About the Committee

The UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights (UCLG-CSIPDHR) is an international platform bringing together local and regional government representatives from across the world to debate, share and advance collective initiatives on social inclusion, participatory democracy and human rights.

As a thematic committee of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the CSIPDHR aspires to articulate the common voice of the world organization of local and regional governments on key issues encompassing this vast thematic agenda, with a view to realize the right to the city in worldwide cities and urban territories.

The Committee fosters local government collective thinking and action on pressing human rights issues at the local level (such as housing, women rights or the social inclusion of migrants) through political debates, advocacy campaigns and learning initiatives. To this end, the Committee works in close cooperation with the rest of the UCLG network, as well as civil society and academia partners, the UN human rights system and other city networks.

«  United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) is the world organization of cities and local, regional, and metropolitan governments and their associations. It’s main mission is to represent, defend and amplify the voice of local and regional governments at the world stage, and to be a global advocate of local democracy and decentralization »

The origins of the Committee lie in the first editions of the Forum of Local Authorities (FAL) held in parallel to the World Social Forums in the early 2000s. A pioneer group of local governments met in this context to discuss with civil society on the main challenges of the urban era from a social justice perspective - Indeed, the FAL motto ended up becoming:

«  Another world is possible and it starts in the city »

After the foundation of the international organization of local governments (United Cities and Local Governments) in 2004, member-local governments of the FAL decided to establish a permanent structure within it. This decision lead to the creation of the UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion and Participatory Democracy back in 2005.

Since 2011, the Committee would recognize human rights as a working area of its thematic agenda. The Committee would then adopt its current title of UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights. This landmark decision was marked by UCLG’s adoption of the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City.

Ever since this moment, the Committee continued to play a key role in fostering local government networking on human rights issues, undoubtedly contributing to the consolidation of the human rights cities movement. 

Throughout Habitat III (2016), the Committee contributed to articulate local government and civil society campaigning efforts promoting the right to the city vision as a transformative approach to global agendas on sustainable urban development. As a result of this process, the right to the city would become a key guiding vision for UCLG's social inclusion agenda, as well as a cooperation framework with community-led initiatives.