Local governments share the human rights obligations of their national governments, ranging across civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. In fact, the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights suggests that the usual classification of rights as “civil and political” or “economic, social, and cultural” is not useful in the context of budgeting. Rather, what is important in budgeting is whether government resources are essential to ensure the realization of that right. For example, if a national government has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (the “ICESCR”) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), then local governments within that nation must also comply with the provisions of those treaties, allocating funds if necessary to help meet the nation’s treaty commitments.

These obligations extend to both substantive human rights obligations (such as the rights to housing and education) and procedural human rights obligations (such as the rights to information and to participation). By way of example, rights protected by the ICESCR include the right to:

adequate food (Art. 11),
adequate housing (Art. 11),
education (Art. 13),
health (Art. 12),
social security (Art. 9),
take part in cultural life (Art. 15),
water and sanitation (Arts. 11 and 12), and
work (Art. 6).

Important procedural rights relating to the budgeting budgeting include several rights found in the ICCPR, including:

the right of people to participate in the conduct of public affairs (ICCPR Art. 25); and
the right of access to information (ICCPR Art. 19).

Realization of these rights, regardless of whether they are economic, social, and cultural rights, civil and political rights, procedural rights, or substantive rights, may require allocation of government resources, and therefore implicate decisionmaking in the government budget process.

Please watch this video presentation by Olivier de Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, addressing local governments' involvement in ensuring human rights. Before you begin, take out a piece of paper and something to write with. Now, as you listen to the video, jot down the human rights-based initiatives that de Schutter outlines that have budget implications, including not only delivery of life-sustaining goods and services but also creation of mechanisms for community participation and government accountability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p225nmet6cw

Note that some of the programs mentioned by the Special Rapporteur were undertaken in partnership between a local government and civil society. That is certainly a welcome approach, but under human rights law, even with a vibrant civil society response, the legal obligation to respect, protect, and fulfil these rights remains with the government.

What do you think -- could civil society have mounted these programs without local government participation and assistance? What would happen to residents if their local governments had not developed budgetary capacity to address the human rights issues outlined by the Special Rapporteur, including unemployment, food insecurity, and monitoring of government programs?

In the next section, we will discuss mechanisms by which local governments can develop human rights budgets.