UNDP-OHCHR TOOLKIT According to the principle of taking all appropriate measures “to the maximum available resources”, NHRIs can advocate for existing resources to be allocated efficiently and effectively with a view towards the achievement of development-related rights, including ESC rights, without negatively affecting other human rights. States should ensure that resources are distributed while respecting principles of equality and ensuring that the rights of women and vulnerable groups are addressed. This requires several levels of analysis of government budget allocations, depending on the objective. For example, the CEDAW Committee has, in the past, made recommendations that a State ensure that its national human rights institution itself be properly funded, as the following example illustrates: >> Example: Funding the Commission on Human Rights (Mexico) CEDAW 24 “The Committee recommends that the State party ensure that the National Commission on Human Rights is provided with the necessary financial resources and personnel well trained in gender equality issues to effectively fulfil its function in regard to monitoring and evaluating the General Act on Equality between Women and Men.” To ascertain whether maximum available resources have been spent on development issues of national priority using a rights-based approach, the following steps may be taken by an NHRI: 11 A specific assessment of budgetary ‘envelopes’ such as health, housing, education, income assistance and employment, looking in particular at whether budgetary allocations reflect the “maximum available resources” and the extent to which they match priorities from the human rights perspective, including from a gender based perspective; 11 A cross-cutting assessment of budgets, based on gender, disability or other selected grounds, to determine the impact of budgets on the affected group; and 11 A relatively straightforward measure is to compare the spending in a country with regard to identifiable ESC issues with similarly situated countries.  For example, in a country like Uganda, the commission has examined ESC issues to see how spending in the selected envelope compares to other countries in Eastern Africa. If the national budget allocation is lower than that average, the NHRI has a clear argument for calling for an increase. Examples of recommendations and observations offered by UN treaty bodies are set out in the following section, and are drawn from Diane Elson’s work on this topic.25 While the strategies raised by Elson are focused on gendered approaches to budgets, similar strategies can be used for taking a rights-based approach to development issues and vulnerable groups more generally. Recommendations and Observations Regarding Budgets CEDAW Committee: General Recommendation No. 24 (20th session, 1999) 30. “States parties should allocate adequate budgetary, human and administrative resources to ensure that women’s health receives a share of the overall health budget comparable with that for men’s health, taking into account their different health needs.” As well, it should be noted that NHRIs can rely on general comments developed by treaty bodies when interpreting specific provisions related to ESC rights and when advocating for specific budgetary allocations to release that right. CEDAW Committee. 36th session August 2006. Concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women: Mexico 24 D. Elson, Report Highlights “Monitoring Government Budgets for Compliance with CEDAW” CSW side panel organized by UNIFEM entitled, Government Accountability to Gender Equality through Budgets (2005). 25 96