The Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City is an initiative that the Committee is promoting with the support of Nantes - Pays de la Loire region in order to foster the implementation of local human rights policies. After a drafting phase (2007-2008) and several participatory debates (2009 - 2010), the project has begun its adoption and dissemination phase which is expected to conclude at the next UCLG World Council, taking place in Florence in late 2011.
The added value of the Charter-Agenda lies in the fact that it does not only contain a series of legal articles, but also provides a series of specific action plans for the application of each of the rights mentioned in the text.
The Charter was discussed extensively at the World Social Forum in Dakar on 10 February 2011. The participants in the workshop were the cities of Nantes (France), Várzea Paulista (Brazil), Bamako 1 (Mali), the Pays de la Loire region (France) and civil society organisations such as HIC (Habitat International Coalition) and Amnesty International Belgium - Francophone Section. The objective of the activity was to discuss the "agenda," i.e. to propose specific political initiatives to contribute to the implementation of the human rights listed in the Charter.
Elsewhere, the city of Gwangju (South Korea) has hosted from 16 to 18 May the World Human Rights Cities Forum, where the International Secretariat of Human Rights from Nantes - Pays de la Loire (SPIDH) presented the Charter-Agenda. This forum is an initiative by the 18 May Memorial Foundation and the city of Gwangju which aims to strengthen the networking of cities in the field of human rights.
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