In the past month, The Gift Trust on behalf of three of our generous donors including the Namaste Foundation, has made a donation of $21,250 to the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI). HRMI’s purpose is to measure human rights performance in countries around the world, in order to inspire more ethical behaviour by states and other actors. This work is hosted by Motu Economic and Public Policy Research in Wellington.
Until now, the world has not had a simple, transparent way to monitor how people are treated. This was a problem. When something is not measured, it is easily overlooked and undervalued. The Human Rights Measurement Initiative fills this gap. They are producing a free easy-to-access database, summarising human rights performance in countries around the world. With a good set of measures it will be easier to improve human rights.
HRMI aims to be comprehensive by producing metrics that cover the full range of rights embodied in international law, particularly the collection of international treaties known as the International Bill of Human Rights. Starting with some of the most frequently discussed rights, they are initially publishing metrics for the following 12 human rights:
While some of these rights are measured using publicly available statistics, others are measured using responses from a survey of human rights experts in each country. This allows HRMI to collect meaningful, independent data that will have an impact for global decision-makers and ordinary people. These data will create an opportunity for tremendous advances in knowledge and progress and facilitate a step-change for the better in the lives of billions of people.
HRMI co-founder Anne-Marie Brook has received the prestigious Edmund Hillary Fellowship. This is a three-year fellowship programme for high-calibre international entrepreneurs, investors, and start-up teams to support innovative businesses that have the potential to make a global impact. Read Idealog’s profile of Anne-Marie or watch the video below.
