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European Union, International
This new Charter outlines a range of rights and responsibilities of civil society groups.
The annex includes a useful compilation of related best practice. ANGOA received a PDF copy from the Commonwealth Human Rights Network, www.humanrightsinitiative.org.
From the Preamble: "The 13-page Charter contains 19 articles and is divided into the following sections:
"Annexed to the Charter is a summary of national best practices gathered in 10 European countries during the project, which were used to identify the rights of the Charter; they testify to the fact that these rights are attainable. These best practices are therefore considered as an integral part of the Charter.
"The European Charter of Active Citizenship draws its inspiration from the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and more in particular from article 11 on the freedom of expression and information, article 12 on the freedom of assembly and association, article 21 on non-discrimination and article 41 on the right to good administration. These rights, already guaranteed by that Charter, will therefore not be directly quoted in the body of the text. However, the European Charter of Active Citizenship proposes to strengthen such rights and extend their application to the Autonomous Citizens' Organizations."
The Public Institutions section is interesting in comparison to New Zealand's Statement of Government Intentions for an Improved Community-Government Relationship:
Public institutions value and encourage Autonomous Citizen Organisations' activities aimed at protecting rights and / or preserving the common good and / or general interest. Public institutions in the European Union — that is local, national and EU institutions — shall remove the obstacles to the development of ACOs' activities and support them, particularly by putting in place adequate instruments, systems and processes to promote greater participation; formulating policies in a transparent and clear manner; supporting and collaborating in ACOs' autonomous initiatives and working in partnership with them on common projects. Public institutions shall call for the views of ACOs, encouraging their participation in decision-making processes. Finally, Public institutions shall integrate the lessons learned from the best practices in their work standards.
This item comes, with our thanks, from the ANGOA newsletter. ANGOA works to strengthen the Community and Voluntary Sector in Aotearoa / New Zealand, and all information in their newsletter is gathered and included to assist that purpose. An effort is made within ANGOA's available resources to ensure accuracy but no guarantee is given or implied. If you have contributions, comments or suggestions, please forward them to dave.henderson@angoa.org.nz.