Introduction to Human Rights

1
Introduction to Human Rights Approaches to Devel
opment
The Experience of Maldives
Practical Training Module for the UN Country Team
and its Partners June 2008
2
Introduction and main objectives

• Acquire basic knowledge of international human
  rights law and human rights obligations of
  Maldives
  
• Acquire basic understanding of the UN Human
  Rights System and Mechanisms
  
• Understand the usefulness of human rights in
  development
  
• Learn practical methodologies to apply human
  rights approaches to development (Exercises 1 and
  2)
  

3
Content of the training

• The Training Module has 9 sessions, including
  two optional sessions.
  
• Day 1
• Session 1 International human rights law 1 h
  30
  
• Session 2 Exercise 1 The human rights concerns
  of your Unit 1 h 30
  
• Session 3 UN human rights systems and mechanisms
  45 minutes
  
• Day 2
• Session 4 Usefulness of human rights in
  development 45 minutes
  
• Session 5 (Optional session) Human rights and
  health 45 minutes
  
• Session 6 (Optional session) Human rights,
  environment and climate change 45 minutes
  
• Session 7 Operational features of human rights
  approaches to development 45 minutes
  
• Session 8 Exercise 2 The HRBA challenges of
  your Unit 1 h 30
  
• Session 9 Lessons learned from Maldives 45
  minutes
  

4
All human beings are born free and equal in
dignity and rights Art. 1, UDHRThe law, in
its majestic equality, forbids the rich, as well
as the poor, to sleep under the bridges, to beg
in the streets, and to steal bread Anatole
France Democracy is two wolves and a lamb
voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a
well-armed lamb contesting the vote! Benjamin
Franklin
Session 1 Introduction to international human r
ights law
5

What are human rights?

• Universal rights to which every person is
  entitled because they are justified by a moral
  standard that stands above the laws of any
  individual nation.
• Human rights
• Are universal
• Are guaranteed internationally without
  discrimination on any grounds
  
• Focus on the inherent dignity
• Are indivisible and interdependent
• Are legally protected
• Cannot be waived or taken away
• Impose obligations of action and omission mainly
  on the State and its agents
  
• Protect individuals and groups

6

How human rights have been codified by the Unite
d Nations?

• We the Peoples of the United Nations,
  determined to reaffirm faith in fundamental human
  rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
  person, in the equal rights of men and women and
  of nations large and small (UN Charter)The
  recognition of the inherent dignity and of the
  equal and inalienable rights of all members of
  the human family is the foundation of freedom,
  justice, and peace in the world (UDHR)

7
(No Transcript)
8
UN human rights treaty system

• Each human rights treaty has a supervisory body
  called treaty body (TB) with three main tasks
  
• Monitor the implementation of the treaty by
  examining state reports
  
• Produce concluding observations
• Produce general comments

9
General comments

• The human rights treaty bodies (TB) publish their
  interpretation of the content of human rights
  provisions, in the form of general comments on
  thematic issues.
• The general comments of each TB are listed at
  http//www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/treaty/commen
  ts.htm
  
• Both CERD and CEDAW refer to their general
  comments as "general recommendations".

10

Concluding observations

• Outcome of the reporting process
• Represents an important tool for policy makers
  and development practitioners
  
• Help to measure political will, obstacles
  encountered and progress made, to identify new
  trends, and to complement the efforts made by the
  Government and its development partners
• The Government of Maldives is currently
  developing Action Plans to follow-up on the CRC
  and CEDAW Concluding Observations
  
• A thematic compilation of concluding observations
  is available in annex 5
  

11
Right-holders and duty-bearers
UN/UNCT Support

• Right-holders300,000 Maldivian people more
  than 60,000 migrant workers tourists
  
• Every individual
• To some extent groups

• Duty-bearers Much less
• Primarily States
• In some cases individuals have specific
  obligations
  
• International organizations
• Non-State actors

National HR protection mechanisms (Courts, HRCM)
UN Human Rights Mechanisms
12
Human rights obligations
Respect
Protect
Fulfill Take steps to progressively realize HR
Take steps to ensure that third parties do not
interfere with the enjoyment of HR States must
protect women and girls from sex offenders
Do not interfere with the enjoyment of HR States
should refrain from carrying out arbitrary arrest
or not arbitrarily restrict the right to peaceful
assembly
To facilitate Engage proactively to strengthen
peoples ability to meet their own needs
creating conditions in which the market can
supply the healthcare services
To provide Direct provision of services To
provide affordable construction aggregate for
building housing with the view to end the use of
sand from beaches that speeds up the process of
erosion
13

Content of international human rights instruments?

