Human Rights Indicators in Development: An Introduction

by Siobhan McInerney-Lankford, Hans-Otto Sano

Overview

Human rights indicators are central to the application of human rights standards in context and relate essentially to measuring human rights realization, both qualitatively and quantitatively. They offer an empirical or evidence-based dimension to the normative content of human rights legal obligations and a provide means of connecting those obligations with empirical data and evidence, and in this way relate to human rights accountability and the enforcement of human rights obligations. Human rights indicators are important both for assessment and diagnostic purposes: the assessment function of human rights indicators relates to their use in monitoring accountability, effectiveness and impact, while the diagnostic purposes relates to measuring the current state of human rights implementation and enjoyment in a given context, whether regional, country-specific or local. This paper offers a preliminary review of the foregoing in the development context, and a general perspective on the significance of human rights indicators for development processes and outcomes. It is not intended to be prescriptive and does not provide specific operational recommendations on the use of human rights indicators in development projects. Nor does it advocate a particular approach or mode of integrating human rights in development, or argue for a rights-based approach to development. This paper is designed to provide development practitioners with a preliminary view on the possible relevance, design and use of human rights indicators in development policy and practice. It also introduces a basic conceptual framework about the relationship between rights and development, including in the World Bank context and surveys a range of methodological approaches on human rights measurement, exploring in general terms different types of human rights indicators and their potential implications for development at three different levels of convergence or integration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821385760
Publisher:	World Bank Publications
Publication date:	10/26/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

Table of Contents

Foreword v

Abstract vi

Acknowledgments vii

Abbreviations viii

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

Chapter 2 Human Rights and Development: "Toward Mutual Reinforcement" 3

Introduction 3

World Bank Approach to Convergence 5

Role of Human Rights in Development 6

Rights-Based Approaches to Development 8

Tensions 9

Chapter 3 Human Rights Indicators 14

Introduction 14

Designing Indicators 14

Streamlining Human Rights Indicators 15

Data Sources 16

Types of Human Rights Indicators 18

Indicators Measuring Compliance with Legal Obligations 18

Human Rights Indicators in Development Practice 21

Chapter 4 Integrating Human Rights into Development: Indicator Implications 27

Introduction Human Rights and Development: Levels and Degrees of Convergence 27

A Framework Outlining the Modes of Integration 27

Human Rights Indicators at Three Levels of Convergence of Human Rights and Development 28

Dimensions: Substantive Overlap 30

Integration of Human Rights Principles 31

Equity and Equality 33

Accountability 34

Participation 36

Obligations 36

Chapter 5 Conclusions 45

Chapter 6 Literature Review 47

Appendix A The Core International Instruments and the Treaty Bodies 55

Appendix B A Structure of Human Rights Indicators 56

Appendix C Human Rights Indicators Sources 57

Appendix D Definition of Right to Water 60

Appendix E Definition of the Right to Education 62

Appendix F Definition of the Right to Social Security 64

Appendix G Implementation of the Right to Development: Attributes Criteria, Subcriteria, and Indicators 66

List of Tables

Table 1.1 Example of Potential Tension between Human Rights and Development Actors 10

Table 3.1 A Framework for the Elaboration of Human Rights Indicators 20

Table 3.2 Identifying Human Rights Indicators at Different Levels of Development Practice 23

Table 4.1 Three Modes of Human Rights Integration 29

Table 4.2 Nonexplicit Human Rights Integration: The Human Rights Dimensions of Development 31

Table 4.3 Mainstreaming Human Rights Principles 32

Table 4.4 Assessing Human Rights Obligations 38

List of Figures

Figure 1.1 Intrinsic and Instrumental Roles of Human Rights in Development 7

Figure 4.1 Fulfilling Human Rights Obligations of Developing States and of States Acting as Donors: Human Rights Activities (A) and Indicators (I) 39

List of Boxes

Box 3.1 Indicator Definitions 15

Box 3.2 The Data Sources of Human Rights Research 17

Box 4.1 OECD Description of the Approaches of Donor Agencies 29