A/HRC/14/31 VI. The role of international assistance and cooperation 98. Where there is political will, low-income and middle-income countries can implement social pension programmes. Without detracting from developing States’ own obligations, international assistance must also play a role in helping developing countries to progressively realize the right to social security. In those countries where the protection gap is widest, establishing or enhancing non-contributory pensions requires overcoming considerable resource, institutional and technical constraints. International assistance can be critical in this respect. 99. States have made a number of public political commitments underlining the shared international responsibility for poverty reduction and the need for a partnership among developed and developing countries against extreme poverty.40 The commitment to support through international cooperation is also present in human rights treaties such as the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (arts. 2.1 and 11) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 4). The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights further emphasizes “that it is particularly incumbent on States parties and other actors in a position to assist, to provide ‘international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical’ which enable developing countries to fulfil their core obligations”.41 This is based on the underlying premise that some countries will not be able to achieve the full realization of economic, social and cultural rights if those countries in a position to assist do not actually provide them with assistance. 100. Despite these obligations and commitments, most Governments are consistently failing to honour their longstanding commitments to reach a target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance. Moreover, States have only recently started considering international assistance in relation to social security. Donor countries need to change this approach. Their responsibilities under international human rights law also require them to support and strengthen social security systems, including social pensions worldwide. This will substantially help reduce poverty and ensure compliance with human rights norms over the long term. 101. The international community can play a key role in supporting the initial set-up of social pension systems, in particular in low-income countries, for example, by providing technical and/or material assistance in designing programmes and identifying and registering possible beneficiaries. A number of core common principles can also guide donors on how to best support and ensure the long-term sustainability of social security systems, including social pensions in recipient States. 102. The effective management of social pensions requires a long-term view for the sustainability of these initiatives. Donor States must ensure a long-term perspective and predictability in providing assistance. Coordination within the international donor community is also crucial. When providing assistance for different social protection schemes, donors must ensure that their initiatives are well coordinated. A short-sighted, fragmented approach with little coordination can contribute to a proliferation of projects, which in time could hinder the establishment of a social security system sustainable in the long term with broad coverage. 40 41 GE.10-12583 These commitments include, inter alia, the Millennium Declaration and goal 8 of the Millennium Development Goals; the Doha Declaration and the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, general comment No. 14, para. 45. 19