Challenges

A HRIA tool is no guarantee of a good assessment followed by successful lobbying for improvement of a policy. There are a number of challenges, which can be divided into methodological challenges in the design of HRIA tools and practical challenges in the application of tools.

The methodological challenges refer to indicators and subjectivity; accessibility for marginalized groups; requirements of language, layout, and format; and dissemination strategies. The practical challenges describe the time investment needed to do a HRIA as well as the subsequent lobbying process, difficulties in gaining access to relevant data and the challenge of attributing policy change to the HRIA.

While HRIA developers face more methodological challenges, HRIA users face another set of challenges once they start working with a HRIA tool. Where possible, the tool should anticipate these problems and give adequate information and guidance. Depending on the intended user group of a HRIA, tools should also provide information on strategies to make the lobbying process successful (Bakker et al., 2009: 451-453).

Time

A major issue to overcome is the relatively large amount of time needed to conduct a thorough HRIA. A full assessment could take several months. Often the window of opportunity for effective lobbying does not allow for a study of months and even if it does, NGOs may not be able to spare the time. A tool that facilitates a quick scan of the main issues as well as an in-depth study will therefore serve a wider range of situations.

Participation

Participation is closely linked to the challenges of language, layout, and format. This is important for a HRIA document as a whole and depends on more than accurate wording. Participation of grassroots groups depends on the willingness of organisations that have the required language, reading and data collecting skills to involve them in the process.

Accessibility

An online, interactive tool could make a tool easier to handle. However, for those who do not have regular access to the internet a paper version is more useful.

Dissemination

Another challenge lies in the dissemination of HRIA tools. It takes more than developing a good tool to make HRIA contribute to the promotion of human rights. It also requires a sustainable strategy to disseminate the tool and introduce it to potential users. Organisations need a thorough introduction to understand whether and how they can use HRIA methodology in their work.

Information gathering

Sometimes, information is difficult to get access to, unreliable or absent. In those situations a HRIA can help identifying information gaps and exposing the potential abuse of the rights to information. In other cases, the lack of data is related to a lack of financial and human resources; a lack of knowledge about data collection; and a lack of agreement on the type of data to be collected. HRIA tools make a – limited – contribution to improvements in this field by increasing knowledge of the type of information that needs to be collected.