UPR Cities Project

About the UPR Cities Project: Bring Human Rights Home!

The Universal Periodic Review process involves quadrennial reviews of every United Nations member government's human rights performance. It was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2006 in order to strengthen governments' compliance with international human rights obligations and to help identify models of best practices. Another aim of the process, and a requirement for improved human rights performance, is to develop greater connections between people in local communities and international human rights processes. Work at local levels is critical to building a global constituency of human rights defenders who can help defend rights locally while enhancing our global capacities for protecting and promoting human rights, dignity, and justice for everyone. The human rights cities movement is an effort to help further this work, and we're encouraging local activists to take part in this 2019 UPR review of the United States.

Key aims of the initiative are to realize the possibilities for us to: use international processes to strengthen local work for justice, build local alliances and our national network of cities committed to working together to advance People-Centered Human Rights, and to shift political and public discourse and common sense away from market ideologies to prioritize human rights across all areas of policy. Local governments have jurisdiction over a range of human rights issues, including those related to housing, education, employment, and criminal justice. Mayors, local governments, and organized communities are particularly well-situated to advance human rights and build a culture of human rights based on dignity, freedom from discrimination, and opportunity. The international community provides resources for local communities through regular monitoring of human rights treaties and related international standards.

Updates

• Next Steps: Implementing UPR Recommendations

• "Bringing Human Rights Home: Local Policy Recommendations from the UPR Final Report to the U.S. Government" (UPR Cities)
• Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review/ USA

• UPR Cities Local Stakeholder Submissions to the U.S. UPR Third Cycle, 2019/2020

• US Human Rights Cities UPR Stakeholder Submission “The Growth of Corporate Influence in Sub-National Political & Legal Institutions Undermines U.S. Compliance with International Human Rights Obligations” Executive Summary and Key Recommendations
• City of New Orleans, Mayor's Office of Human Rights and Equity: The City of New Orleans highlights problems of racial discrimination, environmental justice, and housing & economic justice.
• Pittsburgh UPR Coalition for Human Rights: Racial inequity at the core of human rights challenges in Pittsburgh
• Washington DC UPR Stakeholder Report: Capitol city addresses lack of statehood and voting rights, entrenched inequality, and affordable housing

• Mobilizing Local and State Authorities around UPR Process: statement in support of human rights in the United States. (This letter reflects organizing efforts led by Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute in coordination with various national human rights organizations and networks, including the US Human Rights Network and the Human Rights Cities Alliance.)

• Model letter to public officials- Here's a template you can use to reach out to public officials at local, county, and state levels.

• US Government submits UPR report to UN nearly a year late.--View the Official UPR Report of the United States of America-Submitted to the UN-Fall 2020 U.S. State Dept. UPR website. Due to pandemic delays, the UPR Review of the United States human rights record was postponed until November 9, 2020.

COVID-19 Update: Spring/Summer 2020 Webinar Series

The May 11th date for the U.S. Government UPR review has been postponed by the pandemic, and it is now scheduled for November 9th. We will be organizing monthly webinars to help local groups build capacities to use global human rights to amplify local work to protect people's rights and dignity.

• Building a Human Rights Cities Movement Against Structural Racism, Webinar recording from Thursday July 9, 2020. In response to Black resistances to dismantle violent police repression and the wider systemic forces that drive racial inequities, the global community has become activated like never before to demand accountability and transformative changes. This webinar reviews the oft-overlooked history of engagement in the United Nations by those struggling for Black emancipation, starting with the 1947 Appeal to the World, and continuing in last month’s unprecedented UN Human Rights Council Urgent Debate on racially inspired human rights violations which featured an opening speech by the brother of George Floyd. Longtime human rights organizers discuss how grassroots activists can engage with international human rights treaties and processes to build powerful networks of alliances against structural racism. Speakers: Dominique Day, Vice-chair, UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent; Ejim Dike, former Executive Director, US Human Rights Network; Jamil Dakwar ACLU Human Rights Program Director; Salimah Hankins, Acting Director, US Human Rights Network. Facilitators: Johnaca Dunlap-Ubuntu Institute & US Human Rights Cities Alliance Steering Committee; Rob Robinson-International Alliance of Inhabitants & US Human Rights Cities Alliance Steering Committee. View Recording.

