Human Rights Day 2022
Each year we celebrate Human Rights Day on the 10 December. Next year will see the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) so the UN is launching a year-long campaign starting 10 December 2022 to showcase the UDHR by focusing on its legacy, relevance and activism.
The UDHR sets out a broad range of fundamental human rights and freedoms to which all of us, everywhere around the world, are entitled. It guarantees our rights without distinction of nationality, place of residence, gender, national or ethnic origin, religion, language, or any other status. This year's Human Rights Day slogan is “Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All” and the call to action is #StandUp4HumanRights
One of our core values at Connected Voice is:
We champion equality
We believe that diversity should be celebrated and valued, and everyone deserves equality.
Working towards a fairer future for all, we won’t stand still. By making an impact on causes big and small, we want to improve the quality of life across the region.
Our commitment to Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is much more than simply having a policy. Our EDI plan is ambitious.
Upholding human rights and challenging inequalities are integral to the services we provide, whether campaigning for health equity, upholding people's rights, influencing decision / policy makers at a local and national level, or supporting our local voluntary and community organisations to make a difference.
For our Advocates, the Human Rights Act is the legislation that underpins all advocacy work. It is used every day to challenge situations that are unjust.
How Advocates use the Human Rights Act
In a helpful blog first published in 2020, our Head of Advocacy, Jane, talks through a lesser-known aspect of advocacy - the 'rights-based approach'
"Advocacy has evolved over the last few decades to become a respected profession in the health and social care sector. ‘Independent Advocates’ are trained to use the law as a tool to effect change and influence decisions for people.
The piece of legislation that underpins all advocacy is the Human Rights Act (HRA) and advocates use this every day to challenge situations that are unjust. HRA includes the basic rights and freedoms that belong to all people and whilst they cannot be taken away, they can be restricted at times and this is when advocacy comes in. HRA demonstrates how our government should treat people and any other legislation passed needs to be compliant with it. If any legislation falls short of complying with the HRA the law can be challenged and changed so it forms a bottom line with which all other legislation must comply. An example of bringing legislation up to scratch is the 2007 review of the Mental Health Act which was updated to include reasonable arrangements to support the patient and to have automatic access to advocates. The Mental Capacity Act was updated in 2009 to include new safeguards for people restricted in institutions. No longer left unheard in a care home, people now have reviews of their placements and advocates to take their case to the Court of Protection if they object to where they live.
At Connected Voice our advocates use HRA to challenge police, local authorities, NHS, care homes, courts, Government departments and many more. Human Rights are the powerful tools in an advocate’s bag and provide the way to challenge poor decision- making by authorities in the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society. As a result of advocates negotiating at an earlier stage using the rights-based approach time can be saved and the distress of court proceedings avoided."
Read the full blog - Fighting for your rights
