€350,000 awarded to 28 projects to progress rights and combat racism.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’) has announced the 28 organisations to be awarded a total of €350,000 in funding for projects under its Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme 2021.
The projects announced today encompass a range of issues; social exclusion and socioeconomic discrimination; racism and discrimination experienced, in particular, by ethnic and minority communities; and empowering people with disabilities to advocate for their rights. (The full list of 2021 projects is provided in the Editor’s Note below.)
Now in its sixth year, the 2020 grant programme awards small grants of up to €6,000 and general grants of up to €20,000 to support civil society organisations, rights-holder and community led groups, and trade unions in Ireland to promote access to justice for people who face the greatest barriers to accessing their rights. The Commission welcomed 147 applications to the grant scheme from across the country.
Since its establishment in 2016, the Commission’s grant scheme has supported 180 human rights and equality projects across Ireland, including research programmes, training or resource activities, conferences or events and cultural initiatives.
Sinéad Gibney, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission stated today:
“The Human Rights and Equality Grant Scheme is part of the Commission’s initiative to support and empower communities and organisations to tackle important rights-based issues, with those who are most affected.
“People and communities who face discrimination and inequality across the country are embedded in the design and delivery of these 28 projects, ensuring that their voices are heard through innovative education, training, research and policy initiatives.
“We look forward to seeing the outcomes of empowering those who face the greatest barriers to justice to understand and claim their rights, through these projects, with the shared aim of creating a much more inclusive society for all.
Ends
For further information, please contact:
Karen Joynt, IHREC
01 8589601 / 087 448 2963
Karen.Joynt@ihrec.ie
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Editor’s Note
The Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme 2021
The Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme is part of the Commission’s statutory power to provide grants to promote human rights and equality under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014.
The full list of organisations receiving the Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme 2021 are:
| Organisation | Project Title | Project Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Clare Public Participation Network | Developing a Participative County Level 5 Year Anti-Poverty Strategy for Clare | This aim of this project is for groups representing and comprised of those affected by socio-economic exclusion to collaborate together to devise an action based anti-poverty strategy to advocate effectively for the progressive realisation of social and economic rights in Clare. The strategy would be used as a framework to inform all policy submissions to the Local Authorities in Clare. |
| Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed | The Impact of Stigma on Unemployed People Accessing their Rights | The aim of this research project is to gain a greater understanding of the impact of the stigma associated with unemployment on people’s ability to exercise their social and economic rights and to engage with duty-bearers to address the issue and support unemployed people to access these rights more fully. |
| The Rights Platform
St Kevin’s Family Resource Centre, Tallaght and North Clondalkin Community Development Project |
Living Our Rights | The aim of this project is to seek to address endemic poverty and social exclusion in four disadvantaged public housing areas in South County Dublin by developing awareness within disadvantaged communities of their social and economic rights and build community leadership to engage with duty bearers from a rights perspective. |
| South Leinster Citizen’s Information Service | Equal Access to Information, Advice and Advocacy Services | The aim of this research project is to promote equality of access to State Services and to clear, accurate and professional information, advice and advocacy services for the prison population. |
| Empower
Musicantia Roma Group |
The Roma Intergenerational Programme – Identifying Health Inequalities experienced by Roma Women & Children | The aim of this research project is to empower Roma women to act as peer researchers to identify the health issues of Roma women and children in the Fingal area in order to establish response pathways to reduce the health inequalities they experience and inform national policies and strategies. |
| All Together in Dignity | Through Our Lens: A Peer Led film on Socio-Economic Discrimination | The aim of this project is to bring together a core group of people with lived experience of socioeconomic discrimination to produce a film about socioeconomic discrimination in Ireland through their own lens and use to advance the public campaign for the recognition of socio-economic discrimination as a ground in the Equality legislation. |