• Local & Global Strategies for Advancing the Human Right to Housing. June 11, 2020 (Recording). The Coronavirus pandemic has exposed and deepened the long-standing housing crisis in our communities. At a time when everyone’s health demands that all residents have a safe and stable home, more and more people face housing insecurity and homelessness. How can cities and communities better protect people’s right to adequate housing? This webinar features Julieta Perucca, assistant to the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Adequate Housing and currently Deputy Director of global housing rights initiative, The Shift. Learn about the human right to housing around the world and strategies for using international law and the United Nations to advance housing and other human rights. We’ll hear from leaders in Birmingham and other cities using innovative strategies for keeping people in their homes and expanding affordable housing. City Representatives: Brandon Johnson, Director of the Office of Peace and Policy, City of Birmingham; Daniel Joseph Wiley, Newark Ironbound Community; Crystal Jennings, Housing justice organizer with Pittsburgh’s Penn Plaza Support and Action Coalition & City of Bridges Community Land Trust; Timothy Franzen, American Friends Service Committee & Alison Johnston, Housing Justice League, Atlanta.

Past webinar recordings & documentation

• Protecting People & Advancing Dignity Economies—Human Rights City Strategies, Monday May 11 2020. The May 11th date for the U.S. Government UPR review has been postponed by the pandemic, but in its place we’re organizing a virtual gathering to help community advocates learn how to use the UPR review process to advocate for their communities. We’ll hear about the world’s first national cities stakeholder report to the UN. Organizers from New Orleans, Washington DC, and Pittsburgh will show how the UPR can help local organizing. And we’ll learn about the Southern Mayors’ Human Rights Agenda and how it can help define the kind of post-COVID-19 city we all need. Participants will learn about using the UPR process to organize locally and bring global pressure on national and local officials through the UPR Cities Project. View recording Download Presentation slides with useful links.

U.S. Alliance of Human Rights Cities files Stakeholder Report to United Nations on Human Rights & Cities

This report to the UN Universal Periodic Review of the United States was developed through consultations among human rights organizers around the United States to identify key challenges to realizing human rights for all residents. The report is part of an ongoing conversation and political organizing process that aims to "Bring Human Rights Home" to our cities and communities. We believe this is the first UPR Stakeholder Report compiled to reflect the needs of cities across a country, and we hope to work with UN officials to develop lessons and strategies for improving human rights in urban settings worldwide.

*US Human Rights Cities UPR Stakeholder Submission “The Growth of Corporate Influence in Sub-National Political & Legal Institutions Undermines U.S. Compliance with International Human Rights Obligations”

• • Executive Summary and Key Recommendations

Other Stakeholder Reports

What is noteworthy in these stakeholder reports submitted by groups involved in our UPR Cities initiative is that housing rights, racial inequities, and lack of democracy are among the top concerns in these reports. Our effort to develop an analysis of the systemic issues that affect human rights conditions in our cities aims to generate a set of recommendations for changes that can help uplift the human rights of all U.S. residents-in cities and rural communities alike!

• • City of New Orleans, Mayors Office of Human Rights and Equity: The City of New Orleans highlights problems of racial discrimination, environmental justice, and housing & economic justice.
  • Pittsburgh UPR Coalition for Human Rights: Racial inequity at the core of human rights challenges in Pittsburgh
    • Executive summary and key recommendations 2-pager
  • Washington DC UPR Stakeholder Report: Capitol city addresses lack of statehood and voting rights, entrenched inequality, and affordable housing
  • Strengthening State and Local Human Rights Submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of United States of America-Third Cycle. Human Rights in the U.S. Project, Human Rights Institute, Columbia Law School in collaboration with the International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies (IAOHRA)
  • American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) National AFSC highlights housing, criminal punishment system, immigrant rights and racial inequities in UPR Stakeholder Report on US human rights conditions.
  • EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF UNITED STATES CIVIL SOCIETY STAKEHOLDERS’ REPORTS, submitted by US Human Rights Network
  • Medical Whistle Blower Advocacy Network Medical Disability, The Common Rule, and the ICCPR

Next Steps: Lobbying the International Community Around US Human Rights

The 2019-2020 United Nations Review of the United States human rights record provides an important opportunity for us to build support for more people-centered national and local policies. Organizers in cities and communities across the U.S. have submitted our report to the UN on the human rights challenges faced by cities around the country. Our next step is to send delegations of grassroots human rights defenders to lobby UN officials in New York, Washington DC, and Geneva to bring our human rights priorities and recommendations into the official proceedings of the US Universal Periodic Review.

