Abstract

The protection and implementation of the right of non-discrimination is at the core of the attainment and enjoyment of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international human rights treaties. When adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Member States have made a resounding commitment to ‘leave no one behind’, recognizing that sustainable development can only be achieved if all individuals and groups are able to fully participate in the processes, without discrimination or exclusion. This requires an understanding the various challenges faced by different groups, which are affected by different experiences of discrimination. In this regard, the collection of reliable data on discrimination is essential.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) leads and engages in different efforts to improve global availability of disaggregated data on discrimination. OHCHR is the custodian of SDG indicator 16.b.1/10.3.1, which is defined as the “proportion of the population (adults) who self-report that they personally experienced discrimination or harassment during the last 12 months based on ground(s) prohibited by international human rights law”. As such, it is responsible in terms of methodological development, capacity building, compilation, dissemination and reporting for this indicator, reporting yearly figures on experience of discrimination faced by different groups worldwide.

To extend and strengthen data coverage, OHCHR, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), have developed the SDG 16 Survey Initiative. This initiative aims to improve data availability on SDG 16 survey-based indicators, including on discrimination. To measure progress on SDG 16 survey-based indicators, the survey modules aim to produce a coherent tool, that adheres to international guidelines and existing standards, with the flexibility to accommodate the needs and priorities of various national statistical systems.

OHCHR also participates in the Praia Group Task Team on Non-Discrimination and Equality, working on the development, providing technical advice to the work carried out by NSOs from all regions of the world with research institutions, civil society organizations and regional and international organizations that produce and/or use governance data. The group is working on the development of a questionnaire to facilitate the production of official statistics on discrimination that follow the same methodology and are comparable across time and countries.

The presentation will cover some of the main initiatives in which OHCHR is involved to improve data availability and understanding of discrimination worldwide. It will also cover the challenges, and the innovative approaches being considered to advance this work.