Chapter 3 | Page 134 approaches are reasonable, they are not consistently applied in the Concluding Observations. There is clearly an urgent need for State action in the area and the Committee needs to be proactive in creating objective standards and measures to ensure that the States are serious about the obligation to use ‘maximum available resources’.166 To this effect, States also need to be more serious and proactive in reporting to the Committee about the nature of policy actions and challenges in relation to their implementation of ESC rights obligations.167 Several human rights monitoring tools include resource-related elements in their parameters. For example, the Social and Economic Rights Fulfilment Index (ESRF Index) developed by Fukuda-Parr, Lawson-Remer and Randolph uses the ‘ratio approach’ and the ‘achievement possibilities frontier method’ to measure progressive realisation subject to ‘maximum available resources’ based on available survey-based objectives, and focuses on State obligation rather than individual enjoyment alone.168 The approach proposes two separate indices (ESRF-1 and ESRF-2) for low- and middle-income countries and high income countries, respectively.169 Unlike other socio-economic indicators used to measure the rights-holders’ enjoyment of economic and social rights, the ESRF index incorporates the role of the State as the dutybearer, and provides scores and rankings of State policies and their impact on the fulfilment of ESC rights. While this approach captures important elements of State policy, the high level of aggregation, statistical methodology and focus on cross-State comparison limits its applicability. 166 Saul, Kinley and Mowbray, above n 92, 145. 167 For example, this was highlighted by the Committee in its Concluding Observations on Togo. See CESCR, Concluding observations: Togo, E/C.12/1/Add.61 (21 May 2001), [3]. 168 Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Terra Lawson-Remer and Susan Randolph, 'An Index of Economic and Social Rights Fulfillment: Concept and Methodology' (2009) 8 Journal of Human Rights 195-221; Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Terra Lawson-Remer and Susan Randolph, 'Measuring the Progressive Realization of Human Rights Obligations: An Index of Economic and Social Rights Fulfillment' (Economics Working Papers – Paper No 200822, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics). 169 Fukuda-Parr, Lawson-Remer and Randolph, above n 168.

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