efforts to hold governments to account for systemic deprivations of ESC rights; but its utility goes beyond this. For example, the OPERA framework may assist in building evidence for specific cases before national courts, national human rights institutions, or other quasi-judicial mechanisms. For policy-makers, it may be used to integrate a human rights-based approach in policy monitoring and evaluation methods, such as results-based management or performance contracting. It could be adapted in ways that are relevant to assessing complaints that may come before the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights under the new complaints mechanism established by the Optional Protocol to the Covenant. Step 1 – Outcomes: Assessing the level of enjoyment of rights Summary of Step Step 1 Measure levels of enjoyment of the right Human Rights Standards Types of Assessment Techniques Minimum core obligations Identify relevant outcome indicators that show the extent to which the right, including its minimum essential levels, is enjoyed in the country. Non-discrimination Disaggregate indicators by social groups to identify disparities in levels of enjoyment of the right. Progressive realization Examine variations of indicators over time to assess progress, backsliding and change in disparities. As discussed earlier, monitoring the fulfillment of ESC rights requires looking beyond individual violations. Quantitative socioeconomic indicators are well suited to analyzing levels of rights deprivations affecting large numbers of the population. By providing a standardized and comparable measure, indicators can uncover patterns and trends within and across demographic groups. While there are dangers in drawing conclusions or generalizations from descriptive statistics alone, they offer a concise snapshot of the situation facing population groups. Collecting and assessing information on outcome indicators can signal the extent to which a state is achieving the realization of a particular right, though information reflecting rights holders’ own perceptions about their rights enjoyment will also be important. It is important to flag that this step is by no means an overall conclusion about a state’s compliance; further investigation about the state’s conduct is needed, as it is necessary to analyze not only what is occurring, but why. The step begins by collecting data that gives an overview of the current levels of enjoyment of the right(s) under review. The data collected at this step corresponds to the category of ‘outcome’ indicators under the OHCHR framework. This step requires first choosing appropriate indicators that act as proxies for the right(s) under review, accommodating practical limitations of data availability and reliability. For example, primary school enrollment and completion rates, as well as youth literacy rates, can give an initial overview of the extent to which the right to education is being realized for a given population. There are various ways to select indicators. The list of illustrative outcome indicators developed by OHCHR can be a useful starting point. In most cases, quantitative data for these kinds of indicators is readily available from several sources, including national statistics offices, country Human Development Assessing compliance with the obligation to fulfill economic, social and cultural rights 15