Human Rights Impact Assessment in Practice: The Case of the Health Rights of Women Assessment Instrument (HeRWAI)

This article examines Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) as a methodological approach to investigate and measure human rights impacts and compliance. It recognizes that there is a vast body of relevant theoretical material, but notes that practical examples of its use and case studies are thus far limited. To analyse the potential contributions of HRIAs for human rights practitioners, a concrete tool is discussed: Aim for human rights ‘Health Rights of Women Assessment Instrument’, produced by Aim for human rights. The article considers lessons that can be drawn from practical experiences with this tool. In the discussion of the case studies, examples of results and outcomes of its use are provided. The authors then extrapolate from the concrete tool to discuss to what extent HRIA as a methodology can contribute to measuring and promoting the realization of human rights. They highlight benefits as well as challenges that still have to be overcome. Finally, a call is made for more intensive sharing of practical experiences with HRIA tools in order to move the methodology forward.