Our Strategic Priorities
Strategic Priority 1: Protect the rights of individual persons who face the greatest barriers to justice
Objectives
- Ensure through public information campaigns and digital engagement that the rights and equality of individuals and the means to vindicate them are widely understood;
- Provide people facing discrimination and human rights violations with the knowledge, skills and information necessary to vindicate their rights;
Assist individuals in situations of particular concern to vindicate their rights through our enforcement powers.
Outcomes
- Increased public awareness of rights and equality and an understanding of the means by which to vindicate them;
- Increased engagement with the staff of the Commission from people facing the greatest barriers to justice through Your Rights and other points of access;
- Effective strategic litigation, including through the use of our amicus curiae function before the Superior Courts.
Strategic Priority 2: Influence legislation, policy and practice
Objectives
- Hold government, public bodies, agencies and businesses to account;
- Continue to develop evidence-based decision-making through an active and ongoing research programme;
- Use our enforcement powers including conducting an inquiry as most appropriate and proportionate, and move to enforcement of the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty.
Outcomes
- Greater impact for our interventions across all functions;
- Increased awareness and enhanced implementation of the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty;
- Effective compliance with the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty through enforcement.
Strategic Priority 3: Engage with key organisations to address discrimination and human rights abuses
Objectives
- Increase community engagement in the work of the Commission;
- Strengthen relationships with civil society and foster an enabling environment for human rights development, including through formal advisory committee structures;
- Engage with any organisation relevant to advancing our mandate and strategic priorities.
Outcomes
- Civil society, other stakeholders and individuals regard the Commission as open, responsive and respectful;
- The Commission extends the knowledge of our work nationally and enhances the use of our legal assistance powers by members of the public;
- The Commission remains informed and anticipates emerging human rights and equality issues.
Strategic Priority 4: Raise the quality and broaden the extent of the dialogue on human rights and equality issues
Objectives
- Facilitate a strong and shared culture of respect for human rights, equality and intercultural understanding including through education, particularly of young people;
- Promote an understanding of human rights as inter-related and interdependent, with a particular emphasis on socio-economic rights;
Anticipate, identify and highlight issues so as to enable the Commission to respond appropriately to human rights and equality issues in the State.
Outcomes
- Measures of public sentiment demonstrate improvements in understanding of the value of diversity and respect for human rights and equality;
- Positive impact on the perceptions of all people with regards to rights, equality and intercultural understanding;
- Impact positively on the extent and content of public debate to ensure that human rights are respected across all media platforms.