Through the last months, the Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights has welcomed to its network an association of local governments, the Association of Municipalities of Bolivia, a partner organization, the Barcelona-based Observatory DESC, and three organizations related to local and regional governments around the world: the International Network of Territories of Coresponsibilty TOGETHER, Montreal’s Office of Public Consultation and Wallonia’s Interdepartmental Office of Social Cohesion.
Reinforcing ongoing partnerships and advancing towards new ones
These adhesions are the result of activities where the Committee took part during the last months. Indeed, our participation in the Biennale of Cities in Transition, organized by the city council of Grenoble, allowed the Committee to come across with the work carried out by Wallonia’s Interdepartmental Office of Social Cohesion, that develops practices on local democracy and Human Rights localization in the framework of the Wallonian strategy on social cohesion, as well as the network TOGETHER, which gathers 400 territories of co-responsibility all around Africa and Europe. Besides, the involvement of the Committee in the organization of the 17th Conference of the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy, to be held in Montreal from 17 to 19 June, has led to the adhesion of Montreal’s Office of Public Consultation, an independent institution carrying out the mandates of public consultation commissioned by the city hall or the executive committee of Montreal. The Office is equally in charge of proposing regulations aiming at implementing transparent and effective consultation mechanisms.
Furthermore, the adhesion of the Barcelona-based Observatory DESC (DESC standing for ESCR – Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) consolidates an already ongoing collaboration, given that both organizations previously co-organized several events and jointly produced and disseminated knowledge about Human Rights in the city and the Right to the City. Equally, both the Observatory and the Committee are active members of the Global Platform for the Right to the City. In this framework, they are currently setting up an online training session on the Right to the City along with HIC and Polis Institute. Finally, the adhesion of the Association of Municipalities of Bolivia, which aims to institutionalize and strengthen local democracy in this country, will allow the Committee to strengthen its work with Bolivian local governments.
A transversal network based on plurality
These Local Governments and organization thus expressed their commitment to the promotion of fair, democratic and sustainable cities and territories. With these new adhesions, the Committee reaches 148 members, 116 of whom refer to specific Local Governments or regional & international associations where they take part, extending its geographical scope to 38 countries.
These new membership also reflect the extension and plurality of the work carried out by the Committee. Indeed, the CSIPDHR is characterised by bringing together the voice of Local Governments from all around the world on social inclusion, participatory democracy and Human Rights, sharing views and experiences with civil society organizations, researchers and citizens. As a result, the Committee turns out to be a meaningful space where to put in common new knowledges and advance towards the development of practices that allow cities and citizens to co-create cities, metropolitan areas, towns and villages, towards the progressive realization of the Right to the City.