ECNL provided expertise to Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to develop standards on participation. The UN Guidelines on the Effective Implementation of the Right to Participate in Public Affairs were adopted in September 2018.
These guidelines are particularly important: as a first such document on a global level, they can be essential to enforce and protect this fundamental right both on the national and local level. They provide practical recommendations to both states and civil society, outline the right’s basic principles and emphasise the need to provide a safe, conducive environment for people to participate freely.
As a key partner to the OHCHR, ECNL:
- provided conceptual and substantial input to the draft document in various stages of its development;
- worked with OHCHR to design and implement a highly inclusive consultation process; and
- brought in national experts to regional consultations in five countries to enable local CSOs from Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Africa to directly share their experiences, which were then integrated in the final draft.
- supported the implementation of the UN Guidelines by preparing a comprehensive and easy-to-use summary and a repository of practical examples of how the UN guidelines could be implemented effectively.
ECNL also works with regional and national partners to help integrate these international participation standards on the country level. For example in Moldova we supported the process of developing the new Moldova Civil Society Development Strategy 2018-2020 which includes these standards.