criteria to assess whether or not a state has done all that it can towards the mobilisation of resources? How much effort should a state be required to make to mobilise and administer resources for human rights-consistent outcomes? Sources of resource mobilisation From the variety of sources that states have to mobilise resources for human rights implementation, human rights monitoring bodies have traditionally focused mainly on resource mobilisation via international assistance and cooperation, paying little attention to efforts to mobilise resources from other sources. Nonetheless, in recent years, this has begun to change. Human rights monitoring bodies have increasingly looked to taxation as the source of domestic resource mobilisation. This report explores how special procedures and treaty bodies have stressed the critical role of taxation as an effective tool for domestic revenue collection, to combat discrimination and address inequalities, and ensure compliance with minimum core content of economic, social and cultural rights. The report also explores other options that are available to states to mobilise resources that have been addressed by treaty bodies, and special procedures, such as royalties paid for the utilisation of natural resources, debt and deficit financing, and trade and investment agreements. Yet, the additional attention to domestic resource mobilisation has not translated into more concrete conclusions or guidance about all aspects of the obligation to mobilise resources. With the exception of issues related to foreign debt, many of the observations or suggestions put forward remain too general to be of practical application. Moreover, there are several other sources for resource mobilisation that have not yet been explored in any significant manner, such as monetary policies. This contrasts with the increasing public recognition that these policies affect the realisation of human rights, in particular economic and social rights. Addressing resource diversion and foregone tax revenues From the work of human rights treaty monitoring bodies, it is evident that the obligation to mobilise resources requires states not only to explore all potential sources of resources but also address resource diversion, such as illicit financial flows, tax evasion and corruption. This report identifies the emerging trends on how to address resource diversion and foregone tax revenues in compliance with human rights. While a few human rights monitoring bodies have made evident that states that continue to tolerate resource diversion cannot claim insufficient resources as a justification for not implementing economic, social and cultural rights, this report highlights that human rights standards related to resource diversion have not been comprehensively developed and, in fact, 12 The Obligation to Mobilise Resources: Bridging Human Rights, Sustainable Development Goals, and Economic and Fiscal Policies   December 2017

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