Human Rights Commission Sets Out 3 Year Plan

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has today published its Strategic Plan for the next three years. It has revealed that its priorities will be to focus on good governance’ the legacy of the conflict and protecting human rights in a time of austerity.
NIHRC Chief Commissioner’ Professor Michael O’Flaherty’ said:
‘We have carried out an extensive consultation process to decide our strategic priorities for the next three years. We have been listening to our stakeholders and to the feedback on the ground from our visits across Northern Ireland. Dealing with the past’ the economic recession and making sure how we are governed is human rights compliant have all featured heavily in the list of public concerns.
This has helped us shape what areas of human rights we should be focusing on and we would like to thank everyone for their participation in this. The Commission’s ultimate purpose is to help the most vulnerable in Northern Ireland and to promote and protect human rights and we are ever more committed to achieving this.’
ENDS
Further information:
For further information please contact Claire Martin on: (028) 9024 3987.
Notes to editors
1. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is an independent statutory body first proposed in the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement (1998) and established in 1999 by the Northern Ireland Act (1998). It is answerable to Parliament at Westminster.
2. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has undertaken an extensive process to decide its strategic priorities for the period 2013-2016. In so doing it has reviewed every element of the organisation’s past activities and current practices. It has consulted widely with stakeholders and with the Commission’s staff. It has reflected deeply on the findings of the review and consultation process. On this basis the Commission has revised its mission statement’ affirmed its core principles and identified three pillars on the basis of which it will work.
i. Pillar One: Human Rights and Good Governance: Human rights need to be embedded at the heart of the executive and legislature’ reflected in our basic legal framework and honoured in the operation of all offices of State. The challenges in these regards include the complexity of our constitutional system’ the nature of our devolved jurisdiction and the relative newness of many of the governance structures.
ii. Pillar Two: Human Rights and the Conflict The legacy of conflict runs deep in Northern Ireland. There remain serious gaps in accountability’ justice and inter-community reconciliation. Division and sectarianism result in violence and other forms of hate crime. Lives continue to be blighted and lost.
iii.Pillar Three: Protecting Human Rights in a Time of Austerity: Economic recession and austerity measures have led to unemployment and budget cuts that impact deeply on the enjoyment of human rights’ including the right to an adequate standard of living. While those who are already at a disadvantage suffer the most’ it has to be recognised that recession impacts for the human rights of all the people of Northern Ireland.
3. Implementing our Mission 2013-2016
The tools at the disposal of the NIHRC include advice to Government legislators and policy decision makers’ support to individual member of the public’ education and training’ research and investigations. The respective work programmes will be detailed in the Commission’s Business Plans.
4. Access the fulll NIHRC Strategic Plan below: