Module 3 – Human Rights Monitoring Cycle

Human rights monitoring cycle

Human rights monitoring activities should follow a structure, also known as human rights monitoring cycle, that allows you to make the most of your resources, keep you and your team focused, and allows you to stay safe and consider all the angles.

Human Rights Monitoring cycle constitutes a strategic tool to record and analyse information, present findings of monitoring activities, express concern about a human rights issue, engage in dialogue with duty bearers, advocate positive change and propose recommendations for corrective action.

Learn more about the monitoring cycle in this module!

Estimated time: 1h 30m

• Video lectures

  Human Rights Monitoring Cycle

  Please, make sure you turned on Subtitles option on YouTube.

  Integrating gender into human rights monitoring work

• 1 Quiz

  Take the quiz and test your knowledge!

  1. Before starting a monitoring exercise …

  A. We won’t need any particular knowledge – we’ll explore everything during human rights monitoring

  B. We need to know absolutely everything to confirm or discard a hypothesis

  C. We need to conduct a preliminary assessment of the problem

  Correct! Wrong!

  2. Gender mainstreaming during monitoring is –

  A. The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes

  B. Connected to taking into consideration the rights and freedoms that are protected in accordance with the principles of equality and non-discrimination

  C. Connected to the fact that the monitoring groups must be of the same sex

  Correct! Wrong!

  3. Safety and security during monitoring exercise should be ensured to…

  A. Avoid environments, equipments and practices which may expose people to potential hazards to their body.

  B. Guarantee physical and psychological well-being of people and safety of information carriers

  C. Protect people as well as their digital devices during human rights work

  Correct! Wrong!

  4. One of the main tasks of monitoring is to

  A. collect as much information as possible

  B. collect and verify information

  C. collect information in accordance with research objectives from diverse sources

  D. collect information from various sources

  E. collect, verify and analyse information

  Correct! Wrong!

  5. Monitoring cycle ends with …

  A. Report writing

  B. Advocacy planning

  C. It never ends

  Correct! Wrong!

• 1 Practice exercise

  Exercise

  1. Examine OSCE Rapporteur’s Report under the Moscow Mechanism on Alleged Human Rights Violations related to the Presidential Elections of 9 August 2020 in Belarus.
  2. Identify a specific human right that is relevant for your monitoring or to the activities of your organization.
  3. Sketch out an initial assessment of the situation for your possible future monitoring.
  4. Analyse whether these alleged human rights violations are affecting all stakeholders in the same way or not.
  5. Describe the human rights problem you want to resolve, and applicable human rights standards

• Additional Materials

  Monitoring Cycle

  Examine once again the Human Rights Monitoring Cycle.