Asian Sub-regional Workshop on "Using Indicators
to Promote and Monitor the Implementation
of Human Rights"
New Delhi July 28, 2007
The National Human Rights Commission organized an "Asian Sub-regional Workshop on Using Indicators to Promote and Monitor the Implementation of Human Rights" in collaboration with the Office of UN, High Commissioner for Human Rights and Institute for Human Development. The three day Workshop from July 26 to 28, 2007 was inaugurated by Justice Shri K.G. Balakrishnan, Chief Justice of India.
In his inaugural address, Justice Shri Balakrishnan said that international human rights standards embodied universal values of respect for human dignity and well-being. He said that they not only provide the foundations of humane, just and progressive society but also a normative framework for the formulation of national and international policies and strategies for human development. He, further, highlighted that each country or region may have its own recognized notions of what rights and freedoms are essential and their priorities. He expressed concern at the gap between rhetoric and reality while observing human rights standards. Justice Balakrishnan stressed that this gap can be filled by bringing together the respective strengths of different institutions of the society - the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Referring to the use of statistics and quantitative indicators for implementing human rights standards, the Chief Justice said if identified appropriately the indicators can help in concretizing the normative content of human rights and facilitate enforcement.
Justice Shri S. Rajendra Babu, Chairperson, NHRC, in his address referred to the recent resolution adopted by UN Council for Human Rights(UNCHR) which endorsed inviting National Human Rights Institutions to participate in all agenda items besides becoming a first recourse for complaint remedy. He said that with this the importance and responsibility of NHRIs in protecting and promoting human rights has increased. He said that there is a need to develop indicators and also to understand them in the rights perspective and interpret them taking into account the economic and political context. Justice Shri S. Rajendra Babu said that no single set of indicators would be able to provide universally applicable information. He, however, cautioned that indicators are essentially tool to help policy-makers to plan and evaluate their work and not an end in themselves.
Shri R.K.Bhargava, Secretary General, NHRC introduced the concept of the Workshop and said that the primary objective of the Workshop was to show the relevance and raise awareness about using commonly available statistical information and appropriate indicators in promoting and monitoring implementation of human rights. Shri Bhargava said that the human rights community has always struggled in engaging the policy makers and the statistical community to raise their sensitivity about human rights commitments of the State. He also said that we had been short of credible tools that can effectively translate the narratives on human rights standards into concrete quantitative indicators for use in policy formulation and implementation.
Dr. Arjun Sengupta, Chairman, National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector in his keynote address stressed that the indicator should reflect both the outcome and how it is to be achieved. He said both duty holder and duties are to be identified to maintain dignity.
The three day discussions worked on identifying the issues which can be the indicators for Human Rights. The panel discussions included Speakers like Justice Shri R.C. Lahoti, (former Chief Justice of India), Dr. K.P. Kanan, Member National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector; Dr. Pronab Sen, CSI and Secretary Government of India; Dr. Madhu Kishwar, Editor Manushi; Shri Amarjeet Sinha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Dr. A.K. Shiv Kumar, Advisor, UNICEF; Prof. Upender Baxi, Former Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University; K.L. Dutta, Adviser, Panning Commission; Amb. Swashpawan Singh, PR of India to UN and Smt Shanta Sinha, Chairperson NCPCR.
The Chairperson and all the Members of NHRC chaired different sessions of the Workshop. Smt Aruna Sharma, Joint Secretary, NHRC and Shri Rajeev Malhotra from UN-OHCHR were the Workshop coordinators.
The participants shared their country experience in the design, implementation and monitoring of policy framework and strategies to address three different issues. The issues included Right to Health - in terms of accessibility, availability and affordability- illustrating economic, social and cultural rights; analysis of criminal justice system - deaths in custody, encounter deaths, custodial violence, duration of under trials in jails - illustrating civil and political rights; and poverty which prevents choice for livelihood, education, food security and access to health - as developmental issue.
The Workshop brought together human rights stakeholders, namely, National Human Rights Institutions, policymakers, national statistical agencies and some civil society representatives, primarily from South Asia. The countries represented at the Workshop were: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka.
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The National Human Rights Commission organized an "Asian Sub-regional Workshop on Using Indicators to Promote and Monitor the Implementation of Human Rights" in collaboration with the Office of UN, High Commissioner for Human Rights and Institute for Human Development. The three day Workshop from July 26 to 28, 2007 was inaugurated by Justice Shri K.G. Balakrishnan, Chief Justice of India.
In his inaugural address, Justice Shri Balakrishnan said that international human rights standards embodied universal values of respect for human dignity and well-being. He said that they not only provide the foundations of humane, just and progressive society but also a normative framework for the formulation of national and international policies and strategies for human development. He, further, highlighted that each country or region may have its own recognized notions of what rights and freedoms are essential and their priorities. He expressed concern at the gap between rhetoric and reality while observing human rights standards. Justice Balakrishnan stressed that this gap can be filled by bringing together the respective strengths of different institutions of the society - the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Referring to the use of statistics and quantitative indicators for implementing human rights standards, the Chief Justice said if identified appropriately the indicators can help in concretizing the normative content of human rights and facilitate enforcement.
Justice Shri S. Rajendra Babu, Chairperson, NHRC, in his address referred to the recent resolution adopted by UN Council for Human Rights(UNCHR) which endorsed inviting National Human Rights Institutions to participate in all agenda items besides becoming a first recourse for complaint remedy. He said that with this the importance and responsibility of NHRIs in protecting and promoting human rights has increased. He said that there is a need to develop indicators and also to understand them in the rights perspective and interpret them taking into account the economic and political context. Justice Shri S. Rajendra Babu said that no single set of indicators would be able to provide universally applicable information. He, however, cautioned that indicators are essentially tool to help policy-makers to plan and evaluate their work and not an end in themselves.
Shri R.K.Bhargava, Secretary General, NHRC introduced the concept of the Workshop and said that the primary objective of the Workshop was to show the relevance and raise awareness about using commonly available statistical information and appropriate indicators in promoting and monitoring implementation of human rights. Shri Bhargava said that the human rights community has always struggled in engaging the policy makers and the statistical community to raise their sensitivity about human rights commitments of the State. He also said that we had been short of credible tools that can effectively translate the narratives on human rights standards into concrete quantitative indicators for use in policy formulation and implementation.
Dr. Arjun Sengupta, Chairman, National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector in his keynote address stressed that the indicator should reflect both the outcome and how it is to be achieved. He said both duty holder and duties are to be identified to maintain dignity.
The three day discussions worked on identifying the issues which can be the indicators for Human Rights. The panel discussions included Speakers like Justice Shri R.C. Lahoti, (former Chief Justice of India), Dr. K.P. Kanan, Member National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganized Sector; Dr. Pronab Sen, CSI and Secretary Government of India; Dr. Madhu Kishwar, Editor Manushi; Shri Amarjeet Sinha, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Dr. A.K. Shiv Kumar, Advisor, UNICEF; Prof. Upender Baxi, Former Vice-Chancellor of Delhi University; K.L. Dutta, Adviser, Panning Commission; Amb. Swashpawan Singh, PR of India to UN and Smt Shanta Sinha, Chairperson NCPCR.
The Chairperson and all the Members of NHRC chaired different sessions of the Workshop. Smt Aruna Sharma, Joint Secretary, NHRC and Shri Rajeev Malhotra from UN-OHCHR were the Workshop coordinators.
The participants shared their country experience in the design, implementation and monitoring of policy framework and strategies to address three different issues. The issues included Right to Health - in terms of accessibility, availability and affordability- illustrating economic, social and cultural rights; analysis of criminal justice system - deaths in custody, encounter deaths, custodial violence, duration of under trials in jails - illustrating civil and political rights; and poverty which prevents choice for livelihood, education, food security and access to health - as developmental issue.
The Workshop brought together human rights stakeholders, namely, National Human Rights Institutions, policymakers, national statistical agencies and some civil society representatives, primarily from South Asia. The countries represented at the Workshop were: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Sri Lanka.
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