Universal Human Rights Index (UHRI)

Available at: uhri.ohchr.org

Users guide and search

step by step tutorial
 Contents of this step by step guide

 Welcome to UHRI: introduction page (slide 3)

 Objectives of the database (slide 4)
 Part 1: Different types of searches (slides 5 to 25)
1. Basic search
2. Advanced search
3. Document search
4. Search by country (“summary”)
5. Search by Sustainable Development Goals (“summary”)

 Part 2: Useful information and features of the

database (slides 26 to 32)
1. How to manage search results
2. UHRI terminology
3. Resources and search help
Welcome to UHRI – introduction page
 Available at: uhri.ohchr.org
 Objectives of the database
• Improve access to recommendations issued by key mechanisms of the UN human rights
protection system : (i) Treaty Bodies established under the international human rights treaties;
1. Easy access (ii) Special Procedures; (iii) Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council.
/dissemination of
recommendations

• Assist States , and stakeholders as relevant, in:

• Knowing and analyzing human rights recommendations directed to the State;
2. Easy review of • Generating their own matrix of recommendations clustered by thematic issues/by
recommendations
to prepare plans of
mechanism to prepare national plans for implementation /follow-up of recommendations,
action including in consultation with stakeholders; and
• Document progress and prepare/validate/disseminate progress reports.

• Facilitate the work of national stakeholders to access recommendations and independently

monitor progress in the implementation/follow-up of recommendations: National Human
3. Easy monitoring Rights Institutions (NHRIs), civil society, academics, the UN agencies/entities at the country
of progress by all level and other actors.
actors
 PART 1:
Different types of searches:
step by step guide
1. Basic search
Allows to search by country, mechanism, theme, affected person/group,
and type of paragraph (observation or recommendation)
 1. Basic search: example
Search tip: You may search by one or many States/Entities Search tip: You may search by free text
and save the selected State/Entity for future searches. ‘Entity’ if you are unsure of the specific theme
covers autonomous territories and those that are not that you are looking for.
necessarily recognised as States by the international
community, such as the State of Palestine.

Search tip: You may search by one or many themes that appear in a
dropdown list in numeric order as defined in the UHRI classification system.

Search tip: You may introduce one or

many affected persons from the dropdown
list.
Search tip: You may introduce one or many human rights
mechanisms but not categories of mechanisms. E.g. you may
search by one or many specific treaty bodies, such as the
Human Rights Committee (CCPR) of the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) but
cannot put “treaty bodies” as a category of mechanisms.
 1. Basic search: example (cont’d)
Search tip: Here, you may save the country you want to
search on per default. This is useful if you always tend to
search one specific country. You can remove the save by un-
ticking the box.
Search tip: Here, you may save the entire search
selection (all introduced search criteria) for future
searches, and remove the save by un-ticking the box.

Once you have inserted

the desired search criteria,
click “apply filters” to get
your results. If you want to
empty your search criteria
or start over with a new
search, click “clear”.

Search tip: Here, may can define whether you want the
search results only by type of paragraph (observation or
recommendation) or with the text of each paragraph.
 1. Basic search: results page
The results page demonstrates the observations and recommendations related to our basic
search, with the search criteria indicated on the two previous slides.

In this example, there are 4 recommendations and 1 observation related to our search.
Recommendations are shown before concerns/observations as they indicate a recommended
action for the State or other stakeholder (e.g. the international community) and is therefore given
priority.

Search tip: Click “Expand all” to see the text of the

recommendations and concerns/observations.

NB: How to manage

search results is
described further from
slide 27 onwards.
 Basic and advanced search: differences
Basic search Advanced search
Allows a simple search by: Allows a more in-depth search through additional search categories and
the possibility for multiple entries by adding several search criteria. Search
can be done by:

State(s)/Entity(ies) State(s)/Entity(ies)
Free text/key word Free text/key word
Theme(s) Theme(s)
Affected persons Affected persons
Human rights mechanism(s) Human rights mechanism(s), with the added value of search by document
type or mechanism type
Document symbol
Type of paragraph (observation or recommendation)
Time period
Region
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
Position on UPR recommendations
2. Advanced search
Allows for more detailed search, including by document symbol,
date and a variety of selection criteria.
 2. Advanced search: general filters

Search tip: You may either search by Search tip: if you are looking for a specific document, you
any (broad search) or all (narrow can look it up by document symbol here.
search) search criteria.

Search tip: You may search either by observation or

recommendation. See further: UHRI concepts and
terminology on slide 31.
Search tip: You may search documents, concerns/observations
or recommendations between a certain time period, e.g. from a
certain date until the current date.
Dates are inserted in the format YEAR/MONTH, e.g. 2017/09
 2. Advanced search: detailed filters

Search tip for “filter by UN mechanism”: You may search by document type, mechanism type and mechanism (depending on type of
mechanism) . See the alternatives on the terminology slide 31. In the case of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which is a mechanism
with only one “mechanism type”, you may either tick the box or choose it from the dropdown list below.

