Implementing international human rights norms: UN human rights treaty bodies and NGOs

Abstract

For years, the measuring stick for human rights performance of governments around the world has been the human rights standards adopted by the United Nations: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the six core human rights treaties set forth most of these standards. Although the UN has created expert treaty bodies to assess compliance with the treaties, the key to successful monitoring has been the contribution of non-governmental organizations that provide alternative information about country compliance, as well as offering advice on national legal standards. Because the treaties do not provide for an explicit role for non-governmental organizations in the work of the treaty bodies, this aspect has developed on an ad hoc basis. Treaty body interaction with NGOs deserves more focused attention, as advocates work to enhance the effectiveness of human rights norms, and governments contemplate reform of the treaty body system.