Defending Dignity A Manual for National Human Rights Institutions on Monitoring Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 14.2.1. The narrative “arc” of a report Amnesty International recommends the following questions to help you structure a compelling and effective report: • What should the report achieve? • Who needs to read it – in other words, who can help make a difference? • What are the main points about the problem which need to be highlighted? • What action or actions should the responsible authorities take? • How will principles such as accuracy and confidentiality be considered? A common structure for a report is: 1. Introduction: Briefly describe what the problem is and what needs to be done. 2. Explaining the problem: The main body of the report should follow a logical narrative to show: • Who is affected by the problem and how it impacts their lives • What actions by the authorities or others caused the problem or allowed it to worsen • How current situation contradicts their human rights obligations under national laws, policies or international standards. 3. Conclusion: Summarize your main findings. No new information should appear in this section. Repeat and reinforce your main findings. 4. Recommendations: Propose remedial action that should be taken. Using OPERA as a structure to explain the problem can provide a logical flow for your narrative. In other words, the body of the report could include a section on outcomes, a section on policy efforts, a section on resources and a section to assess contextual factors. It is also important that describe your research methodology in the introduction that clearly explains how you sourced the evidence that supports your findings and conclusions. 14.2.2. Thematic focus As discussed above, OPERA can be used like a diagnostic chart, helping to establish the often opaque causal links between conduct and result. It may show, for example, that a particular problem is attributable to inadequate or discriminatory use of resources, inadequate policy efforts, a lack of participatory processes, or other factors. As shown in the diagram, these factors are often interrelated and feed into one another. However, you might find that one or two factors seem particularly problematic in relation to the issue that is the subject of your monitoring activity. Accordingly, it might not be necessary to give equal weight to each of the four steps of OPERA in your report. You might choose to focus on a particular theme; for example, on fiscal policy, or corporate influence, or decentralization, or weaknesses in accountability mechanisms. 140