A/HRC/25/52 the fulfilment of economic, social and cultural rights.18 Under article 2, paragraph 1, of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, each State party has an obligation to take steps, to the maximum of its available resources, to achieve progressively the full realization of the rights enshrined in the Covenant.19 The Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights clarify that a State that does not allocate the maximum of its available resources to the realization of these rights would be in violation of its obligations (para. 15 (e)). 18. According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, “the phrase ‘to the maximum of its available resources’ was intended by the drafters of the Covenant to refer to both the resources existing within a State and those available from the international community through international cooperation and assistance”.20 The Committee on the Rights of the Child has expanded the substantive meaning of resources to include human, technical, organizational, natural and information resources and underlined the obligation of States to contribute to the global or extraterritorial realization of economic, social and cultural rights.21 19. Government revenue, expenditure policy and international assistance are important considerations in assessing the obligation of States to use the maximum available resources to realize economic, social and cultural rights.22 One study on the subject has drawn the following conclusions: (a) Governments must mobilize domestic resources to their utmost ability; (b) Government expenditures must be efficient and effective; (c) failure to tackle corruption constitutes a failure to comply with the obligation; (d) funds earmarked in the budget for economic, social and cultural rights must not be diverted to non-economic, social and cultural rights areas; (e) funds earmarked for economic, social and cultural rights must be fully expended for that purpose; (f) Governments that introduce regressive measures, such as spending cuts on economic, social and cultural rights, must demonstrate that they have used the maximum of available resources to avoid taking such a step; and (g) Governments must do all they can to secure international assistance where national resources are insufficient to realize economic, social and cultural rights.23 20. Nevertheless, whether or not a State is utilizing all resources at its disposal is difficult to assess. In assessing the compliance of States with this obligation, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has employed the following indicators: (a) comparing expenditures on realizing economic, social and cultural rights to expenditures not related to realizing those rights; (b) comparing expenditures in an area (such as health or education) with expenditures in the same area by countries at a comparable level of development; and (c) comparing Government expenditure with 18 19 20 21 22 23 8 It is generally recognized that resources (including financial resources) are critical for the realization of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights. However, as the present report shows, illicit financial outflows can have serious negative impacts on the level of resources available to States for the realization of human rights. See also the Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 4; and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, art. 4, paragraph 2. General comment No. 3 (1990) on the nature of States parties’ obligations, para. 13. Radhika Balakrishnan et al., Maximum Available Resources & Human Rights: Analytical Report (New Brunswick, New Jersey, Center for Women’s Global Leadership, 2011), p. 3. See Balakrishnan et al., Maximum Available Resources, pp. 5 and 23, where the authors identify debt financing, monetary policy, financial reform and taxation as some of the areas that are essential for mobilizing resources. See also the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to food on his mission to Brazil (A/HRC/13/33/Add.6, para. 36). Balakrishnan et al., Maximum Available Resources, pp. 3–4, citing Magdalena Sepulveda, The Nature of Obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Antwerp, Intersentia, 2003).