In this paper an instrument for measuring human rights situations and human rights work is developed. The idea was conceived in a concrete effort to design an evaluation grid for the Swedish Development Aid Agency. It contains three levels of criteria (structural indicators, process indicators and outcome indicators) and three approaches (to respect, to protect and to fulfil). The tool can be used to assess the outcomes of policies as well as the outcomes of concrete projects. It can also be used to make an assessment of possible (intended and unintended) outcomes. Such Human Rights Impact Assessments are increasingly used as a yardstick for the necessary compliance of human rights among government and in developmental projets with a human rights based approach.
An abstract of this paper under the title "Structure, Process and Outcome; three angles for measuring human rights work" has been published in K. Groenendijk et. al. (ed.): "Issues that matter; mensenrechten, minderheden en migranten. Liber Amicorum for Prof. Mr. R. Fernhout.", Wolf Legal Publishers, Oisterwijk, 2013.
A Smart Tool for Human Rights: Three Dimensions for Measuring Human Rights Work
