A/HRC/21/39 90. States should: (a) Recognize and value the diversity of cultural heritage present in their territories and under their jurisdiction, including the cultural heritage of persons living in poverty; (b) Respect and protect the cultural heritage of groups living in poverty, including through protection from illegal or unjust exploitation of the lands, territories and resources of indigenous peoples by State agents or non-State actors, including transnational corporations and other business enterprises; (c) Ensure that cultural heritage policies and programmes, including those designed to promote tourism, are not implemented at the expense or to the detriment of communities living in poverty, including through the active participation of the relevant communities and individuals; (d) Create opportunities for persons living in poverty to participate in, access and contribute to cultural life, including by facilitating access to public spaces where individuals and groups from all communities can conduct creative and recreational activities, gather to practice rites and ceremonies, and engage with one another. States should also facilitate the access of persons living in poverty to cultural goods, services and institutions; (e) Take positive steps to ensure that the benefits of scientific progress reach persons living in poverty, and ensure their access to scientific information, processes and products; (f) Ensure that innovations essential for a life in dignity are physically accessible and affordable on a non-discriminatory basis to everyone, including persons living in poverty. VI. Obligations of international assistance and cooperation 91. States have a duty to provide international assistance and cooperation commensurate with their capacities, resources and influence, as established in the Charter of the United Nations (Articles 55 and 56) and in several international human rights treaties. 92. As part of international cooperation and assistance, States have an obligation to respect and protect the enjoyment of human rights, which involves avoiding conduct that would create a foreseeable risk of impairing the enjoyment of human rights by persons living in poverty beyond their borders, and conducting assessments of the extraterritorial impacts of laws, policies and practices. 93. States in a position to do so should provide international assistance to contribute to the fulfilment of human rights and poverty reduction as an element of the duty of international assistance and cooperation. International assistance should respect partner countries’ ownership of their poverty reduction strategies, and should be aligned with partner countries’ national development strategies, institutions and procedures. Donors’ actions should be harmonized, transparent and coordinated, and both donors and partners should be accountable for their actions and the results of their interventions. 94. States are obliged to seek international assistance on mutually agreed terms, when they are unable, despite their best efforts, to guarantee that those living in poverty within their territories are able to enjoy their human rights. They must ensure that the assistance provided is used and managed according to human rights principles. 22