A/HRC/31/60
United Nations
General Assembly
Distr.: General
12 January 2016
Original: English
Human Rights Council
Thirty-first session
Agenda item 3
Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil,
political, economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to development
Report of the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign
debt and other related international financial obligations of
States on the full enjoyment of human rights, particularly
economic, social and cultural rights
Note by the Secretariat
The Secretariat has the honour to transmit to the Human Rights Council the thematic
report 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, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, prepared
pursuant to Council resolution 25/16.
In the report, the Independent Expert explores the interrelationships between income
and wealth inequality, on the one hand, and financial crises, on the other, and their
implications for the enjoyment of human rights. He illustrates how increased levels of such
inequalities may contribute to increases in sovereign debt that may subsequently degenerate
into financial crises. Furthermore, he examines the reverse relationship by assessing the
distributional impact of financial crises and points to severe adverse effects on the
enjoyment of human rights. He concludes with a set of policy recommendations designed to
target economic inequality as a pressing human rights issue and a factor contributing to the
emergence of financial crises.
GE.16-00341(E)
*1600341*