A/74/255 issue of the barriers facing children with disabilities in the enjoyment of their rights, such as access to public buildings and public transportation. 25 28. On the basis of article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, States parties undertake to prohibit and to eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms and to guarantee the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the “right of access to any place or service intended for use by the general public”. Nevertheless, the Committee has expressed concern over the exclusion of non-citizens or exclusion on the basis of race or nationality from some public places and facilities of general use (see CERD/C/JPN/CO/7-9), restrictions of the freedom of movement of asylum seekers in some municipalities ’ public spaces (see CERD/C/CHE/CO/7-9) and de facto segregation of some groups, in particular in rural areas, in access to places of worship, housing, education, water sources, markets and other public places (see CERD/C/IND/CO/19). 29. According to the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, the full and free exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly is possible only where an enabling and safe environment for the general public, including civil society and human rights defenders, exists and where access to spaces for public participation is not excessively or unreasonably restricted. Excessive and disproportionate punishments for violations of the law and unreasonable restrictions on the use of public spaces negatively affect freedom of peaceful assembly. 30. A number of United Nations agencies and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights have also worked on public spaces. The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN -Women) advocates for improving women’s safety by “creating safe public spaces” 26 in the context of its “Safe Cities” initiatives. UNESCO promotes the social integration of migrants through access to public space 27 and asserts that: “As cultural heritage assets for all citizens that foster social inclusion, vibrant public spaces should be accessible to all.” 28 In each of these examples, public spaces are deemed necessary for achieving core aspects of the human rights agenda. 31. Local governments have also contributed to developing standards relevant to the governance of public spaces given that many are under their purview. Declarations and documents such as Agenda 21 for Culture, adopted in 2004, and toolkits such as Culture 21: Actions, approved in 2015, both developed by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), promote cultural rights as the foundation of urban policies. Culture 21: Actions contains an entire section on culture, urban planning and public spaces and promotes the use of cultural impact assessments in all urban planning processes. IV. Key questions for policymaking regarding public spaces: a cultural rights checklist 32. The creation and maintenance of adequate public spaces for the enjoyment of cultural rights by all requires thoughtful, comprehensive human rights -based public __________________ 25 26 27 28 10/24 See CRC/C/BEL/CO/5-6, para. 40; CRC/C/LAO/CO/3-6, para. 39; CRC/C/SLB/CO/2-3, para. 34; CRC/C/ECU/CO/5-6, para. 24; and CRC/C/VCT/CO/2-3, paras. 43 and 56. UN-Women, “Safe cities and safe public spaces: global results report” (2017). UNESCO and UN-Habitat, Migrants’ inclusion in cities: innovative urban policies and practices , 2010. UNESCO, Culture: Urban Future – Global Report on Culture for Sustainable Urban Development (Paris, 2016), chap. 7. 19-13014