A/HRC/RES/31/11 Mindful of the role, mandate and activities of other United Nations agencies, funds and programmes in dealing with the issues of foreign debt and international financial obligations, Acknowledging that there is greater acceptance that the increasing debt burden faced by the most indebted developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, is unsustainable and constitutes one of the principal obstacles to achieving progress in peoplecentred sustainable development and poverty eradication and that, for many developing countries and countries with economies in transition, excessive debt servicing has severely constrained their capacity to promote social development and to provide basic services to create the conditions for the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, Expressing its concern that, despite repeated rescheduling of debt, developing countries continue to pay out more each year than the actual amount they receive in official development assistance, Recognizing the sovereign right of any State to restructure its sovereign debt, which should not be frustrated or impeded by any measure emanating from another State, Emphasizing that inequality often contributes to social exclusion and the marginalization of certain groups and individuals, Recognizing that inequality may contribute to the occurrence of financial crises, which in turn exacerbate inequality and adversely affect human rights, Acknowledging that financial and economic crises generally have enormous distributional consequences, and that such crises and the austerity measures adopted in response to them may also have, according to the circumstances, a robust negative social impact that, in turn, perpetuates or exacerbates inequality, Acknowledging also that a world financial and economic crisis is still threatening debt sustainability in some developing countries through, inter alia, its impact on the real economy and the increase in borrowing undertaken in order to mitigate the negative impacts of the crisis and that the austerity measures adopted in response to that crisis have had a robust social impact that has perpetuated or exacerbated inequality, Recognizing that illicit financial flows, including tax evasion by high-net-worth individuals, commercial tax evasion through trade misinvoicing and tax avoidance by transnational corporations, contribute to the build-up of unsustainable debt, as Governments lacking domestic revenue may resort to external borrowing, Affirming that the debt burden further complicates the numerous problems facing developing countries, contributes to extreme poverty and is an obstacle to sustainable human development, and is thus a serious impediment to the realization of all human rights, in particular the right to development, 1. Takes note with appreciation of the reports of 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 and welcomes the work and contributions of the Independent Expert; 2. Recalls that every State has the primary responsibility to promote the economic, social and cultural development of its people and, to that end, has the right and responsibility to choose its means and goals of development and should not be subject to external specific prescriptions for economic policy; 1 2 A/HRC/31/60 and A/HRC/31/61.