• The right to life, liberty and security of
  person
  
• Freedom of association, expression, assembly and
  movement
  
• The right to health
• Freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention
• The right to a fair trial
• The right to decent work
• The right to adequate food, housing and social
  security
  
• The right to education
• The right to equal protection of the law
• Freedom from arbitrary interference with privacy,
  family, home or correspondence
  
• Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or
  degrading treatment or punishment
  
• Freedom from slavery
• The right to a nationality
• Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
• The right to vote and take part in the conduct of
  public affairs
  
• The right to participate in cultural life

14
Examples of the scope of economic and social rig
hts

• Right to health UDHR (art. 25 paragraph 1),
  ICESCR, art. 12 CEDAW, Art 12 CRC, Art 24
  CRPD, Art 25 CESCR General Comment No. 14 (2000)
  relevant COs and SP recommendations
• Right to work ICESCR, arts. 6, 7, 8 and 9
  ICCPR, art. 8 See also CEDAW (arts. 6 and 11)
  CRC, arts. 32, 34, 35 and 36 ICERD art. 5 e (i)
  ILO Conventions on Child Labour (Conventions N
  138 and 182) ILO Conventions on Forced Labour
  (Conventions N29 and 105) ILO Conventions N 87
  on Freedom of Association and N 98 on the right
  to Organize and Collective Bargaining relevant
  COs and SP recommendations
• Right to housing ICESCR, art. 11 CESCR General
  Comment No. 4 (E/1992/23) and General Comment No.
  7 (E/1998/22, annex IV) ICERD, art. 5 CEDAW,
  art. 14.2 CRC, arts. 16.1 and 27.3) relevant
  COs and SP recommendations

15
Examples of the scope of civil and political rig
hts

• Access to justice ICCPR, art. 14 CRC, art. 40
  CEDAW, art. 15.2 and ICERD, art. 5(a) relevant
  COs and SP recommendations
  
• Political rights and freedoms ICCPR, art. 19 and
  HRC General Comment 10 (1983), art. 21, art. 22
  (see also ICESCR, art. 8), art. 25 and HRC
  General Comment 25 (1986) ICERD, art. 5(c), (d)
  (viii) and (ix) CEDAW, art. 7 and CRC, arts. 13
  and 15 relevant COs and SP recommendations
• Personal security/arbitrary detention ICCPR,
  art. 9 ICERD, art. 5(b) and CRC, art. 37 b, c
  and d
  

16

Reservations entered by Maldives

• When becoming party to the main international
  human rights treaties, the Government of Maldives
  entered reservations to a number of provisions
  under the ICCPR, CRC and CEDAW related to freedom
  of religion, equality of men and women,
  alternative care and adoption

17

Reservations Freedom of religion

• The Government entered a reservation to article
  18 of ICCPR on freedom of religion or belief
  
• The Government expressed its reservation to
  paragraph 1 of article 14 of the CRC (freedom of
  thought, conscience and religion) since the
  Constitution and the Laws of the Republic of
  Maldives stipulate that all Maldivian should be
  Muslims

18

Reservations Gender equality

• The Government of the Republic of Maldives
  expressed its reservation to article 7 (a) of the
  CEDAW, to the extent that the provision contained
  in the said paragraph conflicts with the
  provision of article 34 of the current Maldivian
  Constitution
• The Government reserved its right to apply
  article 16 of the CEDAW concerning the equality
  of men and women in all matters relating to
  marriage and family relations without prejudice
  to the provisions of the Islamic Sharia, which
  govern all marital and family relations of the
  100 percent Muslim population of the Maldives.

19

Reservations Alternative care and adoption

• The Government has also expressed its
  reservation to articles 20 and 21 of the CRC,
  dealing with alternative care and adoption since
  the Islamic Shariah is one of the fundamental
  sources of Maldivian Law and since Islamic
  Shariah does not include the system of adoption
  among the ways and means for the protection and
  care of children contained in Shariah.

