The Regional Archive Pace Diritti Umani - Peace Human Rights was established in 1988 by the Region of Veneto with Regional Law 30 March 1988 No. 18 “Regional Intervention for the Promotion of a Culture of Peace” and then confirmed with Regional Law 16 December 1999 No. 55 "Regional Interventions for the Promotion of Human Rights, the Culture of Peace, the Cooperation to Development and Solidarity."
The new Regional Law 21 June 2018 ‘Regional interventions for the promotion and dissemination of human rights as well as cooperation for sustainable development’ in Article 2 letters b) and c) provides that: ‘The Region promotes and supports within its own regional territory: (...) b) the collection, systematisation and dissemination of studies, research, publications, audiovisuals and documents produced at regional, national and international level, also in connection with other databases, concerning the fields of promotion and protection of human rights and sustainable development cooperation; c) the database of the bodies operating in Veneto in the field of human rights and sustainable development cooperation’.
The Archive is managed by the Human Rights Centre "Antonio Papisca" of the University of Padova, on the basis of a special convention with the Veneto Region and is supported by the UNESCO Chair ‘Human Rights, Democracy and Peace’.
The Archive has the function of collecting, processing and making available to the public documents, thematic databases and information resources on the themes of peace, human rights and sustainable development. It is the tool intended to ensure constant connection and dialogue between the Human Rights Centre, the Veneto Region and those most immediately interested in the promotion and practice of the universal culture of human rights and peace: volunteering associations, non-governmental organisations, local authorities, schools, cultural centres, religious institutions, political parties, trade unions.
It provides specialised assistance to local, regional and national institutions responsible for the protection of human rights, as well as to the world of education in the development and dissemination of training projects on peace, human rights, disarmament, democratic and inclusive citizenship, intercultural dialogue. monthly news and newsletters; it supports the teaching and research activities of the human rights degree courses at the University of Padova.
It is one of the main Internet portals active in Italy expressly dedicated to the dissemination of civic and political culture based on the norms and principles of the Constitution of the Italian Republic and international human rights law rooted in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Archives take care of the updating of the database Associations and NGOs in Veneto (available only in italian), which lists public and private subjects present in the region, operating in the field of human rights, culture of peace, development cooperation and international solidarity, as well as the following thematic databases: International Human Rights Law; International Humanitarian, Criminal and Refugee Law; Regional Infrastructure for Human Rights; Human Rights and Persons with Disabilities; Publications.
Over the years and within the framework of the activities envisaged by the Convention with the Veneto Region, the Human Rights Centre has edited the ‘Peace Archives Human Rights’ Bulletin (from 1991 to 2009) and in-depth and up-to-date Dossiers (from 2009 to 2018), which in 2019 were replaced by ‘Topics of the Archives’.
It published the journal Pace, diritti dell’uomo, diritti dei popoli (1987-1995). Suspended from 1995 to 2003, it was revived between 2004 and 2013 with its second series, entitled Pace diritti umani - peace human rights and re-launched again, with a focus on the increasingly demanding international requirements for scholarly publications, starting in 2017, with its third series entitled Peace Human Rights Governance - PHRG. A semi-annual peer-reviewed and open-access scientific journal published with Padova University Press.
It edited (from 2011 to 2022) the publication of the Annuario italiano dei diritti umani / Italian Yearbook of Human Rights which, from year to year, takes a snapshot of how the international human rights monitoring system evaluates Italy's actions. As of 2024, the Yearbook continues in a new, more agile and user-friendly format, that of the ‘’Rubrica‘’ on the Centre's website.
The annual appointment that brings together schools, local authorities and associations takes place on 10 December, International Human Rights Day.
The Archive, as an educational tool is, of course, an ‘open’ tool, its users are also those who feed it with information and suggestions on an ongoing basis.