In its capacity-building efforts, the International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels takes on a function as a facilitator of the implementation of human rights and
- generates, manages, and applies knowledge for inclusive and equitable development based on human rights
- offers a laboratory for taking up novel and proven practices for cities and regions on how to deliver on the goals set by the 2030 Agenda and the promise of “Leaving No One Behind”
- contributes to UNESCO’s vision to realise human rights for all by building institutional and human capacities at all levels
Current activities include:
ACTION is a project funded by the European Commission (CERV Project Grants) that is realized by a consortium of four partners: the City of Graz (Austria), the City of Heidelberg (Germany), the ETC Graz, and the European Coalition of Cities against Racism - ECCAR. The overall objective of ACTION is to support European public authorities at the local level to improve the implementation of policies and measures against racism and racial discrimination by facilitating the development and issuing of respective 10-Point Plans of Action.
The ACTION Project aims at elaborating local action plans against racism. It is linked to the existing Toolkit for Equality (TKE), which was published by ECCAR in 2016 within the framework of a previously EU-funded project, and included the establishment of a 10-Point Plan of Action (10-PPA) for counteracting racism on the local level. It aims at supporting the implementation of local policies to successfully counteract racism and racial discrimination.
In 2017 the ETC was approached by the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG-Africa) and the African Local Government Academy (ALGA) to collaborate in the field of human rights and democracy on the local level. The cooperation seeks to set up a joint ALGA college and Master degree, to organize joint events, to share best practices, to develop educational material, and to organize study tours. The goal is to promote human rights, democracy and diversity on the local level through training and capacity building for local and regional authorities in Africa. A Memorandum of Understanding was agreed upon between the ETC and ALGA in late 2017.
In 2019, a curriculum for the joint ALGA college for professionals in local governance was developed titled “Promoting human rights, democracy and diversity at the local level”. The curriculum covers a broad range of issues based on best practices and insights on human rights at the local level, many of which also touch on the Toolkit for Equality (TKE).
A series of online workshops addressed at the local governance level and relevant stakeholders began in 2020, aiming at exchanging expertise and experience on human rights implementation at the local level in African cities. You can access and download a range of workshop materials on this page.
The Council of Europe is currently implementing the InterCultural Cities (ICC) programme; a capacity-building programme that supports public authorities across Europe and beyond in implementing the pafticipative design, execution and evaluation of diversity and inclusion strategies. These strategies mobilise political leaders, policy officials, professionals, businesses, and civil society towards a model of integration called intercultural integration. In this context experts of the Centre are providing consultancy services through an established Framework Contract from 2022 to 2027.
Another project of the Council of Europe where experts of the Centre were heavily involved was “Strengthening participatory democracy and human rights at local level in Georgia” within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2020 - 2023. The UNESCO Centre worked as an international consultant for the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, who implemented the project together with the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG). The project was funded by the Austrian Development Agency. Within the project thirteen municipalities were selected to be part of a forum of exchange to address challenges for improving social inclusion, promoting equal opportunities and incorporating a gender perspective in local political action, in order to eliminate discrimination. The selected local authorities participate in a series of capacity development activities on human rights at local level which is be based on the assessment of the human rights situation in the municipalities as well as of their institutional capacities.
The UNESCO Centre offers a wide range of capacity-building workshops and trainings for various professional groups, including administrative members of local authorities, politicians, multipliers from schools, etc.
Workshops on sexual harassment in the workplace
In 2021, the UNESCO Centre held two trainings for members of the City Administration of the City of Villach on “Sexual harassment in the workplace”. The goal of the trainings was to convey information on the topic, and to empower employees from all departments to act preventatively, but to also intervene if necessary.
Capacity-building training for elected councillors at the local level
The UNESCO Centre organised two trainings on “human rights policy at the local level” for elected local councillors from the Green Party. The workshops introduced participants to the basics of human rights, human rights issues, and fields of action at the local level. Participants discursively developed the potential of the local level as an arena for human rights work on the basis of concrete needs that municipal policy must take into account.
Training for Styrian umbrella organisation for youth work
The UNESCO Centre held a “train-the-trainer” workshop for youth workers from the Styrian umbrella organisation for youth work to become multipliers for human rights. The goal was to communicate the connection between youth work and human rights, and to try out different methods relevant for their daily work. Topics of action include civil courage, gender equality, stereotypes, racism, discrimination, and youth participation.
Delivered activities include:
The project TISCA was initiated in 2017 as a cooperation between the UNESCO Centre, the UNESCO Chair, UNESCO Headquarters, the UNESCO Field Office in Cairo, the Arab Institute for Human Rights, and UNESCO’s International Coalition of Inclusive and Sustainable Cities (ICCAR). The collaboration sparked the creation of the "Toolkit for Urban Inclusion in Arab Cities," which aims to build local capacity for inclusive and sustainable cities in the Arab world. The Toolkit, which covers topics such as public participation, access to information, youth sports, citizenship, and human rights education, was released in 2021 and launched at the World Urban Forum 2020 in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). You can download the Toolkit in English, French and Arabic (original version).
In the same year, the UNESCO Centre consulted UNESCO Cairo on the development of online tools and MOOCs to disseminate the Toolkit, and co-hosted a capacity-building workshop on the Toolkit for Urban Inclusion for city representatives and experts. A new chapter on women's inclusion in cities will be published in 2022, incorporating the breadth of experiences and know-how shared during a workshop co-hosted by ALGA of UCLG-Africa and REFELA, as well as two online consultations with cities held in October 2021. The new Toolkit chapter, once completed, will provide city leaders and local government officials with practical tools and advice to help them build sustainable cities that ensure women's inclusion in all aspects of life.
Le 4 juillet 2022, le Centre International ensemble avec Monsieur Thomas Rajakovics, directeur de l’Office Municipal de Sport de la Ville de Graz, a réalisé un atelier de renforcement de capacités en ligne interactif pour la promotion des droits humains et de la cohésion/l’inclusion sociale par le sport pour les 54 Communes de l’Union des Comores, en mettant l’accent sur les enfants/jeunes et filles/femmes. L’atelier a été organisé en coopération avec le partenaire de projet comorien Monsieur Loukmann Said El Hadi, président de l’Institut Comorien Pour La Formation Des Élus. L’objectif de l’atelier était de donner du savoir-faire théorique et pratique aux participants sur la promotion des droits humains et de l’inclusion sociale par la conception et mise en œuvre d’une offre sportive inclusive dans leurs Communes. On y parvenait en employant la méthodologie du Manuel des villes arabes pour l’inclusion urbaine, en particulier le chapitre trois sur “Le Sport pour l’inclusion des jeunes”. Monsieur Abdelaziz Zaki de l’Office Caire de l’UNESCO, qui est une des personnes responsables pour le développement du Manuel, a inauguré l’atelier en adressant des mots de bienvenue à ce groupe d’experts rassemblé.
Le projet a été subventionné par le Land Steiermark, Abteilung 9 Kultur, Europa, Sport, Referat Europa und Internationales FairStyria – Entwicklungszusammenarbeit.
Les documents essentiels sont à venir.
Vous pouvez trouver le blog post qui contient les résultats de l'atelier ici.
Online workshop: The Promotion of Human Rights and Social Cohesion/Inclusion by Means of Sports (4 July 2022)
On 4 July 2022, the International Centre together with Thomas Rajakovics, head of the Municipal Sports Office of the City of Graz, conducted an interactive online capacity-building workshop on the promotion of human rights and social cohesion/inclusion by means of sports for the 54 Communes of the Union of the Comoros, with a particular focus on children/youths and girls/women. The workshop was organised in cooperation with the Comorian project partner Loukmann Said El Hadi, president of the Institut Comorien Pour La Formation Des Élus. The objective was to provide the participants with theoretical and practical expertise on promoting human rights and social inclusion by means of planning and implementing inclusive sports offers in their respective Communes. This was achieved by applying the methodology of Toolkit for Urban Inclusion Arab cities, in particular chapter three on “Sports for Youth Inclusion”. Mr. Abdelaziz Zaki of the UNESCO Cairo Office and one of the primarily responsible persons for the development of the Toolkit opened the workshop.
The project was kindly financially supported by the Land Steiermark, Abteilung 9 Kultur, Europa, Sport, Referat Europa und Internationales FairStyria – Entwicklungszusammenarbeit.
The relevant documents are to follow.
You can find a blogpost outlining the results of the workshop here.
GUARANTEE was a project funded by the European Commission DG Justice and was carried out by four partners in Austria, Bulgaria, and Germany. The project ran from September 2019 to August 2021. The objective was to promote the children’s right to education by preventing school dropout and promoting the transition to secondary/vocational schools, with particular focus on communication between Roma and non-Roma youth in Bulgaria. This was achieved through action research in Plovdiv (Bulgaria) and Dortmund (Germany), peer-to-peer trainings of professionals, and learning activities for girls and boys in Plovdiv and Dortmund.
