Chapter 2 | Page 86 with the concept of ‘maximum available resources’ in the ICESCR. It also incorporates the element of international co-operation in the context of State action and resources. Article 23(2) of the CRC also refers to ‘available resources’ in the context of ensuring special care and assistance to the disabled child and those responsible for his/her care.203 The Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasised a broad application of the concept of resources to include both domestic and international resources.204 According to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), progressive realisation of the economic, social and cultural rights of persons with disabilities occurs in the context of ‘maximum available resources’, which includes international co-operation where needed.205 There are also direct references to resource requirement in regional human rights documents.206 The resource-intensive nature of ESC rights, particularly in relation to the obligation to fulfil, was acknowledged in the drafting history of the Covenant and its Optional Protocol, as well as in the work of the ESCR Committee and other developments in the soft law regime. For example, debates during the drafting of the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR highlighted the concerns of many States about the resource-intensiveness of ESC rights.207 While Finland and Portugal along with the NGO Coalition were of the opinion that only a small number of ESC rights have serious resource implications, Canada noted 203 Ibid., art 23(24). 204 United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No 5: General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para 6), 34th sess, UN Doc CRC/GC/2003/5 (27 November 2003), [21]. 205 CRPD, above n 6, art 4(2). 206 See for example, ssociation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), 'ASEAN Human Rights Declaration', <http://www.asean.org/news/asean-statement-communiques/ item/asean-human-rights-declaration> [33]; African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, 'Principles and Guidelines on the Implementation of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights' (2011), <http://www.achpr.org/files/instruments/economic-social-cultural/achpr_instr_guide_draft_ esc_rights_eng.pdf> [15]. 207 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, 60th sess, UN Doc E/CN.4/2004/44 (15 March 2004), [55].