The online meeting of UCLG’s Culture Committee, which UCLG-MEWA Committee on Culture and Tourism participated and contributed, has brought together the committee’s Presidency, official members (cities and local governments) as well as key experts and partners in which they discussed the outline of the Rome Charter – Agenda on cultural rights.
The Virtual Meeting that took place on Monday May 4 2020, was an opportunity to discuss the charter with key cities, organizations, experts and networks. The UCLG Culture Committee and the City Council of Rome are working together to elaborate a document that contributes to the global conversation on culture and development named: “THE ROME CHARTER-AGENDA OF CULTURAL RIGHTS”. The idea has its origin in the important statement of the Global Taskforce, convened by UCLG, in the September 2019 SDG Summit: “We commit to promote culture as the fourth pillar of development and as a core component of local identity, and its role as a strand of global solidarity, and as a vector for peace and human rights. We further commit to foster locally relevant cultural policies and programmes on memory, heritage, creativity, diversity and knowledge which are key for local sustainable development”.
The document wishes to emphasize cultural rights in dialogue with other rights, because all individual rights meet in the “life in the city”. The Charter acknowledges Rome as universal heritage that work as a connector of all rights, from the past to the future. The final document will be presented in September – October 2020, at an international conference to be organized in Rome.