Weekly Human Rights News: 04/10/24

On Wednesday 18th September, BIHR and the RITES Committee hosted a free, online event on Co-Production and a Human Rights-Based Approach. This was an opportunity for us to share our learnings about co-production with both public bodies and organisations looking to commission co-produced work, and individuals and advocates who work as lived experience experts. 

You can now read a write-up of the event on our website and watch clips of the speakers sharing examples of their work, their top tips for authentic co-production, and insights into how co-production can support a culture of respect for human rights.

Human rights charity Just Fair is collating a report for the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights. The report is being sent on behalf of civil society in England and Wales to inform the Committee’s review of how well the UK is meeting its obligations under an international agreement known as the International Covenant on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights.

BIHR submitted evidence for the report explaining how the UK’s Human Rights Act can and has been used to advocate for economic, social and cultural rights. We also emphasised that the UK Government needs to commit to protecting human rights in a real and practical way, both through the laws it passes and through providing the training, funding and education needed to support people to understand and act on their legally protected rights and duties.

This week was the final week of the Equality & Human Rights Commission’s consultation on its draft strategy for 2025 – 2028. BIHR responded to the consultation highlighting four key points: that the EHRC should include health and social care as a priority area; that it should retain focus on ensuring children have equal access to the support and resources they need; that it should ensure pupils learn about rights; and that it should champion an accurate understanding of human rights and the principle of universality. 

Community Living is an independent, quarterly magazine that supports inclusion, promotes equality and challenges assumptions about learning disability, edited by Saba Salaman. We're thrilled that one of our recent blogs on school transport and the right to education, part of our Human Rights Act and SEND series, has been featured in the latest edition of Community Living, which will be FREE to view from Friday https://communitylivingmagazine.com In it we look at the right to education and to non-discrimination, both protected by the Human Rights Act, and a recent case on how these protections are relevant to the issue of school transport, often a concern for children and young people with special educational needs. We work through an example, Olivia's story, and how to integrate human rights and duties into SEND advocacy.

The UK Parliament is currently on a break whilst the political parties hold their conferences (parliament returns on Mon 7 October). Party conferences have been generating a lot of media attention on the UK’s Human Rights Act and our relationship with the European Convention on Human Rights. If you’d like to find out more about why the HRA and the ECHR matter for people across the UK, check out some of our resources:

• Blog series: Why Our Human Rights Act Matters
• Explainer: The relationship between the Human Rights Act & the ECHR
• All About the European Convention on Human Rights
• EASY READ: About the European Convention on Human Rights
• Video: The European Court & Convention of Human Rights - YouTube