Why indicators?
Unlike civil and political rights, ESC rights still do not have clear parameters that will indicate whether they are being realized or violated.
Determine whether government policies and actions are in accordance or in violation with its ESC rights obligations.
Determine whether the government is progressively implementing ESC rights.
Who should set the indicators?
Human Rights principles of self-determination, participation, and empowerment tell us that the people should have a primary voice in setting the indicators for ESC. PhilRights used the grassroots-expert approach in setting the indicators for the five focus ESC rights - food, housing, health, education, and work.
A field research involving survey, focus group discussions and interviews were conducted. While a team of “experts” consolidate and analyze the results. A national consultation was conducted to finalize the indicators.
Grassroots-based indicators
PhilRights was able to come up with a list of policies, ‘things,’ programs, and results that should be there before we can say that a particular right is being respected and realized.
For example:
- Right to health = one functioning health clinic per barangay
- Right to food = policies on food labeling, community resource management, etc
- Right to work = livable wage, number of workers unionized vis-à-vis total number of workers
- Right to housing – zero forced evictions, direct provision of housing units
- Right to education – one elementary school per barangay, compulsory and free of charge basic education
Why advocate the indicators?
So that the government will recognize ESC rights and give the same attention it gives to civil and political rights. It’s a way of telling the government how the people want their ESC rights to be implemented. If we have presented to the government the indicators and if they agree or accept them, there will be a common basis for monitoring and evaluating ESC rights implementation in the country.
PhilRights worked with the Commission on Human Rights to ‘mainstream’ the Human Rights framework and the indicators among government agencies and monitor government performance in the major treaties that it ratified. Again, a food security network tried to work with the Commussion on Human Rights to ‘harmonize’ the NGO and government indicators related to right to food.
Why popularize the indicators?
NGOs and people’s organizations should have a common understanding, language, and measurements for evaluating ESC rights. An effective monitoring and documentation of ESC rights depends on this common appreciation and tools for assessing government performance.
Community-based monitoring
PhilRights trained people’s organizations both in the urban and rural parts of the country to build their capabilities in monitoring and documenting ESC rights violations.
The people are in the best position to monitor and document how their rights are being implemented or violated. Trained on monitoring and documentation and armed with common indicators and data gathering tools, activists at the local level will be very effective in determining the status of ESC rights in their communities. Then, the data and cases that will come from the community will be consolidated and will be featured in the shadow report.
Where are we now?
PhilRights has pilot-tested the indicators in one urban poor barangay in Metro Manila.
It is now finalizing its monitoring and documentation system for ESC rights violations, meaning we are preparing:
- a list of acts of violations,
- formulating the tools for monitoring,
- designing the database
- Facilitating a civil society initiative to come up with a shadow report on ESC rights.
