Human Rights Indicators in Development : An Introduction

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 provide a 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 for both assessment and diagnostic purposes: the assessment function of human rights indicators relates to their use in monitoring accountability, effectiveness, and impact; the diagnostic purpose 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. It then moves to methodological approaches on human rights measurement, exploring in general terms different types of human rights indicators and their potential implications for development at three levels of convergence or integration. The paper therefore offers a theoretical introduction to a complex area of growing relevance in a number of areas of development that may be of interest to practitioners and scholars in a variety of institutional settings.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	McInerney-Lankford, Siobhan, Sano, Hans-Otto
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank 2010
Subjects:	ADEQUATE FOOD, ADVOCACY, ANTIDISCRIMINATION, APPLICABLE LAW, CERTIFICATION, CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, CHILD PROSTITUTION, CIVIL LIBERTIES, CIVIL SOCIETY, CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, COUNSEL, CULT, CULTURAL RIGHTS, DEGRADING TREATMENT, DEMOCRACY, DIAGNOSTIC PURPOSES, DISCRIMINATION, DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN, DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES, DISPUTE RESOLUTION, DOCUMENTS, DOMESTIC LAW, ECONOMIC RIGHTS, ELECTIONS, EPIDEMICS, EQUAL TREATMENT, EQUALITY, EU, FAIR TRIAL, FAMILIES, FREEDOM, FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION, FREEDOM OF OPINION, FREEDOMS, GOOD GOVERNANCE, HEALTH CARE, HOUSING RIGHT, HUMAN RIGHT, HUMAN RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS INSTRUMENTS, HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING, HUMAN RIGHTS NORMS, HUMAN RIGHTS PRINCIPLES, HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS, HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES, HUMAN RIGHTS TREATY, HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, INEQUALITIES, INEQUALITY, INEQUITIES, INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES, INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION, INTERNATIONAL COVENANT, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW, INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS, INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS, INTERNATIONAL LAW, INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS, INTERNATIONAL TREATIES, INTERNATIONAL TREATY, JUDICIAL SYSTEM, JUSTICE, LAWS, LEGAL AID, LEGAL ASPECTS, LEGAL FRAMEWORK, LEGAL OBLIGATION, LEGAL STATUS, LEGISLATION, LIBERTY, LIFE EXPECTANCY, MENTAL HEALTH, NONDISCRIMINATION, PARLIAMENT, POLITICAL PARTICIPATION, POLITICAL PARTIES, POLITICAL RIGHTS, PROTOCOLS, PUBLIC DEBATES, PUBLIC HEALTH, RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, RACISM, RIGHT, RIGHTS APPROACH, RIGHTS APPROACHES, SANCTIONS, SOCIAL RIGHTS, SOCIAL SECURITY, THREATS, TORTURE, UNIVERSAL DECLARATION ON HUMAN RIGHTS, VIOLENCE, WORLD CONFERENCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333038_20101116232436 https://hdl.handle.net/10986/2529
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