F. Monitoring
While not always thought of as an implementation measure, monitoring too has a key role. Through monitoring, it is possible
to see which implementation measures have worked and which have not. It helps to refine laws and policies and other implementation
measures, and ensure that budgets are used optimally. It also helps to uncover human rights breaches so that remedies can
be granted to victims and, it is hoped, further breaches prevented.
Paramount is the process of State parties reporting to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Civil society
and national human rights institutions can also provide information to the Committee through what are called alternative reports.
Module 7 examines State reports and alternative reports in detail.
In addition to monitoring at the international level, monitoring can also be national. According to the OHCHR Manual on Human Rights Monitoring,11 “human rights monitoring” is a broad term describing the active collection, verification, analysis and use of information
to assess and address human rights concerns. Monitoring takes place over a protracted period of time. The term “monitoring”
also includes the collection, verification and use of information to address human rights problems raised in relation to laws,
policies, programmes and budgets and other interventions.
Several aspects of this definition are worth highlighting:
- Monitoring is a process: from collection to verification to the use of information.
- Information collection can relate to many situations: one-off situations, such as incidents or events; or ongoing situations, such as service delivery in psychiatric hospitals,
schools, an inaccessible workplace and so on.
- Monitoring is not just about situations, but also about laws, policies and budgets. Given that the ratification of a human rights treaty requires changes to laws and policies, it is important that monitoring
also includes the review of laws, policies and strategies as well as budgets to identify the extent to which they reflect
the norms and standards in the treaty.
- Monitoring involves several actors. Human rights monitoring concerns both the situation of rights and rights-holders, as well as the respect for duties and
the situation of duty-bearers. Consequently, monitoring should involve not only persons with disabilities whose rights might
be affected, but also government actors (staff at ministries, local authorities and others) so that: (a) the level of respect
for duties is understood; and (b) all sides of the story are examined and information is verified.
- Monitoring has a purpose. The information gathered through monitoring should be used to improve the respect for rights and duties. If there has been
a breach of a right, the information should seek to provide solutions and remedies for the victim and help government actors
fulfil these rights in the future.
- Monitoring can occur at different stages. Monitoring generally starts with the collection of primary information or information direct from the source. However, monitoring
can also occur through the use of secondary sources. For example, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
undertakes monitoring on the basis of State parties' periodic reports and the alternative reports submitted by civil society
and national human rights institutions.
Monitoring focuses mainly on:
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Laws, policies, budgets, programmes. The Convention requires the review and, generally, the reform of a range of laws, policies and strategies: for example,
ensuring that anti-discrimination laws protect against discrimination on the basis of disability and that other laws, such
as those on health, education or construction, do not discriminate on the basis of disability. In addition, given that the
Convention requires the appropriate allocation of resources, budgets can also be monitored. In addition, programmes and strategies,
such as national development strategies or strategies related to humanitarian emergencies, have great potential to affect
the rights of persons with disabilities, depending on the extent to which they mainstream disabilities. All of these may be
monitored.
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Incidents and events can lead to individual violations of human rights and it is important that these should be monitored. Such data might come
directly from victims. Data might also come from media accounts and other sources, including legal proceedings. This is a
traditional focus of human rights monitoring.
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Situations and places. At times, there are particular situations, such as service provision, or places, such as institutions, which could give
rise to human rights problems. The level of accessibility of schools might be monitored to identify the principal barriers
to inclusive education. Surveys of employers might identify the issues that need to be addressed to ensure inclusive employment
and the provision of reasonable accommodation in the workplace. Even where allegations of individual violations have not emerged
(events), monitoring might uncover violations or help prevent them.
Anyone can monitor the situation of the rights of persons with disabilities. However, certain actors have particular responsibilities:
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States. As noted above, the State has an obligation to report to the Committee on the measures it has adopted to implement the Convention.
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NHRIs. Under article 33, NHRIs have a role to promote, protect and monitor the provisions of the Convention. This function is discussed
in greater detail in module 6. Here, it is important to underline that these institutions have to conform to the Paris Principles,
which means that they have to have competency to submit reports to the Government, parliament and others on issues such as:
conformity of laws to human rights standards; any situation where a human rights violation has occurred; the national human
rights situation; its opinion on government reactions to reports on the human rights situation. National preventive mechanisms
under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture should consider including the rights of persons with disabilities
within the scope of their monitoring activities.
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Civil society/DPOs. According to article 33 (3), civil society, and particularly persons with disabilities and their representative organizations,
shall be involved and participate fully in monitoring the Convention. This means that they should be involved in the monitoring
organized, for instance, by the independent mechanism or by the Government. In addition, civil society, particularly persons
with disabilities and their representative organization, should, in its own capacity, monitor and defend the rights of persons
with disabilities.
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Other civil society actors. Article 33 (3) refers to civil society generally. Civil society organizations that are not DPOs also have a role in monitoring.
For example, when monitoring the broader human rights situation, human rights NGOs should ensure that they also monitor the
rights of persons with disabilities. A failure to do so could result in the exclusion of persons with disabilities from the
post-monitoring phase as solutions and remedies are identified and implemented.
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Intergovernmental organizations. Some intergovernmental organizations have a monitoring role. This is particularly the case for stand-alone OHCHR field offices
and human rights components of peace missions. Several field presences, such as those in Timor-Leste and Sierra Leone, are
actively involved in monitoring aspects of the Convention. In addition, regional organizations, such as Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, monitor elections and it is important
to ensure that these activities also take into account the rights of persons with disabilities.
As set out in article 31 on data collection and statistics, by collecting appropriate information, including statistical and
research data, States are enabled to formulate and implement policies to give effect to the Convention. The Convention's implementation
can be stepped up through evidence-based policy implementation, based on domestic monitoring and reporting, as well as on
reports to the Committee and the Committee's concluding observations.