Human Rights Cities
learning celebration, the Mostra, held in the central market. Many of the local human rights organizations participated by disseminating information that illustrated the ways in which human rights was an essential part of daily life. Following the human rights celebration, the Committee held more than twelve information and learning sessions around the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). These were successful because people were able to make the connection between human rights and some of their own neighborhood problems – water, security, clean air, access to healthcare and jobs. They also began discussing concrete action they could take. Challenges After the success of the Mostra and MDG meetings, the Steering Committee decided to sponsor an essay contest on human rights to engage young people. The city first agreed to sponsor the event but never came through with funding. The lack of a municipal partner had been a constant problem ever since the labor party left municipal office in 2005. The Steering Committee did not have time to create a strong base outside the local administration. It had been counting on some form of funding and allocation of space in which to enlarge Steering Committee membership and hold events. Participating NGOs began to lose faith in the Human Rights City program because it did not receive funds. Most social enterprises offered something more concrete, such as, feeding children or teaching people a skill. Human rights learning seemed too abstract and difficult to identify concrete results that could be actually seen. The Steering Committee had difficulty convincing
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