V. >> F ramework in Practice - Implementing and Monitoring Rights >> Using indicators for human rights Box 28 Using indicators for human rights and national planning – Ecuador The Government of Ecuador, through the Secretariat for National Planning and Development and the Ministry of Justice, Human Rights and Religious Affairs, is integrating human rights into its national development planning process and putting together a system of human rights indicators (SIDERECHOS) using the framework outlined in this Guide. These steps follow the adoption in 2008 of the new Constitution, which requires the State to plan the development of the country to ensure the realization of the rights and principles enshrined in it (art. 275). These measures were acknowledged by the Human Rights Committee, which urged Ecuador to take appropriate steps to ensure the practical implementation of the constitutional provisions (CCPR/C/ECU/CO/5). Likewise, the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families encouraged Ecuador to revise any secondary legislation that did not conform with the new Constitution and international human rights standards (CMW/C/ECU/CO/2). This attempt at adopting a human rights-based approach to national planning processes and establishing a national system of human rights indicators is also in response to UPR recommendations. Planning officials in Ecuador were requested to use these recommendations and those from other United Nations human rights monitoring mechanisms in conducting sectoral diagnostics (e.g., health, education) and prioritizing State interventions. These recommendations are expected to become an integral part of the human rights indicator system and be translated into indicators to help in their follow-up. For instance, for the follow-up to the fourth UPR recommendation “to take appropriate measures to further improve the conditions of detainees in prisons, as recommended by the Committee against Torture” (A/HRC/8/20), indicators like the proportion of prison staff formally investigated for abusing prisoners (including torture and excessive use of force), the number of visits to detention centres by the national human rights institution, and actual prison occupation compared to capacity were identified through the SIDERECHOS project. Information on the compliance of the State with its human rights obligations is seen as relevant to planning officials and to the design and implementation of public policies and programmes to advance the realization of human rights in Ecuador. OHCHR is providing technical assistance to national human rights stakeholders, through the Human Rights Adviser to the United Nations System in Ecuador, on the integration of the human rights-based approach to development planning and the indicator framework outlined in this Guide. Human Rights Indicators 113