Impact OSS

IMPACT OSS (Integrated Management and Planning of Actions Open Source Software) is a data management tool that allows States, especially States with single ’national mechanisms for implementation, reporting and follow-up’ (NMIRFs), to easily manage all recommendations received under the UPR, Special Procedures and Treaty Body mechanisms; coordinate implementation across government, as well as between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the State; and facilitate streamlined reporting back to the mechanisms.

IMPACT OSS, designed and maintained by the Impact Open Source Software Trust, in partnership with the Universal Rights Group and with the support of the Government of Singapore, is open source, meaning it is freely available to States - although technical support for installation, configuration and training are recommended. IMPACT OSS can also be installed by national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in order to promote public transparency and accountability around the degree to which a State is implementing its international human rights obligations.

The software is intended to be used by States, especially those with NMIRFs, at country level, and has a variety of features which allow it to manage all human rights recommendations, observations and obligations, as well and the SDGs. IMPACT OSS uses an advanced but user-friendly clustering process and helps States build national implementation plans, easily coordinate between ministries, identify implementation gaps, and link human rights recommendations with relevant SDGs and targets.

Additionally, IMPACT OSS sends out automated email reminders directly to ‘implementation' focal points’ across relevant line ministries, as well as across parliament and the judiciary, and collates data on implementation progress and impact in real time. Because IMPACT OSS also features a public website, this means that national civil society, as well as the general public, can monitor State progress with implementation. It also means that, when it comes time for the government to report to a given Treaty Body or to the UPR, it can easily do so (because the information on progress with implementation and on impact is on-hand).

IMPACT OSS has a number of benefits for a country and its people. First, it allows governments to easily and quickly address areas where implementation is falling behind and where corrective action may be necessary. Second, the public website facilitates greater transparency and democratic accountability and allows civil society and national institutions to better hold the State to account (i.e. the ‘democratisation of implementation’). Third, it makes the process of implementation more efficient and effective - strengthening the enjoyment of human rights, and making a major contribution to the realisation of the SDGs leaving no one behind.

For more information and to try a demo version of IMPACT OSS, go to: www.impactoss.org or contact the Trust at: [email protected]