Expert Meeting Discusses how to Evaluate the Impact of UN Special Procedures

7 December 2020

During an online expert meeting hosted by the Geneva Human Rights Platform, more than 20 United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs and members of UN working groups, as well as staff from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), civil society representatives and lawyers explored how the impact of UN Special Procedures’ visits, recommendations and inquiries can be effectively measured and evaluated.

‘Special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council are a major component of today’s global human rights protection system. Their work not only allows addressing specific cases or situations but also contributes significantly to clarify the content of specific rights and related states’ obligations. Evaluating their impact is therefore key to ensure the continued relevance of this important mechanism’ underlines Felix Kirchmeier, Executive Director of the Geneva Human Rights Platform and Manager of Policy Studies at the Geneva Academy.

OHCHR Work and Examples from Three Mandate Holders

The meeting began with an introduction presenting the work of OHCHR in developing mechanisms to review and appraise the progress made by UN Special Procedures mandates in protecting and promoting human rights.

Three mandate holders – the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Assembly and Association Clément Voulé, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer – presented their work and discussed how they measure their impact, notably in relation to country visits and inquiries.

‘The discussion showed that there is not only one way to measure impact and that this is work in progress. This exchange was important to share experiences, methodologies and best practices’ explains Felix Kirchmeier.

Portrait of Nils Melzer, UN Special Rapporteur on torture

The Role of NGOs, Civil Society Organizations and Human Rights Defenders

In the second session, NGO representatives, civil society organizations and human rights defenders who co-operate with UN Special Procedures presented how this cooperation provides opportunities to all stakeholders to gauge their own performance and determine where refinements could further enhance efforts in advocacy and rights protection.

Towards Common Tools

The final session of the meeting addressed how the respective mandates could integrate some common evaluation tools to facilitate benchmarking while also remaining flexible as to the choice of indicators used for measurement.

Participants also highlighted the need to integrate into the assessment less tangible aspects of the work, such as improvements in capacity building, the impact on long-term policymaking or the longer-term influence on states to engage in programmes for the promotion and protection of human rights.

‘This meeting provided us with invaluable insights for our work on the evaluation of the impact of UN Special Procedures’ visits, recommendations and inquiries. We will publish a working paper on this issue shortly, along with a report of the meeting’s findings’ says Felix Kirchmeier.

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

neurodata graphics News

New Research Brief Evaluates the Effectiveness of GDPR in Mitigating Risks Associated with the Distinctive Nature of Neurodata

21 January 2025

Our recent research brief, Neurodata: Navigating GDPR and AI Act Compliance in the Context of Neurotechnology, examines how effectively GDPR addresses the unique risks posed by neurodata.

Read more

Geneva Academy Briefing No.25 News

New Academy Briefing Calls for Stronger Engagement of Local and Regional Governments in Human Rights and SDG Monitoring

11 March 2025

The Geneva Academy’s latest publication explores how cities, municipalities, and regional authorities are becoming key players in global human rights governance.

Read more

AI for Good Event Event

AI for human rights: Smarter, faster, fairer monitoring

8 July 2025, 14:00-16:00

The event, as part of the AI for Good Summit 2025 will explore how AI tools can support faster data analysis, help uncover patterns in large datasets, and expand the reach of human rights work.

Read more

Local Government Event

Enhancing National Reporting and Implementation of Human Rights through Coordinated Engagement at the Local and Regional Levels: The Role of NMIRFs

23 July 2025, 10:00-17:00

This seminar explores how national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up can better integrate the capacities, data, and experiences of local and regional governments in advancing human rights implementation and reporting.

Read more

Open dump Training

Protecting Human Rights and the Environment

15-19 September 2025

Participants in this training course will gain practical insights into UN human rights mechanisms and their role in environmental protection and learn about how to address the interplay between international human rights and environmental law, and explore environmental litigation paths.

Read more

A general view of participants during of the 33nd ordinary session of the Human Rights Council. Training

The Universal Periodic Review and the UN Human Rights System: Raising the Bar on Accountability

10-14 November 2025

This training course will explore the origin and evolution of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and its functioning in Geneva and will focus on the nature of implementation of the UPR recommendations at the national level.

Read more

Project

The Lake Room Initiative (Space for Dialogue)

Started in February 2024

Read more

Online folders Project

Digital Human Rights Tracking Tools and Databases

Started in March 2023

This initiative wishes to contribute to better and more coordinated implementation, reporting and follow-up of international human rights recommendations through a global study on digital human rights tracking tools and databases.

Read more

Cover of the publication Publication

Briefing N° 25: Localizing Multilateralism

published on March 2025

Domenico Zipoli, Ludovica Chiussi Curzi, Kamelia Kemileva

Read more