Applications Invited for Human Rights and Equality Grant Scheme 2022
Organisations across Ireland Invited to Apply to the Human Rights and Equality Grant Scheme 2022
€400,000 National Programme Calls for Projects to Promote Economic Equality and Support Public Sector Duty to Human Rights/Equality
Organisations and groups across Ireland, who work on issues of human rights and equality are being invited to apply to the Human Rights and Equality Grant Scheme 2022, which has been opened today by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (“the Commission”)
The focus of this year’s grant scheme is to support projects that contribute to advancing greater economic equality, and supporting compliance with the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty (the Duty).
Funding for the projects will be available across two strands.
- The first strand provides for general and small grants, and is open to all civil society organisations. This strand which has two tiers will see grants of up to €6,000 and up to €20,000.
- The second strand, which is new, provides funding for local rights-holder and community based groups of up to €5,000. A goal of the Commission is to reach those who are least heard and support smaller community groups working to promote human rights and equality in their localities.
Now in its seventh year, the Human Rights and Equality Grants Scheme has already funded 178 human rights and equality projects across Ireland, including research programmes, training or resource activities, conferences or events and cultural initiatives.
Grants are open to civil society organisations, rights-holder and community led groups, and trade unions from across the country, who can bring forward proposals on empowering people to understand and claim their rights and to develop evidence based research and analysis to inform legislation, policy and practice. This includes people and groups at risk of discrimination protected under the nine grounds of Ireland’s equality legislation: gender, civil status, family status, age, sexual orientation, disability, race, religion, membership of the Traveller community and people at risk of poverty and social exclusion.
The deadline for receipt of applications is Wednesday 18 May 2022 strictly at 3.00pm.
Full details of the grant scheme are now available in the Commission’s Guidance Document.
The Commission will run three online Information Sessions on the 2022-23 Grants Scheme on the 22, 26 and 27th of April.
Further details are available on the Grants webpage.
Sinéad Gibney, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission said:
“We are committed to supporting and empowering people and groups who face the greatest barriers to accessing their rights and who are the least heard in Ireland. Including and valuing lived experience is central to our work, and we are eager that the scheme will support projects where the voice and agency of people facing the greatest inequalities are involved.”
“We are particularly happy this year to pilot a new strand of grants focused specifically at locally based groups, who are sometimes excluded from traditional funding streams that could support their work.
“I strongly encourage all those in civil society, community, voluntary and local organisations across Ireland who work to empower people to claim their rights, to apply to the IHREC grants scheme.”