New Shared Goals podcast episode with UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights to mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) have released the latest episode of its ‘Shared Goals’ podcast. This month’s episode featured Professor Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

In this episode, Professor De Schutter and NIHRC staff discuss the different definitions of poverty and how poverty engages human rights.

The wide-ranging discussion touches on what a human rights-based approach to tackling poverty looks like; examines the effectiveness of anti-poverty strategies; explores the criminalisation of homelessness and how poverty interacts with the criminal justice system; and highlights the need to include people with lived experience of poverty in designing anti-poverty policies and strategies.

Alyson Kilpatrick, Chief Commissioner of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, said:

“To mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we were honoured to welcome Professor Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

Poverty—whether experienced or threatened—has profound and wide-ranging impact on all- aspects of life and the enjoyment of rights. It undermines access to an adequate standard of living, education, and justice, and can expose individuals to exploitation and other human rights violations.

The Commission recently submitted its response to the Department for Communities’ consultation on the Anti-Poverty Strategy 2025–2035, highlighting the importance of embedding a human rights-based approach to tackling poverty in Northern Ireland."

Professor Olivier De Schutter commented:

“It was a pleasure to join the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s Shared Goals podcast to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

As I told Shared Goals, poverty has too often been treated as a matter of public charity. But when we frame the fight against poverty as a fight for human rights, the relationship between governments and those affected is transformed: people in poverty become rights holders, and governments and service providers become duty bearers. This shift empowers people in poverty to claim their rights and to seek redress if those rights are not upheld. It mitigates shame around accessing social benefits, and it reminds us that ending poverty is a collective social responsibility.

Recognising people in poverty as rights holders also means valuing their experience and expertise in shaping the solutions that concern them. Too often, their knowledge and lived experience are dismissed—a form of discrimination I call ‘povertyism’—which must be challenged as vigorously as material deprivation itself.

If we are to make real progress in combatting poverty, that fight must be grounded in human rights.”

ENDS

You can listen to the episode at this link: Extreme Poverty and Human Rights - Shared Goals | Podcast on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

NIHRC’s work on poverty and human rights:

Find out more and read the NIHRC Submission to the Department for Communities Consultation on the Anti-Poverty Strategy 2025-2035:
https://nihrc.org/publication/detail/consultation-response-submission-to-the-department-for-communities-consultation-on-the-anti-poverty-strategy-2025-2035

About the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights:

Find out more about the work of Professor Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, here: https://www.srpoverty.org/

About Shared Goals: Our ‘Shared Goals’ podcast shines the spotlight on current human rights issues here in Northern Ireland. Human rights touch on every aspect of life. From health, to housing, to child protection, climate change, gender equality, and rights of persons with disabilities amongst many others. In this series staff from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission shall be interviewing diverse voices including academics, practitioners, and activists who are championing human rights, and to highlight current human rights issues.