20

Maldives status of reporting

• Three Committees (CERD, CRC, and CEDAW) already
  reviewed Maldives reports and produced
  concluding observations and recommendations.
  
• Both the CRC and CEDAW recommended the Government
  of Maldives to make the necessary revisions to
  the Constitution and legislation to facilitate
  the withdrawal of the reservations and to seek
  inspiration from other Muslim countries which
  have either withdrawn similar reservations or not
  entered any reservations to the two Conventions

21
Expanded core document

• The Government of Maldives is in the process of
  finalizing an expanded core document with an
  initial state report under the ICCPR and a
  combined periodic report under ICERD
• It will initiate consultation with civil society,
  HRCM and UN system on the draft report
  

22

Individual complaints mechanisms\inquiries

• No individual complaint has been yet considered
  by the HRC and CEDAW
  
• The Government did not accept the competence of
  the CAT and CERD to deal with individual
  complaints
  
• Under CAT and CEDAW, inquiries could be conducted
  with the collaboration of the Government of
  Maldives
  

23
Introduction of IHR obligations into the domestic
normative framework The Constitutional Reform of
Maldives
24
Using the international human rights instruments
acceded to by the country, General Comments and
Concluding Observations/Recommendations, each
group/unit identifies the most acute human rights
concerns they face in their daily
workObjectives- Get familiar with
international human rights instruments and
tools- Translate development issues into human
rights issues- Identify capabilities of
rights-holders and duty bearers
Session 2 Exercise 1 Your human rights concerns
25
Session 3 UN human rights mechanisms
26
Human rights sources, systems and mechanisms
International Human Rights Instruments
Treaty Bodies -------------------- Special
Procedures -------------------- Universal
Periodic
Review
OHCHR UN System
UN Charter UDHR
OHCHR
Other instruments (ILO, Geneva Conventions)
UNCT
27
The Human Rights Council (HRC)

• What does it do ?
• Promotes universal protection
• Addresses and prevents violations
• Develops international law
• Reviews compliance of Member States
• Responds to emergencies
• International forum for dialogue

What is it ? A subsidiary body of the General Ass
embly composed of Members States.
It replaces the UN Commission on Human Rights
28
UN treaty bodies
29
Special procedures of HRC Country Visits Commun
ications, Statements
Thematic studies
30
Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
Compilation of stakeholder submissions
Compilation of UN doc.
31
Collaboration of the HRCM with UN human rights
mechanisms
UNCT support

• Strengthen capacity (prison inspection)
• Provide in-house expertise (juvenile, health)

National Preventive Mechanism
2010 Universal Periodic Review

• Shadow report
• Follow-up to conclusions

• Shadow report
• Follow-up to concluding observations

Treaty Reporting

• Contribute to missions/reports
• Follow-up to recommendations

Special Procedures
32
If individuals do not help one another, they
live in poverty if society does not recognize
the rights of individuals, conflicts appear
poverty creates anxiety and conflicts engender
wretchedness. To appease anxiety and eliminate
conflicts, the best way is to institute a society
which clearly recognizes the rights of the
individual (Chinese Philosopher SIUN TSEU,
310-230 BC) True individual freedom cannot
exist without economic security and independence
(Franklin Delano Roosevelt)Even if he can vote
to choose his rulers, a young man with AIDS who
cannot read or write and lives on the brink of
starvation is not truly free. Equally, even if
she earns enough to live, a woman who lives in
the shadow of daily violence and has no say in
how her country is run is not truly free (2005
SG report In larger Freedom)
Session 4 Usefulness of human rights in
development
33
UN Charter UDHR
Cold War
Development
Human Rights
Peace Security humanitarian action
1997 UN reform agenda 2000 UN guidelines for
RC 2002 SG report (Action 2) 2003 UN Common Un
derstanding 2005 SG report In larger Freedom
Action 2 (2002-2008)
Copenhagen Cairo
Vienna Beijing
1997
2000 2002/3
Millennium Summit MD and MDGs
2008
34
UN country teams role
DUTY BEARERS __________ Actors with obligations
to respect, protect and fulfill

