Chapter 3 | Page 119 assistance’ based on their needs, although the task of seeking international assistance and co-operation can be challenging for most States. While international norms establish a strong case for assistance and cooperation, there are different forms of international assistance and cooperation. In the area of international financial assistance, bilateral and multilateral financial assistance can take the form of either grants or loans (debts). Apart from the option of seeking bilateral assistance, the States requiring such assistance can also seek help through multilateral or regional mechanisms. In addition to providing assistance and co-operation, States who are part of the decision-making processes of international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have an additional obligation to do all they can ‘to ensure that the policies and decisions of those organisations are in conformity with the obligations of States Parties under the Covenant’.90 In summary, developing States have a series of duties with regard to international assistance and co-operation which takes the form of seeking assistance if they do not possess necessary resources in order to ensure that everyone under their jurisdiction enjoys the rights recognised in the Covenant.91 The matter is, however, not settled as to whether there is a clear and well-established principle of international law that ‘obliges’ States to provide international assistance and co-operation as a matter of international law.92 Yet, the discussions above indicate that rich States are ‘expected’, if not obliged, to provide assistance and co-operation, particularly if such requests are received from developing States. The Committee’s emphasis on encouraging States ‘to do all they can’ suggests that the Committee considers 90 Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Concluding Observations - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, The Crown Dependencies and the Overseas Dependent Territories, UN Doc E/C.12/1/Add.79 (17 May 2002), 26. 91 Carmona, above n 75, 94-95. 92 See for example, Ben Saul, David Kinley and Jacqueline Mowbray, The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Commentary, Cases, and Materials (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2014), 140.