Change has to happen now for the people who need change the most

Making Rights Real’s Director Clare MacGillivray spoke today at the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Putting the experiences of communities experiencing human rights violations front and centre of her comments, Clare said

“Change has to happen now for the people who need change the most, so it’s up to you as legislators to make sure a Human Rights Bill which serves every single rights holder… is brought forward”.

Clare shared with the Committee human rights monitoring reports written by Double Dykes residents, Cables Wynd House Residents Group and Fa’side Women and Girls Group (see pictures above), as well as sharing examples of testimonial injustice experienced by Gypsy Travellers. She talked about the breaches of the right to accessible healthcare experienced by women and girls in the Highlands.  She spoke about “radical hope”, something that is of central important to sustaining our work as human rights defenders fighting systemic injustice.

You can now access the full Official Report of the Committee below, along with the full video of the meeting. Clips of Clare’s contributions can be found below the full video links:

Click here to read the full Official Report.

Click here to watch the full video of the meeting.

You can watch her contributions here: