New publication:
The Health Rights of Women Assessment Instrument (HeRWAI) 2006

HeRWAI is a practical tool for organizations that want to bring a human rights approach into practice. It contains practical guidance for a rights based analysis of the influence of a policy on women’s health rights. Through a HeRWAI analysis, organizations can link what actually happens with what should happen according to the human rights obligations of a country. The analysis includes local, national and international influences and is based on the norms set by CEDAW and ICESCR. It results in practical recommendations and an action plan to lobby for implementation of the recommendations.

HeRWAI is designed for NGOs, in particular women’s organizations, health organizations and human rights organizations. It helps them in a practical way in their advocacy to make governments accountable for the implementation of women’s health rights. 

The purpose of the HeRWAI impact assessment is to produce arguments which can be used to lobby for policies that improve the implementation of women’s health rights. Using HeRWAI to analyse a policy should help to:

- make a direct link between the policy and relevant human rights issues;

- gain a better understanding of the current situation;

- make an assessment of the human rights impact of the policy, both now and in the future;

- form a conclusion about what the government should do and what the organization can do to press the government into action.  

HeRWAI is developed by the Humanist Committee on Human Rights, in close cooperation with Naripokkho in Bangladesh, the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-Kenya),

Servicio Integral para la Mujer (Si Mujer) in Nicaragua, International Women’s Rights Action Watch – Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP) in Malaysia and Wemos in the Netherlands. It is an innovative instrument because:

• It provides a practical tool for rights based analysis
• It enables NGOs to analyse national as well as international human rights responsibilities
• It integrates women’s rights (CEDAW) and health rights (ICESCR)
• It creates an additional way for NGOs to use Human Rights treaties  

Four organizations in Pakistan, Kenya, Bangladesh and the Netherlands tested HeRWAI. The organizations concluded that HeRWAI is a strategic tool to enhance their lobby activities. The instrument is user friendly; the users do not need to be a researcher to do the analysis. The organizations valued the link between health rights, women’s rights and human rights and noted that it is good to have international law (commitments) as a starting point in the discussion with the government. The instrument made them think of issues they would not have thought of otherwise and look at issues from different angles. Moreover, the rights based questions they asked created awareness among policy makers and others whom they approach to collect information.  

The tool itself is largely self-explanatory. However, most organizations are not familiar with this way of working. HOM therefore aims to support organizations that start working with HeRWAI. For more information please contact s.bakker@hom.nl

 http://www.hom.nl/publicaties/HeRWAI%20def05%20totaal.pdf

To order hard copies of HeRWAI, contact HOM at info@hom.nl.