Chapter 2 | Page 87 that ESC rights fulfilment implies ‘costs on a larger scale.’208 In the Working Group meetings, concerns were raised about the ability of poor countries to fully comply with the obligations under the Covenant and their failure to meet the requirements may give rise to complaints against these states under the Optional Protocol.209 These sources identify key themes relevant to understanding the concept of maximum available resources. Most notably, they highlight the need to address questions of what ‘maximum available resources’ entails in practice, and what policy actions are required to address resource constraints in order to ensure effective allocation of resources for ESC rights objectives. 2.4.1 The concept of ‘maximum available resources’: What does it entail? As previously mentioned, the drafting history of the Covenant, as evidenced in the travaux préparatoires, recognises and acknowledges the importance of State resources for the effective implementation of the rights recognised in the Covenant. The decision to include the phrase ‘to the maximum available resource’ was not taken lightly by the delegates. The discussions not only identified possible difficulties with this phrase, but also provided insight into how this concept should be interpreted in practice. There was consensus among the delegates that the concept of ‘maximum available resources’ should be interpreted as broadly as possible and should not be limited to public sector resources. Later, the ESCR Committee specified that ‘maximum available resources’ refers to ‘both the resources existing within a State as well as those available from the international community through international cooperation and 208 Report of the Open-ended Working Group to consider options regarding the elaboration of an optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on its third session, 62nd sess, UN Doc E/CN.4/2006/47 (14 March 2006), [90]. 209 Report of the open-ended working group to consider options regarding the elaboration of an optional protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on its first session, E/CN.4/2004/44, above n 207, [21].