Challenges in HRIA Planning and Implementation

A number of challenges arise in the planning and implementation of human rights impact assessment. Four of these are discussed here.

1. Impact on human rights

To determine the impact of policies on human rights, it is necessary to establish whether policies violate human rights. This can be facilitated by drawing a distinction between two interrelated aspects of human rights, namely substantive human rights and human rights principles.

In the first instance HRIAs can evaluate whether a policy affects substantive human rights. To do this, the major attributes of a particular right should be identified. An interesting example of the impact of a policy on a substantive human right is provided by a Dutch study on the impact on the right to health of women of the closing of prostitution areas – called Tippelzones – in The Netherlands. The closing of these Tippelzones prevented the women working there from accessing adapted health facilities. This violated an important attribute of their right to health, namely the accessibility of health facilities. Discrimination is also an important aspect relating to substantive human rights, and HRIAs must consider whether the impact of a policy varies according to the different categories of people affected by it. With the closure of the Tippelzones,  women living in difficult conditions were penalised for the trouble caused by the men around their workplace. Their resultant lack of protection, however, benefited these men, because they had to work in areas away from public scrutiny.

HRIAs can also evaluate compliance with human rights principles. These relate most notably to accountability, empowerment, and non-discrimination. Human rights principles focus on the process of human rights implementation. They are concerned with the manner in which policies are made. An example of the violation of a human rights principle, again, was the non-consultation of the women affected by the closing of the Tippelzones in The Netherlands.

2. Role of Human Rights Indicators

HRIAs need indicators to assess compliance with human rights. More specifically, they need human rights indicators to evaluate the human rights situation before the adoption of a policy, and to determine the actual impact of the policy on human rights. However it is important that indicators are not over-used, and strategies have been developed to ensure this. For more information, see Human Rights Indicators.

3. Time-framework for HRIAs

With regard to timing, HRIAs can be divided into ex ante HRIAs and ex post HRIAs. They are inderdependent and both form an ongoing process that must be repeated several times to fully capture impact. HRIAs, therefore, need a cyclical approach.

Ex ante HRIAs aim to evaluate the potential impact of policies on human rights. Their objective is to prevent states from violating human rights and they must be carried out at the earliest possible stage. If carried out too late, ex ante HRIAs will not be able to influence decision makers. Furthermore impact assessments need to be started early as they are generally a long process.

Ex post HRIAs aim to determine the actual impact of policies on human rights. They determine how policies affect human rights in reality. Ex post HRIAs need to be carried out at different intervals after the implementation of a policy in order to capture long-term impact, and not just short-term and medium-term impact.

4. Participation of Various Actors

HRIAs require the participation of various actors, five of which can be distinguished.

• Policy makers have a primary role in the implementation of human rights as they are responsible for conducting HRIAs.
• Human rights experts have a key role in undertaking HRIAs. As they have extensive knowledge in this field they can help policy makers by determining whether policies comply with international human rights law.
• Civil society organisations can enlighten policy makers on the impact of their policies on the life of affected people. As there are usually large numbers of these that could or would wish to take part, there should be a selection of which ones participate in HRIAs.
• National human rights institutions can play an important role in HRIAs. They can assess the human rights compliance of draft legislation and can facilitate discussions between policy makers, experts and civil society on HRIA.
• The ones affected by an intervention should also participate in HRIA. This way they can be consulted regarding policies that might affect them.