For the 15th time, the Human Rights Council of the City of Graz publishes its annual Human Rights Report. This year, it is an evaluation report, which is directly addressed to the City Government. On the one hand, the 2022 Report examines the current state of implementation of the recommendations elaborated in the year before. On the other hand, the focus chapter addresses the human rights-related aspects of the Year of Culture 2020/21 and the Year of Sports 2021 of the City of Graz.
The 2022 Human Rights Report builds on the 2021 Report by discussing the right to adequate housing. The realisation of the right to adequate housing in an equal and non-discriminatory manner for all citizens is of particular importance, since this right is one of the most significant social and economic human rights. It is directly linked to numerous other human rights, touching upon core areas of daily life, e.g. social security, work, leisure time, health, and education.
Consequently, the first part of the 2022 Report examines the extent to which the recommendations to the right to adequate housing from the previous year have already been implemented by the City Government. The Human Rights Council assesses the results rather positively. It was found that all recommendations were taken into consideration by the City Government. Further, all recommendations either have already been implemented or are currently in the implementation process.
The second part of the 2022 Report focuses on the Year of Culture 2020/21 and the Year of Sports 2021, two consecutive thematic years initiated by the City of Graz. Within the framework of a human rights-based summer meeting in an informal setting, an interview was conducted with the head of the Year of Culture, Christian Mayer, and the head of the Sports Department of the City, Thomas Rajakovics. It was discussed to what extent the human rights-based approach was taken into consideration during the planning and implementation of these two thematic years.
Also in 2022, the Human Rights Report provides valuable insights on the human rights situation of Graz. It was possible to identify desirable changes with regard to the right of adequate housing. What these changes are and how culture and sports is linked to human rights, can be discovered in the new 2022 Human Rights Report of the Human Rights Council of the City of Graz.
Follow this link for the German original long version: graz.at/menschenrechtsbericht22
You can access the shortened English version here: https://www.graz.at/cms/dokumente/10152653_7771447/530f153f/MRB22_Kurzbericht_EN.pdf