Jargon of the week: **Modalities**

Submitted by crinadmin on

The word 'modality' has been popularised in the human rights world by that famous jargon generator otherwise known as the UN Human Rights Council.

'Modality' has many legitimate uses in fields from linguistics and medicine to science and technology. However, in human rights work it is an unnecessarily complicated way of saying 'procedure' or 'method', depending on the context.

Try to avoid using the word "modality" and be more precise about what you mean to say.

For example, instead of saying: “ The modalities and functions of the Universal Periodic Review", try "The procedures and functions of the Universal Periodic Review".

Instead of saying: "Recommendations on some modalities for promoting human rights", try "Recommendations on some methods for promoting human rights".

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