The SDG-Human Rights Data Explorer operationalises synergies between human rights and sustainable development

The Danish Institute for Human Rights has developed an algorithm and a database that links the recommendations from the international human rights monitoring mechanisms to the 2030 Agenda. It allows users to explore the recommendations as they relate to the implementation of the 17 SDGs and 169 targets in specific countries.

“The human rights monitoring mechanisms constitute a treasure trove of data and commitments. We seek to make this data readily available for those working to achieve the SDGs” Eva Grambye, Deputy Executive Director at the Danish Institute for Human Rights, says.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is grounded in human rights norms and seeks to realize human rights of all. According to research and analysis from the Danish Institute for Human Rights, more than 92% of the SDG targets are linked to human rights and labour standards.

This means that the systematized qualitative analysis, data and recommendations of human rights monitoring bodies and mechanisms are essential for realising both human rights obligations and SDG commitments.

Despite this, efforts to realise the 2030 Agenda and human rights are often fragmented and operate with separate logics and terminologies and are handled in different departments or ministries.

The SDG-Human Rights Data Explorer overcomes this problem by linking the recommendations of international human rights mechanisms to the SDGs.

A tool to secure efficiency and accountability

The 2030 Agenda allows for flexibility in the way states implement and evaluate their efforts. That creates opportunities for country-specific approaches, but also a risk of disorganisation or lack of commitment and accountability.

The SDG – Human Rights Data Explorer offers a pathway to a more systematic and coherent framework for implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Thus, Eva Grambye expects development agencies and policy planners to be among the beneficiaries of this new tool, as they can use it in their planning and monitoring processes.

“States have already accepted and obliged to these human rights recommendations, so it is a framework that they are already familiar with and accountable to. Linking these commitments to the realization of the 2030 Agenda will ultimately streamline the efforts and increase efficiency, policy coherency and accountability,” Eva Grambye explains.

There are already many examples to follow where state actors and other development agencies use human rights recommendations to guide development efforts. For instance, a new generation of UN Development Assistance Frameworks (UNDAFs) in the Latin American region, including in Peru, Bolivia and Costa Rica, have made the link between human rights recommendations and SDGs explicit.

A result of collaboration with the OHCHR

In December 2017, the Danish Institute for Human Rights and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate on the integration of human rights and sustainable development. The SDG-Human Rights Data Explorer is the latest result of an experimental data mining project developed in a collaboration between the two organizations. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kate Gilmore, shares the optimism on the new online tool.

“This is a good example of the benefits of our cooperation. The tool that the Danish Institute for Human Rights has developed helps to bring data and recommendations produced through the human rights mechanisms to new and relevant stakeholders. It can be of useful guidance to the implementation and monitoring of the 2030 Agenda,” UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Kate Gilmore, says.