A/HRC/37/54 VI. Building on what exists already A. Conceptual foundations and tools in existing approaches 43. There is a wide range of impact assessment tools that have been developed since the approach was first introduced in the 1970s to address environmental impacts. Human rights impact assessments are among the newer tools, but the literature has already articulated the value added of a human rights approach. 44. The specific purpose of a human rights impact assessment is to help policymakers identify potential inconsistencies between pre-existing human rights obligations and economic reform policies, irrespective of whether they are pursued exclusively, based on their own merits, or in response to lending conditionalities imposed by international financial institutions. The purpose of such an assessment is to ensure that they do not face obstacles in realizing the human rights that they have made a commitment to guarantee as States parties to international human rights treaties. Applying a human rights impact assessment approach to situations of and in response to financial stress would be new in the context of economic reform. A human rights impact assessment would provide a framework and normative guidance that would prompt analysis of the deeper causes of a crisis as well as serious consideration and analysis of alternative responses to crises that can provide a more sustainable path to longer-term growth.43 Such an assessment would also provide normative guidance for considering trade-offs and hard choices, strengthen the legitimacy and local ownership of choices made through inclusive and accountable decision-making that could contribute to reducing social conflict and supporting longerterm stability.44 45. Several States have incorporated human rights aspects into their social or regulatory impact assessment approaches. That demonstrates a general recognition that human rights require attention as part of the policymaking process. The challenge is to ensure that a human rights perspective becomes an integral part of economic policymaking. 46. The purpose of and steps for carrying out a human rights impact assessment based on classic impact assessment approaches are well-established. They include (a) preparation and screening of possible human rights impacts in consultation with affected groups; (b) scoping; (c) evidence gathering and data collection using qualitative and quantitative methods; (d) analysing impacts; (e) formulation of recommendations aimed at preventing adverse human rights impacts or ensuring that they are mitigated; (f) reporting and presentation of findings; and (g) ongoing evaluation and monitoring of actual impacts. 47. Important lessons can be learned from the reactions to the 2007–2008 financial crisis over the past ten years. The impact — both direct and indirect — of economic policy change on human rights is complex and multidimensional and policymakers could draw on lessons learned from developing a multidimensional approach to poverty. The communication of policy impacts to households via transmission channels captured in the Poverty and Social Impact Analysis used by both the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank also provide a potentially relevant analytical tool for understanding how economic reform and fiscal consolidation measures could impact the enjoyment of human rights. Such techniques could contribute to the introduction of a more rigorous analysis of how policy impacts are transmitted and how they affect human rights, well beyond the more traditional human rights analyses that consider only direct governmental violations. 48. Other tools used in Poverty and Social Impact Analyses and budget analyses include distributive impact analysis, benefit incidence analysis, fiscal incidence analysis 45 and similar impact analysis tools that can model who — in terms of socioeconomic groups, 43 44 45 See, for example, the comprehensive Outcomes, Policy Efforts, Resources and Assessment (OPERA) framework developed by the Center for Economic and Social Rights. See Center for Economic and Social Rights, “Assessing austerity”. See Nore Lustig (ed.), Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Handbook: Estimating the impact of fiscal policy on inequality and poverty (New Orleans, CEQ Institute, Tulane University, June 2017). 13