In early 2020, our network hosted several briefings with national embassy officials and international delegates to inform the international community about the state of human rights as they work to shape their country's position statements for the U.S. UPR. Following the shutdowns associated with the coronavirus pandemic, we have shifted to virtual briefings and consultations. The pandemic has made dramatically clear the important connections between universal human rights (including economic and social rights) and work to ensure everyone's safety and well-being.

• January and February 2020, We conducted two sets of civil society briefings with embassy officials at University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law Moot Court Room 518 4340 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20008 and in New York City UN Missions.
• April 15, 2020-U.S. Civil Society Virtual Briefing: Universal Periodic Review of the United States. Presentation slides, Briefing recording

Please help us build on the powerful work of grassroots human rights activists and bring community voices to hold public officials accountable! Tell the international community that despite the actions of the Trump Administration, US residents believe in human rights and are working hard to “bring them home!” We know from past work that grassroots organizers can have a powerful impact on the thinking of international officials, and the experience of seeing the United Nations in action can help our movements develop creative ideas for using these mechanisms to build power. Get involved in the UPR City initiative in your community!

UPR Cities: Background & How to Get Involved

It's not too late for your city to be part of the 2019-2020 Universal Periodic Review of the U.S. human rights record. We need your voice to bring together our analysis of how federal, state and local policies can better support the realization of human rights and dignity for all residents!

• Read and share the US Human Rights Cities UPR Report: “The Growth of Corporate Influence in Sub-National Political & Legal Institutions Undermines U.S. Compliance with International Human Rights Obligations”, convene local discussions of possible connections with your community's experiences;
• Convene local residents in conversations aimed at identifying local human rights priorities and considering what changes are needed. Discuss recommendations that can target local, state, or national officials. Consider what steps local groups and institutions (schools, colleges, business entities) can take to improve local human rights. Produce your own local UPR report and present this to public officials and the media.
• Work to draw public attention to the UN's Universal Periodic Review process, and prepare to view and discuss the formal review of the US on May 12, 2020. Write letters to the editor, media advisories, or organize local UPR Cities events to draw public and media attention.
• Join with other UPR cities in our lobby days in NYC and Washington DC (Jan. 30-31, February 27-28) or Geneva (Date TBD) to urge UN officials to bring our recommendations to the formal proceedings and final report for the US. These recommendations will require some action from the US government.
• Help us raise resources for your city and others to send a delegate to these national and UN-Geneva lobby days! Click here to make a donation via the US Human Rights Network. In the "Funding Designation" line, indicate if you wish to have your donation allocated to support a delegate from your community.
• Join our national convening in April in Atlanta or another southern US City (Details TBA)
• May 11 2020, Organize viewing parties to watch the UN Universal Periodic Review of the US live and help residents learn about how we can work with the international community to hold public officials accountable to human rights obligations.
• To learn more, View our recorded UPR Cities Webinars on this website!

Cities and Communities are Key Partners for Human Rights!

• UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Calls for Greater Coordination with Local Governments & Civil Society.

In a report to the UN Human Rights Council, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights clarifies the important role of local governments in the implementation of international human rights standards, providing reports and recommendations for actions by local and national governments. Many of these recommendations complement the work we are doing in the Human Rights Cities movement and the UPR Cities project. Download Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Local Government and Human Rights

"The 3 Cs": Key steps to participating in the UPR Cities Project:

