The International Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local and Regional Levels is a hub for knowledge and exchange. The Centre brings together practitioners, academics, members from civil society, institutions and other organisations, to harness expertise on local human rights and to translate insights into concrete policy recommendations. As an international platform, the Centre provides an arena for dialogue in the form of various events, programmes and initiatives.
The Centre highly welcomes all forms of thematically relevant cooperation and exchange. If you are interested in collaborating, please contact us directly.
Find out more about our innovative format – the annual Academy and Conference series “Human Rights Go Local – What Works”. We facilitate the exchange and harness the expertise of human rights practitioners and experts in human rights from across the globe.
Forthcoming events
Stay tuned for more information on the 2026 Academy and Conference "Human Rights Go Local - What Works", which will take place in February 2026.
Delivered events
From 5 to 8 February 2024, the fourth edition of the Academy and Conference "Human Rights Go Local - What Works" was convened online. The Academy and Conference Series aims at demonstrating and synthesising innovative approaches and proven practices for protecting and promoting human rights at the local level, with the goal of making cities and human settlements more inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
At this year's Academy, representatives of international organisations, local authorities, human rights practitioners from all relevant sectors and members of the next generation came together to address the central role of local human rights action plans in promoting accountability. A total of 81 participants used their wealth of knowledge to exchange on the development and implementation of human rights action plans. They discussed practical aspects of anchoring human rights in local action plans, designing and implementing participatory processes for this purpose and ensuring effective monitoring of local human rights action plans. Through this collaborative dialogue and exchange, the Academy equipped local governments with the necessary tools to promote accountability effectively and efficiently.
The new edition of the publication series "Human Rights Go Local", which is jointly published by the UNESCO Chair on Human Rights and Human Security and the UNESCO Category 2 Centre for the Promotion of Human Rights at the Local Level, was presented to the public at the Academy. The 5th volume of this series, entitled "Accountability in Action: Human Rights Action Plans of Local Governments", explains how human rights action plans can make a real difference at the local level. It describes in a very practical way what local governments need to successfully develop and implement an action plan based on a human rights-based approach. The publication also provides examples of local human rights action plans and describes key factors that are essential to strengthen the capacity of local governments to promote accountability.
As in previous years, the main output of the Academy was the adoption of an Outcome Document. It is a collection of 14 encouragements with which the participants of the event aim to motivate local governments worldwide to adopt effective human rights action plans to strengthen their accountability. The encouragements will further be complemented with explanatory remarks so that they can also serve as concrete guidelines for the effective and sustainable integration of human rights into local action plans.
At the culmination of several intensive days of the Academy, the closing Conference took place on February 8, 2024. This year's hybrid Conference was hosted in the Styrian television studio of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation and broadcasted live via Zoom. A total of 50 invited guests attended the Conference in person at the television studio, while an additional 350 attendees from 44 countries joined online.
A highlight of the Conference was the thought-provoking keynote speeches reflecting on 75 years of human rights treaties delivered by ADG Gabriela Ramos of UNESCO via video message and Marc Cools, President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, who attended in person.
The heart of the event was the session dedicated to the Academy's Outcome Document and the exploration of Human Rights Action Plans and their role in promoting accountability at the local level. Facilitated by Helmut Tichy, this high-level discussion featured a diverse panel of experts, including Elke Kahr (Mayor of Graz), Robert Lewis-Lettington (UN-Habitat), Pradeep Wagle (OHCHR), Najat Zarrouk (ALGA of UCLG-Africa), Evein Obulor (ECCAR), and Alexander Lesigang (Austrian Association of Cities and Towns), alongside online discussants Elliott King (Councillor of Swansea Council, UK), Adele Dunstan (City of Swansea, UK), and Aly Raposo (City of Winnipeg, Canada). Their shared perspectives and practical insights illuminated the importance of capacity-building, networking, and sharing best practices in advancing human rights agendas.
More information on the 2024 Academy and Conference is available on this page.
Important documents
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
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.
The 2022 edition of the Academy and Conference brings together local authorities and human rights players from across the globe to determine which frameworks, tools and practices help local authorities deepen their commitment to human rights. The Academy and Conference took place from 1 - 8 February 2022.
Cities and municipalities are the public authorities closest to their citizens. Therefore, it is crucial to implement human rights at the local level to ensure that no one is left behind. What are concrete ways for local governments and stakeholders to strengthen their commitment to human rights? To answer this question, we drew together efforts from across the world aiming at fostering commitments to human rights at the local level.
The Academy and Conference in 2022 built on the success of last year’s event and provided 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. 70 human rights experts from around the globe shared their valuable insights and experiences concerning the drivers and actors of local human rights commitments, the local development of commitment, and the steps that must be taken in the future to achieve true responsibility for human rights. Special emphasis was placed on the voices and perspectives of the next generation.
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 14 encouragements for action to local authorities. Further, they can be used as a blueprint to effectively and sustainably foster human rights commitments at the local level in line with the UN’s goal of “leaving no one behind”. More information on the 2022 Academy and Conference is available on this page.
Important documents
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
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
- PDF: Outcome Document (version: 9 February 2021)
- PDF: Programme Academy (version: 25 January 2021 )
- PDF: Programme Conference (version: 9 February 2021)
- PDF: Concept note (barrier free, text-only version here)
- PDF: Young Researcher’s Day (barrier free, text-only version here)
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.
