Submission to Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty

September 26, 2018

The UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty, Mr Philip Alston, will visit the UK (including Northern Ireland) from 6-16 November 2018. In advance of this visit he has asked for groups to send written submissions on a range of rights issues linked to extreme poverty in the UK.

The Consortium submission, which can be accessed via the link below, looked at a range of areas including:

• The definitions of poverty and extreme poverty
• The lack of access to effective redress of economic and social rights violations in the UK
• The continued need for a strong and inclusive Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland
• The enduring low employment rate in Northern Ireland
• The disproportionate effect of the negative economic impact of Brexit (both currently and in the future) on people living in poverty in Northern Ireland
• The economic uncertainty and instability in Northern Ireland due to the current lack of clarity around the Brexit process
• The all-island economy
• The importance of human rights protections drawn from the EU which are now at risk – most notably the EU Charter – and the potential effect of the rights-gap on vulnerable groups
• The effect of re centralising power at Westminster on post-conflict confidence in Northern Ireland
• The risk Brexit poses to the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement

In addition many groups across the UK, including members of the Human Rights Consortium, made their own submissions which can be accessed here.