Human rights and statistics: Some reflections on the no-man's-land between concept and indicator

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Thede, Nancy

Affiliations: International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development – ICHRDD Rights and Democracy, 1001 boul de Maisonneuve est, suite 1100, Montréal, Québec H2L 4P9, Canada. Tel.: +1 514 283 60 73; Fax: +1 514 283 37 92; E-mail: nthede@ichrdd.ca

Abstract: Indicators for implementation of human rights are essential for developing a strategy for the promotion and protection of those rights and, indeed for democratic development. The experience of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development with its analytical grid (using a series of human rights indicators) to assess democracy in specific countries leads us to make a series of observations on the current debate over indicators for human rights. 1. Indicators are useful to the extent that they provide a qualitative analysis (i.e.: address the scope and complexity of the right in question and give insight into the context which produces them). 2. Statistical data alone cannot provide an adequate reading of a situation. 3. Specific combinations and types and sources of data must be employed in each specific situation: it is presently impossible to apply the same combination across a significant number of country situations. 4. The contested nature of any particular measurement is such that the consolidation of several measurements into an “index” for comparative purposes is risky and misleading. Our approach to quantitative measurement is therefore highly circumspect. In addition to the practical problems listed above, there is a disquieting lack of theory concerning the translation of a “right” into a measurement. Clearly, a systematic discussion involving a broad set of government and civil society organisations on a common set of qualitative indicators is in order. But the race to quantify must be informed by solid analysis.

DOI: 10.3233/SJU-2001-182-313

Journal: Statistical Journal of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, vol. 18, no. 2-3, pp. 259-273, 2001