A/HRC/23/26 government so that they could be empowered. In her view, it was important for them to be informed and trained and there was a need for increased capacity in that regard. Victims should be made aware of their rights. Effective contact points with the authorities and budget transparency were needed. 9. Mr. Kedzia said that the human rights treaty bodies and their monitoring and communication procedures had a great potential to address corruption as a structural obstacle to the implementation of human rights and as a violation of human rights in individual cases. Specifically, treaty bodies could contribute by preventing corruption as a social phenomenon, establishing responsibility and accountability for acts of corruption, empowering victims to claim their rights, and preventing alleged and prosecuted perpetrators from receiving unlawful and unfair treatment. In that context, he added that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had paid special attention to human rights defenders and had also underlined the need for special protection for disadvantaged or marginalized groups. The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would enter into force in May 2013 and this could contribute to measures to counter corruption, as the Committee was mandated to carry out inquiries on systematic violation of the right or issue arising from communications with State parties. 10. Mr. Matsheza said that no one could argue that there was no correlation between corruption and human rights violations. From the UNDP perspective, the glue that brought the two disciplines together was the human factor, which was the centre of both human development and human rights protection. Every year US$100 billion was lost to commercial trade mispricing – US$500 billion over five years, a sum that would be enough to fund education, HIV/AIDS, hunger, water and sanitation, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) combined between 2010 and 2015. He affirmed that corruption was one of the main obstacles to the enjoyment of human rights. It was also an impediment to the UNDP mandate of reducing poverty and promoting sustainable development. UNDP was effectively promoting a human rights based-approach in its efforts to fight against corruption. The principles common to human rights and anti-corruption efforts included transparency, accountability, citizen participation, rule of law, freedom of expression, right to information, equality and non-discrimination, as well as equity and fairness. 11. Ms. Sayago pointed out that was a two-way relationship between human rights and anti-corruption efforts. The fight against corruption had a positive effect on the implementation of human rights while promoting human rights reduced opportunities for corruption; and the fight against corruption could only be fully efficient through a human rights approach. The implementation of the Convention against Corruption as the only global instrument against corruption was therefore key for the realization of human rights. She provided an overview of the Convention, highlighting that it included the prevention, criminalization, international cooperation and asset recovery aspects of corruption. The Convention also acknowledged principles such as integrity, accountability, transparency, equality and the right to information, which reinforced human rights. It was important to take measures to protect the victims of corruption, persons reporting crimes of corruption, and experts dealing with such crimes. She added that an impartial, independent and fair judicial system which performed its duties with integrity was essential in the fight against corruption. Concerning the implementation of the Convention, she said that State parties had agreed on a review mechanism to identify remaining challenges and to make recommendations. 12. Ms. Hayden said that it was impossible to look at corruption through any lens and miss the causal connection to human rights. She highlighted various training programmes and workshops organized by International Anti-Corruption Academy on different aspects of anti-corruption efforts. Specifically, the Academy brought together investigative journalists from the Middle East and North Africa for a round-table discussion on the role and 5