RIGHTS HOLDERS ___________ Individuals and group
s who have claims

Fulfill duties (laws, policies, services, data
monitoring, remedies)
Claim rights (information, participation,
monitoring,
access to remedies)
NGOs
NIs
GVT
Capacity Development
UNCT SUPPORT Advocacy, service delivery, technica
l assistance

35
UN country teams role

• In applying the human rights-based approach the
  following measures can be identified as priority
  areas and possible entry points for UN
  assistance
• Allocate budgets to programmes that aim to fulfil
  human rights
  
• Harmonise national law and policy with the
  provisions of the Conventions
  
• Create human rights mechanisms or strengthen
  existing ones at the national or local level for
  coordinating policies and for monitoring
  
• Follow-up to Treaty Bodies Concluding
  Observations
  
• Make the principles and provisions of the treaty
  widely known.
  
• Provide adequate remedies in the case of
  non-compliance
  
• Share information and experience with the Treaty
  Bodies on the progress achieved and obstacles
  encountered in the implementation of the treaty
  

36
Human rights related responsibilities of the Re
sident Coordinator

• UN Guidelines for Resident Coordinators (2000)
• Forward any received complaint or other
  communication related to an alleged HR violation
  to the OHCHR
  
• Faithfully respect, represent and promote the
  norms, standards and policies of the organization
  including those related to Human Rights
  
• Encourage host Governments to ratify/accede to
  international HR treaties
  
• Seek to ensure that UN Staff are adequately
  trained in Human Rights
  
• Decision of the SG's Policy Committee (May
  2008)
  
• Coordinate the work of the UN country teams in
  mainstreaming human rights into operational
  activities for development at country level
  
• Promote international human rights standards and
  principles and advocate for human rights as a
  common UN value in dialogue and interactions with
  national actors.  But RCs will not - undertake
  human rights monitoring, investigation or
  casework
• Facilitate access to knowledge and expertise on
  human rights and ensure close interaction between
  the UNCTs and OHCHR
  
• Act as interlocutors for the High Commissioner
  for Human Rights to national authorities where
  requested and appropriate
  

37
Action 2

• Ultimate aim To ensure that the rights of
  individuals are respected and protected, through
  strengthened national human rights protection
  systems.
• This includes
• Laws consistent with international human rights
  standards.
  
• Effective functioning of courts, judiciary and
  law enforcement as well as independent human
  rights institutions or ombudsman.
  
• Procedures for individuals to effectively claim
  ones rights.
  
• Good governance and accountable government
  institutions that promote and protect human
  rights.
  
• Democratic, open, transparent and participatory
  decision making process.
  
• Strong civil society, including a free and
  independent media.

38
Why human rights in development?
Does a human rights approach to development
require the UN to engage in partisan politics?

• Ethical reason Human rights expose power
  relationships in society and sharpen the
  political edge of participation.
  
• Normative reason Human rights put international
  human rights commitments of a given country at
  the center of development practices.
  
• Programme reason Human rights represent a means
  to ensure accountability of various actors,
  including non-states actors. Human rights imply
  duties, and duties demand accountability.

39
Added value from adopting human rights approache
s

• Add legitimacy to reduce poverty and
  vulnerability
  
• Stress that a great deal of vulnerability/poverty
  originates from discriminatory practices
  
• Dispel misconception about the role of civil and
  political rights in development process
  
• Attach much importance to the quality of
  development process
  
• Rule out trade-offs that are potentially harmful
  for groups at risk
  
• Emphasize the accountability of policy makers

40
Needs vs. human rights

• Needs
• What is required/necessary
• Needs are met or satisfied
• Needs do not necessarily imply duties
• Needs can be met by charity and benevolence
• Needs are often associated with non-legal
  commitment
  

• Human Rights
• What is inherent to human beings
• Human Rights are realized
• Human Rights always imply correlative duties
• Charity is seldom mandatory, rights always are
• Rights are always associated with legal
  obligations
  

41
The UN common understanding on the HRBA
GOAL
All programmes of development co-operation,
policies and technical assistance should further
the realization of human rights as laid down
in the UDHR and other international human rights
instruments
PROCESS
Human rights standards and principles guide all
development cooperation and programming in all s
ectors and phases
of the programming process
OUTCOME
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
42
UN common understanding on HRBA/Basic principles

