Human rights law can help identify the responsibilities of all actors involved in securing aid to those in need. It provides a universally applicable and legally binding set of tools that can facilitate the embedding of development aid in existing governance structures, both at domestic and international levels. This essay focuses specifically on economic, social and cultural human rights, including the rights to food, water, housing, health and education. These rights are well-established in most aid-receiving countries, especially on the African continent. The essay’s main assumption is that based on these rights, and in line with the Millennium Development Goals, there is a legal duty to ensure access to ‘core’ packages of essential services to everyone residing in a country. Governments have a primary legal obligation to provide these services to the maximum of their available resources. If they are unable to deliver due to insufficient revenues, other countries, governmental and non-governmental aid organizations should provide assistance and co-operation so as to meet the essential needs of the country concerned. This implies that development aid is, in principle, conditional to the overall good performance of the receiving country. It also implies that when countries are unable to meet the basic needs of their population, the international community is obliged to come to the assistance of these countries.