In the evolving landscape of global governance, human rights have become central to sustainable peace, security, and development. Yet, despite the commitments made at international forums, the implementation of these rights often falters at the ground level. This is where local and regional governments (LRGs) come into play. A recent report titled “Localizing Multilateralism: The Role of Local and Regional Governments in Advancing Human Rights and the SDGs” by the Geneva Academy’s Academy Briefing No. 25, authored by Ludovica Chiussi Curzi, Kamelia Kemileva, and Domenico Zipoli, dives deep into how LRGs are increasingly emerging as critical actors in translating global norms into meaningful local change.
Why LRGs Matter in Global Governance?
LRGs are closest to communities and directly responsible for public services like housing, health, education, water, and sanitation. They are often the first responders to crises and are instrumental in shaping citizens’ everyday experiences with rights. The Briefing argues that human rights obligations apply not only to states but also to LRGs, since they act as integral organs of the state under international law.
Despite their pivotal role, LRGs remain underrepresented in international human rights mechanisms. The existing structures are primarily designed for engagement with national governments. This exclusion represents a missed opportunity to leverage LRGs’ on-the-ground expertise and data for more effective rights-based governance.
Expanding the Engagement capacity of LRGs
The paper explores several dimensions of LRG engagement with the United Nations human rights system:
- Human Rights Council (HRC): While LRGs cannot formally participate in HRC negotiations, recent resolutions increasingly acknowledge their role. The 2024 resolution A/HRC/RES/57/12 specifically encourages stronger collaboration between states and LRGs in implementing human rights. However, LRGs are still mostly consulted indirectly through national actors.
- Universal Periodic Review (UPR): UPR offers promising potential for LRG engagement. Although the process is state-led, the Briefing notes that incorporating LRGs’ perspectives can strengthen implementation and monitoring. Countries like Italy have already piloted LRG-specific submissions within their national reports.
- UN Special Procedures: Special Rapporteurs, who assess rights conditions through field visits, sometimes consult local authorities on issues like housing or cultural rights. Yet this remains inconsistent, largely depending on whether national governments facilitate such access.
- UN Treaty Bodies: Though formally interacting with national governments, treaty bodies increasingly recognize the practical importance of LRGs in fulfilling obligations under treaties like the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) or the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Case examples from Barcelona, Geneva, and São Paulo show how LRGs are aligning local policy with treaty recommendations.
- Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): The OHCHR is gradually integrating LRGs into its processes through consultations, city networks (e.g., UCLG), and reports mandated by HRC resolutions. For example, upcoming reports will focus on digitalization and the role of local governments in ensuring economic and social rights.
Consultation and Coordination: The Data Frontier
Beyond representation in UN forums, the paper underscores the importance of LRGs as vectors for consultation, coordination, and data collection, the key pillars in national human rights systems.
- Consultation: LRGs regularly engage with civil society organizations, community groups, and grassroots movements. This allows them to generate rich, disaggregated data that reflects the lived realities of diverse populations, particularly marginalized communities.
- Coordination: LRGs serve as bridges between communities and central governments. When engaged effectively, they can streamline reporting, align local policies with national plans, and strengthen mechanisms like National Mechanisms for Implementation, Reporting, and Follow-up (NMIRFs).
- Barriers: However, systemic barriers persist. Many LRGs lack legal mandates to engage in human rights reporting, struggle with underfunded data systems, and are excluded from national consultations. These constraints prevent them from contributing fully to international monitoring efforts.
Information Management and Monitoring Capacities
The authors highlight that LRGs have untapped potential to support integrated human rights and SDG monitoring through improved information management systems.
- Voluntary Local Reviews (VLRs) and Voluntary Subnational Reviews (VSNRs) are emerging as tools for LRGs to gather disaggregated data, highlight inequalities, inform targeted policy interventions, monitor local progress and contribute to national and global reporting.
- Digital tools: Innovations like open data portals and participatory budgeting platforms enable more transparent, rights-based governance.
- Whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches are emphasized as essential for building local capacity and avoiding fragmented data ecosystems.
What Needs to Change?
To unlock the full potential of LRGs in multilateralism, the briefing offers several key recommendations:
- Institutionalize LRG participation in international human rights mechanisms, particularly in the HRC and UPR processes.
- Strengthening engagement and consultation capacities of LRG through funding, training, and technical support, especially for data collection and human rights-based policymaking.
- Strengthen multilevel collaboration and policy coherence for LRGs to play meaningful role between local, national and international actors, such as between NHRIs, and civil society to improve coordination, consultation, and shared ownership of rights commitments.
- Leverage digital innovations for human rights monitoring and community-generated data to strengthen accountability and localized monitoring.
A Call for Multilevel Governance
As multilateralism is being reimagined for the 21st century, the authors argue that the future of human rights and sustainable development lies in localized implementation. Despite LRGs proximity to communities, ability to collect granular data, and capacity to implement context-specific policies, they remain underutilized in global and national governance frameworks. LRGs are not auxiliary actors but essential enablers of rights realization. Recognizing them as such, through legal frameworks, institutional access, and equitable partnerships, is vital to ensuring that no one is left behind.
This paper is particularly relevant for practitioners working on decentralized governance, SDG localization, and rights-based planning at the subnational level. It invites national governments, UN bodies, and multilateral actors to take a bold step toward more inclusive and effective multilateralism that is grounded in the lived realities of cities, municipalities, and communities.
Read the Full Report
For a more in-depth analysis, the full report titled “Localizing Multilateralism: The Role of Local and Regional Governments in Advancing Human Rights and the SDGs” (Academy Briefing No. 25) by the Geneva Academy is available here.
Chiussi Curzi, L., Kemileva, K., & Zipoli, D. (2025). Localizing Multilateralism: The Role of Local and Regional Governments in Advancing Human Rights and the SDGs. Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. Academy Briefing No. 25. Link to report
