Chapter 1 | Page 4 1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEM: UNPACKING ‘MAXIMUM AVAILABLE RESOURCES’ The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 1966 and came into force on 3 January 1976. As of August 2015, the Covenant had been ratified by 164 States parties, with another six signatory States yet to ratify it.11 The Covenant enshrines a number of substantive rights including: the right to work (art 6); rights in work (art 7); trade union rights (art 8); social security rights (art 9); right to social protection (art 10); right to an adequate standard of living (art 11); right to health (art 12); right to education (art 13, 14); and cultural rights (art 15). The general nature of obligations on States parties in relation to these substantive rights is most evident from Article 2(1) of the Covenant, which states: Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and co-operation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures.12 This provision communicates a number of fundamental elements applicable to the nature of economic, social and cultural rights in practice. First, it emphasises that States parties are expected ‘to take steps’ on their own and with international assistance and co-operation in relation to issues of both economic and technical in nature. This undertaking ‘to take steps’ forms the basis of the State’s obligation to ensure that the rights enshrined in the covenant are included in the core policies of the State. Given that a State’s 11 The six non-ratifying signatory States are: Comoros, Cuba, Myanmar, Palau, Sao Tome and Principe, and United States of America. The most recent ratifications are by Belize (9 Mar 2015) and South Africa (12 Jan 2015). United Nations, United Nations Treaty Collection - Chapter IV Human Rights: International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights <https://treaties.un.org/pages/viewdetails.aspx?chapter=4&lang=en& mtdsg_no=iv-3&src=treaty>. 12 ICESCR, above n 4, art 2(1).