Making progress on human rights together

Reflections from Lauren R

As Head of Policy and Engagement at Equally Ours, and MC of our joint event with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, these are my reflections.

We brought together representatives from Parliament, civil society, government and public bodies, through a series of panels and roundtable discussions, to ask an urgent question: how do we make real progress on human rights together?

My overriding reflection is this: we need to take joint action to connect people’s everyday experiences with how we talk about human rights law and policy-making.

Human rights are our everyday rights. When a parent can’t afford to feed their children, when an older worker faces discrimination, when a disabled person is failed by care systems, or when someone challenges a wrong benefits decision. These are all human rights issues. But too often, that reality isn’t reflected in how we talk about human rights at a policy level.

At a time when the foundations of our system, the rule of law, the Equality Act, and the UK’s commitment to human rights frameworks, are under attack, we need to be much clearer about why this work matters and who it is for.

If we are serious about progress, we need a three-pronged approach.

1. Protect our legal bedrock. People need to be able to use the law when their rights are breached. Employers and service providers need legal certainty. Safeguarding our legal frameworks is essential to ensuring rights remain meaningful for everyone.
2. Reconnect people to human rights. We need to bridge the gap between lived experience and policy. The more people understand how human rights are part of their everyday lives, the more they will support and defend them.
3. Use rights to tackle the big challenges. From climate change to good jobs and decent homes, the government must use a rights-based approach to effectively tackle the major issues we face as a country.

Let’s also be clear about the context. Communities are facing deepening inequality, the ongoing cost of living crisis, and the rise in racism, xenophobia, and hate. Many young people are being pulled into harmful ideologies that divide rather than unite. Civil society is under growing pressure, with funding decreasing at the same time as demand increases.

And yet, there is hope.

We know that when people understand human rights, what they really are and how they affect their lives, they believe in them. They see that these rights are not for “others”. They are for all of us.

We also heard valuable reflections from our members, highlighting both the challenges and opportunities for strengthening human rights in practice:

“We work in such a hostile political environment, so it  was particularly valuable to have discussions with people with different perspectives, on how we could address the challenges we face and identify the opportunities for working together to strengthen human rights.” – Fazilet Hadi MBE, Head of Policy at Disability Rights UK.

“Hearing perspectives from across sectors reinforced a shared sense of urgency at a time when human rights protections are under increasing pressure. It also reflected a growing gap between rights as they are set out in law and how they are experienced in practice, particularly where different forms of inequality intersect and are often addressed in isolation. Addressing this will require more coordinated, practical action across the sector.” – Diana Hysenaj, Policy and Advocacy Lead at Mlegal.

That’s why this matters right now. The choices we make will shape whether human rights remain something real and meaningful in people’s lives, or become more distant and easier to undermine. As Equally Ours Chief Executive Ali said in her speech, “human rights are, and must remain, equally ours”.

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