| Youth Work Ireland | The Story of My Life: Empowering Young People in Direct Provision Centres to become Leaders and Advocates | The aim of this project is a campaign to advance the social and economic rights of young people living in Direct Provision centres by empowering them to share their stories in an animated format, advocate for themselves and seek to influence change particular in the context of the White Paper to End Direct Provision. |
| NASC Migrant and Refugee Rights Centre |
Ending Direct Provision: One Year on | The aim of this project is to examine progress achieved in strengthening the economic and social rights for people seeking international protection by delivering a report, which will include an evidence-based score card monitoring the implementation of the White Paper on Ending Direct Provision. |
| One Family | Human Rights and One Parent Families | The aim of this project is to build capacity of parents to recognise rights infringements and discrimination in their interaction with state bodies and provide the information they need to challenge these infringements and seek appropriate support. In tandem to reduce incidence of rights infringements and strengthen the upholding of the Public Sector Duty by providing information to public sector staff on the rights and experiences of one-parent families. |
| European Anti-Poverty Network | An analysis of the increased demand for basic necessities as provided by the community and voluntary sector | The aim of this research project is to provide an analysis of the increased demand for supports to meet basic necessities as provided by the community and voluntary sector and the root causes behind a demand that has been rising and exacerbated by Covid-19. |
| ICTU – Irish Congress of Trade Unions | Bargaining for Equality – Harnessing the power of collective bargaining to tackle the gender pay gap | The aim of this project is to build trade union capacity to integrate a gender perspective into all negotiations and collective agreements, ensuring the implementation of pay transparency measures that contribute to tackling the gender pay gap. |
| Free Legal Advice Centres | Human Rights and Equality in Social Welfare Decision-making: A Roadmap to a Rights-Based Approach | The aim of this project is to develop a report that examines social welfare decision-making from a fair procedures and equality perspective informed by engagement with groups through its case work in particular its Roma Legal Clinic. The report aims to ensure better enforcement of equality and human rights in the administration of social welfare claims, in line obligations under the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty. |
| Sage Advocacy | Establishing an Observatory on Rights-based Long-term Care in Ireland | The aim of this project is to establish and consolidate an Observatory on rights-based long-term care to influence policy and public discourse about long-term care. Its purpose is to influence the proposed Commission on Care to ensure that the social and economic rights of people in long-term care including old people are central to its deliberations. An output will be a Good Practice Guide based on participatory approaches to inform policy related to long-term care. |
| Mayo Travellers Support Group | Radio Broadcasting Training for Travellers | The aim of this project is to invite discourse between all communities on equality for all. By training members of the Traveller community in presenting and producing, they will have the means to produce their own radio shows. The goal is to give Travellers agency and the ability to create new spaces where their voice can be heard and cross-community dialogue can occur. |
| LGBT Ireland
National LGBT+Traveller and Roma Action Group |
Unveiling inequality experiences of LGBT+Travellers & Roma | The aim of this peer research project is to unveil the isolation experienced by LGBT+ Travellers and Roma due to a fear of/experience of homophobic, biphobic, transphobic discrimination and attitudes within their own ethnic communities. It will explore and make visible the experience of exclusion and marginalisation of LGBT+ ethnic minorities due to a fear of/an experience of racism within the mainstream LGBT+ community and services and will also inform policy and service delivery. |
| Travellers of North Cork
Centre for Criminal Justice & Human Rights (CCJHR) |
Implementing the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty for the Traveller Community in Ireland | The aim of this project is to promote the accountability of public sector bodies regarding their statutory obligations to ensure non-discrimination against members of the Traveller Community by producing an evidence-based analysis of the implementation of the public sector duty and how the specific needs of the Traveller Community have been incorporated into public services. |
| Cultur Migrant Centre, Meath | Building Advocacy Capacity of Migrant Community Leaders | The aim of this training project is to build the capacity of migrant community group leaders to challenge racism and Islamaphobia, promote intercultural understanding in their local schools and communi.ties and be peer human rights mentors that can support their respective groups to advocate for change. |
