Human Rights

Monitoring:
Steps for Success

Human rights monitoring: a set of planned actions to investigate a

certain human rights issue or situation

through assessed against aimed at

active collection human rights & obligations of achieving change

and verification of standards the state in the given situation
information

Who can do it?

international national human civil society state actors

organizations rights institutions organizations

Key principles

Provide precise
Do no harm information based
on facts
Emphasize state Be aware of risk of
responsibility (re)traumatization

Build credibility & trust Maintain integrity &

behave professionally

Seek informed consent Be transparent

Maintain confidentiality Be impartial &

& privacy objective

Know relevant human Include gender

rights standards perspective

Monitoring cycle Accurately identify

problem you want to
address
Estimate added value
of monitoring this
Immediate/short-term particular human
rights issue
Organize meetings with
authorities Initial assessment Set aims and objectives
of human rights of your monitoring
Inform international
human rights bodies issue S pecific
Measurable
Longer term A ttainable
Raise public awareness Relevant
Create civil society coalitions Time-based
Build capacity of other
actors, e.g. by
organizing trainings
Push for legislative reforms
Take legal action
Information
Monitor implementation of gathering
recommendations

Follow-up
Include:
executive summary
recommendations
good practices
use simple and objective language
Estimate credibility of
your sources
Cross-check information
using multiple sources
Look for discrepancies in
information collection;
corroborate information
Consider personal biases
in your analysis
Look for consistent patterns/trends in human rights
violations & articulate human rights problem
Verification
and analysis
Report writing
Check all available
Describe: sources, including:
methodology traditional & social media
international legal & recommendations from
policy framework international organizations
on particular human rights
domestic legal & situation
policy framework
reports from civil society
organizations
government whitepapers
national legislation
Identify relevant actors,
key aspects, causes & Make direct observations
(take photos where possible)
legal/normative
consequences of human
rights problem Organize focus groups
Identify governments Conduct interviews/
obligations under surveys
national & international
human rights law Align information-
Identify gaps in gathering methods with
monitoring objectives
implementation of
human rights

Gender Safety & security

Take into account different needs of Key aspect of human rights monitoring
women & men, boys & girls at all
stages of the monitoring cycle.
Gather sex- & age-disaggregated data Asses threats Improve capacities
& reduce risks
Analyse how implications of human rights Consider:
violations affect men & women differently
physical safety and security &
Gender-balance your sources psychosocial health
Make sure recommendations are digital safety and security (storing
gender-sensitive information, online communication)
Create coalitions with civil society
organizations focusing on rights of Use specialized security tools
women and of boys & girls & manuals available online

This visual builds upon the Human Rights Monitoring Training Curriculum, a tool developed by ODIHR to strengthen
human rights monitoring capacities of civil society organizations in the OSCE region. The curriculum was used on
multiple occasions during its development to train Ukrainian civil society organizations as part of the Offices project
Strengthening Dialogue among Civil Society and with Key Government Stakeholders in Ukraine.
To learn more about ODIHR's work in the area of human rights and fundamental freedoms, visit www.osce.org/odihr/
human-rights, to learn more about ODIHRs work in Ukraine, see http://www.osce.org/odihr/ukraine.