domestic law (where this is necessary in the legal system of the country concerned). In many cases, international human rights standards have been incorporated in national constitutions. Policy and administrative steps to give effect to the legislation are needed to back up ratification. In this process of giving practical effect to international obligations, a national action plan must review the range of a country’s human rights commitments and propose steps to ensure that they are effectively observed at the domestic level. This is addressed in sections 9.7.1 and 9.7.3. In addition to their substantive provisions, international human rights instruments require States parties to take measures to give effect to relevant rights. Comprehensive and effective national action plans can assist States in meeting these obligations. This is particularly relevant to States parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, who are under an obligation to achieve progressively, by all appropriate means, the full realization of the rights recognized in the Covenant. The provisions of declarations should also be worked into national action plans as a means of promoting the widest possible observance of human rights. The scope of international human rights instruments is wide. It is important to note that most countries have ratified most instruments. In addition to the International Bill of Human Rights, the other major human rights treaties and declarations11 include: • Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; • International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD); • Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT); • Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); • Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); • Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families; • Declaration on the Right to Development; • Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities; • Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief; • Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women; • Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; • Statute of the International Criminal Court. 11 The texts of these and many other United Nations human rights instruments may be found on the OHCHR web site (www.ohchr.org/html/intinst.htm). 16