"There is a real need for shared conversations across the island"
PPR respond to Civic Initiative's request input on the state of education, housing and health care across the north and border counties, as part of a community-led examination of socio-economic and cultural rights
The Civic Initiative, a project funded by the International Fund for Ireland, is “a new participatory structure set up in partnership with a wide-range of civic society organisations to give voice to people and communities on the issues that matter.”
Recently Civic Initiative launched a “people-led examination of key socioeconomic rights under the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement including housing, healthcare, education, human rights, rural access, political institutions, poverty and cultural issues”. You can find more on the the project from the Civic Initiative’s X account.
Based on our extensive experience organising in support of marginalised communities asserting their rights, PPR contributed to Civic Initiative’s call for evidence. In the area of education, PPR highlighted the difficulties faced by young asylum seekers in getting secondary school places in the north, especially the gap in opportunities for over 16s from this group who want to pursue their studies. It described the work the young people have been carrying out to raise the profile of this issue and develop solutions.
With regard to housing, the submission looked at the impact of the House Sales Scheme on availability of social housing today and gave an overview of the current waiting list, particularly the situation of the nearly 19,000 children growing up in households that have officially been recognised as homeless across the north. It set out the work of the Take Back the City coalition, a diverse group of families in housing need and housing professionals, and described their alternative proposal for community-led, participatory design of a mixed-use development at the vast publicly-owned Mackie’s site in West Belfast.
On healthcare, the submission described the New Script for Mental Health campaign, a progressive and inclusive social movement supported by PPR. It set out the campaign’s critique of the dominant biomedical model of mental healthcare and highlighted issues around mental health data and other issues.
The full submission can be found here.