Does decentralisation help people to enjoy their rights? Does adoption of a human rights approach strengthen the performance of local governments? This report by the International Council on Human Rights Policy (ICHRP) explores, for the first time, the links between decentralisation and human rights. Previous studies had in fact centred only on one of the two issues. Human rights activists have always monitored and targeted central governments, the subjects of international law and the signatories of international treaties on human rights. On the other hand, decentralisation, highly recommended by international donors and applied in numerous countries during the 1990s, has been used as a universal recipe to improve the quality of service delivery, but it has always been studied as a purely administrative matter.
Decentralisation does not necessarily improve respect for human rights, but, when it is properly implemented, it can promote democracy. However, there are also several risks connected to the increase in the power of local governments. Positive and negative consequences of decentralisation in relation to human rights are:
Decentralisation can establish democracy at the local level, where none existed at the national level. However, it can also increase the power of local elites.
Decentralisation can improve governance and public administration by putting authority closer to the population served. However, it can weaken national institutions and damage the capacity of governments to deliver services.
Decentralisation can help achieve economic and social rights, through a more efficient delivery of basic services. However, without monitoring by and accountability to central governments, devolution of power can cause standards to fall and rights to regress.
Decentralisation can increase accountability to the population and popular participation. However, without regulation from central governments, traditional local forms of authority can use corruption and abusive rule to create ‘local authoritarianisms’.
Decentralisation can increase autonomy for minority linguistic, religious or ethnic groups. However, it can create new tensions and foster separatism and local nationalism.
Adopting a human rights approach can help the process of decentralisation, neutralising some risks that would otherwise undermine its success. The four areas where this is recommended are:
The human rights approach can strengthen popular participation and empower the individual in relation to political authorities. It also helps to protect the freedom of the minorities.
The human rights approach provides practical measures of performance to assess the work of local and national officials and to identify and publicise abuses.
The human rights approach, by requiring local and central governments to abide to standards of services and monitor the progresses, can promote a more equitable economic development.
The human rights approach can produce a legal framework to decentralisation, as human rights are usually enshrined in constitutions.
