Humanizing human rights evaluation: Integrating human rights principles to maintain methodological rigor, axiological commitments, and epistemic justice

What evaluation criteria are appropriate to assess the relevance and efficacy of rights-based initiatives? In this presentation, the presenter argues that evaluations of rights-based programs must themselves espouse human rights principles, and methodological decisions must be assessed against these principles. The design and implementation of the evaluation must thereby promote the dignity, liberty, and equality for, and of, participants. Against these criteria, top-down evaluation approaches are often inappropriate or insufficient for the evaluation of rights-based programs. The paper discusses how many evaluations use top-down mechanisms, and then—through critical self-reflection in case studies—assesses how three evaluations either did or could have benefited from infusing rights-based principles within design and implementation.