As the 49th session of the Human Rights Council started last week, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published its report on the Good practices and challenges faced by States in using the guidelines on the effective implementation of the right to participate in public affairs (A/HRC/49/42). The report highlights how decision-making processes that affect peoples’ lives should be guided by international human rights law and ensure transparency, access to information and participation at the local, national and international levels.
ECNL contributed to the new report by providing a submission to OHCHR during the drafting process. Our submission builds on our own research, but also feedback shared by civil society organisations at a regional consultation ECNL convened to take stock of the ongoing challenges for participation in (political) decision-making processes in Europe (as detailed in the Annex). The main challenges CSOs face include:
- Difficulties in accessing relevant information about the content of a decision and/or information about the process of a given participation cycle. The access to information is reportedly blocked in different ways.
- Almost no opportunity for participation to co-create the agenda and any form of involvement in evaluating decisions that were made.
- Any participation during decision-making process is often not meaningful as there is no feedback on given input by civil society, making the exercise nothing but a mere ticking-box exercise.
As an organisation that has been working with the OHCHR since the development and adoption of the Guidelines, our submission to the report builds on ECNL's commitment to make the voices of civil society and individuals heard in political decision-making processes.
Read the report on good practices and challenges in using the Guidelines on Participation here.