• Universality and inalienability
• Indivisibility
• Interdependence and Inter-relatedness
• Equality and non-discrimination
• Participation and inclusion
• Accountability and rule of law

43
Session 5 (Optional) human rights-based
approaches to health

• Human rights are values in themselves
• Definition of health as a complete state
  ofwell-being
  
• All health policies based on value-judgments
• Respect for human rights promotes health
• HIV/AIDS, maternal health, adolescent health,
  GBV
  
• Human rights are an advocacy tool
• Disabilities, climate change and health
• Human rights offer a consistent conceptual
  framework
  
• Environmental health water, sanitation,
  participation, transparency, accountability.
  

44
Why link health with human rights?

• Human rights violations worsen health
• E.g. discriminating health care programmes that
  exclude vulnerable groups
  
• Public health measures may violate human rights
• E.g. involuntary sterilization of women and men
  from certain population groups
  
• E.g. breach of confidentiality of HIV test
  results
  
• Promotion of human rights improves health
• E.g. informing people of environmental health
  hazards
  
• Respecting the confidentiality of HIV test
  results
  
• Improvement of health improves human rights
  conditions
  
• Improvement of health care for disabled children
  promotes rights to education, work,
  participation, etc.
  

45
HIV/AIDS human rights

• HIV exceptionalism human rights policies are
  also good HIV/AIDS policies
  
• HIV tests consent, counseling and
  confidentiality
  
• Access to treatment
• Non-discrimination in education, employment,
  travel, etc.
  
• Rights of SWs, MSMs, IDUs, women young people,
  etc.
  
• 90-95 unaware of HIV positive status ? scaling
  up of testing
  
• Voluntary Counseling and Testing vs. PITC
• Is PITC allowed/prohibited/necessitated by HRs?
• WHOUNAIDS PITC allowed in high-prevalence
  settings, when 3 cs are observed

46
Human rights and disabilities

• From subjects to right-holders
• Convention of the Rights on Persons with
  Disabilities
  
• Why a special convention?
• Amendments to policies laws equality,
  education, privacy, health services,
  independence, access, community life, marriage
  
• Open questions legal capacity, reproductive
  health, effective implementation

47
Gender, women health

• Issues e.g. reproductive health, maternal
  health, gender-based violence
  
• CEDAW General Recommendation No 24 Women and
  Health
  
• Non-discrimination in health care, esp. in rural
  areas family planning, pregnancy
  
• Equality in health care no requirements for
  spouse authorization/marital status
  
• Rights to information, education
• Equal rights in marriage

48
Protection of health vs. restriction of human ri
ghts

• Conflicts between HRs and health
• Drug-resistant TB / Avian influenza vs. freedom
  of movement
  
• Public health vs. freedom of thought?
• Siracusa principles legal, legitimate,
  non-arbitrary
  
• Conflicts among rights?
• HIV/AIDS individual freedoms versus the right to
  health
  
• Protection against XDR-TB right to health
• Is this good for human rights advocacy?

49
Session 6 (optional) human rights and environme
nt/climate change
If we are people who seek development by destro
ying our own land, we are people without a
future Environmental activist, Addu Atoll
(Maldives), 2008 We shall require a substantia
lly new manner of thinking if mankind is to
survive. Albert Einstein you can murder land
for private profit.  You can leave the corpse
for all to see, and nobody calls the cops.  Paul
Brooks You forget that the fruits belong to a
ll and that the land belongs to no one. 
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

50
Human rights and environmental/natural disasters

• Natural, manmade and environmental disasters
  including earthquakes (e.g. Pakistan, 2005, China
  2008), tsunamis (e.g. Asia, 2004), storms and
  floods (e.g. New Orleans, 2005) and others
  (cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, 2008) always result
  in the destruction of housing that invariably
  result in the large-scale displacement of people
  from their homes, lands and properties.
• In many settings, those displaced return home
  once conditions so permit, and quickly begin the
  long and difficult task of rebuilding their
  former lives.
• All too often, however, in other cases the
  displaced are arbitrarily and/or unlawfully
  prevented from returning to and recovering their
  homes, and/or otherwise involuntarily relocated
  to resettlement sites despite their wishes to
  return home. This problem was particularly
  prevalent following the 2004 Asian tsunami.
• The loss of homes and displacement impact on the
  whole spectrum of rights

