Web-based human rights impact assessment guidance for digital development projects

Purpose

The fast pace of innovation and technological development in the digital sphere has led to a new generation of human rights challenges. This project aims to support project staff at development cooperation agencies and other implementing organisations with the identification of human rights risks related to digital projects, so that they can be prevent, mitigated or otherwise addressed.

The difference we make

As development projects are increasingly applying and using digital technologies, there are new and different negative impacts that must be assessed and addressed. However, while the potential human rights impacts of traditional development projects are relatively well-understood, the same cannot be said with regard to digital projects.

Development cooperation agencies and other implementing organisations are increasingly developing and implementing digital projects (so called ‘digital for development’ projects). This means that it is more necessary than ever to ensure that human rights risks are addressed.

Digital for development projects can have a wide range of negative human rights impacts. This includes anything from impacts on the right to privacy and freedom of expression to the right to health and the right to equal treatment and non-discrimination. While the potential negative human rights impacts are many, project staff working with development cooperation are currently confronted with a lack of guidance, tools and accumulated knowledge to refer to when assessing and addressing such impacts.

This project aims to fill this gap by developing a web-based and dynamic guidance tool that supports project staff on their assessment of human rights impacts of digital development projects. The tool is building on the Institute’s award-winning work on Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) and its experience in tech and human rights.

Partners

• GIZ