Introduction HRIA
Impact assessment refers to the process of identifying consequences of a past, current or proposed action. Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) refers to measuring impact of policies, programmes, projects and interventions on human rights. Thus HRIA is specifically meant for identifying consequences of actions regarding human rights.
Different types of HRIA
HRIA can be distinguished into four types according to two factors:
1) On what type of action is an HRIA performed?
- HRIA for actions that are specifically designed to have an impact on human rights. HRIA can then be used to determine the way in which an action will have a maximum positive impact
- HRIA for activities and interventions that are not specifically designed to have an impact on human rights, but could impact on human rights indirectly. This assists in systematically determining whether activities sufficiently take human rights into account. This type of HRIA should be used to avoid any negative impact on human rights. An example of it is the assessment of the impact of a company’s mining operations on the right to health.
2) When is the HRIA done?
- HRIA that is done before the activity takes place. This type is called ex ante HRIA.
- HRIA that is done after the activity has taken place. This type is called ex post HRIA. In this type the impact of the activity on human rights is measured.
The types can be combined. Thus you can perform an HRIA of any type of action before or after the action takes place. The type of action and timing of the HRIA are important as they have different added value.