Commissioner for Human Rights

[06/10/08 15:00] The Commissioner participated in the seminar on "Systematic Work for Human Rights - a challenge to local/regional politics" organised by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions in co-operation with the Congress of the Council of Europe and the Commissioner.

"The place that local and regional authorities have in this context is an important one" he said in his speech. "Enabling all people to enjoy equal access to rights must be a priority for national, regional and local governments. We ought therefore to continue joining forces to implement and monitor human rights at all levels and find viable measures to transform new challenges in opportunities for development."

The aim of this seminar was to provide a platform for discussions between local and regional decision makers as well as representatives of the Council of Europe and national authorities on how to work systematically with human rights implementation. Its conclusions will provide input to the Conference on systematic work for human rights implementation which will be organised on 6-7 November by the Swedish Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.