Conference on human rights at local level and Launch of the European Local Democracy Week
Utrecht, Netherlands, 10 October 2011)
Welcome and introduction by Keith Whitmore, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe
Dear participants of the conference,
Dear partners in organising this event,
Dear fellow elected representatives,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you today at this conference, organised by the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) and Amnesty International. This meeting is taking place in the framework of the European Local Democracy Week, an initiative of the Council of Europe and its Congress of Local and Regional Authorities which I represent.
First launched in 2007, the European Local Democracy Week, or ELDW, has become a truly pan-European event, marked every year in the week of 15 October. This is the date when the European Charter of Local Self-Government was opened for signature in 1985. Its objective is to better involve our citizens in democratic processes at the grassroots, by fostering their knowledge of local democratic mechanisms, raising their awareness of the local community issues and, most importantly, by bringing residents of local communities together with their local authorities for a direct discussion of their concerns.
The Congress of the Council of Europe, the Coordination Team of the Week, has been working closely with the Association of Dutch Municipalities to make ELDW a success in the Netherlands this year. In particular I would like to thank Ms Renske Steenbergen of the Association’s secretariat, who is also secretary of the Dutch delegation to the Congress, for her personal contribution to make it happens. As we mark the first day of the 4th edition of the European Local Democracy Week today, the Week which is to run from 10 to 16 October 2011, I wish to thank VNG for its commitment and its hard work in organising this event and this launching meeting today. We in the Congress are grateful to the Dutch municipalities for fully committing themselves to this initiative thanks to the effort by VNG.
We thank in particular the City of Utrecht, which has the status of the 12-Star City of the European Local Democracy Week, as well as Ms Jon Hermans-Vloedbeld [YON HER-mans vlod-BELD], Mayor of Almelo, and Ms Amy Koopmanschap [KOP-man-shup], Mayor of Diemen, who are both members of the Congress and whom I welcome here. Their municipalities have launched specific projects in the field of human rights, which they will present today. And of course, we are grateful for the contribution of our partners in Amnesty International to the cause of human rights implementation at local level, and for their efforts in organising this conference.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is the 4th edition of the European Local Democracy Week, which is bringing in more municipalities across our continent with every passing year. In 2010, some 115 municipalities from 24 European countries organised activities in the framework of the Week, representing a total population of almost 24 million. Seventeen of them had the status of “12-Star City” through their specific commitment to ELDW, including by earmarking budgetary and human resources for this event. I am pleased to say that Utrecht has joined this category this year, when we again expect more than a hundred participating municipalities. Last but not least, 33 national associations of local authorities provided support for the Week’s activities in 2010, and we are very pleased to count the Association of Dutch Municipalities as one of them in 2011.
Every year, the European Local Democracy Week carries a leading theme, and the theme for the current edition is “Human rights at local level”. It was chosen due to the crucial importance of the local aspect of human rights implementation, which impelled the Congress to make the local and regional dimension of human rights a priority for its action. Indeed, the complex and constantly evolving universe of human rights is no longer the prerogative of national governments alone, nor can they successfully guarantee the conditions for the full exercise of human rights in our towns and cities. This is increasingly the job of local authorities, especially as a consequence of the decentralisation of power and enlarged competences at local level.
Today, local authorities are directly involved in ensuring human rights implementation – from the access to social rights such as housing, health care, education and employment, to the proper behaviour of municipal police, conditions of detention, or local regulations for the holding of rallies, demonstrations and parades, to give but a few examples. This is why more municipalities are establishing human rights departments or offices of local human rights ombudsmen, and this is why the Congress has set off down the path of raising human rights awareness and promoting human rights mechanisms at the grassroots.
Our first report and recommendations on human rights implementation at local and regional level, adopted last year, have already been taken on board by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, with which the Congress is closely co-operating. The Agency’s representative, Mr Andreas Accardo, is here with us today, and I welcome him at this meeting. Our next report, on human rights indicators at local and regional level, will be debated by the Congress at its session next week. In addition to this, the Congress has undertaken this year specific activities on protecting the rights of Roma in Europe and mobilising local and regional action to improve their situation – by convening the Summit of Mayors on Roma two weeks ago and preparing a report, which will also be debated next week. Finally, we are currently taking up the issue of education for democratic citizenship and human rights education at local level, which is a crucial aspect of human rights implementation.
It is not surprising then that we have suggested “Human rights at local level” as the leading theme for this year’s edition of the European Local Democracy Week. We have already received information that almost all participating municipalities will carry out activities on human rights, focusing in particular on children’s rights, integration of minorities, inclusion of people with disabilities, as well as women empowerment. But of course, when we speak about human rights awareness at local level, we must begin by fostering the knowledge of human rights through proper education, starting from the young age. In this regard, the City of Diemen has launched an excellent project which will be presented at this meeting, and which involves teaching children with disabilities about their rights, and making them true human rights advisors to the mayor. We all are looking forward to hearing more about this project today.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In conclusion, I would like to point out that this meeting is the first in a series of activities for a joint approach to the issue of human rights and the role of local governments in promoting human rights in their towns and cities. This joint approach would involve all levels of governance and all stakeholders in society, with a major contribution from civil society. Interaction between non-governmental organisations and government structures is indeed the most direct and effective at local level, yielding most tangible results for our citizens. We will hear some specific proposals in this regard today, and all the participants of this conference will have an opportunity to speak in the break-out sessions and to exchange with colleagues on different issues – such as the relation between human rights and active citizenship, human rights in municipal policy, and an increased responsibility of municipalities in dealing with human rights.
All these discussions will feed into our further action on human rights at the grassroots, for the benefit of our citizens. I wish all of us a very productive conference, and a successful European Local Democracy Week 2011.
Thank you.