In preparation for the European Parliament elections which will be held in Ireland on June 5th 2009, this document outlines six key priorities which Trocaire is calling on Irish MEPs to take forward in the next European Parliament 2009-2004.
Human rights
We work for global justice.
Promoting and protecting human rights is essential to what we do.
Human rights give us the moral and legal basis for all our work.
What we're doing
Everyone, everywhere has human rights, including the right to food, adequate housing, education and freedom of information, opinion and expression. These rights are essential for the dignity and respect of every person. Trócaire and our partners work to promote and protect human rights in nearly 30 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
In Trócaire, our human rights work supports local organisations to document human rights abuses and strengthen their campaigns on behalf of the victims. We also help vulnerable people to get better access to justice for example, through legal aid support.
We support independent local media institutions in many countries to provide reliable information for local communities. We also support local societies across the world that are working for free and fair political elections.
In many cases we help vulnerable and disadvantaged groups such as women, children, indigenous communities and migrants, who are at a higher risk being exploited.
We campaign for human rights at local level through our partners but also at a national and international level on behalf of the world's most vulnerable people.
Wins
Last year in Kenya, Trócaire partners ran a sustained campaign on transitional and historical injustices, which resulted in the allocation of approx €15.5 million for the resettlement of squatters and internally displaced persons.
In Guatemala, El Salvador and Colombia Trócaire partners worked with the victims of human rights abuses to bring cases to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights seeking redress and compensation.
In Zimbabwe, human rights education was carried out in rural areas. Over 25,000 manuals on citizen participation and democracy were distributed and 400 study circles were organised.
Our advocacy work on Sudan was instrumental in raising the profile of Darfur - in the words of the SEF/SFP network, of which Trócaire is a member, we “contributed to media attention, but also to a change of view within some EU countries and the UN Security Council on how best to address the situation [in Darfur]”.
Related policy papers
This publication explores the history and theology of human rights in the Catholic tradition.
