On 3 and 29 April, our Committee organized two strategic meetings with the Steering Board responsible for updating the Global Charter-Agenda on Human Rights in the City of UCLG. The purpose of these meetings was to promote the second stage of this process, dedicated to defining the content of the new structure of the document.
During these meetings, key issues were addressed, such as the debate between minimum standards as a starting point and the establishment of commitments that inspire ambitious local action. The need to incorporate climate justice, international solidarity, and the rights of future generations as cross-cutting approaches to address today's challenges was also discussed.
Our coordinator Adrià Duarte insisted on the importance of aligning this process with the agenda of our global campaign “10, 100, 1000 Human Rights Cities and Territories by 2030.” For its part, the Steering Board emphasized the key role of our Committee as facilitator of this process.
Currently, the Steering Board is working on a preliminary version of the content of the new structure, with leadership established by thematic area so that each local and regional government, as well as experts, can contribute their experiences and pioneering local policies in the defense of human rights. Subsequently, our Committee will harmonize the contributions to present a preliminary version of the document, which will be reviewed jointly to consolidate the structure and content.
The second phase of updating the Charter-Agenda marks a key milestone in 2025 for strengthening the Local Social Covenant, which guides the contribution of the municipalist movement represented by UCLG to key global processes such as Urban 20 and the Second World Summit on Social Development, where reducing inequalities is central to a renewed social contract based on local democracy, human rights, and public services.
We will continue to report on the renewal process and invite you to stay tuned to contribute to it.
The Steering Board responsible for leading this process of renewing the Charter-Agenda: the cities of San Antonio and Valparaíso (Chile), Quilmes (Argentina), Iztapalapa (Mexico City), Barcelona (Spain), Vienna (Austria), Utrecht (Netherlands), Gwangju (Korea), Maui (Hawaii), Seine-Saint-Denis and Grigny (France). Also participating are the Chilean Human Rights Observatory, the International Coalition for Habitat, the Global Platform for the Right to the City, the Raoul Wallenberg Institute, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Human Rights Resource Center, and a human rights expert from Barcelona (Spain), the Directorate-General for Sexual Diversity and Human Rights of Mexico City (Mexico), an expert from the Association of Local Governments of Poland, as well as a representative of the Asian Democratic Network and a former representative of the City of Montreal (Canada).