Chapter 2 | Page 93 indicates not only the policy priorities of the government but also the amount of resources committed for each programme, these resources are generally presented in terms of financial costing values. From the perspective of human rights, however, State resources cannot be limited to those of a financial nature. In the context of the global financial and economic crises, the Committee urged that the States party’s obligations to combat poverty, social exclusion and protection of the most vulnerable must be given priority even under resource constraints.235 The discrepancy between available resources and actual ESC rights needs of the people,236 and the resource impact of structural adjustment programmes were commented upon with reference to national resource allocation for debt servicing.237 Even if the State has a low level of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and limited resources, it is still obliged to comply with the Covenant obligations to the maximum of available resources.238 The Committee also identified the negative impact of structural adjustment policies on the overall enjoyment of ESC rights and the high percentage of annual budget that is allocated for debt servicing as limiting factors on resources available to the State.239 The Committee’s position as expressed in these Concluding Observations is that the resource requirement for the realisation of substantive ESC rights is important and the State is expected to play a major role in maximising the resources available to address ESC rights needs. It also points to the difficulty of clearly defining resources requirement, types of resources and resource allocation policies within any generally applicable standard. In summary, this section has identified the key role of resources in the realisation of ESC rights and the challenges involved in clearly defining 235 CESCR, Concluding observations: Iceland, E/C.12/ISL/CO/4 (11 December 2012), [16]. 236 CESCR, Concluding observations: Egypt, E/C.12/1/Add.44 (23 May 2000), [44]. 237 CESCR, Concluding observations: Ecuador, E/C.12/1/Add.100 (7 June 2004), [9]. 238 CESCR, Concluding observations: Nepal, E/C.12/NPL/CO/2 (16 January 2008), [40]; CESCR, Concluding observations: Yemen, E/C.12/YEM/CO/2 (22 June 2011), [4]. 239 CESCR, Concluding observations: Ecuador, E/C.12/1/Add.100 (7 June 2004).

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents