A/HRC/31/31 I. Introduction 1. The present report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 28/12, in which the Secretary-General was requested to continue to prepare and submit to the Council an annual report on the question of the realization in all countries of economic, social and cultural rights under agenda item 3, with a special focus on a compilation of best practices adopted by States to measure progress in the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, including national indicators to advance the realization of such rights. 2. Various quantitative and qualitative methodologies have been used for measuring human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights. The most commonly used are human rights indicators.1 The present report is based on a wide range of practices gathered from various sources, including States, national human rights institutions, international and regional human rights mechanisms, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and other organizations. 2 The report starts with an analysis of State obligations pertinent to the measurement of progress in achieving economic, social and cultural rights. Then the core elements for human rights compliant measurement tools and processes are outlined by means of the example of States’ practices. II. From commitments to results: the need to measure progress A. Measurement obligations 3. Measuring and monitoring the situation of human rights is inherent to human rights obligations. Without assessing progress, or regression, in the realization of human rights at the national level, States do not have the information necessary to develop the laws, policies and programmes that will enable them to meet their obligations. This is also intimately linked to the notion of evidence-based policies. 4. Moreover, without monitoring the application of laws, policies and programmes, it is not possible for States to make the adjustments necessary to achieve their intended results.3 For instance, a number of cities in Canada, including Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver, have been conducting surveys to assess the number of street homeless 1 2 3 In the present report, the term “human rights indicators” refers to specific information on the state of an object, event, activity or outcome that can be related to human rights norms and standards; that addresses and reflects human rights principles and concerns; and that can be used to assess and monitor the promotion and implementation of human rights (see HRI/MC/2006/7, para. 7). For example, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports to the Economic and Social Council on economic, social and cultural rights and human rights indicators (see E/2011/90, E/2007/82 and E/2009/90); the work on human rights indicators developed by OHCHR and endorsed by the treaty bodies (see A/HRC/27/41, HRI/MC/2006/7 and HRI/MC/2008/3); OHCHR, Human Rights Indicators: A Guide to Measurement and Implementation (2012); the expert meeting on human rights-based approaches to data and statistics and good practices and lessons learned, held in Geneva in October 2015; World Health Organization, Women’s and Children’s Health: Evidence of Impact of Human Rights (2013); and Catarina de Albuquerque and Virginia Roaf, On the Right Track: Good Practices in Realising the Rights to Water and Sanitation. For example, the lack of certain data preventing public sector bodies from properly tackling inequalities and leaving some groups invisible (see Verena Brähler, “Departments need to deal with their data gaps if government is serious about tackling inequality”, Civil Service World, 30 October 2015, available at www.civilserviceworld.com/articles/opinion/departments-need-deal-their-datagaps-if-government-serious-about-tackling). 3