“The spatial dimension of human rights: for a new vision of the territory” - Council of Europe CEMAT Symposium

Yerevan, Armenia, 13-14 October 2008

Speech by Emin Yeritsyan, Vice-President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Mr Chairman,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When the signatories of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights launched their appeal in 1948, it was not only a reminder of the universal value of human right with which we all as human beings are endowed by the mere fact of birth – it was a call for an action plan to translate this idealistic and philosophical vision into an environment where these rights can actually be realised and enjoyed.  

This requires specific and systematic work, the work of not only codifying human rights and freedoms in conventions and treaties but also of implementing them in our daily life, the work which must begin at local level. Because beyond legal texts, human rights are concrete, even if we often speak of them in abstract terms. They are as concrete as ever-expanding responsibilities of local and regional authorities, affecting in a very tangible way every-day life of our citizens.

For example, the right to housing means building and maintaining proper places of living. The right not be discriminated against and be treated equally with other members of community means overcoming intolerance and eradicating prejudicial attitudes. The rights to have access to public services, to employment, to education, to health care all imply the direct involvement of territorial authorities, as does the whole panoply of social rights or economic rights linked to employment and work conditions, which have to be enforced at local and regional level.

Many of these rights are directly linked to spatial planning and cohesion within our communities and within our territories, the cohesion that is best achieved in a kind of environment – political, economic, social, cultural, ecological and spatial – that is conducive to realising human potential to the full. This is why the spatial dimension of human rights, which is the theme of our symposium, is increasingly finding its important place among the priorities of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities. The realisation by citizens of their rights begins with the recognition of the central place of the citizen in our public action, his or her central place within a territory, which means making the concerns of our populations a priority in the territorial spatial planning.

This approach, in turn, requires a new, synergetic vision of “people and territories”, a vision based on both human and territorial dimensions as two integral parts of “territorial identity” – and a strategy for an interlinked human and territorial sustainable development, which is necessary to turn this vision into reality.

This “territorial identity” will be shaped by the environment in our communities, which I have just mentioned and which should be equal, sustainable and cohesive – an environment which integrates all aspects of every-day life of our citizens, an environment of equal opportunities in which they can exercise their rights freely and completely, including through spatial planning.

We in the Congress strongly believe that the path towards such an environment at territorial level lies through integration and inclusion. Local and regional authorities have a special role to play in this process, in overcoming the existing obstacles for integration and inclusion in society which are much too often rooted in prejudice, stereotypes and discriminatory attitudes in communities and even in administrative practice. We have to find adequate responses to these challenges by implementing measures, within our local action plans and inclusion policies, to make sure that all our citizens enjoy equal opportunities in our cities and our regions – within our territories.

To advance towards this goal, we in the Congress have oriented the overall axis of our human rights action at creating this “equal environment”, which would include an equal legal and administrative framework for all members of a community – equal protection of rights, equal access to public services, equal non-discriminatory treatment, equal job opportunities, and equal enjoyment of the urban and rural life.

It is in this spirit that we adopted, at the Congress’ plenary session in May this year, the new European Urban Charter: Manifesto for a new urbanity. The Manifesto lays down principles for building and managing an urban environment adapted to the modern needs of communities and covering the various aspects of urban life – ecology, biodiversity, urban planning and development, sustainable consumption, public spaces, access to economy, culture, education and health care. It calls for building towns and cities in a way which would make them citizen-oriented, cohesive, knowledge-based and sustainable. The new Charter urges territorial authorities to place people, with all their multiple identities and cultures, at the heart of preoccupations in urban planning and development, paying particular attention to the needs of the most vulnerable.

The new Urban Charter is complemented by a number of recommendations, drawn up in the same spirit – on the “Child in the City”, on urban biodiversity, on services of general interest in rural areas, on integration and participation of young people at local and regional level, on responsible consumption, on adaptation to climate change, to name but a few. They all are part of our work on, and contribution to, territorial cohesion and spatial development on our continent.

Another important text adopted at the Congress’ session in May is the European Charter of Regional Democracy, conceived to supplement the European Charter of Local Self-Government as a similar treaty for the regional tier of governance. Apart from being the first legal text laying down the tenets of regional democracy, the Charter reaffirms respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity as one of its main principles, and offers a variety of models for regional autonomy, which could also be used in settling questions relating to territories and their status. But first and foremost, the new Charter will serve to preserve and enhance regional identity and development in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres.

These are, in a nutshell, the main axes of action pursued by the Congress in the field of territorial cohesion, spatial development and human rights at local and regional level, which are the three components of one holistic approach – the approach aimed at, as I said at the outset, establishing “territorial identity” of human rights-friendly communities by building an adequate, conducive environment while, on the other hand, enhancing the capacity of local and regional authorities for sustaining this work.

I am positive that our discussions today will make a valuable contribution to shaping this new approach, based on the new vision of “people and territories”.

Thank you.