment to respect, protect and fulfil the right to food.
16. The mandate of the independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme
poverty was handed over from Arjun Sengupta to Magdalena Sepulveda in May 2008. In
October 2008, the independent expert presented her first report to the General Assembly
(A/63/274), detailing her programme of work. From 10 to 15 November 2008, the independent
expert visited Ecuador where she gathered information about the situation of people living in
extreme poverty and the main social policies in place. She also started developing her first
thematic report, which will focus on cash transfer programmes, by compiling available
information and sharing a questionnaire on these programmes to Member States.
17. In March 2008, the former independent expert on the effects of economic reform policies
and foreign debt on the full enjoyment of all human rights, Bernards Mudho, presented to the
Human Rights Council draft general guidelines to be followed when pursuing economic reform
and debt relief programmes in developing countries. The Human Rights Council, by
resolution 7/4, reformulated the mandate of the independent expert to focus on the effects of
foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment
of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights. In the same resolution, it
requested the mandate holder to continue consultations on the draft general guidelines. The new
independent expert, Cephas Lumina, who took up his functions on 1 May 2008, undertook
missions to Brussels, Paris, London and Washington to discuss the relationship between foreign
debt and human rights with key international institutions, and to seek further comments on the
draft guidelines.
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