A/HRC/31/61 VI. Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 71. In the view of the Independent Expert, implementing the Sustainable Development Goals target on illicit financial flows will be a challenge. First, it is only one of 169 targets included in the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Second, there are many actors with different and sometimes conflicting interests who need to work together in order to make progress on this particular target. The more actors there are, the greater the risk of diffusion of responsibility for implementation, if it is not clearly spelled out who should do what and when. 72. This raises the question of accountability for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and monitoring their implementation. So far, it is largely left to States to honour their commitments. But commitments are not likely to be honoured if one cannot point at responsibility for specific action and if there is no public pressure to take action. Hence, the need for a rigorous and independent monitoring mechanism. 73. In this context, it will also be essential to track progress on reducing illicit financial flows through appropriate indicators. The United Nations Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators is currently developing such indicators but, as at December 2015, consensus had not been reached as to how to measure progress in reducing illicit financial flows, which will require agreeing on a common method for estimating illicit financial flows under the Sustainable Development Goals framework. To maintain accountability, it will be necessary to track and measure not only illicit financial flows themselves, in terms of volume, but also policy efforts to reduce them, both in countries of origin and countries of destination. 74. Finally, it will be necessary to have robust and independent mechanisms to ensure that the commitments made in Addis Ababa and in New York are closely watched, not only by States and bodies of the United Nations, but also by academic experts and civil society. VII. Conclusions and recommendations 75. Combating tax abuse, and illicit financial flows more broadly, is essential to make better progress in realizing international human rights obligations. The inclusion of a specific target to reduce illicit financial flows under the Sustainable Development Goals makes clear that curbing such flows is also essential for creating an enabling environment for sustainable development. 76. While the Independent Expert applauds that reducing illicit financial flows is mentioned in one of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, the target remains broad and vague. Specific measures to operationalize this target are needed to ensure that progress is achieved and that such progress can be tracked and measured. 77. In developing his recommendations, the Independent Expert considered previous recommendations by the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and by his predecessor, and the recommendations contained in his interim study.56 He also took note of recommendations made by the High-level Panel on Illicit Financial Flows from Africa, the commitments contained in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and recommendations by independent expert bodies, such as the Independent Commission 56 See A/HRC/25/52, para. 50; A/HRC/26/28, paras. 79-82; and A/HRC/28/60, para. 77. 19