€500,000 Awarded to 42 Projects Nationwide to Promote Access to Rights and Access to Justice
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (“the Commission”) has today announced the 42 organisations to be awarded a total of €500,000 in funding for projects under its Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme 2020.
The wealth of experience and expertise represented by the people and groups taking up the 42 project grants is significant. The projects announced today encompass issues of homelessness, empowering people with dementia and those receiving palliative care; helping survivors of sexual violence, challenging ageism around our COVID response, and supporting people to assert their housing and employment rights, to mention but a few. (The full list of 2020 projects is provided in the Editor’s Note below.)
Now in its fifth 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 promote access to justice for people who face the greatest barriers to accessing their rights. The Commission welcomed 138 applications to the grant scheme from across the country.
Since its establishment in 2016, the Commission’s grant scheme has supported 150 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 2020 is a strategic initiative for the Commission to use our role to support important rights focused work across communities in Ireland that face the greatest barriers to justice.
“Participation, dignity and empowerment are essential human rights and equality principles that assist people to understand and claim their rights. These 42 grants will support individuals and communities through education, training, research and in bringing forward their own policy analysis to ensure they have a voice in the decisions that impact them.
“We look forward to seeing the outcomes of these empowering projects, the results of which can be truly transformative for people and their communities.”
ENDS/
For further information, please contact:
Brian Dawson, IHREC Communications Manager,
01 8589601 / 087 0697095
bdawson@ihrec.ie
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Editor’s Note:
The Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme 2019
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 2020 are:
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The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is an independent public body, appointed by the President and directly accountable to the Oireachtas. The Commission has a statutory remit set out under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act (2014) to protect and promote human rights and equality in Ireland, and build a culture of respect for human rights, equality and intercultural understanding in the State.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is Ireland’s national human rights institution and is recognised as such by the United Nations. The Commission is also Ireland’s national equality body for the purpose of a range of EU anti-discrimination measures.
