Please click on each question to get a Detailed Answer
General questions about the Human Rights Indicator Framework (HRIF)
The Human Rights Indicators Framework is a non-partisan initiative, spearheaded by JFJ. Our goal is that of creating and developing a Jamaica where all people can live lives with dignity, regardless of their status. We believe that as a society ‘we treasure what we can measure’. As supporters and practitioners of human rights we believe that good measures of human rights will help us to make faster progress.
Our goal is to provide data on human rights enshrined in the Constitution as well as others agreed to in international human rights instrument. However, the development of a full complement of measure will take time and resources. We have begun by focusing on rights that have been the subject of our Universal Periodic Review (UPR), academic study and stakeholder concern, thereby reducing the amount time required to develop each right.
Our selection of an initial set of rights does not imply that these are seen as more important or fundamental than those rights that are not included. The HRIF believes that all rights are universal, interdependent, and inalienable. As we evolve, we aim to produce measures that reflect the equal importance of human rights for a life of dignity.
We are very interested in measuring violations of the rights of people in specific regions and vulnerable population subgroups. All people have the same rights as every other person. For civil and political rights, the information that we collect will help us identify which sub-populations are particularly vulnerable to rights violations in each country. In the future we would like to consider the development of measures for specific groups.
For economic and social rights, our methodology can be used to identify rights fulfilment for different sub-populations if the underlying data are available for these groups. This has already been done for some countries. For example, Randolph, Prairie and Stewart (2012) show substantial differences in the degree to which rights are fulfilled across states in the United States and pronounced differences across ethnic groups. In fact, the highest score in any state on rights fulfilment for both blacks and Hispanics is lower than the lowest score on rights fulfilment for whites in any state.
A study by Shareen and Randolph (2015) shows that in India, the prevalence of hunger and malnutrition varies by state, but not due to inadequate food production. States in India with the highest per capita food production meet their obligations to fulfil the right to food to a lesser degree than states with the lowest per capita food production. (Hertel, Shareen, and Susan Randolph. 2015. “The Challenge of Ensuring Food Security: Global Perspectives and Evidence from India.” Chapter 8 in Closing the Rights Gap: From Human Rights to Social Transformation, edited by La Dawn Haglund and Robin Strykler. Oakland: University of California Press.)
Existing data are often piecemeal and varies in quality, particularly in civil and political rights. This is due in part to the political sensitivity of human rights, which means that such measures need to be produced independently of governments.
All HRIF data will be available free of charge. We expect that the data will be used in a variety of ways. Including: to support research and advocacy; to facilitate policy design; to support prioritization of development goals and funding; to monitor and evaluate impact; etc. Ultimately, our hope is that the data will be used to contribute to transformative change in the ways millions of Jamaicans are able to live their lives.
The HRIF measures are complementary to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a number of ways.
In the area of economic and social rights, measures are relevant to SDGs 4 and 5. Several of the official SDG indicators are also indictors used in the construction of economic and social rights measures.
In the area of civil and political rights, our metrics can help with the monitoring of SDG 16, which is focused on the promotion of “just, peaceful, and inclusive societies.” For example, some specific targets associated with Goal 16 that our metrics could be used to help monitor include:
| Goal 16 | Relevant HRIF Measure |
| Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere | Right to freedom from extrajudicial execution |