Human Rights Impact Assessments of Trade-Related Rules and Policies: Case Study of the Right to Food

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Human Rights Impact Assessments of Trade-Related
Rules and Policies Case Study of the Right to
Food

• Simone Heri (IP4)

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Content

• Starting Point
• Objectives of the PhD
• Indicators of the Right to Food
• Structural Indicators
• Process Indicators
• Outcome Indicators
• Methodology
• Next Steps

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Starting point 1/2

• States have Human Rights obligations concurrent
  with their commitments in the area of
  international trade
• gt 150 WTO Members
• 124 parties to the ICESCR
• Every WTO Member has at least ratified one of the
  major human rights treaties
• The assessment of the empirical relationship
  between the two regimes varies from a veritable
  nightmare to trade being the panacea for
  fullfilling human rights

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Starting point 2/2

• Increasing calls for Human Rights Impact
  Assessments (HRIAs)
• The Committee strongly recommends that the
  State party evaluate the impact of the
  free-trade agreements that entered into force in
  2006 on the economic, social and cultural rights
  of the people of Morocco.
• Concluding Observations of the Committee on
  Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
  Morocco, E/C.12/MAR/CO/3 (9/2006)
• To date little research has been undertaken to
  develop methodologies and systematic tools for
  HRIAs of policies

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Objectives of the PhD project

• Develop a conceptual and methodological framework
  for HRIAs of trade-related rules and policies
• Produce a guide on conducting HRIAs for
  trade-related rules and policies and apply it to
  case studies
• Contribute to identify quantitative human rights
  indicators

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What is a HRIA?

• Help people identify and assess their rights
• Understand how trade reform can affect the
  enjoyment of those rights
• Identify ways in which government can improve
  trade policies to fulfil human rights obligations
  
• Identify ways in which the international
  community can cooperate with national governments
  to fulfil human rights obligation

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Indicators of the Right to Food

• Most critical step in HRIAs choice of indicators
• A recent study chaired by Prof. Eibe Riedel
  identified 37 indicators of the right to food
• All indicators grounded in the normative content
  of the right to food as elaborated in Art. 11
  ICESCR, General Comment 12 and the FAO Voluntary
  Guidelines to support the progressive realization
  of the right to adequate food in the context of
  national food security

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Structural Indicators

• Recognition of the right to adequate food and
  related rights
• National strategy on implementing the right to
  food
• Mechanisms to ensure a functioning market system
• Instruments to ensure cultural or traditional
  food use and nutrition
• Nutrition and nutrition adequacy legislation and
  programs
• Protection and enhancement of access to
  productive resources and labour

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Mechanisms to ensure a functioning market system

• Possible Sub-Indicators
• Regulation of the volatility / stability of food
  prices (VG 4.1)
• Promotion of the development of small-scale local
  and regional markets (VG 4.5)
• Mechanisms to ensure functioning internal
  marketing, storage, transportation,
  communication, and distribution systems (VG 4.8)
• Mechanisms to provide adequate protection to
  consumers against fraudulent market practices,
  misinformation and unsafe food (VG 4.4)
• Possible Sources of Data
• WTO, UNCTAD, National Administration, FAO, World
  Bank

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Process Indicators

• Expenditure for rural development
• Expenditure for agricultural research
• Coverage of of programs to secure or prepare
  access to productive resources
• Coverage of a social transfer scheme or food
  safety net
• Estimate of access of women and girls to adequate
  food within the household
• Percentage of judges, lawyers, prosecutors and
  administrators benefiting from education on
  esc-rights

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Outcome Indicators

• Number of starvation / malnutrition deaths
  recorded
• Percentage of malnourished population
• Percentage of population living in poverty and
  extreme poverty
• Percentage of population lacking access to
  productive resources
• Per capita availability sourced throuf domestic
  production, import and food-aid
• Proportion of population wh

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Methodology

• Conceptual framework
• Analysis of the legal content of the human right
  to adequate food
• Translation into a limited number of
  characteristic attributes
• Configuration of appropriate structural, process
  and outcome indicators
• Methodological framework
• Integrated approach case studies, economic
  modelling, econometric analysis, expert opinion,
  stakeholder consultations
• Causal chain analysis for ex ante assessments
• Elasticity indicators for vulnerable groups for
  ex post assessments

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Causal-Chain Analysis
Kirkpatrick, C. George, C. (2006).
Methodological issues in the impact assessment of
trade policy expericence from the European
Commissions Sustainability Impact Assessment
programme. Impact Assessment and Project
Appraisal, 325334.
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Elasticity Indicators

• Compare the percentage change in one variable,
  with the
• accompanying percentage change in another
  variable.
• Numerator Measures changes in, e.g., gender
  equality
• - Income / - Wages
• - Employment (export sectors / import-competing
  sectors, unemployment / under-employment rates,
  gendered job segregation)
• Denominator Measures changes in trade
• - Total value of trade of a country / region
• - Total value of trade as a share of GDP
• - Openness (measured as tariff reduction of x
  percent)

See Irene Van Staveren, Gender Indicators for
Monitoring Trade Agreements (WIDE Briefing Paper,
February 2007).
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How to integrate the results of HRIAs into
decison-making

• Decision-Making Process at the Domestic Level
• In-House Approach (e.g. Canada)
• Independent studies by external consultants (e.g.
  EC)
• Negotiations under the Doha Mandate
• General Exception Clauses and Dispute Settlement

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Next steps

• Select countries for case-studies to test the
  indicators
• Present a paper on methodology for HRIAs of
  trade-related rules and policies in November