Human Rights Council
Eleventh Session
Resolution 11/5. 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
The Human Rights Council,
Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action and other relevant international human rights
instruments,
Reaffirming all resolutions and decisions adopted by the Commission on Human Rights on
the effects of structural adjustment and economic reform policies and foreign debt on the full
enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights, including
Commission resolutions 1998/24 of 17 April 1998, 1999/22 of 23 April 1999, 2000/82 of
26 April 2000, 2004/18 of 16 April 2004 and 2005/19 of 14 April 2005, as well as Council
resolution 7/4 of 27 March 2008,
Reaffirming also its resolution S-10/1 of 23 February 2009 on the impact of the global
economic and financial crises on the universal realization and effective enjoyment of human
rights,
Bearing in mind paragraph 6 of General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006,
Stressing that one of the purposes of the United Nations is to achieve international
cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian
character,
Emphasizing that the World Conference on Human Rights agreed to call upon the
international community to make all efforts to help alleviate the external debt burden of
developing countries in order to supplement the efforts of the Governments of such countries to
attain the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights of their people,
Stressing the determination expressed in the United Nations Millennium Declaration to
deal comprehensively and effectively with the debt problems of low- and middle-income
developing countries, through various national and international measures designed to make their
debt sustainable in the long term,
Noting with concern that the total external debt of low- and middle-income countries had
risen to 2,983 billion United States dollars by 2006, from 1,951 billion dollars in 1995, and that,
by 2007, the total debt service payments of developing countries had risen to 523 billion dollars,
from 220 billion in 1995,