51
Linkages between human rights and
environment/climate change

• Reflected in developments relating to human
  rights and in the activities of international
  organizations
  
• Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration (on access to
  information, participation and effective
  remedies) even if not comprehensive - has
  played an important role in fostering connections
  between human rights and environment
• Human rights treaties address environmental
  issues as well as include the value of the
  environment in their systems of protection, such
  as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and
  ILO Convention 169 concerning Indigenous and
  Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries
• Substantial body of case law and decisions at the
  international, regional and national level has
  recognized the violation of a fundamental human
  right as the cause, or result, of environmental
  degradation
• At the national level, the right to a healthy
  environment (or a related formulation) has been
  formally recognized in many national
  constitutions enacted since 1992
• The 2007 Male Declaration recognizes the human
  rights dimension of climate change
  

52
A new area of work Human rights and climate cha
nge

• In March 2008, the UN Human Rights Council
  adopted by consensus a resolution tabled by the
  Maldives Government on the subject of human
  rights and climate change, requesting OHCHR to
  prepare a study on the subject for 2009 and
  encouraging member states to contribute to the
  study
• In the context of the development work, many
  issues addressed by UN programmes have strong
  linkages with the impact of climate change
  
• UNCT can therefore support in many ways the
  initiative launched at the international level by
  the Government of Maldives

53
Human rights and climate change

• Taking a human rights approach to climate
  change, grounded as the international human
  rights regime is, in the principle of the
  inherent dignity of the human person, implies
  that it is not so much the total numbers of those
  displaced that matter, but rather the fact that
  each and every single person who is forced from
  their home, against their will, must have a
  remedy available to them which respects their
  rights, protects their rights and, if necessary,
  fulfils their rights as recognised under
  international human rights law Scott Leckie,
  Lecture on the human rights implications of
  climate change, February 2008, Male

54
Some examples of the relationship between human
rights, environment and climate change

• Right to life Where death resulted from manmade
  environmental disasters or the mismanagement of
  natural disasters
  
• Right to respect private and family life Forms
  of environmental degradation which might be
  attributed to the State, in particular for its
  failure to prevent environmental degradation by
  private actors
• Right to property/housing Forms of environmental
  degradation result in a substantial fall in the
  value of the property, provided that the State
  may be held responsible and that the economic
  loss has not been adequately compensated by the
  State
• Right to information Failure to inform the
  public about the imminence of a manmade or
  natural disaster
  

55
Some examples of the relationship between human
rights, environment and climate change

• Right to an adequate standard of living During
  the emergency phase of a environmental/natural
  disaster, affected communities should be provided
  with adequate food, water and sanitation,
  shelter, clothing and essential health services
  without any forms of discrimination
• Right to freedom of movement Persons displaced
  by environmental/natural disaster/climate change
  should be provided with the information necessary
  to exercise their right to decide freely where
  they want to live
• Freedom of expression Mechanisms should be
  established to enable communities to give
  feedback and raise complaints or grievances on
  the disaster relief, recovery and reconstruction
  response as well as the Government response to
  climate change. Efforts should be made to ensure
  that women and persons with special needs e.g.
  children, older persons, persons with
  disabilities and single-headed households are
  specially consulted and can participate in all
  aspects of the disaster response

56
Added value of linking human rights to environme
nt and climate change

• National level It provides legal protection for
  victims of environmental harm accountability
  link (claim holders/duty bearers) NHRIs
  
• International level Allow victims of
  environmental harm the right to bring
  complaints/concerns against the State through the
  mechanisms and procedures established under the
  UN human rights treaties (reporting process to UN
  treaty bodies and individual complaints
  mechanisms) as well as the special procedures of
  the Human Rights Council

57

Session 7 Operational features of human rights
approaches to development

• Explicit reference to the international and
  national human rights norms and standards
  
• Non-discrimination as a guiding principle for
  protecting groups at risk
  
• HRBA should give an equal attention to process
  and substance

58

A human rights approach to the process of
formulating, implementing and monitoring
development policies and programmes

• Participation What is the method used to
  identify those who will participate? Who
  represents civil society during the
  consultations? What are the criteria for
  selecting the representatives of civil society?
  How to include community based groups, especially
  those located in the remote areas? Is the quality
  of participation being monitored?
• Access to information What kind of information
  is made available? Is it understandable to
  non-technicians? Is it available in Dhivehi? What
  are the methods of dissemination?
• Accountability Do the UN, government, and other
  relevant actors report to the public and civil
  society on their programmes and the extent to
  which they have or have not integrated comments
  gathered during the consultations?

