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One goal of the research track of 'Consolidating the Profession: The Human Rights Field Officer' is to identify and fill knowledge gaps regarding the role and function of field-based human rights officers.  The research track generates expert practitioner papers that form the basis for an annual expert consultation.  Project research and consultations generate recommendations that are meant to feed into the project’s key research output: a set of Guiding Principles for Human Rights Field Officers Working in Conflict and Post-conflict Environments.

The need for the Guiding Principles was made clear at the project’s initial expert consultation, convened in October 2004 at OHCHR in Geneva.  That consultation concluded with a set of recommendations that have guided project activities, among which include the following: 

3. Develop operational guiding principles for HRFOs, with a view to enhancing individual and organisational effectiveness, reputation and integrity, and taking into account international law, the OHCHR code of conduct and other established human rights methodologies. 

The Guiding Principles will constitute the first articulation of a comprehensive set of professional standards specific to the work of human rights field officers.  It is envisaged that they will be central to the developing doctrine of human rights fieldwork, both in terms of guiding policymaking decisions and informing training and capacity-building efforts.  The content of the Principles will be based, inter-alia, on the project’s consultations, training activities and thematic research into the primary functions of human rights field officers.  The proposed framework for the process of drafting the Guiding Principles is the following: 

o        August 2007: Participants at the project’s Third Expert Consultation on Human Rights Fieldwork (Bangkok, 16 – 17 August) developed draft recommendations based on project research outputs and consultation discussions.  These draft recommendations, along with those generated at previous consultations, formed the first level of guidance for the drafting process. The report from the Third Expert Consultation can be downloaded here.

 o   The principal drafter developed an initial draft text, which has been presented to other members of the drafting committee (comprised of the project Management Board) for analysis and comments.  This initial text is currently being circulated to key individuals within relevant HRFO-deploying organisations. The principal drafter, in consultation with the drafting committee, will produce a follow up text that takes account of comments that emerge from this process. 

o        March 2008: A high-level expert consultation will be convened in at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, in order to review a final draft. Participants in this consultation will include the project Management Board, the principal drafter, and senior officials of intergovernmental organisations.  

o        July 2008:  The final text of the Guiding Principles is formally launched at the Fourth Expert Consultation on Human Rights Fieldwork, provisionally scheduled to be convened in Geneva. 

o        The Guiding Principles, including the Statement of Ethical Commitments of Human Rights Professionals, will be vigorously disseminated once adopted. They will be presented to the heads of all relevant organisations and distributed very widely in the field. They will form the core of the final project publications, which will be targeted at both policy and academic audiences. The Irish Government has already made a generous commitment to support the dissemination effort.