An Introduction to the Use of Human Rights Indicators for Development Programming

Emilie Filmer-Wilson
June 2005

This paper 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 paper is divided into two parts. The first part introduces the notion of ‘human rights indicators’. The second part 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 paper should be seen as a first step in this process. 

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 in their assessment of state parties’ compliance with their treaty obligations. So too, an increasing number of development agencies are using human rights criteria in their development programmes and policies, and need to develop indicators that reflect this approach.

As a general definition, indicators are “tools for providing specific information on the state or condition of an event, activity or outcome.”Indicators can be either quantitative or qualitative statements. Quantitative indicators measure progress or results in terms of quantity, such as the number of judges trained in human rights or the percentage of a population that understands certain human rights. Qualitative indicators gather data that is best expressed and recorded in a non-numerical manner as they address questions of behaviour, views and attitudes.   

Indicators specifically designed for the human rights framework can be defined as indicators that provide information: 

i)	that can be related to human rights norms and standards; 
ii)	that address and reflect human rights concerns and principles; and 
iii)	that are used to assess and monitor promotion and protection of human rights. 

Based on this definition there could be some indicators that are uniquely human rights indicators because they owe their existence to certain human rights principles or standards and are generally not used in other contexts; for example, the percentage of girls or children from minority groups that do not have access to education because of discrimination within the country.  There are also existing indicators, such as many socio-economic statistics that qualify as human rights indicators but can in addition to human rights compliance assessment be used in other context; for example, the percentage of a state’s budget spent on education. Given the complexity of human rights norms, not only should quantitative indicators be used, but also qualitative indicators. Indeed, in the context of human rights, quantitative and qualitative indicators are complementary to each other.  
  
Importantly, there is not one standard set of human rights indicators. The set of indicators developed and used to monitor human rights will vary according to the subject and need. For example, as Treaty Bodies and development agencies have different priorities and concerns, they will use a different set of human rights indicators; however, many human rights indicators used will be common to both contexts. 

While Human Rights Treaty Bodies need indicators to assess states’ obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights, in the context of development aid, performance indicators are needed. These are used in the evaluation and monitoring phase of the programme cycle.  As yet, very little work has been done on how to measure whether and how development programmes are achieving progress and impact in terms of implementing human rights. Given the number of development agencies that are using human rights criteria in their work this is a serious gap. Although there is some overlap, outcomes and impacts expected in human rights-based programme are different both in type and in quality from those expected in traditional development approaches, such as ‘needs-based’ approaches. To adequately evaluate and monitor human rights-based programmes, indicators need to be re-designed to reflect this approach. 

The lack of guidance and information on the use of human rights indicators has resulted in much confusion around the term. Contributing to this confusion is the absence of a conceptual framework from which to use and design human rights indicators in the context of development aid.  Such a framework is needed to ensure that the indicators chosen address the concerns and goals of the development process. It also facilitates the link between development policy and programmes. 

Towards a Conceptual Framework for Applying Human Rights Indicators in Development Programmes

Indicators are not new to the development community. Indeed, they are a standard part of the monitoring and evaluation stage of development programmes; demonstrating whether a development initiative is achieving its desired results and helping to explain why. Indicators that are used to monitor and evaluate development programmes assess two levels of impact. The first is programme-specific or the direct impact of the programme on organisations and individuals directly funded, trained, or otherwise assisted by a given development initiative. Indirect impact in contrast, is the impact that programmes have at a broader level due to the affect that those directly impacted have on other groups, persons and national laws and policies. 

What is new to the development community is the use of indicators to measure the impact of programmes in human rights terms. The growing interest in the use of human rights indicators in this context stems from the large number of development agencies, such as the UNDP, UNICEF, DFID, SIDA, Save the Children, Oxfam and Care that are moving to integrate human rights into their work. Although there is no one set definition of a human rights-based approach to development among these agencies, there is a consensus on common themes. These are reflected in the ‘UN Common Understanding’ on a human rights-based approach to development cooperation, adopted in 2003 at Stamford, USA (see Box 1). While the human rights-based approach (HRBA) is still evolving this ‘UN Common Understanding’ is a first step in reaching conceptual clarity on a human rights-based approach within the UN and the wider development community. 

Box 1: UN Common understanding on a human rights-based approach 

1.	All programmes of development co-operation, policies and technical assistance should further the realisation of human rights as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. 
2.	Human rights standards contained in, and principles derived from, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments guide all development cooperation and programming in all sectors and in all phases of the programming process. The human rights principles include non-discrimination and equality, accountability and participation.  
3.	Development cooperation contributes to the development of the capacities of ‘duty-bearers’ to meet their obligations and/or of ‘rights-holders’ to claim their rights. 

From this definition of a HRBA it is clear that the traditional indicators used in development programmes will have to be redesigned to reflect the different emphasis that a human rights-based approach brings to policies and programmes. In particular, indicators used in HRBA programmes are concerned with: 
i)	monitoring both the process and outcome of development aid;
ii)	 relating human rights provisions, including non-discrimination,  equality, participation and accountability; and
iii)	 measuring the transformative change between the right-holders and duty-bearers. 
Whilst traditional development indicators are still relevant, an additional set of indicators is needed to relate this information in human rights terms.

In the absence of a set methodology for applying human rights indicators in this context, the three principles of the ‘UN Common Understanding’ provide a useful starting point for designing and using indicators to evaluate and monitor programmes in human rights terms.  By going through the three principles of the ‘UN Common Understanding’, this paper identifies how human rights indicators differ from traditional indicators. It also provides basic guidance to applying these tools.

Principle 1: All programmes of development co-operation, policies and technical assistance should further the realisation of human rights as laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments.

To effectively monitor and evaluate whether human rights have been furthered, socio-economic indicators will need to be supplemented by additional indicators that monitor essential features of human rights.  For example, in assessing the realisation of the right to education, traditional development indicators such as literacy rates, number of trained teachers, and number of extra schools reached through the programme, will only demonstrate the general state of educational attainment. They will not demonstrate whether the right to freedom from discrimination in education, a fundamental part of the right to education has also been achieved. This requires dissagregating data on the above into at least race, colour, gender, origin, and disability. It may also require information on laws and policies that relate to education and discriminatory practices.   

In choosing which additional indicators are needed to best reflect the comprehensive nature of specific, substantive human rights, the attributes of specific human rights standards will need to be identified. This can be done on the basis of the relevant national and international human rights instruments.  For example, in the case of programmes that aim to further the right to water, General Comment No. 15 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights sets out the different attributes that the right to water includes: it states that the right to water entitles “everyone, on the basis of non-discrimination, to sufficient, safe, physically accessible and affordable water, which is of an acceptable quality for personal and domestic uses.” These then are the criteria on which the choice of indicators for measuring the realisation of the right to water should be based. 
 
Principle No. 2: Human rights standards contained in, and principles derived from, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments guide all development cooperation and programming in all sectors and in all phases of the programming process. Principles include non-discrimination and equality, participation, accountability, universality and the rule of law.

Using and designing indicators that capture human rights principles is challenging. At the national level it is particularly hard to measure things such as participation, non-discrimination, equality and accountability. For instance, in a project to develop indicators to measure discrimination in member countries, the European Union found that there is a lack of data available to adequately measure discrimination. Much of the data that is needed is also too sensitive and subtle to be collected using traditional methods. Often it is not possible to find a direct measure of the expected result of programme activities on these principles. In such cases indirect or proxy measures can be used. For example, in measuring equality, an ideal indicator of the influence of women’s organisations on legislation is the extent to which their proposed measures are actually incorporated into the law.  However, pending the actual passage of law that could lend itself to such analysis, a proxy indicator of women’s influence could be the number of parliamentarians reported by media as supporting the views of women’s organisations on proposed legislation.  

Assessing and monitoring whether programmes have respected and promoted participation, non-discrimination, accountability and equality throughout the programming process is also complicated.  Measuring human rights principles requires the use of disagregatted data to ensure that marginalized and vulnerable groups have been reached. It also requires greater use of qualitative indicators; for example in monitoring non-discrimination and equality, it is important to hear the views of marginalized groups, such as the poor and women, on the programme.  Equally, measuring the principle of accountability requires peoples’ opinions of the accountability of the development practitioners and development agency themselves.  Developing these qualitative indicators and collecting the required data may require extra time and resources in the evaluation and monitoring stage of the programme.  As will the highly participatory and transparent process of choosing indicators and collecting the required data that the principles of participation and accountability demand.

Lastly, as a HRBA emphasises the importance of respecting and promoting human rights principles at all stages of the development process, indicators will need to monitor not only the outcomes of programmes, but also all the different stages of the development process that lead to these outcomes. 

Principle no. 3: Development cooperation contributes to the development of the capacities of ‘duty-bearers’ to meet their obligations and of ‘rights-holders’ to claim their rights

Human rights determine the relationship between individuals and groups with valid claims (right-holders) and state and non-state actors with correlative obligations (duty-bearers). One of the main causes preventing the realisation of human rights is the lack of capacity of duty-bearers to fulfil their obligations and the capacity of right-holders to claim and exercise their rights effectively.   Developing these capacities and improving the relationship between these two groups is a cross-cutting and crucial element in any HRBA programme. It is both an end in itself and the means or process to achieving expected results. Indicators will therefore need to measure the impact of programmes on these capacities and on the relationship between these two groups.  

At the ‘right-holder’ level, indicators will measure such things as how programmes have impacted people’s participation and active citizenship; how they have supported organisations and individuals ability to claim their rights; whether there is an increased awareness of human rights and how these are enforced, among poor and marginalized groups; whether there is improved access to development programmes and information on these; and whether programmes have led to the enactment of legal reforms that strengthen the rights of poor and marginalized groups.  

At the ‘duty-holder’ level, indicators will measure such things as how state authorities are more responsive and accountable; their knowledge and respect for human rights; and their capacity to implement laws and policies. 

This radically changes the way that indicators are used. Whereas traditional development programmes focused on improvements in material outcomes, human rights-based programmes emphasise other issues too, such as: changes in attitudes, behaviours and relationships, good governance issues, citizenship, and laws and their implementation. 

Conclusion

Clearly the conceptual framework outlined in this paper provides only basic guidance for developing human rights indicators. A clear methodology, as well as a more detailed guide that addresses the practical issues and difficulties in applying these tools is needed. This would be a valuable contribution to operationalizing a HRBA.  Unless human rights assessment tools are introduced into human rights-based programmes, the impact of these programmes cannot be monitored and evaluated in corresponding terms. Nor can their impact be effectively compared with other development approaches. 

As an increasing number of development agencies take steps to develop guidelines on how to operationalize a HRBA, it is important that a methodology and guide for using human rights indicators also follows. Through demonstrating the efficacy of the UN Common Understanding on the Human Rights-Based Approach as a framework for developing such indicators, this article can be seen as a first step in this process.