A/HRC/9/10
page 9
and cooperation programme which may have a negative effect on the enjoyment of economic,
social and cultural rights.7 On the obligation to fulfil, the precise content at the international level
is yet to be worked out but could include facilitating, providing and promoting rights.8
Nature and scope of the obligation of international cooperation
21. The nature of the responsibilities that arise out of international cooperation will also be
preliminarily explored in this report, namely, the range of actions that fall broadly within the
category of international cooperation in human rights instruments. The obligations related to
international assistance and cooperation are complementary to the primary responsibility of
States to meet their national human rights obligations. International cooperation rests on the
premise that developing countries may not possess the necessary resources for the full realization
of rights set forth in human rights covenants and conventions. There is a shared responsibility for
development met by States’ national obligations and the obligations of international cooperation,
facilitating global implementation.
22. International cooperation is most often conflated with international development
assistance, as mainly reflected in the volume of development assistance. The divergent
interpretations of international cooperation range from judicial, administrative and technical
cooperation, to cooperation for development. While international cooperation includes
development cooperation, it is a much broader term. The issue of international cooperation
featured prominently in the discussions and negotiations on the Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities. It was emphasized by delegates from developed and developing States
that international cooperation was not a synonym for development assistance and the transfer of
resources from North to South. Many substantive dimensions of international cooperation were
evoked, ranging from the transfer of resources and technical assistance and cooperation, to
policy advice, and the international sharing and exchange of experience, expertise and good
practice to assist in effective implementation, networking and workshops, development of
technologies. These various elements of international cooperation can be found in article 32 of
the Convention.
23. Even in the context of development cooperation, in broader human rights terms,
international cooperation should also ideally cover the obligation to respect and to protect,
namely the obligation respectively to abstain from interference with economic, social and
cultural rights in other countries, and to prevent third parties under a State’s control from
interfering with these rights.9 It should however be noted that various committees under human
7
Sepulveda, 2006, 284.
8
Sepulveda, 2006.
9
Wouter Vandenhole, “Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in the CRC: Is there a Legal
Obligation to Cooperate Internationally for Development?”, forthcoming publication in
International Journal of Children’s Rights.
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