The New-Zealand-based Human Rights Measurement Initiative tracks the human rights progress of countries, producing robust data that anyone can use to push for improvements in how governments treat people. They are independent and non-profit.
What gets measured gets improved: if something isn’t being systematically measured, it can be more easily overlooked and undervalued. HRMI data make it easier for decision-makers to monitor their progress, and prioritise human rights. Advocacy based on sound information is one of the key drivers of change.
Eventually, HRMI aims to measure all human rights as defined in international law but they have begun with two core sets of data measuring five economic and social rights and eight civil and political rights. The scores are published annually on the Rights Tracker. see: https://rightstracker.org.
In this world, all governments seek advice not just on how to grow their economies and increase their GDPs, but also on how to improve people’s lives by better respecting, protecting, and fulfilling their human rights obligations. The main use is in the context of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the UN.
HRMI’s mission: is to produce world-changing human rights data tools that track the human rights performance of countries.
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 