The 2023 Academy was titled “Governing the city by human rights objectives: Management concepts and instruments” and took place from 1 to 8 February 2023. It brought together representatives of international organisations, local authorities, human rights practitioners from all relevant fields, and members of the next generation. Together, they elaborated on the question: “How can human rights objectives be anchored in public management at the local level?”.
Effective public management is essential for good governance and the proper functioning of local administration. Human rights guarantee a good quality of life for city dwellers. Applying management tools and approaches that embed human rights into the everyday practice of administrations helps local governments meet their human rights commitments. Embedding human objectives in public management improves programme development and service delivery, boosting local accountability and trust.
The Academy and Conference in 2023 built on the success of last year’s event and provided a platform to share and exchange on respective practices, to discuss the experiences gained, and to collect and disseminate methods that have been identified as successful by local governments. By discussing the practical aspects of integrating human rights into public management, the Academy aims to support local governments in effectively and efficiently addressing today’s pressing challenges.
The expertise and best practices gathered during the Academy’s discussions are compiled and published in the Academy’s Outcome Document. As last year, the document is a collection of encouragements made by the Academy’s participants to local governments. This year’s Outcome Document includes 12 encouragements for action to local authorities. Further, they can be used as a blueprint to effectively and sustainably integrate human rights into local public management practices in line with the UN’s goal of “leaving no one behind”. More information on the 2023 Academy and Conference is available on this page.
Important documents
The Academy and Conference series "Human Rights Go Local - What Works" aims to support inclusive social development and equitable societies by mobilising knowledge on how to base public policy-making at the local level on scientific evidence through tailored human rights research.
The 2022 edition, "Towards Strengthened Commitments to Human Rights", focuses on frameworks, tools and methods that help local authorities increase their commitments to realizing human rights at the local level. The event provides a forum for gathering such current approaches and initiatives, discussing experiences and lessons learnt from various regional and local approaches thereof, and disseminating practices that have been identified as successful by local governments. The Academy is a virtual event taking place from 1 to 8 February 2022.
More information about the 2022 edition of "Human Rights Go Local - What Works" is available on this page.
Important documents
The Academy and Conference series "Human Rights Go Local - What Works" aims to support inclusive social development and equitable societies by mobilising knowledge on how to base public policy-making at the local level on scientific evidence through tailored human rights research.
The 2021 edition, which focused on "Field-proven research methods on human rights," took place from 1 to 9 February 2021, and brought together human rights experts from local governments, international and regional organisations, and the research community to share innovative approaches and proven practices for making cities and human settlements safe, resilient, and sustainable through a human rights-based approach to policy-making. The Outcome Document “Building Bridges between Local Governments and the Scientific Community to Promote Human Rights“ synthesizes the practices, findings and recommendations of the Academy. More information about the 2021 event is available on this page.
Important documents
