A/HRC/13/63 page 27 being recognized by international and Government actors, which is a first step towards addressing the issue. The lack of transparent and effective Government control over the mining sector deprives the State of funds it could dedicate to meeting its responsibilities with regard to social and economic rights. 113. The lack of budgetary allocations for the fulfilment of social and economic rights is reflected in different sectors. Health and educational institutions, for instance, have to charge user fees to generate income and are therefore not accessible to the poor. 114. There has been little progress in moving forward legislation to strengthen State and civil society structures to promote and protect human rights. There is a worrisome trend of certain officials trying to delegitimize and harass human rights defenders, which fuels an increase in violence, intimidation and threats against defenders. 115. Rather than formulating new proposals, the experts therefore reiterate the relevance and applicability of their existing recommendations52 and urge the Government and technical assistance partners to prioritize their implementation. 116. They encourage the Government to continue the positive practice of responding favourably to requests of individual mandate holders and continue to invite several mandate holders every year. The experts strongly recommend that the Government issue a standing invitation to all special procedure mandate holders, as the combined ambit of the experts’ mandate leaves out key concerns relating to economic, social and cultural rights and political and civil rights. They urge the Government to respond to mandate holders’ urgent appeals and communications. 117. In light of the seriousness of the human rights situation, which has not improved since their initial report, the experts consider it to be of utmost importance that the Council continue monitoring the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the basis of reports provided by OHCHR and individual special procedure mandate holders. 118. The experts recommend that the Council once again consider the creation of a country-specific mandate, in particular if the level of access and response to thematic special procedures decreases. 52 See A/HRC/10/59.