V. >> F ramework in Practice - Implementing and Monitoring Rights >> Using indicators for human rights However, in itself, it may not say much on a country’s human rights situation. It is possible that its “quality of ratification” is weak owing to several reservations that it may have on the treaty provisions. It also does not indicate whether the obligations flowing from ratification are being implemented. Nevertheless, Box 29 it is an indicator that, when presented graphically like this, advocacy groups and human rights stakeholders may find useful for providing an overview of the status of treaty ratification of their countries (see annex I for the metadata sheet on this indicator). Development of a human rights measurement framework in the United Kingdom The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in partnership with the Scottish Human Rights Commission (both accredited with “A” status by the Sub-Committee on Accreditation of the International Coordinating Committee) has worked on the development of a human rights measurement framework (HRMF) for England, Scotland and Wales. The framework aims to provide a set of indicators to measure human rights progress and help EHRC in fulfilling its monitoring and reporting mandate, including for Parliament. The project is an offshoot of the equality measurement framework, which recommended a list of statistical indicators to monitor (in)equality across a range of domains relevant to human rights, including health, education, physical security and participation, and with special attention to prohibited grounds of discrimination, namely age, disability, ethnicity, gender, religion or belief, sexual orientation, transgender and social class. The consultations on this work highlighted a need to develop a more complete set of human rights indicators and recommended the use of the OHCHR framework on human rights indicators, particularly the structural and process indicators, which were outside the scope of the equality measurement framework owing to its focus on outcomes. Comments on this work also called for using not only official socioeconomic statistics but also alternative sources of data, such as events-based data collected and/or processed by human rights organizations and United Nations entities. Furthermore, disaggregation of statistics by other vulnerable or marginalized groups, such as Roma, travellers, homeless and prison population, was also recommended. Against this background, the HRMF project worked on adapting the OHCHR framework and the list of illustrative indicators on civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights for use in the United Kingdom. The project included extensive consultations with a range of government agencies, human rights and civil society organizations, as well as a dedicated website for online consultation in 2010. It covered both rights with a clear basis for enforcement in domestic law through the Human Rights Act and additional rights drawn from the international human rights instruments ratified by the United Kingdom. It included the right to life; the right to freedom from torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; the right to liberty and security of person; the right to a fair trial; the right to private and family life; the right to an adequate standard of living; the right to health; and the right to education. It brought together a broad range of information, including the statutory, regulatory and public policy framework for protecting human rights; case law; concerns highlighted by domestic and international human rights monitoring bodies; and allegations and concerns raised by civil society. The project was implemented with a research team commissioned by EHRC comprising the Centres for Analysis of Social Exclusion and for the Study of Human Rights of the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the British Institute of Human Rights. OHCHR contributed to the Advisory Group for the project. Source: EHRC, Human Rights Measurement Framework: Prototype Panels, Indicator Set and Evidence Base, research report 81 (2011), available from www.equalityhumanrights.com. Human Rights Indicators 115

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