CHAPTER 5: NHRIS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE 11 offer to contribute their expertise in human rights issues of the country, for example by linking poverty reductions strategies to human rights. 11 encourage governments to develop a PRSP that is sufficiently broad so as to address the structures of discrimination that generate and deepen human poverty. 11 help to encourage countries to formulate PRSPs in an inclusive manner, by facilitating access to relevant institutions and by adding legitimacy to the demand for meaningful participation of poor people and other vulnerable groups in the decision-making and planning processes. Once a PRSP has been developed, an NHRI can continue to play a key role in its implementation. A particularly important factor in the success of a PRSP is monitoring, in which NHRIs may be able to play a key role. Since poverty has such a strong human rights dimension, the monitoring of a PRSP must be linked to a country’s human rights framework. NHRIs can help to measure the progress of a PRSP, help identify gaps in a strategy, flag situations where implementation infringes on other human rights and can assist in developing strategies to overcome these problems. Further, depending on its mandate, an NHRI can also play a key role in both “cautioning against retrogression and non-fulfilment of minimum core obligations in the name of policy trade-offs” and in “strengthening institutions through which policy-makers can be held accountable for their actions.”21 There will likely be concrete actions it can identify and take in support of initiatives identified in the PRSP. At a minimum, the NHRI should, in its strategic planning process, use the PRSP framework as a template for identifying strategic areas of intervention that may be possible and ensure that its action plans include these. For example, since it is known that female earning capacity is linked very directly to improvements in gender equality and to the reduction of poverty, an NHRI could target barriers to the employment of women as a strategic initiative. This would allow the NHRI to take a variety of measures, including educating employers, auditing human resources systems, fast-tracking and prioritising gender-related employment cases, and so on, to address and improve this issue. 5.4.3 Budget analysis and monitoring22 National human rights institutions should advocate for the identification and resourcing of activities that support human development from a rights-based perspective in national and sub-national budgets. NHRIs can raise awareness and advocate for the prioritisation of economic, social and cultural rights issues in the context of national budgets and public expenditure, based on the principles set out in the ICESCR, CEDAW, and the CRC, among others. It is the State’s responsibility to develop and implement national budgets, and NHRIs cannot impose budget allocations on the State. However, a NHRI can monitor progress and make recommendations so that budgets respond to Treaty Body report recommendations and move forward on MDGs. At the very least, NHRIs can ensure that there is no retrogression or roll-back on previous commitments, and no budget cuts regarding established programmes that have advanced human rights. International human rights instruments generally make no specific reference to public expenditure or revenues, but do impose general obligations on State parties to take ‘all appropriate measures’ to ‘the maximum of available resources’. Such provisions exist in Articles 2 and 3 of CEDAW, for example, and Article 2 of the ICESCR. Article 3 of CEDAW for instance, imposes a requirement to ensure gender equality in relation to all human rights, including in their economic dimensions. This provision should be read in light of the guidance on requirements of international human rights law regarding resource allocation that has been provided by the ICESCR. The Committee has noted: “[E]ven in times of severe resource constraints whether caused by a process of adjustment, economic recession, or by other factors the vulnerable members of society can and indeed must be protected by the adoption of relatively low-cost targeted programmes”23 Because States are obliged to use “the maximum of available resources”, a failure to do so will render the State in violation of its obligations. Because of the obligation on State parties to “achieve progressively the full realization of the rights recognized,” States cannot wait indefinitely to take steps to assure economic, social and cultural rights. Jahan, op cit. 7. 21 This section is adapted from Equitas, Women’s Equality Rights: A Handbook for National Institutions. (2008). 22 CESCR General Comment No 3, at para 12. 23 95