The Toolkit for Urban Inclusion in Arab Cities is the product of a cooperation between the International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels and (members of) the UNESCO-supported Coalition of Arab Cities against Racism, Discrimination, Xenophobia and Intolerance. It aims to provide Arab city leaders and local government officials with practical tools and advice to build inclusive and sustainable cities.
The Toolkit was developed by cities for cities; it documents the accumulated transferable and tacit knowledge of participating cities, reflects their own experiences and compiles them into policy models. The Toolkit is available in three language versions. The methods introduced help local authorities conceptualize, implement and evaluate efforts in these areas to promote inclusive urban development.
The first regional capacity-building and training workshop on the Toolkit for Urban Inclusion in Arab Cities was hosted from 30 August to 2 September by UNESCO Cairo as a webinar and was attended by city representatives and experts from the Arab region. The workshop promoted the implementation of the Toolkit on the city level and provided a forum for the exchange of knowledge and practical experiences between Arab cities. Participating cities strengthened and widened their networks and explored avenues of collaboration in the field of urban inclusion.
During the workshop, participating cities committed to:
- local discussions and deliberations on the Toolkit topics
- the identification of local goals for inclusion, advocacy and mobilizing political support for action plans
- drafting and launching action plans for urban inclusion for the individual city
- enhancing the legal and institutional frameworks on the local and national levels
- and mainstreaming the action plan on the municipal level.
The Toolkit for Urban Inclusion in Arab Cities has thereby generated commitment for the implementation of human rights standards at the local level, making the capacity-building workshop a full success.
