Why are local and regional governments essential for promoting, fulfilling, and respecting human rights?
Municipalities, as the closest administrations to citizens and providers of essential public services, have great capacity to intervene in the lives of our residents through public policies that ensure a dignified life and the rights inherent to them, as established in Article 10 of the Spanish Constitution.
As Eleanor Roosevelt stated, human rights become effective "In small places, close to home. Places that are so close and so small that they are not visible on any map of the world. Yet they are the world of each individual: the neighborhood they live in, the school or university they attend, the factory or office where they work...". Sharing this view, local governments have a shared and complementary responsibility to act to ensure a dignified life from social, political, cultural, economic, and environmental standpoints.
Why are human rights relevant values and a useful framework for guiding local action?
Incorporating a transversal approach based on human rights, gender, and intersectionality into all municipal policies results in a significant strengthening of municipal action against the main shortcomings in human rights, inequality, and poverty that exist in our cities and towns. Especially, human rights provide a useful framework for implementing local programs and actions targeting discriminated or more disadvantaged groups.
Promoting and fulfilling human rights as the core of municipal action also means putting life at the center of politics and as an essential value in policies aimed at improving people's quality of life, focused on social justice, equality, environmental protection, and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals at the local level, among others.
The commitment of local entities to the promotion, defense, and fulfillment of Human Rights. Participation in municipal networks and campaigns that contribute to advancing this objective.