Emily Logan spoke at the Human Rights and Poverty Stone

by  on  in Ireland

el5s17th October 2014 – UN Day for the Eradication of Poverty – Gathering at the Human Rights and Poverty Stone – Dublin

Address by Emily LOGAN, Chief Commissioner Designate for the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Designate

I’m very honoured to be here today to mark the commemoration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. And to stand here in Dublin, in solidarity with those who gave testimony to their own experience of poverty and marginalisation. And remembering those living poverty all over the world.

Our coming together tELsoday is a unique and important event to highlight the effects of poverty and discrimination experienced by people in their daily lives. It’s a stark reminder that human dignity must always be preserved.

I’m here today representing the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. It’s going to be a new public body that will be set up on the 1st November. And our job is to protect and promote human rights and equality here in Ireland and to ensure that the dignity and worth of each person is respected.

Poverty is a denial of human rights. Poverty denies people their human rights because it directly undermines their human dignity. If poverty and inequality that lead to it are tackled , then there’s a much better chance that the human rights of people experiencing poverty will be strengthened and better respected.

To ensure that no body is ever left behind it’s more important than ever that people in poverty themselves are seen as the first defenders of human rights. We need to hear their voices, and we need to hear their experiences. And to do that, as I believe Liam said earlier, how can we expect people to exercise their rights if they don’t know about their human rights. And that will be part of our job at the Commission which is to try and educate the public about human rights. Those testimonies today are proof that we should respect this voice and support people in the exercise of their own rights.

As we share in a spirit of humanity across the world let us never give up on the fight to seek solutions to marginalisation and poverty.