59

A human rights approach to the content of
development policies and programmes

• The programme or policy should
• Contain an explicit link to international human
  rights norms and standards and concluding
  observations of the UN treaty bodies (See
  exercise 1)
• Identify right-holders and duty-bearers (See
  exercise 1)
  
• Strengthen the capacity to claim of right-holders
  and the capacity to comply of duty-bearers (See
  exercise 1)
  
• Not discriminate against other groups or rights
  (See exercise 2)
  
• Contain monitoring mechanisms (See exercise 2)
• Contain human rights indicators (See exercise 2)

60

A human rights approach to the content of
development policies and programmes
Non-discrimination

• The programme should
• Apply a differential focus in terms of gender,
  social status, disability, age etc
  
• Ensure that rights of others outside this group
  are not violated
  
• Ensure that other rights are not negatively
  affected
  

61
A human rights approach to the content of
development policies and programmes Monitoring
and Evaluation

• What to measure?
• Programme performance (Impact, Outcomes, Output)
• Programme process Participation, accountability
  and non-discrimination
  
• Programme context
• existence of laws, policies and institutional
  mechanisms
  
• Duty-bearers efforts to meet their obligations
• Right-holders disparities in enjoying rights

based on human rights principles
Based on claims and obligations in human rights
standards
Under HRBA, the monitoring of the context is
equally important as the monitoring of the
programme
62
A human rights approach to the content of
development policies and programmes Human rights
indicators

• Various initiatives
• Micro-thesauri A Tool for Documenting Human
  Rights Violations, HURIDOCS 2001,
  http//www.huridocs.org
  
• Database with general qualitative information
  (provided by Member States) on Parliamentary
  Human Rights Bodies http//www.ipu.org/parline-e
  /Instanceadvanced.asp
• In Nepal, the Informal Sector Service Centre
  (INSEC) has been producing a Human Right Yearbook
  since 1992 (http//www.benetech,org)
  
• Socio-economic statistics of relevance to human
  rights monitoring, see initiative by the Human
  Rights Commission in South Africa (SAHRC),
  http//www.sahrc.org.za/
• The Manual for the Development of system of
  Criminal Justice Statistics-2003,
  http//unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/crime/index.htm
  
• Indicators on HRBA, a users guide (UNDP),
  http//www.undp.org/oslocentre/docs06/HRBA20indic
  ators20guide.pdf
  
• Project on human rights indicators
  http//www.jus.uio.no/forskning/grupper/humrdev/in
  dicators.html
  
• .

63
Typology of human rights indicators

• Structural Indicators
• Process Indicators
• Outcome Indicators

64
Structural indicators

• Reflect the ratification / adoption of legal
  instruments and existence of basic institutional
  mechanisms deemed necessary for facilitating
  realisation of the concerned human right.
• E.g.
• Number of human rights conventions ratified that
  are related to the concerned human right
  
• Major constitutional measures and legal-
  regulatory safeguards to protect the concerned
  human right
  
• Nature of public and civil society institutional
  mechanisms at local level that assist in the
  promotion and protection of the concerned human
  rights
• Establishment of a national human rights
  institution and/or national preventive mechanism
  on torture
  
• Existence of a government mechanism following up
  concluding observations of treaty bodies as well
  as communications and recommendations of the
  special procedures of the Human Rights Council

65
Process indicators

• Relate the State policy instruments with
  milestones (which cumulate into outcomes that can
  be more directly related to realisation of
  rights), hence capture accountability as well as
  the notion of progressive realisation.
• E.g.
• of complaints received by National Human Rights
  Institutions categorized by type of human rights
  violations
  
• of replies from the Government to
  communications of special procedures
  
• of places of detention visited by the national
  preventive mechanism (torture)
  
