An Introduction to the Use of Human Rights Indicators for Development Programming
| Author | Emilie Filmer-Wilson |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934410602400111 |
| Published date | 01 March 2006 |
| Date | 01 March 2006 |
| Subject Matter | Part C: Appendices |
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE USE OF HUMAN RIGHTS
INDICATORS FOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING
EMILIE FILMER-WILSON*
1. INTRODUCTION
This article is a preliminary exploration into the use of human rights indicators in
the context of development aid. It responds to the growing interest in and demand
from the development community for human rights assessment tools that can be
used for country analysis and programme evaluation and monitoring. It is written
with the development practitioner in mind.
The article is divided into two sections. The first section introduces the notion of
‘human rights indicators’. The second section focuses on the use of human rights
indicators in the context of development programmes. Using the UN Common
Understanding on the Human Rights-Based Approach to Development as a
framework from which to develop human rights indicators, the main ways in which
human rights indicators differ from traditional development indicators is explained.
Basic guidance as to how to apply these tools is also provided. As development
organisations increasingly take the initiative to develop practical guidance on how to
implement a human rights-based approach, more detailed guidelines and a clear
methodology for applying corresponding indicators will hopefully follow. This
article should be seen as a first step in this process.
2. HUMAN RIGHTS INDICATORS
Human rights indicators can play a powerful role in protecting and promoting
human rights. They can be used by governments, UN treaty bodies, NGOs and
lawyers to monitor progress made by States in fulfilling their human rights
obligations. Human rights indicators can also be used by policy makers and
development practitioners for policy analysis and impact assessment in human
rights terms.
Yet very little work has been done on developing and using these tools. The
human rights community has traditionally shied away from measurement and
quantification, and the development community has only recently begun
introducing human rights standards and principles into its work. In both these
contexts, the subject of measuring human rights standards and principles is
attracting growing attention. The human rights community is looking for more
effective ways to hold States accountable to their human rights obligations; to this
end UN treaty bodies are exploring the possibility of using human rights indicators
PART C: APPENDICES
Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Vol. 24/1, 155-161, 2006.
#Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Printed in the Netherlands. 155
* Emilie Filmer-Wilson works as Facilitator of the UN Human Rights Policy Network at the UNDP
Oslo Governance Centre, part of the Bureau for Development Policy.
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