The obligations of ‘international assistance and cooperation’ under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. A possible entry point to a human rights based approach to Millennium Development Goal 8

The author looks at the obligations of international assistance and cooperation assumed by 159 states parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) with the aim of determining whether they can be used as a tool to reinforce the commitments assumed under the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 8. The article examines the work that the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has done developing the scope and content of Article 2(1) ICESCR. Then it examines the potential that the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR would bring in relation to accountability for obligations of international assistance and cooperation. The article concludes by calling upon the human rights and development communities to actively engage in the ratification process of the OP and to devise strategies for using the mechanisms it establishes to hold donors and recipient states accountable for their obligations of international assistance and cooperation. These human rights mechanisms would further contribute to the achievement of MDG 8.