Examining the Practice of Developing Human Rights Indicators to Facilitate Accountability for the Human Right to Water and Sanitation

6 JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICE 159-181 (2014).

23 Pages Posted: 4 Jun 2013 Last revised: 18 Jul 2018

See all articles by Benjamin Mason Meier

Benjamin Mason Meier

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Georgia Kayser

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill

Urooj Amjad

The Water Institute; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Jamie Bartram

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill

Date Written: December 1, 2013

Abstract

Flowing from the evolution of international legal obligations for water and sanitation, human rights practice has shifted to address state accountability for a human right to water and sanitation through the development of human rights indicators. This policy note focuses on efforts to develop indicators for state reporting to human rights treaty bodies, with human rights norms framing national reports and treaty bodies employing indicators to monitor the progressive realization of the human right to water and sanitation. In supporting evidence-based treaty monitoring through the United Nations (UN), both the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation have sought to develop indicators. This process of developing indicators for the human right to water and sanitation seeks to draw on previous indicator development practices, looking to these practices in framing, identifying and reviewing indicators. As part of a larger drive to facilitate rights-based accountability, there arises an imperative to study the political process of developing indicators, looking to past models in structuring future processes to assess the realization of the right to water and sanitation. Exploring the development of indicators for the human rights to health and education, this policy note analyses the indicator development process, proposing an indicator development process model as a basis for developing indicators that reflect the attributes of the right to water and sanitation, enlist key stakeholders in the policymaking process and have political relevance for state reporting to treaty bodies.

Keywords: accountability; water and sanitation; indicators; human rights treaty bodies; post-2015 agenda; United Nations

Suggested Citation

Meier, Benjamin Mason and Getgen Kestenbaum, Jocelyn and Kayser, Georgia and Amjad, Urooj and Bartram, Jamie, Examining the Practice of Developing Human Rights Indicators to Facilitate Accountability for the Human Right to Water and Sanitation (December 1, 2013). 6 JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICE 159-181 (2014)., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2273707

Benjamin Mason Meier (Contact Author)

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ( email )

CB 3435
103 Abernethy Hall
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
United States
919-962-0542 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.benjaminmasonmeier.com/

Jocelyn Getgen Kestenbaum

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law ( email )

55 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10003
United States
212-790-0860 (Phone)

Georgia Kayser

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill ( email )

102 Ridge Road
Chapel Hill, NC NC 27514
United States

Urooj Amjad

The Water Institute ( email )

Rosenau Hall, CB #7431
135 Dauer Drive
Chapel Hill, 27599
United States

HOME PAGE: http://waterinstitute.unc.edu/

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ( email )

102 Ridge Road
Chapel Hill, NC NC 27514
United States

Jamie Bartram

University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill ( email )

102 Ridge Road
Chapel Hill, NC NC 27514
United States

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