Human Rights Impact Resource Centre HRIRC

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Human Rights Impact Resource Centre (HRIRC)

• John Lannon
• Jan de Vries

www.humanrightsimpact.org
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Presentation Overview

• About the HRIRC
• Background
• Initial Needs Assessment
• System Overview How it Works
• Beta Release
• Next Steps
• Stakeholder and Partner Opportunities

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What is the HRIRC?
An online database, designed to bring together as
much information and documentation as possible on
Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA)

• Developed and managed by HOM
• A resource for policy makers, NGOs, academics and
  others working in the area of HRIA
• General source of information for anyone who
  wants to know about HRIA
• Phase 1 launched in July 2006

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Site Map (Layout)
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Background

• HRIA expert meeting in November 2004 called for
  better cooperation and exchange of information
• HOM committed itself to work on ways to enhance
  cooperation and facilitate formal information
  exchange on HRIA

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Needs Assessment

• Primary sources of input for HRIRC design were
• HOM staff
• Online questionnaire sent to stakeholders
  included policy makers, NGOs and academics
• Conducted in July 2005
• 59 Responses
• Follow-up interviews and meetings with key
  stakeholders

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Needs Assessment Findings

• Stakeholders need access to comprehensive and
  structured HRIA information at many different
  levels
• Stakeholders (including HOM) want to provide a
  wide audiences with access to HRIA tools,
  instruments, case studies, etc.
• Stakeholders want to contact and learn from other
  organisations
• Stakeholders need to learn more about the various
  applications of HRIA
• Organisations and networks wish to provide
  integrated access to the broadest possible range
  of human rights/development information

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Questionnaire Results

• Proposed system seen as having the potential to
  bridge a gap between HRIA objectives and the
  implementation of these objectives
• Perceived need for a system that enables and
  promotes a systematic approach to HRIA
• General emphasis on simplifying and organising
  the existing information on HRIA, rather than on
  providing more information
• Interest in helping organisations to incorporate
  HRIA into rights areas (such as child rights)

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Questionnaire Results (continued)

• Different needs NGOs interested in broad HRIA
  information governmental and inter-governmental
  institutions more interested in specific
  instruments and tools
• Emphasis in online system should be on a simple
  and easy-to-navigate layout. Complex user
  interfaces should be avoided.
• General willingness amongst a high number of
  organisations to contribute content

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How the System Works
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Implementation

• Based on open source Content Management System
  TYPO3
• Uses metadata - defined set of fields for sharing
  of information between websites
• Contains RSS Feeds to provide access to news
  sources
• Built-in search feature
• Linked into other search tools such as HURISEARCH

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Beta Release

• Beta Release 15 Feb 10 Mar (2006)
• Feedback from 30 people (21 from outside HOM)
• Issues raised covered content, design and
  presentation

We think that the HRIRC has a very clear layout,
with a practical menu tool and a very accurate
search tool
brings together the information that is
available on HRIA in a structured way. This
certainly increases the accessibility and
overview of the issue
non-specialists that we would all wish to
carry out such human rights impact assessments
may be discouraged by the complexity of the
exercise, as presented on the web-site
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HRIRC Usage

• October statistics
• 3048 different visits to the website
• Visitors came from 1346 different locations
• On average, 360 different pages of information
  read every day

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HRIRC User Countries
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Next Phases - Objectives

• Information Management
• Single repository for all HRIA-related
  information
• Stakeholders throughout the world work together
  with HOM to develop HRIA strategies, approaches,
  instruments and tools
• Networking and Communications
• Worldwide network of people and organisations
  that are interested in HRIA
• Ongoing clarification of concepts issues
• Education Training and Capacity Building
• Online delivery of training and education
  programmes
• Collaborative development of training and
  education material
• Access to all instruments and tools

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Next Steps

• Extend content (ongoing)
• Promote HRIRC
• Technical advisory group
• Content management groups set up (not limited to
  HOM)
• Develop new networking and information
  dissemination modules
• Collaborative work environment (secure access)
• HRIA concepts and methodologies developed and
  presented
• Online training workshops

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Stakeholder and Partner Opportunities

• Contribute content
• Become content editors
• Promote HRIRC
• Identify functional priorities
• Provide technical direction