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Amnesty International Ireland 8 HUMAN RIGHTS, HUMAN DIGNITY: HEALTH AND HOUSING IN IRELAND CONFERENCE REPORT 21 AND 22 OCTOBER 2008 0 Contents Day One (20 October 2008) Foreword 4 Introduction and key issues 6 Opening remarks Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director Amnesty International Ireland 8 Conference proceedings 11 Keynote speakers Des Hogan, Irish Human Rights Commission 11 Michael Mackey, Rights-holder 19 Miloon Kothari, Former UN Special Rapporteur 20 Freek Spinnewijn, FEANTSA 24 Mary Harney, Minister for Health and Children 32 Question & Answer 37 Panel Discussion 47 Meryl Cuzak, MerseyCare NHS Trust 48 Helen McAvoy, Institute of Public Health 52 Fiona Crowley, Amnesty International Ireland 56 Workshop Summaries 61 Day Two (21 October 2008) Opening remarks and recap Noeleen Hartigan, Programmes Director, Amnesty International Ireland 70 Conference proceedings 76 Keynote speakers Muiris MacCarthaigh, Institute of Public 76 Administration 2 Alicia Ely Yamin, Joseph H. Flom Fellow on Global 79 Health and Human Rights, Harvard Law School Michael Finneran, TD, Minister of State for Housing 83 Mark Joannides, UK Department of Health 89 Question & Answer 94 Panel Discussion 99 James Jopling, Shelter Scotland 99 Bob Jordan, Threshold 103 Clare Naughton, Northside Community Law Centre 107 Question & Answer 112 Workshop Summaries 115 Keynote speakers Kate O’Regan, Judge of the Constitutional Court 124 of South Africa John Redican, Rights-holder 130 Closing remarks Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director Amnesty International Ireland 131 Biographies 134 Appendix – list of delegates 138 3 Foreword: Since 2004, Amnesty International Ireland has been working to promote the use of human rights to achieve social change in Ireland. We are working with others to build a sustainable future for Ireland based on a human rights based approach and on the concepts of equality, justice and non-discrimination. All of us are equally entitled to our human rights. A society is judged by the extent to which we protect the rights of the most marginalized, by our standards of accountability and by the extent to which people are empowered to participate in making the decisions that affect them. Human rights are not just laws: they provide an approach that can show governments and society how to build a fairer, more just society. According to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the real potential of human rights lies in the ability to change the way people perceive themselves and how they are treated. A rights framework presents problems as ‘violations’ and, as such, something that must not be tolerated. Violations are neither inevitable nor natural, but instead they arise from deliberate decisions and policies. By demanding accountability through human rights, we expose the hidden priorities and structures behind violations while challenging the conditions that create and tolerate poverty. In October 2008, Amnesty International Ireland organised the conference Human Rights, Human Dignity: Health and Housing in Ireland to further a debate about how we use human rights and international standards to guide Irish social policy. We were privileged to hear from international human rights experts, from the government Ministers for health and for housing, and from national and international practitioners who are implementing human rights based approaches in their work. From economic challenges to the failure of many to see rights as relevant to individual perspectives on dignity, the conference prompted much debate around the choices we make and the values that should inform them. I hope that this report adequately reflects the proceedings of the conference and the richness of the discussion. I would like to thank 4 everyone who made the conference happen, and all who played a part in what was an exciting and challenging debate over the two days and since. We are committed to continuing this debate, our wider work in this area, and to finding opportunities to work with other stakeholders to build an Ireland where human rights are a reality for all. Colm O’Gorman Executive Director, Amnesty International Ireland 5 Introduction and key issues: In recent years, Amnesty International has extended its mandate to encompass economic, social and cultural rights as well as civil and political rights. This additional focus has prompted Amnesty International Ireland to work on the application of human rights based approaches (HRBA) to economic, social and cultural rights issues in Ireland. This particular conference looked at how human rights and HRBA can inform government’s development of social policy and service delivery. On October 21 - 22 2008, Amnesty International Ireland hosted ‘Human Rights, Human Dignity: Health and Housing in Ireland’ in Dublin. The conference demonstrated the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights, and the feasibility of using HRBA as a tool to achieving social justice in Ireland. Health and housing provided the focus over the course of both days, with international and national perspectives from human rights experts, government ministers, civil society and rights holders. What were the aims of the conference? The overall objectives of the conference for Amnesty International Ireland, and the audience were as follows: • Demonstration of the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights and the utility of HRBA as a tool to achieving social justice in Ireland; • Greater awareness of participants of international human rights law, particularly as applicable to the right to health and right to housing; • Exposition of international and national case studies of policy and practice; • Audience understanding and exploration of areas for domestic application of international human rights law, standards, HRBA and case studies; • • Proposals generated for potential HRBA frameworks for housing and health service provision in Ireland; • Identification of key moments / pressure points (on health and housing) for application of HRBA to feed in to; • Myths / Challenges to economic, social and cultural rights explored and addressed; 6 • Shift in thinking from NGO advocacy / campaigning on minor shifts to existing government policy to promotion of the use of the international human rights framework. What were the key messages of the conference? In this context, the conference aimed to emphasize the following key messages: • Access to housing and health services in Ireland are human rights issues. • Under human rights law everyone has the right to the highest attainable standard of mental and physical health and the right to adequate housing. • The Irish Government has committed to uphold these rights but has not delivered. • Increasingly individuals and organisations in Ireland are responding to issues of concern from a human rights perspective. • Amnesty International Ireland is highlighting human rights issues that affect people living in Ireland and working with local communities and policy makers to create solutions. • Amnesty International Ireland believes that human rights standards can provide solutions that work both for the individual and for the economy. • During periods of economic difficulty it is more important than ever to ensure that human rights standards underpin Government policy and planning. Format and Content: In order to meet the objectives set out for the conference while taking into account the needs of the audience, the conference included keynote speeches, workshop presentations and discussions on focused issue areas as well as round table and panel discussions. Day one focused on the future of healthcare in Ireland, the universal right to housing and the indivisibility of these human rights. The speakers included the current Minister for Health in Ireland and a former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing. The speeches were followed by a panel discussion on the application of international standards to health in Ireland and concluded with workshops, which focused on the 7 implementation of human rights in the areas of health and housing in Ireland. The workshops introduced participants to the five concepts relating to ‘human rights based approaches (HRBA)’ and showed how HRBA can be used as a tool for implementing human rights principles associated with health and housing. Day two again focused on the indivisibility of rights and the process of developing human rights in practice. Speakers looked at the right to health as a human right, the future of housing in Ireland and the status of human rights in public services in Ireland and the application of legal rights to social policy. Irish and UK government officials, academia and Justice O’Regan from the South African Constitutional Court gave their perspectives on these topics. Day two also included structured workshops, again centering on the five principles of HRBA. It concluded with closing remarks from Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland. Conference Opening Remarks: Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director, Amnesty International Ireland The existence of poverty is not a natural side effect of economic development, or something inherent in a society or a culture. Poverty exists because of the political choices that are made, and Amnesty International seeks to challenge the human rights abuses that drive and deepen poverty. We are here together over the next two days to try and find solutions around two issues that affect every single person in Ireland – the right to housing and the right to health. 8 As we celebrate the 60 th anniversary
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