V. >> F ramework in Practice - Implementing and Monitoring Rights >> Using indicators for human rights Box 27 IBSA as a tool for human rights monitoring IBSA stands for Indicators, Benchmarks, Scoping and Assessment. It refers to an initiative of the University of Mannheim, Germany, in collaboration with the NGO FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN International), to set in motion and institutionalize a process to encourage the use of indicators and benchmarks for assessing the compliance of State parties with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The IBSA mechanism essentially contains four elements: (i) indicators representing the core content of the Covenant’s rights; (ii) the use of benchmarks as target points for implementation of those rights; (iii) the process of scoping enabling a joint mechanism involving the Committee and the State party to identify and agree on the indicators and the corresponding benchmarks for monitoring during a given period of time; and (iv) a periodic assessment of the mechanism’s results. During 2004–09, the IBSA initiative first identified indicators for the right to adequate food, followed by a process of practical validation of these indicators at country level. The first phase resulted in 37 right-to-food indicators, which in the course of the second phase were reduced to 25. OHCHR worked closely with the IBSA process in the two phases and contributed to the identification and validation of the indicators. As a result, their two sets of indicators for the right to adequate food correspond closely. Sources: Eibe Riedel, “The IBSA procedure as a tool of human rights monitoring” (University of Mannheim); FIAN International (www.fian.org). 2 Performance monitoring By translating human rights norms and principles and the corresponding obligations into concrete indicators, the conceptual and methodological framework presented in this Guide shows the possibilities of recognizing and applying human rights standards in specific development programmes and public interventions. This helps in putting rights- based programming on a more explicit human rights footing.6 It could also put local programming initiatives in a larger human rights perspective. A comparison of the indicator framework for human rights compliance assessments and that for performance assessments of development programmes, presented in figure XII, clarifies these links. 6. See also “The human rights based approach to development cooperation: Towards a common understanding among UN agencies”. Human Rights Indicators 109