INTRODUCTION international financial institutions (notably those from the North with the greatest influence) ‘to do all [they] can to ensure that the policies and decisions of those organizations are in conformity with the obligations of state parties to the Covenant’.38 International cooperation also includes meeting the internationally agreed targets for international development assistance (0.7 per cent of gross national income), which forms the basis of the UN Millennium Development Goals.39 In sum, obligations that correspond to ESC rights are both of an immediate and progressive nature, and invoke national and international responsibilities. Obligations to respect, protect and fulfil ESC rights Human rights obligations are both positive and negative in character and it is widely accepted that they be ‘respected, protected and fulfilled’ by states. These different levels of obligations have been specifically applied to a variety of ESC rights in relation to minorities and indigenous peoples, as the various chapters in this guide will demonstrate. The obligation to ‘respect’ human rights refers to an obligation of abstention by the state and all its organs and agents from doing anything that violates human rights or undermines the realization of those rights. The obligation to ‘protect’ human rights requires that states and their agents take the measures necessary to prevent any individual or entity – including non-state actors such as companies – from violating human rights. The obligation to ‘fulfil’ requires that measures be taken to ensure the realization of human rights.40 The corresponding economic, social and cultural rights require measures geared towards both individuals and communities. For minorities and indigenous peoples, these include: the prohibition of forced evictions from their lands;41 providing assistance so that they are able to realize their right to education;42 determining whether health facilities are culturally acceptable to minority communities;43 and ensuring that nomadic and traveller communities have access to adequate water at traditional and designated halting sites.44 What mechanisms are there to secure these rights? This guide points to a range of mechanisms at the international, regional and national levels that are available to advocates seeking to claim their ESC rights. There are helpful tips on preparing ‘shadow reports’ to the UN treaty bodies in the chapter, ‘Health rights’, and it is brought to our attention in the chapter, ‘Labour rights’, that shadow reports can also be submitted to the ILO’s Committee of Experts, while receiving a detailed overview of key ILO mechanisms. Several chapters familiarize readers with the contributions made by UN Special Rapporteurs in relation to the exercise of ESC rights by minority and indigenous communities. Readers are informed of UN bodies with particularly relevant 11