POLICY’s Human Rights Approach

1. Identify the Health Problem: collect and analyze maternal/reproductive health/HIV data

Reports from UN and NGOs Human Rights Treaty Body Reports Shadow Reports Data of Health Service Failures (ie. high rates of maternal

morality or abortion) Testimony of Specific Health Rights Abuses (ie. Testimony

at Women’s Tribunal at 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference) WHO and UNICEF Global Maternal and Reproductive Health

Indicators

2. Identify national norm/policy

Legal norms: national laws administrative standards implementing regulations judicial decisions related to MH/RH/HIV/AIDS workplace policies

Social norms traditions beliefs standard operating procedures

3. Compare with international Human Rights standard

Does a country’s laws or social norms derogate international human rights standards found in a human rights agreement binding on the country?

Human Rights Matrix Has a certain country signed and ratified a human rights

treaty relevant to MH/RH/HIV/AIDS? Did the country participate in the Cairo and Beijing World

Population Conferences? What are the RH/MH/HIV/AIDS-related provisions of all major

human rights accords?

4. Research human rights solution

Use human rights standards to develop effective and equitable RH/MH/HIV/AIDS policies: Find the least rights-restrictive way to address a public health

need Include the participation of people affected by the policy.

Use POLICY’s experience

5. Propose new rights-based policy and advocate for adoption

Health advocates can use human rights as a way to identify discrete issues for advocacy as language to convince policymakers to adopt or change a

policy as a reminder for policymakers of their obligations and the

international community's scrutiny of these obligations

Discover which government agencies have a duty to provide remedies to reproductive or health rights violations

6. Report on results achieved according to SO/IRs

Human Rights Approach Step

Identify national norm/policy

Compare with universal Human Rights standard

Propose new rights-based policy and advocate for adoption

POLICY Intermediate Result

IR 3 Disseminate and use the human rights information gathered

IR 3.1 Improve critical information base in a country

IR 1 Involve human rights groups in networks

Form civilian surveillance committees

IR 2 Ensure planning guidelines adhere to human rights laws

Provide model policies and legislationPropose specific laws to protect rights

IR 4 Conduct human rights and training Contribute human rights curricula

The Human Rights Approach

1. Identify the Health Problem: collect and analyze maternal/reproductive health/HIV data

2. Identify national norm/policy

3. Compare with international Human Rights standard

4. Research human rights solution

5. Propose new rights-based policy and advocate for adoption

and…

6. Report on results achieved according to SO/IRs