Chapter 21: Towards a definition of effectiveness in HRIA
Restricted access

This chapter discusses the meaning of effectiveness in the context of human rights impact assessment (HRIA) and examines how it interacts with business decision-making. Derived from the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and in line with research literature on impact assessment the chapter proposes three dimensions of effectiveness: (1) the dimension of understanding of ‘specific impacts on specific people’; (2) the dimension of management: addressing impacts with adequate financial resources at the appropriate level within the business; and (3) the dimension of response that leads to measurable change in a ‘legitimate’, ‘transparent’ and ‘rights-compatible’ way, confirmed by rights-holders through feedback. Given this definition the chapter concludes that efficiency as a criterion for business decision-making may put effectiveness at risk at the level of all dimensions. However, efficiency as a concept may also be useful to evaluate if more could have been done to reach effectiveness.

You are not authenticated to view the full text of this chapter or article.

Access options

Get access to the full article by using one of the access options below.

Other access options

Redeem Token

Institutional Login

Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials

Login via Institutional Access

Personal login

Log in with your Elgar Online account

Login with your Elgar account
Edited by
Handbook