Part I Defining the issues to be monitored CASE STUDY: UN WOMEN EXAMINING INTERSECTING INEQUALITIES IN PAKISTAN Using disaggregated indicators, UN Women (2018, page 150) looked at intersecting inequalities in Pakistan in relation to issues relevant to ESCR and SDG progress. Looking at how urban/rural location, income level and ethnicity affect rights enjoyment among Pakistani women, they found that, for example: • 98.8 percent of the poorest rural households are education-poor compared to 29.3 percent of the richest urban dwellers. • On average, 13.3 percent of women are undernourished, but Sindhi women are 7.1 times as likely as Pashtun women to be undernourished. • 69.5 percent of women in the poorest rural households report having no say in in decisions regarding their own healthcare. This rate is particularly high among Pashtun women, regardless of wealth and location. • The poorest rural Punjabi women and girls are almost 200 times more likely as the richest urban Urdu women to lack access to clean fuels. • Progressive realization and non-retrogression: By looking at how an indicator compares over time, we can determine whether things are improving, staying the same or getting worse. We can also consider whether progress is taking place fast enough to meet a defined benchmark. • Maximum available resources: As discussed further in Part III, indicators can be useful in evaluating how much money the Government is generating, from what sources, where it is being allocated and whether allocated funds are actually reaching their intended beneficiaries. These types of indicators can be used to measure resources in step three of OPERA. 4.5. IDENTIFYING INDICATORS AND BENCHMARKS There are several methodological considerations that should guide how human rights indicators are identified and selected. This section discusses different approaches to identifying indicators and benchmarks; factors to consider when selecting indicators and benchmarks; and sources of indicators and benchmarks. 4.5.1. Different approaches for identifying indicators and benchmarks There are a variety of ways that NHRIs can identify the most appropriate indicators and benchmarks to use in a monitoring project. For example, there may already be indicators that your NHRI is mandated to monitor; for example, as part of the national human rights action plan. Your NHRI may even have been involved in negotiating these indicators when the plan was developed. Alternatively, you might want a more “bottom up” approach and develop these indicators through a community consultation process with affected groups, including minority groups. You might also look at lists of recommended indicators from international organizations (see the discussion below on sources of indicators) or that the government is already collecting (e.g. to measure progress towards the SDGs) and then determine which ones are most relevant to the issue that your NHRI will be monitoring. Chapter 4: Working with indicators and benchmarks | 47