From the 28th of June to the 1st of July, the city of Nantes hosted the fourth edition of the Global Forum on Human Rights in the City. The Forum, which was originally put forward by UNESCO, takes place every two years thanks to the support of the Greater Nantes Metropolitan agglomeration, the Loire Region, the county of Loire-Atlantique, and the city of ......

From the 28th of June to the 1st of July, the city of Nantes hosted the fourth edition of the Global Forum on Human Rights in the City. The Forum, which was originally put forward by UNESCO, takes place every two years thanks to the support of the Greater Nantes Metropolitan agglomeration, the Loire Region, the county of Loire-Atlantique, and the city of Nantes, and has been under organization, since 2008, of the International Permanent Secretariat on ´Human Rights and Local Government´.

Focusing on the question "In a world in crisis, what about Human Rights?", the Forum featured around thirty round tables and gathered a record 2800 participants- the highest number in the history of the Forum. The message which featured throughout all the debates was that ´none of the economical, social, food related and environmental crises could justify drawbacks in the safeguarding of human rights around the world. Far from being inevitable, these crises force us to rethink the implementation of human rights and to imagine answers for the future´.

The local government representatives gathered at Nantes recalled the importance of the solidarity networks which are created or strengthened at each Forum, and highlighted the fundamental role played by cities in upholding human rights. This makes it all the more of a priority to support the network cooperation encouraged by the world organization of cities, UCLG, as well as projects as the Global Charter on Human Rights in the City.

The UCLG Committee for Social Inclusion and Participative Democracy (CSIPD) organized a number of activities as part of the fourth edition of the Forum : a debate on the Global Charter-Agenda on Human Rights in the City, a round table on the European Charter for Human Rights in the City, and a preparatory meeting for the upcoming conference on the European Charter, which will be held in the city of Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina, from 7 to 9 October 2010.

On the Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City

The Global Charter-Agenda for Human Rights in the City is a project supported by the UCLG Committee for Social Inclusion and Participative Democracy (CSIPD) and coordinated by the city of Nantes and the region of Pays de la Loire, whose aim is to encourage the implementation of local policy which supports human rights. Following a writing period (2007-8) and a participative debating period (2009-2010), the project shall enter the adoption and promotion phase following the III UCLG World Congress- the Local and Regional Leaders Summit, which will take place in Mexico City from 16-20 November 2010. The added value of the Charter-Agenda is that each of the Human Rights featured in the document is accompanied by an action plan which situates the actions of local governments with respect to the implementation of this right.

The Second Forum of Local Authorities of the Periphery (FLAP) gathered, between 10 and 12 June in Getafe, 600 mayors and officials from around thirty countries, invited by the FLAP and the Committee of UCLG for Peripheral Cities. The mayor of Getafe, Pedro Castro, said during the presentation of the event that mayors from the five continents share "the space of peripheral ......

The Second Forum of Local Authorities of the Periphery (FLAP) gathered, between 10 and 12 June in Getafe, 600 mayors and officials from around thirty countries, invited by the FLAP and the Committee of UCLG for Peripheral Cities. The mayor of Getafe, Pedro Castro, said during the presentation of the event that mayors from the five continents share "the space of peripheral cities which, being in the margin of cities, have less equipment, endowments, infrastructure and services."

"These are cities of metropolitan areas that have the same problems and seek the same solution, that is to say more integrated cities, more cohesive, who fights poverty and integrates innovation," he said.

The goal of the Forum, which was celebrated under the framework of the Spanish presidency of the European Union, is to agree for a commitment letter on the metropolis of solidarity, sustainable and democratic society, as recognized in the conclusions of the meetings and activities.

The panel discussions focused on gender equality, metropolitan planning, recognition of the periphery as producers and innovative in the field of culture, participation and the involvement of adolescents and youth, culture of peace as a basis for coexistence, decentralized cooperation between the peripheries, the commitment to intercultural and participatory democracy.

The Committee of Peripheral Cities of UCLG brings together the members of the worldwide network ´Cities in the periphery & participatory democracy´. It shows the need for recognition of the social and political situations of peripheral cities within their conurbations and within the world of cities. It supports the construction of the engagement letter to be presented at the next World Congress of UCLG in Mexico.

The 2009 Annual Meeting of the Social Inclusion and Participative Democracy Committee (CISDP) took place in Reggio Emilia (Italy) on 21 November 2009. Unlike other years, in 2009 the CISDP only met in full on one occasion, and to do so, it chose a particularly symbolic setting: the 9th Conference of the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (IOPD). ......

The 2009 Annual Meeting of the Social Inclusion and Participative Democracy Committee (CISDP) took place in Reggio Emilia (Italy) on 21 November 2009. Unlike other years, in 2009 the CISDP only met in full on one occasion, and to do so, it chose a particularly symbolic setting: the 9th Conference of the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (IOPD).

The meeting was attended by 33 people representing 17 cities and institutions from Brazil, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Mexico.

The meeting included two debates which were guided by a participatory methodology, ensuring collective work of the highest quality. The first debate covered the production of a document on a common position on participation and defined the expectations of participants, the cornerstones of the document and the production process. The objective of the second debate was to produce contributions to the draft World Charter-Agenda on Human Rights in the City.

The meeting also considered various areas which the CISDP is currently working on: the creation of an International Observatory on Local Social Inclusion Policies, which will be possible thanks to support from Barcelona City Council, Barcelona Provincial Council, the Generalitat (Government) of Catalonia, Malaga Provincial Council, FAMSI and Plaine Commune; the organisation of a Summit of Local Governments for the Eradication of Poverty (2011); and the promotion of the European Charter for the Safeguarding of Human Rights in the City, the high point of which will be the 7th Conference of the Charter (7 - 9 October 2010, Tuzla, Bosnia-Herzegovina).

All the details of the meeting, and the conclusions of the two debates, are available in the following document:

Around 500 representatives of local and regional authorities, and their partners - international institutions and some national representatives - visited Guangzhou (China) between 10 and 13 November 2009 for the meetings of the Executive Bureau and the World Council of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

A total of ......

Around 500 representatives of local and regional authorities, and their partners - international institutions and some national representatives - visited Guangzhou (China) between 10 and 13 November 2009 for the meetings of the Executive Bureau and the World Council of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

A total of 30 meetings took place, including the sessions involving the majority of the 18 UCLG Committees and Working Groups. The meetings of the Executive Bureau and World Council were chaired by the President of UCLG, Bertrand Delanöe, the Mayor of Paris, and by the organisation´s Co-presidents, Amos Masondo, the Mayor of Johannesburg, and Kadir Topbas, the Mayor of Istanbul.

The members of the World Council elected the new Mayor of Quito, Augusto Barrera, as Co-president of the UCLG, and accepted the invitation from the Mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, to host the meeting of the UCLG Executive Bureau in that city in April 2010. Chicago will be the venue for the coming statutory meetings of the world organisation. 2010 will also see the next UCLG World Congress, which will be held in Mexico City from 16 to 20 November.

The next Conference on the European Charter on Human Rights in the City will take place in Tuzla (Bosnia - Herzegovina) between 7 and 9 October 2010. After the Conferences in Barcelona (1998), Saint-Denis (2000), Venice (2004), Lyon (2006) and Geneva (2008), the Charter celebrates 10 years of existence in a country with a recent past that calls for greater efforts to be ......

The next Conference on the European Charter on Human Rights in the City will take place in Tuzla (Bosnia - Herzegovina) between 7 and 9 October 2010. After the Conferences in Barcelona (1998), Saint-Denis (2000), Venice (2004), Lyon (2006) and Geneva (2008), the Charter celebrates 10 years of existence in a country with a recent past that calls for greater efforts to be made towards peace and the guarantee of human rights.

The CISDP has been working on promoting the European Charter on Human Rights in the City since the Conference in Geneva (2008), in order to provide it with a permanent structure that consolidates its ability to influence the design of local public policies.

14 cities and institutions from Spain, France, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina attended the meeting of the CISDP "Human Rights and Local Governments" Working Group on 11 December 2009 in Barcelona. This Working Group will be the framework used to promote the Charter in the future. The meeting agreed on a Working Plan for 2010 - 2011 for the Group, and approved the plan for the conference presented by the mayor of Tuzla, Mr. Jasmin Imamovic.
The conference will be entitled "Local authorities providers of quality of life and individual welfare" and will include 3 round tables for debate on harmonious diversity, high quality public services and sustainable development.

The next meeting of this Working Group will take place on 19 February in Saint-Denis, the city that was the setting for the production of the Charter 10 years ago, and which continues to play a key role in its promotion. This meeting is open to all cities wishing to become involved in the organisation collective process of the 7th Conference.

