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18/12/2013 1

Facilitating a

Local Human Rights Culture

Hans Sakkers / City of Utrecht

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Utrecht

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‘Strategy’ phase 1

2010 & 2011: Exploring and overcoming skepticism

1. Exploring the meaning of local human rights by participating

in international networks (FRA & UCLG)

2. Diner Pensant as kickoff for the support of national and local

organisations

3. Collecting examples of human rights in the city /

http://humanrightsutrecht.blogspot.com

4. Building an internal and local ‘Coalition of the Willing’

5. Creating a network of NGO’s, volunteer groups, social

entrepreneurs, etc / annual European week of local democracy

and human rights (Council of Europe)

6. Testing the quality of municipal policies by confronting

them with human rights standards > Monitoring …

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A first try of monitoring: Policy Areas & Case Studies

Policy Areas Case study

1. Anti-discrimination Homosexual Emancipation Policy

2. Poverty Reduction Utrecht-Pass (free services)

3. Immigrant Policy Shelter for Asylum Seekers

4. Inviolability of the Person Domestic Violence

5. Social Care Shelter for the Homeless

6. Human Trafficking Prostitution Policy

7. Public Order Camera Policy (Privacy)

8. Corporate Responsibility Fair Trade

9. Human Rights Education Peaceful Schools

10. Health Care Elderly Policy

You could download the English version on our website: www.utrecht.nl/internationaal You could download the English version on our website

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‘Strategy’ phase 2

2012: Consolidating and rethinking

• Cooperation with the national association of municipalities

(VNG) & Amnesty International

• Brochure for Dutch cities for creating a national ‘Coalition of

the Willing’

• Debate series organized by local organizations on local human

rights topics

• Opening of the National Institute for Human Rights, mrs. Pillay.

• Regular newsletter and development of website

• The start of research on strategies for implementing human

rights policies (Dr. Esther v.d. Berg and Prof. Barbara Oomen)

• Producing (case studies for the) Guidebook/Toolkit with FRA

http://fra.europa.eu/en/project/2011/joined-governance-

connecting-fundamental-rights

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‘Strategy’ phase 3

2013: Initiating a Local Human Rights Coalition

• Creating ownership: building a more formal local coalition of

local organisations, businesses, civic groups

• ‘Start of a local coalition’ in September 2013 (video)

• Local Human Rights Monitor together with University Utrecht

• Cultural programme on peacemaking in the city:

Peace Treaty of Utrecht 2013

• Cooperation with cities in- and outside Europe

• Organizing EU symposium in for scientists, civil servants and

local partners 12-13 December 2013

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What could be phase 4?

• Research on effective strategies

• Professional body of knowledge

• Involvement of the ‘humanities’ to compensate the juridical

dominance

• Supportgroup on developing monitoring systems

• Developing a common urban ‘label’

• Cities formulating joint action

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Monitoring Local Human Rights 1

1. Different kinds of monitoring: e.g.

What do people think, know, do, experience in relation

to local human rights?

2. Could monitoring help to stimulate a development into

a local human rights movement?

3. Monitoring: there are on the local level no best

practices. The guidelines (October 2011) of the

Congress of the Council of Europe: a realistic proposal?

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Monitoring Local Human Rights 2

1. Good to make the difference (like the Council of Europe

does) between structural, process and outcome

indicators.

2. Create the monitor slowly, step by step.

3. Create a basic body of knowledge, but give also

attention to issues popping up.

4. Selecting the topics: how to put human rights on the

political agenda, without politicizing them.

5. Local communities are very different and therefore they

should be monitored differently. One kind of a monitor

is an illusion.

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Monitoring Local Human Rights 3

6. Sometimes there are many data on the local level, but

normally they are called differently. Is human rights an

interesting monitoring umbrella?

7. Is it possible to create a local hub of human rights

information and knowledge on which the municipality is only

1 contributer? And: shouldn’t this information been

evaluated by the societal stakeholders themselves!?

8. Could we go beyond descriptive research? How to see

interesting cross-sectoral corelations for interactive policy

making?

9. How to make a local human rights monitor to an instrument

for permanent dialogue? Can we create a monitor in real

time?

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Utrecht: the first human rights city in the Netherlands

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• https://vimeo.com/79671719