V. >> F ramework in Practice - Implementing and Monitoring Rights >> Setting up human rights monitoring systems Fig. XXI Monitoring human rights at country level - a reality check Aspect Best practice Inadequate response Political commitment Senior political sponsorship or democratic regime, well-defined human rights responsibilities Reluctant or undemocratic regime, human rights insensitive, dispersed responsibilities Ministries and administrative organizations Clear mandate and comprehensive coverage of issues, aware of human rights obligations, well organized to collect and disseminate data Overlapping or diffused mandates, human rights insensitive or ignorant, weak capacity or irregular data collection and dissemination National human rights institution (NHRI) Independent, organized, receives adequate funding, accessible, welldeveloped human rights plan, and capacity for monitoring and analysis Weak, ill-resourced or non-existent; inaccessible and irregular human rights plans Institutions for context-specific vulnerable groups Effective institutions, capacity to monitor rights, equal opportunities and well-being of vulnerable groups Weak, ill-resourced or non-existent; inaccessible with diffused mandate and poor credibility National statistical agency Independent, mechanism for statistical review and dissemination, willing and equipped to collect and handle human rights information from multiple sources Pliable, ill-resourced or sceptical of human rights concerns, erratic collection or dissemination of data Indicators and monitoring methodology Identified contextually relevant indicators, sound data collection methods, regular analysis / reporting Inappropriate /imported indicators, weak data collection methods and analysis, inaccessible records Reporting and follow-up on recommendations from United Nations human rights mechanisms Well-appointed secretariat and consultation process, timely reporting and follow-up procedures Ad hoc arrangements, piecemeal or non-existent consultation process, irregular or non-reporting Stakeholder engagement and civil society organizations Well-resourced, independent, visible civil society organizations, aware of United Nations instrumentation and practice Weak, limited civil society, irregular or sporadic adversarial reports, ill-informed of United Nations practice Media freedom and motivation Independent, vigorous and sensitive media, human rights literate Controlled or passive and pliable media, limited reach and credibility Right to information Enacted and uniformly enforced Not enacted or poorly enforced Source: With inputs from Mark Orkin, expert at OHCHR consultations and former Director General, Statistics South Africa. 134 Human Rights Indicators