experience, it has been useful to group these various approaches under an overarching structure to more methodically capture the full range of human rights standards and principles against which states’ performance with regard to their obligation to fulfill ESC rights can be assessed. OPERA: A step by step framework for assessing compliance The Center’s experiences in monitoring states’ fulfillment of ESC rights in varying contexts over the last two decades have reinforced the importance of adopting a holistic approach to monitoring. CESR has sought to do this by developing a methodological framework within which various quantitative and qualitative tools and techniques can be deployed. This multidisciplinary, mixed-methods approach draws on valuable work from the legal, social science, statistics, public policy and economic fields. The OPERA framework developed by CESR articulates relevant human rights standards and principles to take into account when monitoring ESC rights fulfillment and offers practical guidance on which tools and techniques might be employed to evaluate them. These range from simple descriptive statistics that summarize data to more complex fiscal policy and budget analyses that assess the availability and allocation of resources. By making explicit this crucial link between the various human rights standards and principles that underpin the obligation to fulfill and the different assessment methods available to monitor them, the framework enables a systematic approach to building evidence of failures to fulfill ESC rights. Outcomes Policy Efforts Resources Assessment Measure aggregate levels of rights enjoyment Measure disparities in rights enjoyment Measure progress over time Minimum core obligations Non-discrimination Progressive realization Identify legal and policy commitments Examine policy content and implementation Analyze policy processes Take steps AAAAQ criteria PANTHER principles, right to remedy Evaluate resource allocation Evaluate resource generation Analyze policy processes Maximum resources Availability of resources PANTHER principles Identify other determinants Understand state constraints Indivisibility and interdependence Respect and protect, duty to cooperate Determine state compliance Obligation to fulfill The OPERA framework examines both obligations of conduct and result—and, importantly, makes the link between the two. As outlined further below, the framework looks at different dimensions of the obligation to fulfill, grouped around Outcomes, Policy Efforts and Resources. It then triangulates Assessing compliance with the obligation to fulfill economic, social and cultural rights 13