Search tip for “filter by region”: You may filter by region to see results for all countries of that region. You may only choose one region at
a time. Down at this section you can also find the country/ies you may have preselected in previous searches, or save a country depending
on the region you may have selected.
 2. Advanced search: detailed filters
(cont’d)
Search tip for “filter by SDGs”: You may filter results by one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals

Search tip for “filter by UPR recommendation”: In

relation to documents of the Universal Periodic
Review (UPR) you can search by recommending
State/Entity, the UPR position taken by the examined
State/Entity (noted/supported) and UPR cycle.
Please note that if you wish to see both noted and
supported UPR documents should leave the UPR
position un-ticked.
 2. Advanced search: results page
The results page demonstrates the search criteria for our advanced search. For Belize (as our
default country), there are 3 supported recommendations from the Universal Period Review on
education from the past five years (2012/01-2017/09).

Search tip: By clicking

“expand all”, the search
results will drop down in
a consecutive list.

NB: How to manage search

results is described further
from slide 27 onwards.
 3. Document search
Allows to search specific documents by free text/key word, document symbol,
time period, region, country, mechanism type and mechanism.

As opposed to basic or advanced searches, this search focuses on documents

instead of paragraphs (observations/recommendations) in the documents.
3. Document search: example
In this example, we have defined the country and mechanism types: Special
Procedures and Universal Periodic Review.
 Once you have clicked
3. Document search: results “apply filters” in the
document search, you
must scroll down to see
the result. The result
shows all documents
issued for the selected
country by the searched
mechanisms.

First row: Direct

link to document
in pdf in selected
search language.

Second row: Link to the

paragraphs (observations and
recommendations) of document.

Third row: Link to document in all

UN languages in existing formats
(html, pdf, doc, docx)
4. Search by country
Useful for obtaining a general overview of the material produced
by human rights mechanisms, that is available in the database,
relating to the country selected.
 4. Search by country: example

IMPORTANT SEARCH TIP: Here, you may save the country

you want to search on per default. This is useful if you always
tend to search one specific country. You may remove the save
by un-ticking the box.
 4. Search by country: results page
This shows the documents that are in the database for the given country and the
number of observations and recommendations there are in each document.

NB: How to manage search

results is described further
from slide 27 onwards.
4. Search by country: locating documents
that may not yet be in the database
 The UHRI database is being updated continuously, however,
information is ‘indexed’ only after the final edited version of the
document becomes available (3-6 months after adoption).
 Thus, to complete a search, it is useful to consult the databases of
all mechanisms available at the following links, by inserting the
country as search criteria:
 Treaty bodies database:
tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/TreatyBodyExternal/TBSearch.aspx
 Special Procedures database:
spinternet.ohchr.org/_Layouts/SpecialProceduresInternet/ViewCo
untryVisits.aspx
 Universal Periodic Review (UPR) web pages:
www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/Documentation.aspx
 5. Search by Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs)
Useful for analysing to which SDG each recommendation is linked.
Aim: To support States’ implementation of their human rights obligations and
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in a coordinated manner.
 Search tip: If you have preselected a default
country, it will appear automatically. Otherwise
5. Search by Sustainable you need to select one from the dropdown list.

Development Goals (SDGs): example

Search tip: This is the number of targets of goal

four, that appears once you have selected the
desired goal. By clicking the arrow you may view,
select and unselect targets for your search. Then
click “show results”.
 5. Search by Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs): results
The results page demonstrates the observations and recommendations related to our
search on SDG4 (quality education), all targets.

There are 8 recommendations and 3 observations related to our search.

Recommendations are shown before observations as they indicate a recommended
action for the State or other stakeholder (e.g. the international community) and is
therefore given priority.
Search tip: Click “Expand all” to see the text of the
recommendations and concerns/observations.

NB: How to manage

search results is
described further from
slide 27 onwards.
 PART 2:
Useful information and
features of the database
 1. How to manage search results (1/4)
What do we see on a search results page?
 The number of results for your search
 The number of pages of your result
 The type of paragraphs of your search (guided by what you have searched for, and
the types of paragraphs that have been issued by the searched mechanisms)
 The possibility to: print results, export them in Excel format, and create a direct link
to the results that you can copy and paste in the box that appears.

When ticked, this box

will show all result
paragraphs below on
on the screen.

.
 1. How to manage search results (2/4)
What information does a search result paragraph give?
1.The paragraph text
2.The type of paragraph (observation or recommendation)
3.The document to which the paragraph belongs, a possibility to access the document by
clicking it, and the year it was issued
4.Related documents, e.g. the State’s response to UPR recommendations
5.The number of the paragraph in the document
6.The mechanism that has issued the document
7.The theme(s), affected person(s), and State/Entity related to the paragraph (guided by the
search you made)
8.A highlight of the free text search you made
2
6
3
5 1 8

4
7 7
7
 1. How to manage search results (3/4)
The result of all searches gives you the options to filter your search result by:

Annotation type (concern/observation or recommendation), State/Entity, Theme,

Affected Person, UPR Recommending State/Entity, or UPR Position of examined
State/Entity. You may choose as many filters as you like; then press “apply filters”.

This allows you to manage easier a search that has numerous results.

.
 1. How to manage search results (4/4)
 It is possible to sort search results by:
 Paragraph type (observation or recommendation)
 State/Entity
 Theme and affected persons covered by recommendations (if a
theme/affected persons category is not in the list, no recommendation
has been issued related to the theme/affected persons in question)
 UPR recommendation per issuing State/Entity
 UPR position of examined State/Entity

Example: results of advanced search for

Belize by the theme D51, ‘administration
of justice and fair trial’, sorted by
‘affected group’
Thank you!