During May and June 2025, our Committee and the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (OIDP) sent four key contributions to calls from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to inform its reports, forums, and working groups.
The contributions addressed the role of local and regional governments (LRGs) in:
-
the implementation of human rights,
-
access to housing and land,
-
the protection of children's rights,
-
climate democracy, the latter from the OIDP.
More than 50 representatives of LRGs from Africa, Latin America, North America, Asia, and Europe participated in these contributions, which also built on the track record of the CSIPDHR and the OIDP as spaces for meeting and collective action. All contributions agree on a call to OHCHR to recognize the fundamental role of LRGs as key actors in realizing human rights at the local level, while also pointing out the challenges they face: lack of resources, limited powers, limited fiscal autonomy, and absence from international decision-making spaces.
Human Rights Council Resolution 57/12 on local government and human rights
On 1 July 2025, our Committee, in collaboration with OHCHR, organized a virtual consultation with more than 40 representatives of LGAs and civil society organizations from Africa, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and West Asia. The consultation shared best practices on how to localize human rights, addressing issues such as gender mainstreaming, care economies, anti-racism, citizen participation, and international solidarity.
Learn more about the consultation online here
From the CSIPDHR, we sent a written contribution in which we affirmed that LRGs are not only implementers, but pioneers and protagonists in the construction of societies based on human rights. This vision is articulated through actions such as the global campaign “10, 100, 1,000 Human Rights Cities and Territories by 2030,” the update of the UCLG World Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City, and the development of the Guidance Framework for Building Human Rights Cities, developed together with OHCHR.
Click here to read the full contribution
Report on land and the right to adequate housing
The global municipalist movement, represented by UCLG, promotes a renewal in the provision of public services that places human rights, care and local democracy at the center. Within this framework, LRGs are promoting innovative approaches to guarantee the right to housing, especially in the face of its growing commodification.
Experiences shared from Latin America, Europe, Asia, and North America include:
-
participatory budgeting,
-
recovery of vacant properties,
-
land value capture mechanisms, and
-
nature-based solutions.
However, structural challenges remain, such as the lack of clear mandates, financial resources, and decision-making authority.
Click here to read the full contribution
Open-ended intergovernmental working group on an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Local governments are key actors in the realization of children's rights, particularly in the field of education. They are responsible for the direct provision of services, the management of educational infrastructure, and community support.
Despite having mandates without sufficient resources and facing institutional and fiscal constraints, local governments are developing innovative democratic mechanisms, such as participatory budgeting, that allow communities to define priorities for children.
Our contribution proposes that the new Optional Protocol recognize the role of LRGs as implementers and guarantors of the rights to education.
Click here to read the full contribution
Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law – Session on democracy and climate change
The OIDP, as a reference mechanism on local democracy in UCLG, prepared a contribution focused on addressing climate change as a profoundly democratic and human rights challenge.
With contributions from Valongo and a youth representative from Kangleipak (India), the document proposes:
-
recognizing LRGs as central actors in this agenda,
-
strengthening participatory and inclusive governance, and
-
protecting civic spaces at all levels of government.
Click here to read the full contribution