This report covers the Commission’s activity in 2018, the third and final year of its Strategy Statement 2016-2018. The Commission’s strategy is based on its mandate as set out in the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014, underpinned by the UN Paris Principles, which set the international standards for national human rights institutions.
Guided by our mission to contribute to an inclusive Ireland where human rights and equality are respected, protected and fulfilled for everyone, everywhere, the Commission agreed a set of key strategic goals to guide our work. These are: • proactive implementation of our legal powers, in particular the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty; • promoting understanding of the indivisibility of equality and human rights; • making equality and human rights real; • intercultural understanding and diversity. In this Annual Report, the Commission reports on activities it carried out in 2018 across the goals of the Strategy Statement. Underpinning these four goals was a fifth cross-cutting goal – that of leadership. To deliver on the goal of leadership, the Strategy Statement commits the Commission to being strong, proactive, challenging and authoritative in the work that it does.