Congressional committees approve reports on water resources and the fight against human trafficking

The three statutory committees of the congress met in Strasbourg on October 15, 2024, the first day of the 47th^Th meeting and everyone held an exchange on the actions of Congress Human rights at local and regional levels.

The SC was informed of the follow-up in Turkey and Ireland, as well as a fact-finding visit to Romania on 23 October for the last local elections in June. The Committee was also informed about the recent election observation missions in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina on the occasion of the local elections in those two countries.

The Governance Committee elected Judith Compagner (Netherlands, EPP/CCE) as the 5th^Th Vice President and approved a report on “Water Resources under Stress: Toward Better Local and Regional Governance,” to be discussed at the March 2025 session of Congress. The Committee also approved the terms of reference for new reports on cultural heritage and memory, as well as on history teaching at regional level and on innovative methods of action-oriented participation.

The Social Inclusion Committee approved a report on strengthening local and regional authorities to combat human trafficking, to be discussed by Congress in March 2025, and was briefed on progress on the report on innovations in social housing and the revision of the European Charter Participation of young people in local and regional life as well.