666 HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY Vol. 39 of social welfare-type goods given its available resources and not according to whether or not it fulfils this basket absolutely. Measuring compliance, therefore, requires an understanding of what in fact amounts to ability. Which and whose resources are available: Are they financial, human, natural, or technological? And might it be the case that efforts made on the part of the duty-bearer to comply with its obligations are a function of factors other than resources? The discussion that follows seeks to put flesh on the ability/ resources bones in order to identify and set limits to the factors that may facilitate or militate against a duty-bearer in its fulfillment of social rights. A. Financial Resources It comes as little surprise that the relationship between financial resources and desirable social outcomes is a positive one.38 Financial resources are necessary for the provision of all kinds of social goods, services, and facilities, from the very basic (such as child immunization and primary education) to the more advanced (such as medicines and the recruitment and training of specialized teaching staff). They play an important role in determining a duty-bearer’s ability to fulfill social rights. Importantly, in determining maximum available resources, I would argue it is a country’s total financial resources that count, not the amount of the national budget it actually spends on social goods, services, and facilities. Philip Alston and Gerard Quinn report several examples from the ICESCR’s drafting history instantiating this point.39 For example, it may be the case that two countries with the same national income, Y, choose to apportion their financial resources differently. One country chooses to devote 10 percent of Y to social welfare-type goods, while the other chooses to devote only 2 percent. Where assessing a duty-bearer’s social rights performance with respect to its maximum available resources is concerned, the task is not an assessment of what the expected level of social welfare attainment should be given the employment of either 10 percent or 2 percent of national income. This, as David Bilchitz convincingly argues, would “allow the government 38. Across all 188 countries reported in the UNDP Human Development Report 2015, the correlation between Human Development Index (HDI) scores and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (2011 PPP$) for 2014 is +0.74. This indicates a significant positive relationship between the two variables: as income increases so do economic and social outcomes. United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2015: Work for Human Development (2015). 39. For example, the Lebanese representative noted “it must be made clear that the reference [to resources] was to the real resources of the country and not to budget appropriations.” Philip Alston & Gerard Quinn, The Nature and Scope of States Parties’ Obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 9 Hum. Rts. Q. 156, 178 (1987) (quoting Mr. Azkoul, Lebanon).