| INTO – Irish National Teachers Organisation | Creating Inclusive Anti-Racist Schools | This project aims to empower and enable educators in the primary school sector to proactively create more inclusive, racially embracing and anti-racist schools by building the capacity of teachers, principals and deputy principals to understand racism and race/ethnicity/cultural bullying, harassment and discrimination as well as in understanding how they can create a more inclusive racially embracing and anti-racist school and to work with Migrant teachers to support them securing teaching positions within the education sector. |
| ICCL – Irish Council for Civil Liberties
Irish Network Against Racism |
Strengthen Evidence, Awareness and Advocacy on Racial Profiling | This community-based participatory research project aims to gain a better understanding of racial profiling, and prevent it by equipping people impacted with the resources, know-how and evidence base to advocate so that their rights are upheld in a policing context. |
| Women for Election
National Women Travellers Forum |
Traveller Women for Election – Changing the Face of Irish Politics | This project aims to inspire, equip and support Traveller women to run and succeed in Irish politics while also working to combat gendered and racist barriers which to date impeded Traveller women’s full participation in Irish Politics. This will be delivered through bespoke training and mentoring for Traveller women participants and anti-racism and cultural awareness training for staff and officials in political parties. |
| Foroige | The Foróige North Dublin Equality & Inclusion Seminar | The aim of this project is for young people of minority ethnic backgrounds from North Dublin to organise an event to promote the findings of research they carried out to an audience of influential decision-makers to have their voices heard on racism, inequality, inclusion and integration. |
| SHEP – Social and Health Education Project, Cork
ORAM (Our Rights and Medication Advocacy Group) |
Progressing the Rights of People with Intellectual Disabilities: Informed Decision-Making and Medication | The project aims to progress the rights of people with intellectual disabilities by empowering them to advocate for their rights and to have a voice in decisions about the medication prescribed to them. It will also place human rights and equality at the heart of a dialogue with professionals and service providers in relation to the implementation of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015, the National Consent Policy and best practice in prescribing, reviewing, monitoring, adjusting and de-prescribing medication. |
| Acquired Brain Injury Ireland | #RighttoRehab | The project is an advocacy campaign that puts the voice of brain injury survivors at its core and aims to empower them with the tools to advocate for their right to access essential rehabilitation services and to influence public policy and increase State provision for rehabilitation. |
| Gheel Autism Services
WALK and ASIAM |
IMPACT – Inspiring Meaningful & Progressive Autistic Career Progression | The aim of this peer led participatory research project is to examine the barriers faced by Autistic people in progressing in further education and employment and to develop models of best practice support that can be replicated across the country. |
| Inclusion Ireland | Media Matters – Promoting the effective participation of people with intellectual disabilities in political and public life | The aim of this project is to build the capacity of people with intellectual disabilities to be media spokespersons on issues that affect them. In tandem, it will develop a code of practice for journalists and broadcasters on interviewing people with intellectual disabilities, as well as a guide for people with intellectual disabilities themselves, to support them in navigating media interviewing. |
| Ability West
Centre for Disability Law and Policy, NUI Galway |
What Happens When They Are Gone? | This research project aims to give a voice to the experience of persons with an intellectual disability in Galway City and County who seek access to residential services. It will highlight a human rights and equality perspective to access to supported living, and housing, from the viewpoints of people with an intellectual disability as rights holders and their family networks as rights holders. |
| EPIC - Empowering People in Care | Progressing the Rights of children and youth with disabilities in the care system and aftercare | The aim of this research project is to improve awareness and understanding of children and young people in care with disabilities to ensure their rights are upheld in policy and practice and in line with the provisions of the UNCRPD. |
| Irish Penal Reform Trust | Access to rights for people detained in secure forensic mental health facilities | The aim of this research project is to scope the need for a national policy advocacy strategy to promote the rights of people with disabilities detained in secure forensic mental health facilities in Ireland. |