Simone Philipp, Klaus Starl, Andreas Kunz (2022), GUARANTEEING THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION FOR ROMA CHILDREN IN EUROPEAN CITIES Accompanying Action Research - Objectives, methods and results, ETC Occasional Paper No. 39, February 2022.
Niko Reinberg and Bernd Stadlober (2021), Practitioners’ Guide for Implementers of a Sports & Learning Program, GUARANTEE – Guaranteeing the Right to Education for Roma Children in Selected European Cities, ETC Graz. (also available in German)
The Consortium of the GUARANTEE project are happy to announce that the European Conference on Guaranteeing the Right to Education for All in European Cities will take place in a hybrid online format.
Date: 27 May 2021
Time: 11:00 to 14:00 EEST (10:00 – 13:00 CET)
Location: at the House of Culture, Plovdiv, Bulgaria (participation online and in person)
The conference will be an arena for knowledge transfer and the exchange of good practices between professionals. Best practices and lessons learnt throughout the project will be presented, analyzed, documented and distributed.
GUARANTEE is a project co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme of the European Union. It is realized by four partners: the Roma Foundation Plovdiv, Grünbau Dortmund, Caritas Styria, coordinated by the European Training Centre for Human Rights Graz. The aim of GUARANTEE is to promote children’s right to education by preventing school dropouts and promoting the transition to secondary/vocational schools, as well as by deconstructing harmful stereotypes and fostering mutual understanding between Roma and non-Roma youth. This is achieved through leisure activities for teenagers that support their educational development and promote team building between Roma and non-Roma youth.
Pendant cet atelier, les participants se familiariseront avec les concepts les plus pertinents concernant la protection des droits humains en général et au niveau local, avec un accent particulier sur la promotion des droits des femmes. Guidés par les modérateurs chargés de diriger l'événement, les participants analyseront les concepts, les arguments et les preuves en faveur des programmes et des politiques de genre dans leurs villes. Ensemble, ils identifieront les conditions qui permettent la mise en œuvre des politiques et des programmes ainsi que les acteurs clés et apprendront comment amorcer les conversations avec eux.
Cet atelier est organisé en coopération avec Cités et Gouvernements Locaux Unis d'Afrique (CGLU Afrique), à travers son Académie Africaine des Collectivités Territoriales (ALGA) et le Réseau des Femmes Elues Locales d’Afrique (REFELA).
La participation est gratuite. L'atelier se tiendra en français, avec des interprétations simultanées en anglais, arabe et portugais. Des outils de communication et de collaboration seront fournis via CGLU Afrique.
Documents importants
PDF: Résultats de l'Atelier (en Anglais)
Online workshop: Local approaches to guaranteeing women’s rights (9-10 March 2021)
During the Webinar, participants will receive input and get acquainted with the core concepts of Human Rights protection in general and at the local level, with a specific focus on the promotion of women’s rights. Guided by the moderation, the participants will analyse concepts, arguments, and evidence supporting gender programmes and policies in their cities. Together, they will identify conditions which enable the implementation of policies and programmes, and key stakeholders, as well as learn about how to engage them.
This online Capacity-Building Webinar is organised in cooperation with United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa), through its African Local Governments Academy (ALGA) and the Network of Local Elected Women of Africa (REFELA).
Participation is free of charge. The Webinar will be held in French. Simultaneous interpretation into English, Arabic and Portuguese will be provided. Communication and collaboration tools will be provided by UCLG Africa.
Important documents
Both the Agenda 2030 and the Agenda for Africa 2063 call for people-centered transformation. This condition can best be achieved through risen awareness for the relevance of Human Rights implementation at local level, through application of a Human Rights-based approach (HRBA), as well as through stakeholder cooperation in the implementation of Human Rights. This online capacity-building workshop is a high-level specialized preparation for professionals in the field of local governance willing to upgrade their knowledge with the fundamentals of Human Rights.
The training content includes:
- Human Rights at Local Level: Relevance, principles, issues, and implementation
- SDGs, New Urban Agenda, and the Human Rights-based approach to local governance
- application of field-tested methods and tools for implementation at local level
The specific topic of the workshop is achieving inclusion and equality by guaranteeing women’s rights. Key aspects of the urban environment - related to access, mobility, safety and freedom from violence, health and hygiene, climate resilience, and security of tenure – create disproportionate burdens for women and girls, thus exacerbating and reinforcing existing gender inequities. By advancing equality of women in cities, we unlock more inclusive economic and social development and ultimately contribute to the veracity of the claim to “leave no-one behind”.
Jointly implemented by ALGA of UCLG Africa, UNESCO Cairo, and International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels under the auspices of UNESCO.
