A/HRC/RES/22/12 Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals to make the fight against corruption a priority at all levels and to curb the illicit transfer of funds, Concerned at the difficulties, in particular the practical difficulties, that both requested and requesting States face in the repatriation of funds of illicit origin, taking into account the particular importance of the recovery of stolen assets for sustainable development and stability, and noting the difficulties of providing information establishing a link between the proceeds of corruption in the requested State and the crime committed in the requesting State, which in many cases may be difficult to prove, bearing in mind that everyone charged with a criminal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law, Acknowledging the progress made towards the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, while recognizing that States continue to face challenges in recovering funds of illicit origin owing to, inter alia, differences in legal systems, the complexity of multijurisdictional investigations and prosecutions, lack of familiarity with the mutual legal assistance procedures of other States and difficulties in identifying the flow of funds of illicit origin, and noting the particular challenges in recovering them in cases involving individuals who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions and their family members and close associates, and recognizing also that legal difficulties are often exacerbated by factual and institutional obstacles, Noting with serious concern that, as highlighted in the interim report by the Independent Expert on 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,1 despite the scarcity of available public data, most illicit financial outflows are from developing countries and that, despite increased efforts by the international community to curb the flow of illicit funds, recent studies indicate that such flows grew in real terms by an annual average of 8.6 per cent, exceeding the average rate of economic growth in developing countries, over the period 2001 to 2010, and they estimate that developing countries lost between seven hundred and eighty three billion United States dollars and one thousand, one hundred and thirty eight billion United States dollars in illicit financial outflows in 2010, while, as indicated in the comprehensive study prepared by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the negative impact of the non-repatriation of funds of illicit origin to the countries of origin on the enjoyment of human rights, in particular economic, social and cultural rights,2 only around 2 per cent of the estimated funds of illicit origin annually leaving the developing world are repatriated to their countries of origin, Noting the particular concern of developing countries and countries with economies in transition regarding the return of assets of illicit origin derived from corruption, in particular to countries from which they originated, consistent with the principles of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, in particular chapter V thereto, so as to enable countries to design and fund development projects in accordance with their national priorities in view of the importance that such assets can have to their sustainable development, Convinced that the illicit acquisition of personal wealth can be particularly damaging to democratic institutions, national economies and the rule of law, and stressing that any resource that the State is deprived of because of corruption has potentially the same negative effect, regardless of whether it is exported or domestically retained, 1 2 A/HRC/22/42. A/HRC/19/42 and Corr.1. 3