INTRODUCTION >> Why indicators for human rights? Why indicators for human rights? The demand for and the use of indicators in human rights are part of a broader process of systematic work to implement, monitor and realize rights. Together with national human rights action plans, baseline studies and rights-based approaches to development and good governance, the oversight work of United Nations human rights mechanisms, and regional and national human rights institutions, indicators provide concrete, practical tools for enforcing human rights and measuring their implementation. There is a recognition that one has to move away from using general statistics and instead progress towards identifying specific indicators for use in human rights. The general statistics are often indirect and lack clarity in their application, whereas specific indicators are embedded in the relevant human rights normative framework and can be more readily applied and interpreted by their potential users. The idea of using indicators in human rights is not new or unknown to international human rights and some treaties explicitly refer to statistical information (chap. I, sect. E). Indicators are seen as useful for articulating and advancing claims on duty-bearers and for formulating public policies and programmes that facilitate the realization of human rights. In the work of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies, for example, the use of appropriate indicators is a way to help States parties make precise and relevant information available to the treaty bodies, and to help them assess progress in the implementation of State obligations under the treaties. At the country level, national human rights institutions (chap. V) and even courts (box 1) have been calling for the use of indicators in human rights assessments. Above all, 2 Human Rights Indicators the use of appropriate indicators is a way to help States assess their own progress in ensuring the enjoyment of human rights by their people. Human rights standards and principles as a valuebased, prescriptive narration, essentially anchored in the legalistic language of the treaties, are not always directly amenable to policymaking and implementation. They have to be transformed into a message that is more tangible and operational. Indeed, there is a need for human rights advocates to be equipped with an approach, methodology and specific tools that ensure a better communication with a broader set of stakeholders, who may or may not have had a formal introduction to human rights. At the same time, it is important to ensure that the message so created withstands rigorous scrutiny by the human rights community, as well as by those on the other side of the debate, who may have a greater role or be more directly involved in the implementation of human rights (e.g., policymakers). It is this gap between theory and practice that is expected to be bridged, in part, by identifying appropriate indicators for human rights. Moreover, the exercise of identifying and using suitable indicators—quantitative as well as qualitative—also helps in clarifying the content of human rights standards and norms. While the interpretation of human rights standards (such as by the treaty bodies or by courts) is a separate step in the monitoring process, the use of indicators helps to ensure that the interpretive phase is well informed. This could, in turn, facilitate the implementation and attainment of the objectives associated with the realization of human rights.