G-Watch Technology for Monitoring Compliance with Human Rights

This is an attempt to superimpose the Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) to the Social Accountability approach of G-Watch. HRBA provides a set of normative standards based on the corpus of international human rights law against which the government can be held accountable. Social Accountability and HRBA are complementary as they share common principles: people empowerment, civic engagement and accountability. These approaches mutually reinforce and strengthen each other - Social Accountability initiatives can only prosper in a political environment where the fundamental human right to participation in government affairs is recognized and respected; a culture of compliance to human rights, on the other hand, can be ushered in by frequently engaging the government through the Social Accountability approach.