At a time when half of the world´s population lives in cities, the challenges faced by local governments are rapidly increasing. The dynamics of growth of the major cities means that the most vulnerable sectors of the population are being pushed towards the edges of cities. As a result, local government bodies located on the outskirts of large cities today have major difficulties when dealing with increasing social challenges.
In order to promote international networking among suburban cities, the 1^st World Forum for Peripheral Local Authorities (FALP) was convened in Nanterre (France) in 2006. Among the issues discussed were the risks of social, spatial and environmental fragmentation in large cities, the potential for participatory democracy in the construction of the inclusive metropolises and the right to mobility. The second FALP will take place in Getafe (Spain) between 10 and 12 June 2010. For more information on the 2^nd FALP, please see: http://falp.getafe.es.

After the last WSF, which took place in January 2009 in the Brazilian town of Belém do Pará, several decentralised forums are planned this year in countries such as Brazil, Spain, the United States, Japan, Mexico, the Czech Republic and Turkey. The city of Dakar (Senegal) will host the 11^th WSF in 2011.

The CSIPD is making progress on the creation of the International Observatory on Local Social Inclusion Policies. The Observatory has 15 innovative policies available for consultation in Spanish, English and French on the Committee´s website.

By late 2010, it plans to have 50 more policies, from North America, Latin America, Europe, Eurasia, Africa, the Middle East - Western Asia and Asia Pacific. In this context, the CSIPD has recently called for all its member cities to send their most interesting policies before 9 April. The policies included in the Observatory will be selected based on various quality criteria drawn up by the CSIPD, which are available at: Quality criteria.
This second phase of gathering policies (the first was undertaken in 2007), aims to discover innovative experiences in the field of social inclusion that have been undertaken in sectors as diverse as public services, migrants, housing, gender, public transport, sustainable energies, fair trade, health, culture and urban planning. This is as well as the expansion of the Observatory to include areas already recorded in the 15 policy areas available to date, i.e. water and sewer systems, community development, eradication of poverty, the fight against racism, public participation, urban agriculture and social inclusion of young people.

An initial study will also be available at the end of the year, which will analyse the impact of public participation on the effectiveness of social inclusion policies. The new policies collected and this first study will be presented at the 3^rd UCLG World Congress, which will be held in Mexico City on 20 November 2010.

Between 22 and 26 March 2010, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) hosted the 5 World Urban Forum (WUF), an event that has been organised by the United Nations Habitat programme every two years since 2002. After Nairobi (2002), Barcelona (2004), Vancouver (2006) and Beijing (2008), this year´s WUF was based around "The right to the city: bridging the urban divide".
The CSIPD, and the "Human Rights and Local Governments" International Permanent Secretariat of Nantes-Pays de la Loire (SPIDH) organised a debate session on 24 March on "Local governments promoting the right to the city". The panel included representatives of local governments from Brazil, France and Spain, from the United Nations (UNESCO) and civil society organisations (HIC and COHRE). Two CSIPD member cities also participated in a session organised by UNESCO and UN HABITAT on "Inclusive cities for all: UNESCO, UN HABITAT and UCLG joint efforts". This activity took place on 23 March.

Other UCLG committees (Peripheral cities and Urban Strategic Planning) and networks such as the FAL and the IOPD also organised activities on the occasion of the 5 WUF.

On 19 February, Saint-Denis hosted a preparatory meeting for the 7^th Conference on the European Charter for the Safeguarding of Human Rights in the City, which will take place from 7 - 9 October 2010 in Tuzla (Bosnia-Herzegovina).
The meeting was chaired by Mr. Didier Paillard, mayor of Saint-Denis, Mr. Jasmin Imamovic, mayor of Tuzla, and Mr. Patrick Braouezec, President of Plaine Commune. Representatives of Bobigny, Barcelona, Geneva, Ljubljana, Nantes, San Sebastián, Saint-Denis, Plaine Commune, Tuzla and the CSIPD Secretariat participated in the meeting.

Progress was made on defining the programme, and pairs of cities were established for the organisation of each of the three plenary committees, which will cover social cohesion, quality services public and protection of the environment. The next preparatory meeting is scheduled for Tuzla on 29 and 30 April.

After the last Conference on the European Charter for the Safeguarding of Human Rights in the City, which took place in Geneva in 2008, the CSIPD was entrusted with the task of co-ordinating the promotion of the Charter and supporting the organisation of biennial conferences.