The new urban agenda and human rights cities: Interconnections between the global and the local

As the level of governance closest to the city dwellers, local authorities have been called to play a protagonist role as implementers of global standards on human rights and sustainable development. The New Urban Agenda, a political declaration signed by all UN Member States, sets a human rights-based approach to policy-making and service delivery as a path towards inclusive and sustainable urban development. Remarkably, the document acknowledges that local authorities are responsible for protecting, respecting, fulfilling, and promoting the human rights of the inhabitants. However, gaps between the aspiring language of international commitments and their concrete impact on the ground have limited its potential to transform people’s lives. Nevertheless, all over the world human rights cities have pro-actively set the implementation of human rights as a core task in the municipality. By establishing practical links and synergies between human rights cities and the NUA, this paper suggests ways of filling implementation gaps, drawing a promising scenario for the realisation of both global and local agendas