Purpose:
Improve capacities and raise awareness of Human Rights among citizens and organisations and mainstream a Human Rights approach within the City Council.
Stimulus/Rationale:
Sabadell considers that the city is a key space for the implementation and real guarantee of Human Rights and, in this sense, municipalism is working in a network towards the construction of tools to defend and guarantee people's rights. As a result, the European Charter for the Safeguarding of Human Rights in the City was signed by Sabadell in 2000.
The Office for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination actively promotes actions that facilitate knowledge of the rights of people in the city throughout the population. Training is also offered to municipal staff and to entities, groups and institutions that request it.
The City Council collaborates with the Commission for the Defence of Human Rights of the Bar Association of Sabadell and the Sabadell Municipal Complaints Syndicate.
Process:
The Human Rights Programme includes different initiatives:
- A series of activities, organised throughout the year with the collaboration of around fifty organisations, to get to know, reflect on and vindicate people's rights. In particular around December 10th, the city offers a whole week with more than 30 activities to deepen the knowledge and shared commitment in the defence of Human Rights in Sabadell and everywhere. They include cinema, games for children, photo exhibitions, seminars, theatre, and concerts.
- A website with resources for learning about and working on human rights (documents webs handbooks, etc.): https://web.sabadell.cat/drets-humans/recursos-per-coneixer-i-treballar-els-drets-humans
- The commemoration of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In December 2023 the city commemorated the 75º Anniversary by disseminating and raising awareness among citizens of the rights included in the declaration, making special mention of the current challenges. Especially, in terms of the Culture of Peace, the commitment to non-discrimination and the anti-fascist, anti-racist struggle, incorporating the new emerging rights of the Charter for the Safeguarding of Human Rights in the City, a charter signed by the Sabadell City Council in 2002. At the same time, this campaign aims to highlight the many actions and activities in favour of human rights that are carried out in the city, both by organisations and by the different spheres of the City Council.
- Project: We paint with rights Sabadell. The project started in 2016 and aims to show the municipal commitment to the fundamental rights of people through murals painted in different parts of the city.
- Project: Cities defending human rights. Sabadell is part of the Cities Defending Human Rights project, coordinated by the Catalan Fund for Development Cooperation and managed by the Catalan Commission for Refugee Aid with the participation of 28 city councils and 9 Catalan organisations and institutions involved in the defence and promotion of human rights on a local and global scale.
The Human Rights approach has been mainstreamed in different policies and programmes throughout the Council. Several projects, such as Mescla’t, include actions aimed at raising awareness on Human Rights (i.e. Human Rights Photocall).
With the occasion of the 75º anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, the Board of Spokespersons (all political groups represented) adopted an agreement reaffirming the commitment to:
- The promotion of and respect for the diversity of cultures, religions, ethnicities and beliefs, understanding that this richness bears witness to the versatility and adaptability of humanity.
- Safeguarding the rights of people, especially the most vulnerable, such as children, women, LGBTI+ people, the elderly or people in situations of poverty or inequality and/or discrimination.
- Protection from any abuse of power and ensuring that every person can live in dignity, free from fear and oppression.
- Educating our citizens about their rights and freedoms, fostering a culture of knowledge and respect that transcends generations.
- Disseminating information on human rights from public institutions, the media and other public forums to make it accessible and understandable to everyone.
- Adapting to and embracing emerging rights and challenges, recognising that the human rights landscape is constantly evolving.
- Identifying and addressing new areas where human rights need to be protected and promoted.
- Recognising cities and towns as crucial arenas for the realisation of human rights and supporting local initiatives that aim to safeguard these rights.
The Manifesto is open for citizens and entities to adhere.
Key reference documents:
