A/HRC/38/22 should support the involvement of citizens in decision-making and the management of political and financial affairs, and should try to identify people’s needs. 30. One speaker observed that the extent of powers entrusted to local governments differed from one State to another. Another speaker noted that central Government provided resources to local governments to implement decisions adopted at the national level in areas such as health, education and security. Some speakers expressed the view that a measure of autonomy was important for local governments to implement human rights effectively. One speaker emphasized that it was important to have a legal framework that set out the role, responsibilities and prerogatives of local governments and the nature of their relations with the central Government. B. Integrating human rights into local government 31. A number of speakers indicated that for local governments to be effective in promoting, protecting and fulfilling human rights, they needed to be democratic, transparent, accountable and have a high degree of integrity. According to one speaker, effectiveness depended on recognizing that citizens were the most important asset of a local government and that they were the most honest and trustworthy allies of local government institutions because of their interest in the well-being of the community. A number of speakers stressed that local governments needed to build partnerships with a wide range of civil society actors in order to integrate human rights effectively into their public services, and for the delivery of public services to be monitored and assessed. One speaker indicated that strong leadership and commitment at the central and subnational levels was required to make human rights more specific and practicable for local needs. 32. A number of speakers emphasized the importance of capacity-building and the training of public servants in local government on both national human rights law and international human rights instruments. Several speakers indicated that they had already implemented human rights training of public servants at the local level and one speaker noted that the State had a programme of technical cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide such training. 33. Another speaker remarked that government efforts to integrate human rights into implementation efforts was facilitated by the establishment of a national human rights institution and that efforts to democratize human rights at the local level had been concentrated on awareness-raising and training, in cooperation with civil society. In addition to measures aimed at raising awareness of human rights and providing training for local government officials, the speaker referred to specific measures that had been taken with respect to various stakeholders, including human rights education efforts directed at traditional leaders, religious leaders and teachers, with a view to ending harmful practices incompatible with human rights and positive measures that would promote the protection of human rights. As the representative of a developing country, the speaker noted that there were a number of challenges facing local governments in promoting and protecting human rights, including a lack of infrastructure throughout the territory of the State, a lack of material and financial resources, and the need for capacity-building for local government officials, in particular law enforcement officials, magistrates and social workers, and for those working for civil society organizations. 34. One speaker underlined the importance of adopting administrative measures to translate issues of human rights protection into concrete measures to be taken, or standards to be obeyed, as guidance to local governments, and added that sharing of best practices by different local governments was an essential measure to promote and protect human rights. 35. A number of speakers indicated that their States had already integrated human rights issues into the national plans of action on human rights. One speaker noted that the State action plan envisaged cooperation with local governments to increase access to minorities, provide information to minorities in their native languages, provide better educational opportunities for minorities and promote cultural diversity. 36. One speaker noted that a federation of local authorities served as an effective link between local governments and various ministries of the central Government and that the 7