A/HRC/41/20 illicit financial flows, lack of transparency, issues of beneficial ownership and tax avoidance. In certain sectors, corruption had a significant impact on human rights, such as in the case of large-scale land acquisitions and the health sector. Ms. Ramasastry highlighted the important lessons learned from the protection of human rights defenders for the protection of anti-corruption activists. She concluded by calling for business and human rights action plans to incorporate anti-corruption measures. 34. The Executive-Director of the Universal Rights Group, Marc Limon, stated that corruption was a major obstacle to the full enjoyment of human rights and, by extension, to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The willingness to take concrete action to address corruption and human rights was, however, lacking. The Universal Rights Group had conducted a large empirical study 2 that showed the important correlation between perceptions of the level of corruption, as measured by the Transparency International corruption perception index, and the enjoyment of human rights. The correlation (higher levels of corruption being associated with lower levels of the enjoyment of universal human rights) was especially strong in the case of civil and political rights, but also clear in cases of discrimination and the rights of women, and for economic, social and cultural rights. Mr. Limon called for a human rights-based approach to combat corruption and for more capacity-building to address it, with a focus on education and accountability mechanisms, both nationally and internationally. B. Interactive discussion 35. Representatives of the European Union, Argentina, Azerbaijan, China, Ethiopia, Honduras, Iraq, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland and the United States of America took the floor. The representatives of the Open Society Foundations and the UNCAC Coalition also made statements. 36. The speakers agreed that corruption and human rights violations were correlated, and that the promotion and protection of human rights and anti-corruption efforts were mutually reinforcing. One delegation explained that the relation was manifest, as human rights were designed to limit abuse of power by governments, while corruption was the abuse of power in the hands of the authorities. Many speakers stressed that corruption affected the groups most vulnerable to human rights violations. Several speakers argued that corruption, as a complex phenomenon and regardless of whether it was petty, grand, national or international, affected all human rights. It undermined the functioning of services essential for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, such as the health sector, and civil and political rights, especially the law enforcement and justice systems. Corruption affected all sectors of the economy and the economy as a whole, wasting public resources. According to one speaker, corruption hindered development, undermined government capacity and boosted traffickers and terrorists. One delegation recalled that corruption could also be a means to incite violations of human rights. For similar reasons, one speaker regarded corruption as an aberration that undermined the fabric of society. One delegation cited the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, which in paragraph 8 states that “democracy, development and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms are interdependent and mutually reinforcing”, and stated that combating corruption was essential for safeguarding these goals and preserving the rule of law. 37. Speakers were of the opinion that corruption and human rights violations had to be addressed jointly. According to some, this should be done by one organ with the mandate to monitor human rights and adopt anti-corruption measures. Although not all shared this view, there was consensus on the importance of breaking the silos between the anti-corruption and human rights pillars, and that institutions specialized in each could mutually mainstream lessons learned. One speaker affirmed that combating corruption created an environment conducive to the realization of human rights. Several delegations supported the human rights-based approach to anti-corruption, with a particular focus on prevention. 2 8 See www.universal-rights.org/urg-policy-reports/corruption-human-rights-impact-assessment/.