funding for necessary infrastructure and system-staff specialised training.48 Although much less frequently, treaty bodies dealing with civil and political rights have mentioned a need to allocate resources to implement these rights.49 Yet, overall, treaty bodies and special procedures whose mandates mainly focus on civil and political rights are often silent about issues of resource mobilisation. Considering the indivisibility of all human rights and the consensus that the realisation of all human rights requires resources for their implementation, this is a major gap. Indeed, as respect for the rule of law itself is a precondition for strengthening all human rights, this connection is even more apparent. The obligation to seek and provide international assistance and cooperation The UN Charter (Articles 55 and 56) establishes the principle of international cooperation among states and has been subject to a number of subsequent developments, such as ICESCR Articles 2(1) and 11(2);50 CRC Article 4; and CRPD Article 32. As examined in this section, international assistance and cooperation obligations are the legal basis for considering that ‘available resources’ are not limited to those available within a state but include those available from the international community via international cooperation and assistance. The work by treaty monitoring bodies such as the CESCR,51 CRC52 and several special procedures has further confirmed this.53 48 ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Gabriela Knaul’ (Mission to Mexico) (2011) UN Doc A/HRC/17/30/Add.3. 49 See, eg, CAT, Concluding Observation on Ghana CAT/C/GHA/CO/1 (2011); Concluding Observation on Mozambique CAT/C/MOZ/CO/1 (20113) para 10; CCPR, Concluding Observation on Mozambique CCPR/C/MOZ/CO/1 (2013) para 7; and Concluding Observation on Paraguay CCPR/C/PRY/CO/3 (2013). 50 The ICESR refers to ‘international assistance and cooperation’, or similar formulations, also in Arts 15.4, 22 and 23. 51 See, eg, CESCR, General Comment No 3, para 14. See also the CESCR’s General Comments on food and health which specify that ‘States parties should take steps to respect the enjoyment of the right to food in other countries, to protect that right, to facilitate access to food and to provide the necessary aid when required’ and ‘Depending on the availability of resources, States (in particular States in a position to assist developing countries in fulfilling their core and other obligations under the Covenant) should facilitate access to essential health facilities, goods and services in other countries, wherever possible and provide the necessary aid when required’. CESCR, General Comment No 12: the right to adequate food (Art 11) (1999) UN Doc E/C.12/1999/5, paras 36–37. See, eg, CESCR, General Comment No 14 (2000): the right to the highest attainable standard of health (Art 12 of the ICESCR) (2000) UN Doc E/C.12/2000/4, para 45; CESCR, General Comment No 15 (2002): the right to water (Arts 11 and 12 of the ICESCR) (2003). See also the CESCR’s Statement on ‘Evaluation of the Obligation to Take Steps to the “Maximum of Available Resources” Under an Optional Protocol to the Covenant’, 2007. 52 CRC, ‘Day of general discussion on “resources for the rights of the child – responsibility of States.” Recommendations from the Committee on the Rights of the Child’ (21 September 2007), 46th session of the CRC, para 5. The CRC’s General Comment on public budgeting for children’s rights refers mainly to financial resources and clearly asserts that resources include those existing within a state as well as those available from the international community. 53 See, eg, ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque’ (Mission to Tuvalu) (2012); Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education (the ‘Special Rapporteur on education’), Kishore Singh’ (financing education and update on education in emergencies) (2011) UN Doc A/66/269, para 16; ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on poverty, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona’ (Taxation and human rights) (2014) UN Doc A/HRC/26/28, para 30 and UN Doc A/HRC/24/44/Add.2, ‘Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention’ (2010) UN Doc A/HRC/13/30/Add.2. 32 The Obligation to Mobilise Resources: Bridging Human Rights, Sustainable Development Goals, and Economic and Fiscal Policies   December 2017