Me Lucie Lamarche, prof. Faculty of Law U of Ottawa G. F. Henderson Chair in Human Rights

1. Human Rights Impact Assessment Methodology (HRIA) and discrimination: from human rights violations to human rights measurement Me Lucie Lamarche, prof. Faculty of Law U of Ottawa G. F. Henderson Chair in Human Rights llamarch@uottawa.ca Feb. 12th 2008

2. The Human Rights Framework (normative) • Immediate respect of civil and political rights in ALL cases; • Social rights: 3A approach: accessibility; adaptability; affordability (core and progressive realisation); • Non discrimination (intersectoral); • Participation and consultation (ex ante – ex post).

3. All Human Rights are Interdependent and indivisible • Projects, Policies and Programs must respect ALL human rights in a non discriminatory manner. • All actors are accountable for human rights’ violations.

4. Discrimination and Human Rights Discrimination occurs when a legislation, a policy, a program or a strategy directly or indirectly produces exclusionary or prejudicial effects for a vulnerable group or for a member of such group in regard of one or of many human rights.

5. Core content of Human Rights • Basic needs; • Human dignity; • Non discrimination; • Immediate claim; • No claw back; • Effective remedies.

6. Duty Holders and Human Rights • State: protect; promote; fulfill. • Non state: respect and not to be complicit.

7. Human Rights and Social Development: from Copenhagen to … now • How to assess development ? • Are Human Rights only about violations ? • The Added Value of a Human Rights framework

8. What is HRIA ? • A goal ? • A tool ? • An evaluation benchmark ? • An indicator ? • A qualitative or a quantitative creature ?

9. HRIA and S. Development: not an obvious encounter Some contentious issues: • What do you assess ? • To whom is the agency accountable ? • What is accountability ?

10. The Global Context • UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - OHCHR; • Millenium Goals; • Global Compact; • Fight against Poverty;

11. An example:Rights and Democracy Foreign Investments HRIA methodology: a process for civil society (1) • Preparation (what’s the problem or the anticipated one?); • The Legal Framework (including for the investment) • What rights are at stake? • Situation Analysis; • Investigation Process; • Data Analysis; • Report, monitoring and follow up

12. An example: Rights and Democracy Foreign Investments HRIA methodology: questions (2) • What if the methodology is not used in a «problem solving environment» ? • Can it be used to assess the respect of ALL human rights in a specific context ? • Can it be used for ALL human rights’ implementation ? • Does progress equal progressive implementation ?

13. HRIA and the Politics of Human Rights • Are Human Rights a «science exacte» ? • Are we being kept busy monitoring human rights ? • Are we keeping the experts happy ?

14. Why HRIA ? • Because the State actor does not have the last word … • Because non state actors, including corporations and NGOs, ARE accountable; • Because the social justice movement is moving toward human rights’ accountability; • Because answering needs is not necessarily implementing HR; • Because «result based» can be … any result; • Because accountability is a broader concept than HR violations.

15. But what is HRIA A methodology described as: • An empowering process for communities; • A universal benchmark in an era of globalisation; • A tool for accountability dialogues.