Local Government and Human Rights

Encourages States and local governments to enhance coordination and cooperation in developing and implementing laws, policies and guidelines that incorporate human rights promotion and protection into local governance, including those related to awareness-raising and capacity-building, taking into account the local needs and priorities in the delivery of public services and disparities among local governments in their capacity or resources to implement human rights obligations;

Also encourages States and local governments to collect, disaggregate and analyse data on the local human rights situation, with the aim of adopting evidence-based laws, policies and programmes;

Encourages States to provide local governments with adequate financial resources and technical capacities to fulfil their human rights responsibilities and strengthen cooperation in the distribution and allocation of such resources;

Also encourages States to promote the engagement of local governments in the work of regional and international human rights mechanisms and in implementing relevant recommendations, including in the preparation of State submissions for the universal periodic review and in follow-up thereto, in reviews by the treaty bodies of the reports of States parties and in the work of the special procedures of the Human Rights Council, in particular during country visits;

Invites relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, regional human rights mechanisms, national human rights institutions, civil society representatives and other stakeholders to cooperate with local governments, as well as with each other, to support them, including through capacity-building, in discharging their human rights responsibilities and engaging in the work of regional and international human rights mechanisms;

Encourages local governments to ensure the participation of local stakeholders in local government activities and in public affairs and an enabling, inclusive, accessible and safe environment for civil society participation and to promote interaction and exchanges of knowledge with local stakeholders, including local civil society, in the formulation and implementation of local government programmes in efforts to promote and protect human rights at the local level;

Also encourages local governments, in cooperation with their national Governments, to guarantee protection against discrimination and equal access to political participation at the local level, especially for women;

Calls upon local governments, in the development and operation of schemes for the digitalization of cities, including smart city projects, within their respective responsibilities and capacities under domestic legal frameworks:

Encourages local governments, within their respective responsibilities and capacities under domestic legal frameworks, to promote the full, equal and meaningful participation of all relevant stakeholders in decisions related to the development and operation of schemes for the digitalization of cities, including smart city projects, and to strengthen related international cooperation and the sharing of best practices on the better utilization of new and emerging digital technologies to respect, protect and fulfil human rights in the context of the digitalization of cities;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to convene a one-day panel discussion, in a hybrid format and fully accessible to persons with disabilities, prior to the sixtieth session of the Human Rights Council, to exchange and review the best practices of States, local governments and other relevant stakeholders in overcoming the various challenges that local governments face in promoting and protecting human rights, including those related to better coordination and cooperation between national and local governments, human rights education and capacity-building for local government officials and supporting better engagement of local governments in the work of United Nations human rights mechanisms, and invites States, local governments from all regional groups of the United Nations, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), the United Nations Development Programme and other United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, civil society and city networks, as well as relevant international organizations, to actively contribute to the panel discussion;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a report, including in an accessible and easy-to-read format, in which it compiles and analyses the best practices of States, local governments and other relevant stakeholders in overcoming the various challenges that local governments face in promoting and protecting human rights, including those related to better coordination and cooperation between national and local governments, human rights education and capacity-building for local government officials and supporting better engagement of local governments in the work of United Nations human rights mechanisms, identifying lessons learned and outlining concrete recommendations for States and local governments, taking into account the results of the panel discussion to be convened before the sixtieth session of the Human Rights Council, and to present the report to the Council at its sixty-third session;

Further requests the Office of the High Commissioner, when preparing the above-mentioned panel discussion and report, to seek input from States and local governments from all regional groups of the United Nations, relevant intergovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, including the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the United Nations Development Programme, relevant special procedures, the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, the treaty bodies, national human rights institutions and civil society representatives, including relevant local government networks and non-governmental organizations;

Invites the Office of the High Commissioner, in collaboration with relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, to continue to support local governments, upon request, in discharging their human rights responsibilities, including by providing guidance and capacity-building, and to continue its research on local government and human rights, including on good practices, key challenges and principles to guide local and national governments in the promotion of human rights;