Civil society and local governments join forces with UN Special Rapporteurs in a first roundtable to discuss possible paths for joint work
On Friday, December 4th, the Global Platform for the Right to the City (GPR2C), Habitat International Coalition (HIC) and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) co-hosted, as part of the #CitiesAreListening process, the roundtable “Connecting across Habitat Rights and the Right to the City” : a starting point to strengthen cooperation between Special Rapporteurs, civil society organizations and local and regional governments under the framework of Human Rights related to Habitat and the Right to the City.
This first roundtable counted with the invaluable participation of Mr. Pedro Arrojo-Agudo , UN Special Rapporteur on human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation; Mr. Felipe González Morales, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of migrants; Mr. Victor Madrigal-Borloz, UN independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and Mr. Balakrishnan Rajagopal, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing as well as representatives from civil society organizations and local and regional governments networks.
The event set the stage for increased cooperation between mandate holders, civil society organizations and local governments under the framework of Habitat rights and the Right to the City. In this sense, it marks the beginning of a collective path to foreground a spatial and territorial approach to link the different challenges being faced, with the conversation set to be continued in 2021, as a second chapter of the dialogue will take place with other mandate holders, to expand and build upon the first round of discussion.
