The Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory and Human Rights of UCLG will organise, together with Habitat International Coalition (HIC), a side event on the right to the city on 1st October 2013 from 11:30h to 13:30h at ISESCO (Salle A. Saoud) as part of the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders which will take place in Rabat (Morocco), 1-4 october 2013.
List of the speakers
- Ms Halima Tijani, Mayor of Raoued, Tunisia.
- Mr. Manal Abaza, executive manager, Development Support Center for Consultancy and Training, Egypt
- Elected women, to be confirmed.
- Ms. Claudina Núñez, Mayor of Pedro Aguirre Cerda and Vice-president of Chilean Association of Municipalities, Chile
- Mr. Nelson Saule, representative of National Forum for Urban Reform (FNRU), Brazil
- Mr. Karim al-Akrout, Mayor of Mornag, Tunisia
- Mr. Anselmo Lee, Korea Human Rights Foundation, South Korea.
- Mr. Antonio Aniesa, Cabinet of the president, Plaine Commune, France
Click here to access Side Event Programme
Summary of topic and context
The main components of new paradigms of social production and enjoyment of human settlements (a democratic, inclusive, sustainable, productive, educational, and safe place for everyone, everywhere to live in peace and dignity) have been the subject of discussions, experiences and concrete proposals of social movements, national and international networks of so called civil society, including trade unions, professional and technical, academic and human rights activists in various countries of Latin America in the last 50 years. Urban reform and the right to the city are now present—explicitly or implicitly—in both theoretical and legal frameworks and, at once, as a platform for action in several regions of the world.
The Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), Habitat II (Istanbul, 1997) and the First World Assembly of Inhabitants Rethinking the City from the People (Mexico City, 2000) were important moments in the development of actors and the articulation of concrete proposals. Undoubtedly, this process has gained new strength and expanded in size and content since 2001 in the World Social Forum and the Social Forum of the Americas. Thousands of people and dozens of organizations and networks have since participated in the discussions, preparation, signing and dissemination of the World Charter for the Right to the City (defined as the equitable usufruct of cities within the principles of sustainability, democracy, equity and social justice), including UNESCO and UN-Habitat. In its geneses and social meaning, this instrument primarily aims at strengthening the processes and collective claims against injustice and social and regional discrimination.
Alongside this social process, some local, national and regional governments that seek to apply human rights in the urban context have developed legal instruments in explicit recognition of the right to the city. Among the most advanced of these approaches have been the European Charter of Human Rights in the City (2000), the City Statute in Brazil (2001), the Charter of Rights and Responsibilities of Montreal (2006), the Constitution of Ecuador (2008), the Mexico City Charter for the Right to the City (2010), the Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City (2010) and the Charter of Human Rights Gwangju, South Korea (2012).
In light of the changes taking place in the MENA region, including the redefinition of governance, the panel offers an opportunity to compare experiences that will spark debate on the prospects of new relationships between civil society and local administration, and the foreseeable outcomes of this dialectic process, toward the development of local government in the region.
These lessons will inform the deliberations of the Habitat III preparatory process so as to ensure that the new review of global habitat policy addresses the right to the city substantively, reflecting contemporary experience and aspirations, and in practical terms.
Key questions that will be raised during the parallel session
- What is meant by right to the city from the point of view of civil society organizations and local governments?
- What content and strategies can the right to the city offer for the democratization of our urban societies?
- What commitments must the various stakeholders assume, in order to advance implementation of the right to the city?
Expected outcomes
- Exchange of experiences and views from various stakeholders and regions concerning progress and challenges in the realization of the right to the city.
- Coordination of local stakeholders in MENA to discuss possibility and opportunity to develop local and/or regional charters on the right to the city.
- Proposals to fuel the debate about a progressive urban agenda toward Habitat III.
Click here to access to the Summit website