The 5th Statutory Forum of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe met remotely on 7 December 2020 (9h30 - 12h00 CET). Members of the Statutory Forum examined for adoption a report on the development of interaction between urban and rural areas, as well as a report on fighting sexist violence against women in politics at local and regional level. In addition, a fact-finding report on territorial reform in Latvia was submitted for adoption by tacit procedure.

The presidnet of Union of Communities of Armenia Emin Yeritsyan and the head of Jermuk city Vardan Hovhannisyan attended the forum.

Also on the agenda was a debate on a new "Contemporary commentary on the explanatory report to the European Charter of Local Self-Government" which takes into account the recommendations and resolutions adopted by the Committee of Ministers, the Congress, the Parliamentary Assembly and the opinions of the Venice Commission.

Furthermore, the second volume of the series Human Rights Handbook for local and regional elected representatives, devoted to social rights, was presented by Harald Bergmann (Netherlands, ILDG), Congress Spokesman on Human Rights. It completes the collection launched by the Congress in 2019 with a first volume devoted to the fight against discrimination.

More https://www.coe.int/en/web/congress/-/remote-meeting-of-the-5th-statutory-forum-of-the-congress.