A/71/304 Role of civil society actors 72. Accountability depends not only on robust monitoring and review mechanisms but also on the meaningful engagement and participation of civil society. Human rights and health-related civil society actors should support accountability for the Sustainable Development Goals through monitoring, reporting, advocacy, engagement with national, regional and international review processes, and litigation. States and the international community should create the space for civil society to participate in relevant review processes, and ensure that those processes are transparent and accessible. The involvement of civil society actors is crucial; without them, the 2030 Agenda will be but an empty promise. 73. Providing opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalized groups to fu lly participate in accountability arrangements will be essential to guaranteeing their human rights in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. C. Universal health coverage 74. Universal health coverage is a key dimension of the 2030 Agenda commitment towards achieving healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages. Goal 3 includes an explicit commitment to “achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all ” (target 3.8) and to “ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health -care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes” (target 3.7). 75. The intersection of universal health coverage and human rights is a large, complex topic that, from the perspective of the right to health, should include a number of elements, such as the role of the private sector and of international financial institutions. The Special Rapporteur plans to devote space to universal health coverage in his future work and, in the present report, will merely point to a number of features required to establish rights -based universal health coverage. 76. Universal health coverage has been called “a practical expression” of the right to health. 36 It is indeed a core obligation under children’s right to health. 37 However, not all paths to universal health coverage are consistent with human rights requirements. Targets 3.7 and 3.8 do not make explicit commitments to confer priority to the poor and marginalized either in the process of expan ding coverage or in developing priorities as to which services to provide. Without those clear commitments, there is a risk that universal health coverage efforts will entrench inequality. For example, in countries lacking strong health systems, Government s may pursue strategies that prioritize expansion to groups in privileged positions, such as those working in the formal sector, where infrastructure and opportunistic private or national insurance schemes are readily available. Likewise, countries with centralized and expansive health coverage might soon proclaim achievement of __________________ 36 37 18/26 WHO, “Positioning health in the post-2015 development agenda”, WHO Discussion Paper, October 2012. Committee on the Rights of the Child, general comment No. 15, para. 73. 16-13597