Barcelona has recently published a methodological guide – “Human Rights City: The Barcelona Model” – gathering the main lessons learnt by the Catalan capital in terms of developing a municipal system for human rights protection and promotion. A myriad of examples and recommendations on strategic planning, policy design, implementation and evaluation for municipal human rights policy-making are included in the guide.
This document is especially aimed at technical officers and other local government representative who would like to know more about Barcelona’s experience regarding human rights policy-making.
What will the reader find in the guide?
Built on the basis of more than 20 years of municipal policies that sought to develop the human rights based approach at the local level, the guide does not only include a complete overview of Barcelona’s experience in this area, but also some of its most innovative related initiatives. This includes the city’s most recent progress regarding the right to the city, interculturality or the feminist perspective (see: Government Measure “Barcelona, City of Rights” (2016))
Highlighting the key role of local authorities in promoting social inclusion, equality or non-discrimination, this document contributes to the further definition of clearer objectives and indicators for monitoring and evaluating municipal public policies on human rights.
The text also includes recommendations made by relevant international organizations on this issue (such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the Fundamental Rights Agency - FRA), as well as several international action plans promoted on the basis of local government contributions, such as the European Charter for the Safeguarding of Human Rights in the City or the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City.
Source: Ajuntament de Barcelona
Another step forward in human rights cities networking
This methodological guide shows the remarkable progress made by different local authorities across the world over the last year in terms of local human rights policymaking. It equally shows their willingness to find new ways of cooperation at the international level.
Through this document, Barcelona intends to contribute to currently ongoing reflections on how local and regional authorities can advance human rights at the local level, and to open a process of dialogue with other local governments worldwide who can also put in common their own initiatives on this topic.