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The Structure of Human Rights of Catalonia presents the Plan of Actions for Human Rights of Catalonia (2020-2023)
The Plan of Actions, which was submitted to the Government and the Parliament, consists of a set of legislative, administrative and policy actions that must be implemented to make human rights in Catalonia effective in the next four years
The measures contained in the Plan of Actions are divided into six large blocks and thirty-two objectives
For about half a year, around a hundred agora, throughout the territory and on various subjects, have been made, in order to achieve maximum social participation
On December 10, 2019, the International Human Rights Day, the Structure of Human Rights of Catalonia (SHRC), formed by the Catalan Ombudsman and the Human Rights Institute of Catalonia, has handed over to the Catalan Government the Plan of Actions for Human rights in Catalonia (2020-2023), in accordance with the GOV/125/2017 Agreement, of September 12, which request the Structure of Human Rights of Catalonia the development of a plan of actions for human rights.
The process of elaborating this plan of actions has had as main axes the transparency and the social participation. In a public event that took place in the Drassanes of Barcelona, on January 21st, a first draft of the Plan of Actions for Human Rights was presented and the the participatory process, which was aimed at the collaboration of civil society in the elaboration so that the final result gave a better response to the needs of the population. In this regard, for about half a year, around a hundred agora have been made throughout the territory and on several topics and contributions of experts in each subject have also been collected and taken into account. At the same time, participating through a virtual agora was also made possible.
At the same time, the Plan of Actions has also taken into account the Catalan national singularity and its social structure, in accordance with the recommendations issued by the United Nations, in order to comply with human rights treaties.
The definitive Plan of Actions consists of a set of legislative, administrative and policy actions that must be put in place to make human rights more effective in Catalonia over the next four years. These measures are divided into six major blocks and thirty-two objectives, each of which corresponds to a right.
The big blocks in which the Plan of Actions is articulated are:
• Equality Democracy: which includes, among others, the rights to health, work, education, housing or the environment. Among other measures, the Plan of Actions suggests promoting primary and social care to become the backbone of the healthcare system, to approve a new decree for the admission of students as a tool to combat school segregation, move on to inclusive school, increase the public park of social housing, approve a new law of territory to incorporate the criterion of geographical equity, or create an independent body of the police charged with investigating cases of reports of ill-treatment.
• Plural Democracy: highlighting the right to protest and freedom of expression, the right to culture and linguistic rights. The measures included in this section are, among others, repealing or reforming the Organic Law on Citizen Security, increasing at least 2% of budgets devoted to culture, or promoting the adaptation of state legislation to commitments assumed by the Kingdom of Spain in the framework of the European Charter for regional or minority languages, with regard to the use of Catalan in the State General Administration and the Administration of justice.
• Participatory Democracy: in which the right to participation in public affairs and the right to good administration and transparency are integrated. In this area, the Plan of Actions formulates the need for the Parliament of Catalonia to promote a basic state regulation regarding the regional referendum, to ensure that all people with disabilities can effectively vote and participate, and allocate more resources to comply with publicity obligations and transparency
• Intersectional Democracy: comprising the rights of women, the LGTBIQ community, elderly people, migrants and people with disabilities. Among the measures contained, it is emphasize the elaboration of an integral law against sexual violence that comprehensively tackles this type of violence in its multiple manifestations; implement Law 11/2014, on the rights of the LGTBIQ people, to approve and carry out an independent life support plan for all people with disabilities, and to develop and approve a law of the elderly.
• Children's Democracy: including, among others, the right of children to a family environment and to the protection and the right to a suitable standard of living and the highest health level possible. In this large block, measures are taken to promote and prioritize family foster care, provide specific information for all children to prevent sexual abuse, ensure that all children have a home in optimal conditions, or create aid economic for socially disadvantaged children so they can participate in complementary and extracurricular activities.
• Guarantee-based Democracy: which contains the right to equality before the law and to justice and the right to fair taxation. In this last area, there is a need to provide financial help so that the less protected people enjoy better access to the legal services of a lawyer, reduce the taxation of labour incomes and the fiscal pressure that support low incomes, or dedicate a minimum of 0.7% of the budget of each administration to development cooperation. The Plan of Actions calls for efforts by the Government of the State and the Catalan Government to resolve the articulation between Catalonia and Spain through dialogue.
It also sets out a monitoring mechanism for compliance with the actions and grants the EDHC the role of monitoring this compliance, along with the human rights organizations of the country, especially those that have participated in its preparation.
Plan of Actions for Human Rights in Catalonia (in Catalan)Extract (in Catalan)
