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UCLG-MEWA Newsletter-5

The United Nations reflect on the role of local government with regards to human rights 18.11.2014

The United Nations reflect on the role of local government with regards to human rights

Circular 83
UCLG Committees and Working Groups
Barcelona, 14 November 2014

Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights
The United Nations reflect on the role of local government with regards to human rights



Dear members,

The Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights of UCLG is pleased to inform you that the progress report on “The role of local government in the promotion and protection of human rights” is already available. The document has been drafted by the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee with the support, among others, of UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion.  
 
We would like to draw your attention to some of the ideas mentioned in this report:

  • Political, fiscal and administrative decentralization is essential for localizing democracy and human rights (paragr.11, page 4; paragr. 27-28, pages 7-8).
     
  • Local government should be involved in the drafting of national human rights strategies and policies (paragr. 26, page 7).
     
  • UCLG has greatly contributed to establishing a human rights global normative framework through the adoption of the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City (paragr. 22, p. 6).
     
  • The European Charter for the Safeguarding of Human Rights in the City (2000) and the World Human Rights Cities Forum (Gwangju, South Korea), co-organized by the Committee on Social Inclusion, are recognized as key tools for localizing human rights (paragr. 39, page 11; paragr. 46, page 13).
     
  • The right to the city is mentioned in the document, together with some tools which have been developed to take it forward such as Brazil’s City Statute (in Portuguese) (2001), the World Charter for the Right to the City (2005) and the Mexico City Charter for the Right to the City (in Spanish) (2010) (paragr. 43, page 12).
     
  • International city networks such as UCLG can play a key role in developing toolkits, foster research, provide opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and create communities for action (paragr. 54, page 15).

The Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights of UCLG welcomes the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee and encourages them to move it forward in close dialogue with local governments, as well as with local government organizations and networks representing them.
 
For more information, please see Circular 78 of the Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights of UCLG.
 
Sincerely,


The UCLG World Secretariat
on behalf of the Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights
 
 
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