Geneva  - The United Nations Human Rights Council deferred voting on a decision about the global economic and financial crisis Friday and instead said it would reconvene the debate on Monday.

The Council spent about six hours in session during the day, hearing from experts, UN agencies, member states and non-governmental organizations.

A proposed draft resolution had called on UN member states to not let the crisis lead to human rights violations, cuts in international aid or putting development goals, especially reducing poverty and hunger, on the back burner.

Some developed countries had opposed the session, called for by Brazil and Egypt, saying the council was not the right forum for a discussion. One official called said it was "principled opposition."

Magdalena Sepulveda, the UN's Independent Expert on extreme poverty, differed, however, and said human rights should be a focal point in dealing with the economic downturn.

"The crisis has an enormous human rights implications, it does not only have financial and monetary implications," Sepulveda told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "The negative impact on development and human rights must be taken into account."

According to World Bank figures, last year's food crisis pushed over 125 million people into poverty, meaning they lived on less than 1 US dollar per day. The bank has estimated this number could approach 200 million people.

The World Trade Organization said projections saw world growth as completely stalled, with developed countries' economies shrinking by 2 per cent developing countries showing around 5 per cent growth, far below the rate of previous years.

"The current crisis is reversing progress already achieved in some regions," Sepulveda said, specifically citing the basic goal of reducing poverty.

She advised countries to put into place policies to protect labourers, especially minorities and women, as work conditions tend to deteriorate during times of hardship.

The crisis could also affect health, the World Health Organization said, as countries would spend less money on public services and many people, especially the poor, would not be able to afford doctors and medicine.

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the crisis was likely to "undermine access to work, affordability of food and housing, as well as of water, basic health care and education," particularly in the poorest regions.

Diplomatic sources in Geneva said there was concern that the resolution could impact the upcoming G20 meeting in London and certain European states wanted the language of the document to be very carefully worded.

This was the council's second thematic session. The first was held last year on the food crisis. (dpa)