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Originally developed by the People's Movement (Decade) for Human Rights Education (PDHRE) in 1997, human rights cities have been created in Argentina, Senegal, Bangladesh and other nations around the world.  The goal of human rights cities is to allow all people to understand and achieve basic human rights to equality and justice.  What makes Graz, Austria a unique human rights city is not only that it’s the first of its kind in Europe, but that it is also the first created in a fully-developed, western country. The European Training and Research Centre (ETC) is a non-profit organization formed in 1999 that works closely with the University of Graz to conduct research and training programs in the fields of human rights and democracy.  It is located in Graz, a city of nearly 270,000 people and a significant number of immigrants, in Southern Austria.

ETC first held an international seminar on human rights education on behalf of the Austrian Foreign Ministry in June 2000 and invited the Executive Director of PDHRE to launch the idea of Graz being a City of Human Rights.  The seminar persuaded key national and local government officials to endorse the model, resulting in the city council’s unanimous decision to declare Graz a human rights city in February 2001.

Charged with the task of coordinating the implementation of the human rights city model, ETC began its first of three phases by establishing a steering committee, representing NGOs, universities, churches and government institutions, to identify local issues and develop a strategy for action on human rights issues in Graz.  It created three working groups in Spring 2001 to address civil and political, social and economic, and cultural rights.  Overseeing these working groups is a consortium of community leaders from various organizations.

In May 2001 ETC also hosted the inauguration ceremony for the City of Human Rights at the University of Graz that included local, regional and national government leaders.  Announcing their common commitment to human rights demonstrated broad support the model at all levels of government.

After identifying a number of issue areas during 2001, ETC started its second phase in 2002 by discussing its action strategy and presenting a draft action plan to city representatives, local groups and community leaders.  Areas of concern highlighted in the draft included the needs of women, youth, persons with disabilities, migrants and others.  The City of Graz has agreed to allocate funds for ETC and its human rights activities such as training seminars, educational events and community discussion series.

The third phase of implementation, commencing in Fall 2003, will address specific problem areas by using monitoring and other tactics.  During this time, ETC hopes to build a Counselling Centre for Human Rights and establish institutional systems for a sustainable human rights movement.  ETC is also capitalizing on Graz’s 2003 nomination as the European Capital of Culture by holding a symposium on “The City of Human Rights” in October.

ETC’s primary challenge is funding: it both competes with other local groups for public money and urges city council members to maintain a human rights focus while making budget decisions.

ETC claims that the success of implementing a human rights city comes from its ability to collaborate with multiple organizations and institutions in the planning process.  Local government institutions, community and religious organizations, NGOs and professional bodies have all played roles in defining goals and carrying out human rights activities.

Tactic summary completed June 30, 2003.