The Human Rights Impact Assessment Mechanism and Local Outline Plans in the So-called "Area C", West Bank, Palestine: Guidelines for Implementation for Planners

The Human Rights Impact Assessment Mechanism (HRIAM) is put forward to contribute to the selection criteria and prioritization of Palestinian communities eligible for spatial planning; the selection of the least harmful planning alternative; a long-term and integrated perspective to local, regional and national planning; increasing the participation of all groups and communities in all planning phases; considering the upcoming obstacles to the planning processes in Area C; ensuring that humanitarian and development interventions are coherently designed and aligned; supporting a coordinated messaging and advocacy on spatial planning in the West Bank; and the formulation of a unified national approach and standardization of policies and practices, decision making processes and mitigation strategies.

Conceptually the HRIAM is based on three factors:

(1) the spatial factors: the local, regional/sub-regional and national spheres;

(2) the temporal factor: looking at the entire planning process in the short, medium and long-term; and

(3) and the protection factor: calculating the impact of planning as protection alongside other protection measures including: legal and humanitarian.

The HRIAM promotes the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda of the United Nations.