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The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights  (GPs BHR) state that governments have the duty to protect human rights, companies have a responsibility to respect rights, and both governments and companies must work to provide a remedy when violations occur. This is known as the “Protect, Respect, and Remedy” framework. As a follow-up of the adoption by  the UN of the GPs BHR, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is developing a National Plan on Business and Human Rights, and seeked consultation with interested individuals and groups, both Irish and international. In the past few weeks many…

ATD with the Irish coalition “ESC Rights Initiative” is calling on the current Government and on the future candidates to 2016 General Election. Who is going to accept the one year old recommendation of the Constitutional Convention to strengthen protection of ESC rights in Ireland? Who will allow the Irish people to decide whether future governments should be obliged to make decisions that prioritise the fundamental dignity of people living within the state? On 23 February 2014, the Constitutional Convention recommended to the Irish Government, by an overwhelming majority of 85 per cent, that Economic, Social and Cultural Rights be given…

In 1995, 189 countries including Ireland came together in China for the 4th UN World Conference on Women.  The Conference adopted the United Nations Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA). This is a visionary roadmap for the achievement of women's human rights and empowerment throughout the world. Beijing+20 marks the 20th anniversary of the BPFA.  In March 2015, the UN Commission on the Status of Women will meet in New York to review progress on the BPFA and the global achievement of women’s rights and equality. Ireland will be represented there. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the…

FLAC has launched a new website ourvoiceourrights.ie as a space to inform & involve Irish civil society regarding Ireland’s upcoming examination under the International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights (ICESCR) on 8-9 June 2015. The UN Committee on ESCR in Geneva has released a “list of issues”, questions, for the Irish Government to provide further information which must be responded to by 17 March. FLAC, ATD and many other NGOs will be keeping an eye on the Government to ensure that the responses to these questions are published sooner rather than later. Our Voice, Our Rights, the parallel report…

“The choices that will be made at the end of the year in relation to both agendas will have a real impact on this and future generations. Our decision-makers are presented with a unique opportunity to address the most urgent and fundamental needs of millions of people around the world, people who have the right, and seek the means, the freedom, to live their lives in dignity. And it is a task for all of us – elected representatives, NGO workers, students, activists and, simply, concerned citizens – to use whatever means we have at our disposal to ensure that the…

2015 has been designated the European Year for Development (EYD), a year in which we are encouraged to look at what Europe has already contributed to international development and what we can each do to strengthen our contribution to a more just and equal world. It is also the year in which the global community will agree on a new framework for sustainable development and a new set of goals to succeed the Millennium Development Goals. As the largest donor in the world, the EU has a critical role to play in this process and the contribution of MEPs and citizens…

Ireland, Greece, Spain, Italy and Hungary were the EU member states where poverty and social exclusion increased the most during the economic crisis, according to the European Commission's Annual Review on employment and social developments in 2014 released on Thursday 16 January 2015. The high unemployment since 2008 had resulted in an increase in the number of households with no working family members, mainly, in Greece, Spain, Lithuania and Ireland. Ireland, with Spain and Greece had also the highest percentages of young adults who continue to live with their parents or have moved back into their parents' home due to financial…

  action/2015 is a global movement calling for pivotal change in 2015 for the future our people and the planet. Right now, few people realize that the year 2015 is a test of our human rights and values. The year ahead is a historic opportunity for us to come together as a global community to demand equality for all and ensure that every member of our family – now and future generations – are able to lead good and dignified lives enriched with opportunity. Find out more at: www.action2015.org

This message, prepared by over 100 members of ATD Haiti, tells of the strength and resilience of communities in poverty after the 2010 earthquake. It’s a message of promises made and of real changes that have taken place. But also a message of international aid that didn’t reach everyone, and the daily struggles of people in extreme poverty working to participate and contribute to building a better future for their country. In the wake of the 2010 earthquake, people were forced to seek shelter with their neighbors and to accept help from people they didn’t know. Entire neighborhoods lost their homes…

After the tragedy that took place at the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris, the International Movement All Together in Dignity (ATD) Fourth World shares the grief of the families and relatives of the victims. As with so many other acts of violence that occur daily in our world, this murderous attack against freedom of expression, which seeks to create fear and division, touches us all deeply. This reinforces our conviction that freedom of expression is an inestimable value for everyone. It must be reinforced also for those who are condemned to silence because of poverty and exclusion. More than ever we…