The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities contributed to the UNESCO Academy and Conference held from 5 to 8 February 2024 in Graz, Austria, on the topic “Accountability in Action: Human Rights Action Plans of Local Governments”. These two events provided an opportunity to highlight the responsibility of local governments in promoting and protecting human rights at local level.
Speaking at the Conference on 8 February 2024 on “Lessons for local authorities from 75 Years of Human Rights Treaties”, Congress President Marc Cools stressed the importance of seeing the protection of human rights not as an issue exclusively for central authorities. "Local and regional elected representatives are very often the first to have to deal with crises that involve the risk of human rights abuses", he said, adding that "the dramatic example of Ukraine is illustrative in this respect, and the leading role played by Ukrainian local and regional elected representatives in the defence of their country against Russia’s aggression caused by Russia cannot be denied".
The President also referred to the Congress work in this area, in particular the strategy on the implementation of human rights at local and regional level, adopted in October 2023. The strategy was presented to the UNESCO Academy on 7 February by Congress member Gudrun Mosler-Törnström (Austria, SOC/G/PD). "This strategy presents a clear vision of future human rights activities and their long-term objectives. Its main objective is to promote the full enjoyment of human rights by all citizens in our cities, communities and regions, in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights and other Council of Europe legal instruments," she stressed.
President Cools also highlighted the Congress' ambitions for the future, reiterating that the protection and implementation of human rights is a responsibility shared by all levels of governance, and by civil society. "At the Congress, we began to work on implementing the decisions taken in Reykjavik. This event, which marks the beginning of the year, is a first milestone in our renewed cooperation", he concluded.
