Fons Català

Spaces for participation

Fons Català is structured through committees and working groups of a geographical and sectoral nature where all partner local bodies can participate. Currently, the following spaces for participation are available: Central America Committee, Human Rights Committee, Migration and Development Committee, World Local Refuge Committee and the Municipalism Committee.

Central America Committee

It is a meeting point between the city councils that fund projects and actions in this region, maintain twinning processes with Central American municipalities, or have an interest in the social and political context of the countries that integrate the Committee. The primary objectives of the group are:

To obtain first-hand updated information about the socio-political context of Central America.
To know the advance of the main active projects and coordinate the support of the different participant city councils.
To identify and suggest new municipalist working lines in the region from the monitoring visits carried out.
To promote joint actions of interest to city councils (election observation missions, motions, etc.).

Human Rights Committee

Coordinating and monitoring space for human rights and peace-building projects that works to foster policy coherence and the promotion and respect of human rights in municipal action. The Committee works on the following:

Exchanging experiences in the fields of awareness and education for global justice in human rights.
Supporting human rights NGOs that work on the defence of peace and human rights.
Fostering policy coherence and the promotion and respect of human rights in municipal action.
Contributing to political advocacy in the field of human rights.

Migration and Development Committee

In this space, interaction projects between two complementary processes are undertaken, such as migration and development. This work is approached from the perspective of the circularity generated by people from other countries residing in the Catalan municipalities, thanks to their role as bridge between societies, their potential to improve the impact of cooperation on their countries and territories of origin and to reinforce, at the same time, social cohesion in the Catalan municipalities. Among the Committee objectives, the following are worth noting:

To build a friendly, diverse, and intercultural society with prevailing values of solidarity and tolerance.
To combat clichés and prejudice and favour an integrative framework through mutual knowledge and recognition.
To reinforce the association network capabilities of citizens with different origins and integrate it into the Catalan association network at local level.
To offer innovative, quality tools to strengthen development circularity in the country of origin and social cohesion in Catalonia.
To promote a socialising purpose that pays attention to the territorial capillarity of the African, Mediterranean and Latin American diaspora throughout the Catalan territory.

World Local Refuge Committee

Working space to defend and guarantee the right to refuge, asylum and international protection of people who are forced to migrate. In this space, the strategic lines of projects focused on refuge are validated and awareness campaigns are promoted. The working group deals with the following objectives:

To come together in joint actions, already identified or suggested by partner city councils.
To report on the technical and financial management process of the campaign World Local Refuge.
To extend institutional and civic capabilities.
To share good practices in the institutional sphere and that of the organised civil society.
To contribute to solidarity actions for refugees with a critical discourse.
To raise awareness among city councils on the importance of international cooperation to tackle the causes of conflicts, beyond managing the impact on the civilian population who are forced to run away.
To promote the involvement of municipalities on political advocacy actions: statements, motions, etc.

Municipalism and 2030 Agenda Committee

Intermunicipal space where the city councils can organise their actions, share good practices, and work in a joint and coordinated manner in order to improve decentralised municipal cooperation with a transformative intent. The Committee works on the following:

Policy coherence, Sustainable Development Goals and 2030 Agenda.
Technical Cooperation programme.
Revision of that architecture of Catalan and statewide cooperation and its application.
Clarification and harmonisation of administrative procedures in relation to development cooperation.