The Council of Europe's Director of Strategic Planning, Mr Andreas Siegel, has presented the organisation's "chain of progress" model to measure and promote the level of social advancement at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) World Forum in Istanbul.
The event, from 27-30 June, has brought together more than 900 leading government, NGO and private sector representatives to examine how progress is measured and fostered.
Using examples of the impact of Council of Europe conventions in effect in 47 European member states with a total population of more than 800 million people (from the European Convention on Human Rights to the European Social Charter), Mr Siegel explained to Forum participants how a "chain of progress" model can work:
- Develop common standards, indicators and benchmarks (by means of targeted sectoral conventions, recommendations, resolutions and binding decisions of the European Court of Human Rights)
- Measure progress (by setting objectives for progress, regular monitoring of indicators, results-based programming and evaluation)
- Foster progress (for example by following up on member state commitments, court judgements and recommendations by monitoring bodies, and by building national capacity to implement agreed standards).
"An increasingly complex and globalised world requires effective monitoring of our common standards," Mr Siegel said. "We must agree on how to define the quality of life, how we protect basic human rights and promote a democratic culture with informed and active citizens. This forum is a good opportunity to compare sectoral and regional models and try to build on these in order to promote progress worldwide.
The notion of progress is intrinsically linked to the mission of the Council of Europe: It has a unique institutional and instrumental mix, bringing together all the key actors - governments, NGOs, independent monitoring mechanisms and the enforcement mechanism of the Court. Under one roof we can set standards, give assistance to help with their implementation, monitor progress, and where necessary, ensure that commitments undertaken by member states are respected in practice".
Mr Siegel’s presentation
To interview Andreas Siegel, please contact Sophie Lobey: + 33 6 65 09 16 07
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A political organisation set up in 1949, the Council of Europe works to promote democracy and human rights continent-wide. It also develops common responses to social, cultural and legal challenges in its 47 member states.
