Resources for starting a Human Rights City initiative near you

Starting a human rights city initiative

The path to becoming a human rights city differs by locale, and local actors must identify possibilities and develop appropriate strategies for local contexts and needs. The most important thing is to have community leadership at the start and at the center of the process. There must be some community commitment to a long-term process of becoming a human rights city. That will take work from many different sectors and constituencies, so getting buy-in near the start of the process is critical. Adopting a human rights city resolution/charter/ordinance, etc. is the beginning, reflecting a city's commitment to a long-term political process of progressively advancing human rights in the city or community. The following links provide further guidance.

• Human Rights Cities Wikipedia Page be sure to update this page with details on your city!
• The Human Rights Cities Movement: An Introduction
• Human Rights Cities Principles

Here are some of the tools we have found most useful at integrating lessons from human rights city work so far:

See our summary of key resources for human rights city organizers

• Human Rights Cities in the EU―A Framework Fundamental Rights Agency (2021)
• From Commitment to Responsibility for Human Rights in Cities and Regions European Training Center for Human Rights and Democracy;UNESCO Center for the Promotion of Human Rights at Local and Regional Levels and others, Human Rights Go Local Publication Series, Graz, Austria (2022)
• Human Rights Cities and the SDGs, Raul Wallenberg Institute

• Human Rights Cities: Research, Resources, & Resolutions Maggie Austen, of Suffolk Law School in the U.S. compiled this database of resources and existing human rights cities resolutions, offering some insights for aspiring human rights cities.