Rightscentered

Rights-centered refers to an approach that places human rights at the core of decisions and actions across policy, design, and governance. In practice, it means shaping objectives, criteria, and assessments to advance and safeguard civil, political, socioeconomic, and cultural rights for all people.

The term is used across fields including public policy, international development, business ethics, technology, and social services. In development work, it aligns with rights-based approaches that tie aid, regulation, and accountability to the realization of rights. In technology and design, it guides inclusive and accessible products and services, emphasizing privacy, autonomy, and user control. In law and public administration, it informs due process, non-discrimination, and remedies for violations.

Core principles commonly associated with a rights-centered approach include participation and inclusion, accountability of institutions, nondiscrimination, transparency, proportionality, and empowerment. It emphasizes legal enforceability and practical mechanisms to monitor, report, and remedy rights violations, while balancing rights with other legitimate interests through proportional safeguards.

Critics note that the term can be vague or culturally contested, and that rights claims may conflict with other policy goals or resource constraints. Implementing a rights-centered approach may require institutional change, capacity building, and ongoing oversight to avoid superficial compliance.

Origins lie in the postwar expansion of international human rights law and development discourse, and it is often discussed as part of the broader family of rights-based and human-centered approaches. While related to human rights law, a rights-centered framework is pragmatic and usually nonbinding, implemented through policies, design guidelines, and organizational practices.

See also: human rights; rights-based approach; human-centered design; privacy by design; ethics in governance.