international law.68 Indeed, a Special Rapporteur has noted that ‘repeated commitments of developed states to provide certain levels of assistance, particularly to reach the Millennium Development Goals, might in time crystallise into customary international law’.69 While, in general, human rights monitoring bodies have not explicitly recognised an obligation for developed states to provide assistance to poorer countries, such an obligation seems to arise in the context of disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. According to the CESCR, ‘States Parties have a joint and individual responsibility... to cooperate in providing disaster relief and humanitarian assistance in times of emergency, including assistance to refugee and internally displaced persons’.70 Finally, a number of practices have been frowned upon. These include donors not knowing who their resources are reaching or how they are being targeted;71 activities that are ill conceived or even counterproductive in human rights terms for failing to focus on needs; conditions attached to the receipt of funding; and the focus on short-term interventions with no perspective on broader systems.72 Obligations for those in need of resources: seeking international assistance and cooperation States that lack the resources needed to implement human rights have the obligation to seek international cooperation or assistance, be it bilateral, regional, interregional, global or multilateral. While several human rights bodies have suggested that countries seeking aid should first take steps to mobilise domestic resources, in practice, they have paid more attention to international assistance and cooperation obligations. In general, human rights monitoring bodies have identified several obligations for states seeking international assistance. For example, such states are required to identify in their reports any particular needs they may have for technical assistance or development cooperation;73 they should ensure proper management of the assistance received, making sure, for instance, that the resources received reach the most vulnerable groups and are utilised in a timely and effective manner;74 and they are to determine their own viable development or assistance programmes. One best practice that has been cited in this respect was establishing a human rights-based approach to development that 68 ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on food, Olivier De Schutter’ (2009) UN Doc A/HRC/10/5, paras 9 and 41. 69 ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on food, Olivier De Schutter’ (2009) UN Doc A/HRC/10/5, paras 9 and 41. 70 CESCR General Comment No 12, para 38 and General Comment No 14, para 40. 71 ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque’ (Financing for the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation) (2011) UN Doc A/66/255. The Special Rapporteur on health adds that donor interventions are often fragmented and poorly coordinated: ‘Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover’ (main focus: health financing in the context of the right to health) (2012) UN Doc A/67/302, para 30. 72 ‘Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover’ (main focus: health financing in the context of the right to health) (2012) UN Doc A/67/302, para 23. See also CESCR, General Comment No 2: Informational technical assistance measures (Art 22) (1990) UN Doc E/1990/23, paras 7–8. 73 Eg, CESCR, General Comment No 2, para 10. 74 See, eg, ‘Report of the independent expert on poverty, Mission to Viet Nam’ (2011), A/HRC/17/34/Add.1, para 99 and ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur on education, Kishore Singh’ (financing education and update on education in emergencies) (2011) UN Doc A/66/269, para 17. December 2017��  The Obligation to Mobilise Resources: Bridging Human Rights, Sustainable Development Goals, and Economic and Fiscal Policies 35