A/HRC/10/5 page 7 available resources”.20 Therefore, at a minimum, developed countries should make measurable progress towards contributing to the full realization of human rights by supporting the efforts of governments in developing countries, and they should not diminish pre-existing levels of aid calculated as ODA in percentage of the GDP. Any regression in the level of aid provided that is not fully justified should be treated, presumptively, as a violation of States’ obligations under international law. 10. Second, the assistance provided should be non-discriminatory. Even if it remains based on the voluntary decisions of each donor Government, the aid provided should not be determined by the political, strategic, commercial or historically rooted interests of the donors, but by an objective assessment of the identified needs in developing countries. This is required if aid is to be effective, as noted already in 1969 by the Pearson Commission and in 1980 by the Brandt Commission.21 It also follows from the recognition of the fact that development cooperation is a means of fulfilling human rights, particularly the right to food. The implication is that aid should be informed by an adequate mapping of needs - including, in particular, the existence in certain countries of food insecurity and vulnerability (see chap. III below). 11. Third, the amount of aid provided to recipient countries remains volatile and unpredictable, changing from one year to the next and from one country to another.22 This does not allow recipient countries to plan their development over a number of years and creates the risk of aid being suspended or interrupted for politically motivated reasons, without such measures being based on objective and transparently applied considerations. Where such decisions result in negative impacts on the enjoyment of human rights, particularly on the right to food, they require careful consideration of the donor State’s obligations.23 Donor States must therefore follow up on the commitments they make to provide certain levels of aid at a specific time and in a given year. Such commitments give rise to legitimate expectations for the recipient State, which cannot be disappointed without an adequate justification being provided by the donor State. 20 E/1991/23, para. 9. 21 See L. Pearson, Partners in Development: Report of the Commission on International Development, New York, Praeger Publ., 1969, p. 127; North-South: A Programme for Survival, Report of the Independent Commission on International Development (chaired by W. Brandt), London, Pan Books, 1980, p. 244. 22 See, for instance, the calculations of Eurodad (European Network on Debt and Development) as regards the percentage of deviation from scheduled aid within a given year: using data from the 2006 Paris Declaration Survey (OECD, Aid Effectiveness: 2006 Survey on Monitoring the Paris Declaration. Overview of the Results, Paris, 2007). 23 See E/C.12/1997/8.