The Region of Veneto

The Region of Veneto has been working in the sector of the promotion of human rights, a culture of peace and international cooperation since 1988 when the first Regional Law on those subjects was adopted – Regional Law no. 18, 30th March 1988 “Regional interventions for the promotion of a culture of peace”. In the same year the Regional Council established the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman for children.

In 1999, on the basis of the results and the experience achieved, Regional Law 18/1988 was substituted with the Regional Law no. 55, 16th December 1999 on “Regional Interventions for the Promotion of Human Rights, the Culture of Peace, the Cooperation to Development and Solidarity”.

In 2018  the Region of Veneto adopted the Regional Law 21 June 2018, n. 21 "Regional interventions for the promotion and diffusion of human rights as well as cooperation for sustainable development" which is today the normative instrument for the promotion of human rights, a culture pf peace and international cooperation.

The intervention of the Region of Veneto has progressively taken the traits of an organic policy - carried out with the active collaboration of civil society organizations and operators in full respect of their own initiative - which improves the regional infrastructure on human rights, peace, decentralised cooperation and international solidarity.

Regional Law n. 55/1999 established:

-The Regional Archive "Pace Diritti Umani - Peace Human Rights" (Art. 2), one of the principal instruments by which the Region of Veneto promotes the culture of human rights and peace.
-The Committee for human rights and the culture of peace (Artt. 12-13), which contributes to the formulation of the Triennial Plan and Annual plans of interventions on human rights and the culture of peace;
-The Committee for Development Co-operation (Artt. 14-15), which contributes to the formulation of the Triennial Plan and Annual plans of interventions on decentralized cooperation to development and international solidarity.
-The Venice Foundation for research on peace (art. 17).

The Regional Law No. 55/1999 established Triennal Programmes and Annual Plans for the implementation of the interventions for the promotion of human rights, the culture of peace, the cooperation for development and international solidarity, as well as the award "Veneto for Peace and Solidarity among Peoples".

The Regional Archive "Pace Diritti Umani - Peace Human Rights" edited the homonymous Bulletin, published from 1991 to 2009, and the In-dept Analysis, published from 2009 to 2018.

On 10 December 2007, on the occasion of the inauguration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the Human Rights Center of the University of Padova, the Veneto Regional Council met in extraordinary session in "Galileo Galilei" Aula Magna of the Palazzo Bo of the University of Padova and unanimously approved resolution n. 40 "International Human Rights Day".

In 2010 the Region of Veneto has recognised the social and cultural value of fair trade, with the adoption of the Regional Law. no. 6/2010.

Since 15th June 2015 the new Regional Human Rights Ombudsman has been operational, as set out in the Regional Law 24 December 2013, No. 37, who exercises the functions of Ombudsman, Ombudsman for children, and Ombudsman for the rights of people deprived of their liberty.

The structure of the Veneto Region is divided into the following regional bodies and instruments operating in the field of human rights: