Ensuring Sustainability to Embed Human Rights in Digital Governance

To establish the sustainability of the equal digital governance initiative, mechanisms that city applies in the beginning must be coupled with recurring process of monitoring and evaluation to measure the progress. City shall appoint diverse external advisory team with key local actors. This may include civil society organisations, representatives of vulnerable social groups, local associations, and businesses to create a medium that facilitate engagement, communication, and cooperation on digital human rights with diverse groups living in the city. 

In the end, city should have built its own repository of human rights impact assessments for new programs or projects, developing models of due diligence process so the third-party collaborators comply to the new regulations, law and standards for digital governance that are accessible, affordable and equal for all. Hence, the next step is to foster partnerships, lobby strategies and cooperation with national and international actors. Through alliances and networks, deputy mayors and senior leaders can actively communicate with other representatives, as exchange of knowledge is a vital part of developing Smart Cities. 

Reference:

UN Habitat’s Mainstreaming Human Rights in the Digital Transformation of Cities: A guide for local governments

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