1. Collect local testimony about human rights: Convene community conversations about the state of human rights in your locale and invite residents to provide their experiences about the state of human rights in your community. Identify groups and activists in your city or community to participate or provide input about local conditions, or organize one or more events where diverse groups of residents can share experiences and consider the content of your local report. Public meetings, collecting video or written testimony from residents and most impacted communities, surveys, or other kinds of activities can generate local input and raise awareness about human rights and the UPR process.
2. Compile national and local reports and recommendations: Prepare a summary report of local human rights conditions, achievements, and recommendations for change. For the national review, provide a 5 page summary report of key issues and recommendations emerging from local conversations. What are some key problems/challenges faced by people in your region? Are there some areas where your community does well? (We want to identify both positive advances as well as places where work is needed). Include recommendations of what changes you think are needed to improve human rights locally. (These can draw from prior reports--see links below--or reflect original ideas from your local work). National reports are due September 15, but local reports can be longer and the time frame can be determined to best support local organizing. The formal UPR review process extends to the fall of 2020.
3. Clamor: Once the reports are done, it's time to make sure our elected officials hear what both residents and the international community are saying. It's up to us to hold leaders accountable to human rights values, so make sure they know what's in your local report and in the international reports as well. Share results of the UPR process with local officials and residents and increase local residents' skills in "human rights enforcement." In April of 2020, the United Nations will release its official recommendations to the United States government, based on the UPR process. It is essential that local human rights defenders work to raise consciousness about this document and to press local governments to take action in response to official recommendations. It is not enough to secure international treaties. We also need vigilant communities ready to stand up and demand that human rights are recognized and protected for everyone. Be sure your community is informed about the offical UPR report, and convene community residents and groups to discuss the results and how to hold local officials accountable for the recommendations.

UPR Cities Webinars

• Webinar #1: Introduction Webinar recording: Intro. to UPR Cities Initiative
  • Download Slideshow-Without narration
• Webinar #2: Webinar #2 Recording: Using international mechanisms to Collect, Compile, and Clamor for Human Rights
  • Download Slideshow #2-Without narration
• Webinar #3: Bringing the UPR to your community: Examples from city organizing around the country Recorded: Thursday July 25, 2019(LIVE! from Washington DC)
  • View slideshow #3 without narration
• Webinar #4: Webinar recording: Using the UPR Cities Strategy to Fight Racism & Xenophobia-Thursday August 29, 6:00PM Eastern/5:00PM Central/4PM Mtn/ 3PM Pacific time zone
  • View Slideshow #4 without narration
• Webinar #5: Telling Your City's Story: Preparing UPR Cities Reports-Wednesday September 11, 6:00PM Eastern/5:00PM Central/4PM Mtn/ 3PM Pacific time zone
  • View Slideshow #5 without narration
• Webinar #6: How local communities are mobilizing around the international review of the US human rights record (November 19, 2019)
  • View Slideshow #6 without narration

• Monday May 11, 2020: The May 11th date for the United Nation’s review of the U.S. Government’s human rights record (known as UPR) has been postponed by the pandemic, but in its place we’re organizing a virtual gathering to help community advocates learn how to use the UPR review process to advocate for their communities. We’ll hear about the world’s first national cities stakeholder report to the UN. Organizers from New Orleans, Washington DC, and Pittsburgh will show how the UPR can help local organizing. And we’ll learn about the Southern Mayors’ Human Rights Agenda and how it can help define the kind of post-COVID-19 city we all need. Participants will learn about using the UPR process to organize locally and bring global pressure on national and local officials through the UPR Cities Project. To participate in the webinar, visit: http://b.link/C2C110513 --(Recommended browsers: Firefox or Chrome) Link to slide presentation

• To register for upcoming webinars, please send your name, organization (if applicable), location to us at: uprcities [at] humanrightscities [dot] mayfirst.org.

• Questions? Want more information? Contact us: uprcities [at] humanrightscities [dot] mayfirst.org
  

MORE RESOURCES From the US Human Rights Network

The US Human Rights Network is supporting activists from across the United States to participate in the UPR process. We are partnering with the US Human Rights Network with a focus on human rights in cities, but there are other ways your organization may wish to engage with the process. Human rights advocates can work under varying sub-groups to convey information about the state of particular kinds of human rights in the United States and to lobby UN delegates to bring content into the final UPR text. The US Human Rights Network helps demystify international law and institutions so everyone can have a voice in this global space. Check out USHRN webinars to learn more about the UPR!

