ABSTRACT
This volume began by suggesting a conceptual model of human rights as derived from international law, which would help clarify the process of monitoring and measurement of human rights. The preceding chapters in the book have looked at various methodological and practical issues concerning measurement and focused on three types of measures that could be used in this exercise – events-based measures, standards-based measures and survey-based measures. A fourth category of measures, i.e. socio-economic and administrative statistics, has also been used to map human rights. Most states collect official statistics on a wide range of issues to determine ‘evidence-based policy’ and to monitor their performance in the implementation of these policies. The most common data gathering exercise that states undertake is probably the decadal census, which provides updates on demographic indicators like population size, growth, composition and the like. States report on the condition of their economy by collecting information and producing well-recognized indicators/ indices of economic performance like Gross National Product (GNP), per capita income and the production outputs of various sectors of the economy. States with adequate resources also collect baseline information and trends on the execution of various programmes (for example, capacity building of personnel involved in the justice system) and the impact that they have had on the issue concerned (for instance, the prevention, detection and prosecution of crime). While using these data in the measurement of human rights has its advantages, the issue of the validity of these measures has often been raised. When we use these indicators, how do we distinguish between indicators that measure human rights and those that map outcomes of welfare, development and/or governance? This chapter examines issues related to using socio-economic and adminis-
trative statistics (henceforth, official statistics) as human rights indicators. We begin by clarifying the terminology used when referring to these statistics and discuss the questions about measurement validity arising from their application as human rights measures. Three routes have been adopted in the use of official statistics for this purpose: that the indicators cannot be used to
the concept of human rights. The chapter highlights two approaches that adopt official statistics as valid human rights measures and traces the latest developments in the application of these indicators in human rights monitoring and measurement. The first route adopted is the selection of ‘well-being’ indicators as justifiable proxies for the measurement of rights, particularly of economic and social rights. The second approach suggests the use of disaggregate measures to map the process of implementing rights obligations of states and highlight de facto discrimination, inequality and exclusion. The final section addresses the issue of measurement reliability by addressing the methodological and practical problems associated with the utilization of these indicators and ongoing efforts to tackle these shortcomings.
