On 1 July 2025, our Committee, in collaboration with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), organized an online consultation with local and regional governments (LRGs) to contribute to the OHCHR report on good practices by States, local and regional governments, and other stakeholders in promoting and protecting human rights at the local level. The meeting brought together more than 40 representatives of LRGs and civil organizations from Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Western Asia.
Our coordinator Adrià Duarte opened the dialogue by highlighting that the meeting is part of the work of our Committee and members to strengthen the global movement of Human Rights Cities and Territories. Janica Puisto and Chafik Ben Rouin, OHCHR officers in the Human Rights Section, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Section, presented the call for contributions for their upcoming report, stressing the relevance of public procurement as a tool to promote human rights at the local level.
This session was crucial in light of the IV International Conference on Financing for Development taking place in Seville from 3 July 2025, by focusing on the work of LRGs that promote public finances with a human rights and care perspective.
Placing human rights and care at the center of local finances and the provision of public services
Mexico City shared its human rights approach to accessing financing for development, promoting ethical investments and training its technical staff in public procurement with a rights-based approach. It also promotes a public care system focused on the right to water and public space, in response to the water and security crisis in its territory.
From 12 to 15 August, Mexico City will host the XVI Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean, to continue promoting care in local finances.
If you are interested in participating in this event in Mexico City, please contact our UCLG-CSIPDHR Executive Secretariat at: [email protected]
Mainstreaming the human rights approach and creating new institutional figures
Cities such as Quilmes, San Antonio, São Paulo, Amsterdam, Lyon, Utrecht, and Vienna have advanced the institutionalization of human rights through new figures such as ombudspersons, observatories, and ambassadors.
San Antonio (Chile) was a pioneer in creating a People's Ombudsperson and offices for sexual rights. Utrecht has introduced a local human rights monitor and an ambassador who works with schools to promote rights-based education.
Cities such as Lyon and Amsterdam have consolidated themselves as sanctuary cities, offering support to human rights defenders and persecuted journalists.
“The role of local and regional governments is even more relevant at a time when national governments are increasingly liberal,” Sabine Gimbrere, Director of International Relations of Amsterdam.
In an adverse national context, Quilmes reaffirmed its leadership by creating the country’s first Cultural Rights Charter, in collaboration with UCLG’s Culture Committee.
Promoting the human rights approach in public procurement
The participating LRGs shared how they leverage the possibilities of public procurement to advance the human rights approach. Mexico City, San Antonio, São Paulo, Terrassa, and Utrecht are leading ethical international investments, responsible circularity, and gender mainstreaming, while supporting small-scale local businesses and training their technical staff.
For example, São Paulo operates a Network of School Kitchens, producing more than 26,000 meals a day in partnership with civil society organizations and providing training in food services. San Antonio is developing a manual to establish evaluation factors that promote equality and equity, including people with disabilities and ensuring respect for sexual diversity.
Mainstreaming gender perspective in the city
Women and people in all their diversity have been placed at the center of human rights public policies in cities such as Amsterdam, Mexico City, Quilmes, São Paulo, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Vienna. Gender mainstreaming emerges as a standout good practice, as demonstrated by Vienna, which since 2010 has reformed laws and regulations to integrate this perspective at all levels of urban management.
“We cannot talk about human rights without talking about violence against women”
Said Maïra Topall, Head of the Observatory of Violence against Women (OVF) of our co-presidency Seine-Saint-Denis. This initiative stands out for its ability to position gender violence as one of the most serious human rights violations and for its international projection. Through the OVF, a global network of local and regional women leaders has been formed, accessing processes of training, exchange, and cooperation to address this challenge structurally.
In São Paulo, the House of the Brazilian Woman was created, a comprehensive support space providing accompaniment and economic autonomy to women facing violence. In Quilmes, institutional policies were consolidated with the creation of a Secretariat for Women and Human Rights, a Gender Equality Plan, and two Centers for Women and Diversity, aimed at guaranteeing rights and promoting inclusion in contexts marked by inequality.
