A/HRC/25/27 includes appropriate legal frameworks and institutions as well as political, managerial and administrative processes responsible for responding to the rights and needs of the population.”5 Moreover, “governance is central for effective policy formulation and implementation, including for the integrated delivery of essential services, such as education, water, sanitation and health.”6 10. In resolution 19/20, the Human Rights Council outlines the following good governance principles: accountability, transparency, integrity, non-discrimination, participation, equality, efficiency and competency. Many of these principles overlap as human rights principles, though it is essential that when the two concepts are linked, good governance should ideally be defined and guided by existing normative interpretations of these human rights principles and human rights standards more broadly. This general approach of using human rights as a guide can also apply to good governance principles such as integrity, which is not a human rights principle per se, but in the context of good governance, integrity is a key element that completes the notion of accountability and transparency. III. How can a human rights-based approach contribute to improving public service? A. General added value of a human rights-based approach to public service 11. “States are responsible for delivering a variety of services to their populations, including education, health and social welfare services. The provision of these services is essential to the protection of human rights such as the right to housing, health, education and food.”7 The role of the public sector as service provider or regulator of the private provision of services is crucial for the realization of all human rights, particularly social and economic rights. Certain services, such as policing or administering justice, focus directly on the protection of individual freedoms and others, such as education, health and food, have a markedly social character which is essential for building the human capital necessary for sustainable development and the realization of economic and social rights. 12. A human rights-based approach to public services is integral to the design, delivery, implementation and monitoring of all public service provision. Firstly, the normative human rights framework provides an important legal yardstick for measuring how well public service is designed and delivered and whether the benefits reach rights-holders. The human rights framework empowers rights-holders and requires States as duty bearers to act in conformity with their human rights obligations. Secondly, human rights principles can contribute to guiding and improving public service, complementing existing value systems such as public service ethos and other good governance principles such as efficiency, competency and integrity. This approach also leads to improved public service outcomes and better quality of public service. Thirdly, public service providers should not underestimate the financial or reputational costs of violating human rights and the resulting loss of public trust, low morale and poor public perception. Fourthly, a human rights-based 5 6 7 Ibid., pp. 1–2; see also E/CN.4/2005/97, para. 8. Global Thematic Consultation on Governance and the Post-2015 Development Framework: Consultation report, 2013, sect. 4.1.1. Good Governance Practices for the Protection of Human Rights (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.07.XIV.10), p. 38. 5