Conceptualizing Indicators
for Human Rights
Human rights can never be fully measured in statistics; the
qualitative aspects are too essential. The conclusion, however, is not
that the human rights community should avoid using quantitative
facts, but rather learn how to use them. The challenge is to develop
a know-how on how to plan such fact-finding, to assemble the
data, to organize them meaningfully and to present and disseminate them properly—in order that high standards of relevance and
reliability be met.
Thomas Hammarberg1
Human rights are articulated as provisions in various
human rights instruments. Their normative content is
constantly elaborated and interpreted by authoritative human rights mechanisms, such as the international human rights system and its jurisprudence.2
Moreover, while treaty bodies monitor the realization of the multiple human rights set out in their treaties, the other human rights mechanisms, such as
special procedures, may focus just on the promotion
and protection of specific human rights. This complex and evolving nature of human rights standards
makes it necessary to have a well-structured, yet
sufficiently flexible framework to identify indicators
that would assist in measuring and implementing
human rights. In building this framework, this chapter
addresses the following:
Learning objectives
1
2
3
4
What are the main issues
to be addressed in human
rights measurement?
What is the conceptual
framework for identifying
indicators: the notion of
attributes, and structural,
process and outcome
indicators, indicators for
cross-cutting human rights
norms?
Some specific issues
in conceptualizing
indicators—
interdependence and
indivisibility of rights;
measuring the obligation
to respect, protect
and fulfil
Importance of
context-specific indicators
1. Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights (2006 -2012) in his address at the Montreux Conference on “Statistics,
Development and Human Rights”, September 2000.
2. It includes the general comments and recommendations of the various treaty-monitoring committees and the work of the special
procedures of the Human Rights Council (see chap. I).
Human Rights Indicators
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