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"Having been invited to join the secretariat responsible for organising the European Charter
for the Safeguarding of Human Rights in Cities, alongside Barcelona, Saint Denis, Venice and Nuremberg,
Lyon was designated as host of the 5th meeting of the signatory cities during the 2004 closing session.
The Lyon organisers of this 5th Conference, with the scientific support of the Lyon Chair
in Human Rights, have set ensuring effectiveness, durability and visibility for the European
Charter for the Safeguarding of Human Rights in Cities as their main objective.
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During the December conference, this will involve :
- finding legal ways of guaranteeing the effectiveness of the rights proclaimed in the Charter,
based especially on the possibilities defined recently and henceforth offered by the Council of
Europe (see annexed note from Edith Jaillardon). Building on the aspirations of the
"citizens in the cities" in the search for renewed means to a strong, participative democracy,
the Charter could then take its place alongside other national and international legal instruments
for the protection of human rights (with no doubt reformulation of some of its provisions as the price to be paid).
- ensuring that the Charter lasts, by defining elements for an institutional structuring of commitments made by the cities.
This structuring, which is likely to replace the informal approach preferred until now, could see the creation of a permanent
secretariat, an Internet site, local monitoring committees, an evaluation committee and so on. It could also operate as an
umbrella organisation, thereby creating synergies with existing networks and organisations (UCLG, for example).
- finally, improving the Charter's visibility, by continuing with exchanges of experience initiated during previous meetings
and broadcasting them to cities, be they Charter signatories or not. About 300 representatives of French and European local
authorities are expected at this event."
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