Chapter 3 | Page 98 3.2 A CROSS-DISCIPLINARY MODEL OF ‘MAXIMUM AVAILABLE RESOURCES’ As discussed in Chapter 1, poverty, hunger, lack of educational opportunity, and lack of access to proper healthcare and other services essential for a dignified life are all too familiar in a world of abundance. From a human rights perspective, the State has a legal obligation to address these conditions, not only as a matter of national development priority but also as a human rights obligation. This requires an affirmative and active policy stance on the part of the State. This section begins with a review of existing models of ‘maximum available resources’ and their strengths and weaknesses in relation to the realisation of ESC rights in practice. This is followed by arguments laying out the necessary elements for a new model of ‘maximum available resources’ for ESC rights within the context of globalisation and the dynamics of human rights implementation. A cross-disciplinary model of ‘maximum available resources’ is then presented. 3.2.1 Existing models of ‘maximum available resources’ In common usage, ‘resources’ are defined as ‘stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organisation in order to function effectively’.2 The ESCR Committee explains that the term ‘resources’ in the context of the Covenant refers to ‘all resources at a State’s disposition’,3 and this definition includes both domestic and international resources that a State has ‘access to’.4 2 Oxford Dictionaries (Online), Oxford University Press (2015) <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/>. 3 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment No 3: The Nature of States Parties Obligations (Art. 2, par.1), 5th sess, UN Doc E/1991/23 (14 December 1990), [10]. 4 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, An evaluation of the Obligation to take steps to the "Maximum Available Resources" under an Optional Protocol to the Covenant, 38th sess, UN Doc E/C.12/2007/1 (10 May 2007), 4.