Promoting social inclusion with anti-discrimination approaches
Cities like Mexico City, Lyon, Quilmes, São Paulo, Terrassa, and Grigny have positioned themselves as leaders in promoting public policies aimed at combating the structural inequalities that violate the human rights of historically excluded communities. From an anti-discrimination approach, these experiences show how local governments can guarantee rights through the active inclusion of migrant, racialized, indigenous populations, people with disabilities, and residents of informal settlements.
Guaranteeing the rights of migrants was one of the shared priorities. Terrassa, an intermediary city with a population of 230,000 inhabitants, more than 33,000 of whom are of foreign origin, has developed gender equality and inclusion plans that place diversity at the core of its local policy. This comprehensive approach earned it the 2023 Gold Award of the European Capitals of Inclusion and Diversity. In Mexico City, emergency shelters for migrants in transit have been enabled and cooperation with other cities and international actors has been strengthened.
Quilmes has intensified its efforts to protect and integrate the migrant population—representing 8,% of the total—against hate speech and exclusionary policies promoted at the national level.
Recognition and attention to indigenous and traditional communities are also part of local priorities. Mexico City promotes an active policy to guarantee their rights, while São Paulo implements affirmative actions such as a 20% racial quota in municipal public employment. In Terrassa, the creation of a Non-Discrimination Office and a Social Rights Observatory are underway as diagnostic and action tools.
Children, people with disabilities, and residents of impoverished areas are also placed at the center of the human rights agenda. In Grigny, where 44% of the population lives below the poverty line and most are children, access to decent food is guaranteed through the free provision of school meals. Grigny, Quilmes, and San Antonio are implementing concrete measures to improve living conditions in informal neighborhoods through public works that guarantee access to basic services such as water, lighting, and safe spaces. The recent opening of the House of Hospitality in Lyon represents a firm step to ensure effective access to rights for people with disabilities, expanding the coverage of adapted public services in the city.
Participation: Inclusion of local communities through education and awareness
Mexico City, Lyon, San Antonio, Seine-Saint-Denis, Terrassa, and Utrecht are expanding the notion of human rights by building active communities aware of their rights and promoting critical thinking. Education and awareness campaigns in schools, libraries, and other public spaces are promoted in Lyon, Terrassa, and Utrecht, especially to confront digital misinformation, polarization, and hate speech. Lyon also promotes the training of human rights champions, who are awarded a distinction for their work. In Utrecht, the local ambassador, a survivor of the Srebrenica genocide, is working with schools to develop an educational program in collaboration with the local human rights monitor and other local actors.
In Mexico City, the co-creation of public policies with indigenous peoples is promoted, and in San Antonio, work is being done with communities to co-develop a plan aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Monitoring
The monitoring of local human rights implementation is being promoted from Utrecht with the figure of the local monitor to collect grassroots indicators in areas such as poverty, youth health, labor income, and inclusion. This information has been used to improve existing human rights mechanisms.
Coordination with national government and civil society organizations
Participants also agreed on the importance of coordination between levels of government and civil society. For example, in Utrecht they promote a national platform to localize human rights and have also undertaken cooperation with international civil society organizations.
International cooperation: creating coalitions of LRGs committed to human rights
All participants emphasized the relevance of strengthening networking between local and regional governments, highlighting the fundamental role of meeting spaces such as those promoted by our Committee.
The international cooperation led by the co-presidency of Seine-Saint-Denis has been key to expanding the scope of local human rights policies, especially through the creation of Observatories of Violence against Women (OVF) in contexts of high vulnerability. Thanks to this cooperation, two OVFs have already been opened in Ngazidja (Comoros) and Jenin (Palestine), providing protection and shelter to women and their families in conflict situations. Maysoun Dawood, head of the OVF in Jenin, emphasized that:
“The work carried out with Seine-Saint-Denis is very important to engage with the international community. We have provided women with protection and shelter.”
Areas of opportunity
To continue advancing towards cities and territories truly committed to human rights, participants identified key needs such as greater technical training in rights-based public procurement, strengthening peer learning, economic empowerment to provide emergency responses, and sharing legal tools and knowledge on human rights. Faced with these challenges, our Commission reaffirms its commitment to continue promoting international networking to consolidate and expand the global movement of human rights cities and territories.