• of publicly available draft governments
  policies and legislation that is accessible to
  the public (right to information)
  
• Proportion of the total number of Government
  staff, UN staff, NHRIs staff and human rights
  NGOs successfully trained on the IHRL and UN
  human rights mechanisms
• Production of core document and/or treaty
  specific report(s) through genuine consultation
  
• Proportion of displaced or evicted persons
  rehabilitated / resettled over a five year period
  (right to housing)
  
• Proportion of vulnerable population (children,
  expectant mothers, aged persons) covered under
  public nutrition supplement programme (Right to
  food)

66
Outcome indicators

• Capture attainments, individual and collective,
  that reflect the status of realisation of human
  rights in a given context. E.g.
  
• of complaints investigated by National Human
  Rights Institutions
  
• of complaints settled by National Human Rights
  Institutions
  
• of legislation that is human rights compliant
• Proportion of perpetrators of the reported cases,
  identified and brought to justice (right to life,
  violence against women, torture)
  
• Average time spent by an under-trial in police
  custody before judicial examination (fair
  trial/arbitrary detention/torture)
  
• Minimum floor space and cubic content of air for
  each detainee (torture, see HRC decision Albert
  Womah Mukong v. Cameroon )
  
• of total number of detainees with a separate
  bed (human treatment/torture)
  
• Average household expenditure on food for the
  bottom three deciles of population (Right to food
  accessibility)
  
• Proportion of households spending more than X
  percent of their monthly income/ expenditure on
  housing (Right to housing affordability)
  
• Life expectancy at birth (right to health)
• of GDP invested in infrastructure dedicated to
  water and sanitation (Right to drinking water)
  

67
Session 8 Exercise 2 Your HRBA challenges

• Participants will identify the HRBA challenges of
  their Units
  
• Each Unit will focus on one or two projects
• Reference doc. Quality check-list (annex 4)
• Objectives
• Approach development work with a different
  mindset to redirect and restructure attention in
  policy analysis and action
  
• Provide a practical methodology to apply HRBA
  (quality check-list)
  

68
I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in
doubt or when the self becomes too much with you,
apply the following test Recall the face of the
poorest and weakest man whom you may have seen,
and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is
going to be of any use to him. Will he gain
anything by it? Will it restore him to a control
over his own life and destiny? Then you will
find your doubts and your self melting away
(Mahatma Gandhi)
Session 9 Lessons learned from Maldives
69
Rights-based assessment HRBA training

• A rights-based assessment of the UN programming
  in Maldives was conducted from January to March
  2008 in close consultation with programme
  officers of UNDP, UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA
• The present training was conducted for all UN
  staff from May to June 2008
  

70
Lessons learned and recommendations (from the ri
ghts-based assessment)

• In the context of the Governments reform agenda,
  the introduction of HRBA to UNCT and other
  development agencies in Maldives is timely
  
• The differentiation between rights-holders and
  duty-bearers was thought to be useful
  
• HRBA help to increase public trust in the use of
  funds by Government and development agencies
  
• HRBA help to challenge top-down approaches
• Need to increase awareness about HRBA at the
  policy level
  

71
Lessons learned and recommendations (from the ri
ghts-based assessment)

• Getting rights-holders and duty-bearers to take
  ownership of projects remains a challenge
  
• HRBA provides more efficient and satisfactory
  outcomes for communities
  
• To make explicit links to international human
  rights norms and standards
  
• To better inform rights-holders about their
  rights and duty-bearers about their obligations
  
• To increase coordination between UN agencies to
  ensure that HRBA is applied in programming
  

72
Lessons learned and recommendations (from the
HRBA training)

• Lack of knowledge about human rights and HRBA
  among rights-holders and duty bearers, including
  implementing partners
  
• The need to monitor the quality of participation
• Lack of access to information
• Lack of empowerment of rights holders to hold
  duty bearers accountable (limited mechanisms for
  reaching the community, e.g., civil society)
  
• Need for more rights-based indicators (especially
  process indicators)
  
• Exercises 1 2 of the training (including the
  quality check-list) provide a practical
  methodology on how to operationalize HRBA when
  developing CCA/UNDAF, CPD, CPAP, AWP as well as
  projects
• The importance of the neutral role of the UN