• US Human Rights Network UPR Webinar #1 - What are human rights? (Recording) Download slides in English or Spanish
• Links to US Human Rights Network Webinar #2: How to participate in national UPR Working Groups (recording & slides/ English & Spanish)-- Note: the UPR Cities project is just one working group participating with the USHRN in preparations for the US Universal Periodic Review. You can participate in other issue-based working groups as well. This webinar can help familiarize you with the working group structure and operations.

Tools, Examples, and Templates

• A comprehensive guide for Civil Society Organisations engaging in the Universal Periodic Review (Source: UPR Info)
• UPR Timeline 2019-2020+
• Community Forum Template & Worksheet-This tool can be used to help gather community ideas and input for your UPR review (both national and local)!
• Sample human rights survey
• Template for Local UPR City/Community Report
• Matrix of Recommendations from Prior U.S. UPR report- When completing a report for the 2019-2020 UPR review, stakeholders should make specific reference to past recommendations. This will make your report most effective. You can search this document for particular issues and impacted populations.
• Toolkit for Following up the UPR Report- This guide is helpful for thinking about how to use the UPR report once it is completed to engage with civil society and public officials.
• Know your Rights to the City!-Table listing key human rights instruments for human rights cities
• Universal Human Rights Index -database of past UN treaty reviews and recommendations
• Implementing Recommendations from the Universal Periodic Review: A Toolkit for State and Local Human Rights and Human Relations Commissions
• Tips for Preparing a Report to International Human Rights Review Processes
  
  
• Official UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Website on UPR Process
• Birmingham Mayor's Office Human Rights Dialogue
  
  • This document distills the conversations that took place at the Birmingham Human Rights Dialogue in March 2015, as part of the most recent US review under the UPR. The report describes how human rights can strengthen local policy-making and offers concrete ways that mayors throughout the United States can incorporate human rights standards and strategies into their daily work to build upon human rights initiatives emerging across the United States. (This report was prepared by Columbia Law School’s Human Rights Institute in collaboration with the Office of Birmingham Mayor William Bell.) See Appendix A for outline of Birmingham’s Human Rights Dialogue program. Panels included the following themes: Social Justice, Education, Immigration, Marriage Equality, Homelessness & Poverty. Organizers might use this as a model for local consultations, which can be organized in conjunction with local authorities or convened by community organizations independently of local government. The goal of such conversations, however, is to help inform local leaders and remind them of their obligations to ensure that local policies conform to international human rights laws and standards.
    

UPR Second Session Documents, 2015

• UPR 2nd session final report of the working group-USA-This report provides a baseline for the UPR Third Session in 2019-2020.
• 2015 US Human Rights Network UPR Stakeholder Report This report compiles documentation from grassroots human rights organizations across the United States for the most recent UPR review of the United States. Organizers can model their local reports on the examples provided here. Short, clear, and concise statements and concrete examples are most effective. Also, suggestions of recommendations residents believe will help protect and advance human rights in your area should be included in local reports.

*Notes on Compiling Your UPR Reports

• • For examples, see 2015 National civil society report
  • You can draw from the Official Report of the UPR Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council for recommendations that were made for improvements to US human rights policy. It is good to reinforce previous recommendations that remain unfulfilled.
  • US State Department documentation for 2015 UPR Review
  • National UPR Report-A team will work to compile your local reports into a national civil society report that will be submitted to the United Nations. It is helpful if you can, in addition to your 5 page report, develop a short 1-2 page summary that can inform the overall US civil society report and our lobbying strategy at the United Nations Human Rights Council UPR meeting in April 2020. All documentation for the national report must be received by September 15, 2019.
  • Local UPR Report-You do not need to stop your local process of consultation and documentation in September, and we encourage communities to keep mobilizing attention to the UPR process. You might set your own local deadline for testimony and organize one or more events to present your local human rights assessment to public officials in fall 2019 or early 2020.

Contact us: uprcities [at] humanrightscities [dot] mayfirst.org

The UPR Cities project is coordinated with the US Human Rights Network's Universal Periodic Review work. The USHRN will hold addtional UPR-related webinars that can support local work.

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