The World Human Rights Cities Forum 2015 – Towards a Global Alliance of Human Rights Cities for All II, held from 15 -18 May in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, made a declaration about the importance of human rights policy development based on local characteristics.
Also, the the committee made aware of the importance of the Global Platform for the New Urban Agenda discussions.
“Proceed with the practical discussion to realize the right to the city through the Global Platform for the Right to the City in São Paulo from 12 to 14 in November 2014 and field research on the right to housing presented at the International Seminar for the Right to City held in Mexico City from 22 to 24 in April 2014 in collaboration with Mexico City and UCLG-CISDP (United Cities and Local Governments Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights).”
Read the full declaration:
World Human Rights Cities Forum 2015 Towards a Global Alliance of Human Rights Cities for All II 15-18 May 2015 Gwangju, Republic of Korea
We the participants of World Human Rights Cities Forum 2015 (WHRCF 2015) held on 15-18 May 2015 on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the May 18th Democratic Uprising (the Gwangju Democratization Movement) in 1980, in the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, and in the 67th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
1. Express our deep condolences and solidarity to all the victims and the bereaved family members of the Nepalese earthquake on 25 April 2015,
2. Reaffirm our commitments to the vision of a human rights city as adopted at the Gwangju WHRCF in May 2011 and 2012, while respecting the concept of the declarations at the Gwangju WHRCF in May 2013 and 2014 with the hope that human rights cities should develop as a sustainable model for cities,
3. Continue to expand and develop the “Global Alliance of Human Rights Cities for All” proposed in WHRCF 2014,
4. Recognize the efforts of creating human rights cities by city representatives, human rights activists, and citizens of Seberang Perai of Malaysia and Wonosobo of Indonesia among others,
5. Proceed with the practical discussion to realize the right to the city through the Global Platform for the Right to the City in São Paulo from 12 to 14 in November 2014 and field research on the right to housing presented at the International Seminar for the Right to City held in Mexico City from 22 to 24 in April 2014 in collaboration with Mexico City and UCLG-CISDP (United Cities and Local Governments Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights),
6. Asking the intercity international networks, including the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), for active cooperation to settle human rights issues and expecting Gwangju Metropolitan City, co-chair of the Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights (CISDP) of the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), to be responsibly charismatic,
7. Strive as discussed in the eight Thematic Workshops to continuously remember state violence in our daily lives, base the development of waters and rivers on the sustainable environment, approach economic issues from the perspective of human rights, share the perception of the right to education as the cities’ responsibilities, confirm the desperate need of local governments’ efforts to fully implement the rights of the socially vulnerable, such as women, differently-abled, the elderly, migrants, and minorities, and wish to expand the suggestions and advice from the Thematic Workshops to all the human rights cities around the world,
8. Wish to enhance the promotion of human rights at the level of local and central governments, as the U.N. Human Rights Council Advisory Committee’s final report concerning local governments and human rights is to be completed in 2015,
9. Establish the stepwise plans for discussions and collaboration between local governments, national human rights organizations, and civic societies, to improve practical exchange activities and systems to safeguard human rights in Asia, for the growth and expansion of the human rights-oriented local governments in Asia,
10. Accept the importance of diverse human rights policy development based on local characteristics, establishment of human rights regimes, civilian participation in human rights education, and networking of local governments in order to develop a human rights city,
11. Call the attention of concerned parties to the Forum of Porto Alegre, Brazil from 10 to 12 in June 2015 on the Right to the City and the World Summit of Local Government on Climate Change and Environmental Rights in December 2015 by UCLG-CISDP, to the WHRCF in Gwangju 2016, and to the UN Habitat III Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development in Quito, Ecuador from 17 – 20 in October 2016.
We hereby adopt the following commitments.
1. Let us establish an online human rights city platform, to share knowledge regarding human rights cities, cities’ experiences of fulfillment, and relevant systems and policies, for joint growth of human rights cities.
2. Let us activate human rights governance with the participation of the local governments and civic societies at the regional, national, and municipal levels, to broaden the basis for human rights cities and to eradicate inequalities among different regions.
3. Let us connect the “World Human Rights Cities Forum 2016” to joint research and investigation activities to further theories, systems, and policies and to discover various development courses for human rights cities.
4. Let us re-evaluate the 1998 “Asian Human Rights Charter” to expedite the development of human rights cities in Asia and also to establish regional human rights-related standards and systems for implementation.
5. Let us conduct a comprehensive evaluation with participatory cities by analyzing the results and limitations of the World Human Rights Cities Forums from 2011 to 2015, which will lead the Forum to subsequently and practically implement the vision of a human rights city.
