What we do
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative is part of a global movement building a world where all people can flourish.
We track the human rights progress of countries, producing robust data that anyone can use to push for improvements in how governments treat people. We are independent and non-profit.
What gets measured gets improved: if something isn’t being systematically measured, it can be more easily overlooked and undervalued. HRMI data make it easier for decision-makers to monitor their progress, and prioritise human rights. Advocacy based on sound information is one of the key drivers of change.
Eventually, we aim to measure all human rights as defined in international law. We have begun with two core sets of data measuring five economic and social rights and nine civil and political rights.
Our scores are published annually on the Rights Tracker, which is a certified Digital Public Good.
We have also established a company, Rights Intelligence, to help the private sector make use of our human rights data. To use our data for commercial purposes, please complete this form on the Rights Intelligence website.
Our vision and mission
Our vision is for a world in which individuals, communities, governments, businesses, and civil society have a clear and nuanced understanding of their country’s human rights performance, and use that understanding to bring about legal and policy changes that improve people’s lives.
In this world, all governments seek advice not just on how to grow their economies and increase their GDPs, but also on how to improve people’s lives by better respecting, protecting, and fulfilling their human rights obligations.
HRMI’s contribution to this vision is through our mission:
Our mission is to produce world-changing human rights data tools that track the human rights performance of countries.
Our values
Collaboration
We draw on the knowledge of human rights experts in the countries we are developing metrics for, and build bridges between those experts, academics, and others to better understand and promote what improves human rights outcomes.
Usefulness
We exist to serve the world. We produce work that is useful and valuable for a range of people, and constantly iterate to improve its usefulness.
Rigour
We submit all our work for academic peer review and pursue the highest standards of rigour in producing our data.
Transparency
We are clear about our methodologies and their shortcomings, so that data users know where our measures have come from and can help initiate improvements.
Innovation
We actively seek fresh insights to advance human rights through the development of new measures and new ways of using them to impact change.
Independence
In order to be credible, we produce measures of human rights independent of governments and other actors who may have conflicts of interest.