The International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels under the auspices of UNESCO is hosted by the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (ETC). This development represents an expansion of the ETC’s scope, with a stronger focus on international projects and activities. The ETC was founded in Graz, Austria in 1999 with the concrete task of implementing the Graz human rights city process, and to foster human rights education. The ETC is engaged in questions of human rights enforcement and democracy in both a theoretical and a practical manner, offering research, education, trainings, and consulting.
- In November 2017, the UNESCO General Conference unanimously voted to declare the establishment of the UNESCO Category II Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels at the ETC.
- At the end of 2019, the International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels was implemented and the corresponding Fund for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels was established.
- The Austrian National Parliament voted in favour of establishing the International Centre in Graz on 8 July 2020.
- On 14 September 2020, the agreement between the Republic of Austria and UNESCO on the establishment of the International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels under the auspices of UNESCO was published in the Federal Law Gazette.
Organisational structure
The ETC with its General Assembly and elected Board acts as the operational and legal body behind the Centre. The Fund with its Governing Body formed by the founding organisations and the Board acts as the financial and governing entity. The two entities are linked by the so-called Project Committee, in which both Boards are represented. The Director of the operational entity is appointed as Director of the International Centre.
Official documentation
- Agreement between the Republic of Austria and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the establishment of the International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels under the auspices of UNESCO (Category 2) in Graz, Austria (Federal Law Gazette III No. 147/2020)
Abkommen zwischen der Republik Österreich und der Organisation der Vereinten Nationen für Erziehung, Wissenschaft und Kultur (UNESCO) über die Errichtung des Internationalen Zentrums für die Förderung von Menschenrechten auf lokaler und regionaler Ebene unter der Schirmherrschaft der UNESCO (Kategorie 2) in Graz (Österreich) (BGbl. III 147/2020)
Attachments: Agreement in English / Abkommen auf Deutsch - Founding document of the Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels (Gründungserklärung des Fonds zur Förderung der Menschenrechte in Gemeinden und Regionen)
- Cooperation contract between the Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels and the ETC (Kooperationsvertrag zwischen dem Fonds zur Förderung der Menschenrechte in Gemeinden und Regionen und dem Europäischen Trainings- und Forschungszentrum für Menschenrechte und Demokratie – ETC)
- Statutes ETC Graz (Statuten ETC Graz)
- Agreement between the Republic of Austria, the Government of Styria, the City of Graz, and the Foundation for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels on the prolongation of funding 2024 to 2028
(October 2024)