Frequently Asked Questions on Human Rights-Based Approach

IVIMPLICATIONS OF A HUMAN RIGHTS-BASEDAPPROACH FOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING22 How do human rights standardsrelate to the developmentprogramming process?Human rights standards as refl ected in the internationaltreaties, as well as principles such as participation, nondiscriminationand accountability, should guide all stagesof programming.Human rights treaty standards are binding upon countriesthat have ratifi ed them and help to defi ne the objectives ofdevelopment programmes. For example, the objectives ofa food security programme can be reformulated explicitlyto realize the right to adequate food under the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and theConvention on the Rights of the Child. 25 Guided by humanrights standards, governance programmes can more explicitlyhelp to realize rights to liberty and security of person,and human rights concerned with political participationand the administration of justice under the InternationalCovenant on Civil and Political Rights. The right to birthregistration (Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 7)is an important focus of UNICEF programming in certain regions,given the importance of that right for the enjoymentof all others. The right to privacy (International Covenanton Civil and Political Rights, art. 17) can be instrumental infi ghting the discrimination and stigmatization at the heartof the HIV/AIDS pandemic.Human rights standards strengthen and deepen situationanalysis (see question 26). They also set certain conditionsfor implementing and monitoring the progress ofdevelopment programmes (questions 27-30). The generalcomments of the human rights treaty bodies, as well as25For a discussion of the value that a rights-based approach adds to food securityunder Millennium Development Goal 1, see http://www.escr-net.org/GeneralDocs/MDG_Comment_Hunger.doc.their country-specifi c recommendations, can provide moredetailed guidance on what the international human rightsstandards mean in all phases of programming.Human rights standards as a guide to justicesector programmes of the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank (IDB)Recognizing that democracy and human rights help createappropriate conditions for development, IDB justice sector workhas begun to take international human rights standards explicitlyinto account. Human rights standards are brought into the picturemost specifi cally in the following areas: (1) providing an entrypoint into controversial issues such as judicial independence;(2) providing a justifi cation as well as a normative frameworkfor civil justice projects dealing with indigenous peoples’ rights;(3) defi ning project content in criminal justice reform, includingguidelines for fair trials, juvenile justice work and so forth;(4) defi ning indicators for monitoring project performance; and(5) helping IDB to identify conditions in which it should withholdsupport for programmes in sensitive areas, for example inpolice and prison reform. Human rights institutions such as theInter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-AmericanInstitute of Human Rights play an increasingly important role asimplementing partners. Human rights organizations and NGOs alsoplay an important watchdog function to minimize the occurrence ofhuman rights violations in IDB-supported projects.Source: Christina Biebesheimer, “The impact of human right principles onjustice reform in the Inter-American Development Bank”, in Human Rights andDevelopment: Towards Mutual Reinforcement, P. Alston and M. Robinson, eds.(Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 269-296.23 What does the principle of equalityand non-discrimination mean forprogramming?All individuals are equal as human beings and by virtueof their inherent dignity. All human beings are entitled totheir human rights without discrimination of any kind on23