SHRC submits report to United Nations on the state of rights in Scotland
- Area of Work: Policy and Research
- Type: News Item
- Published: 11th February 2025
The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has published a report on the state of economic, social and cultural rights in Scotland.
The Scottish Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has published its submission on the state of economic, social and cultural rights in Scotland to the United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).
The report presents evidence of ongoing challenges for the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights in Scotland, with a focus on the impact of poverty.
Economic social and cultural rights (ESCR) include the rights to adequate food, to adequate housing, to education, to health, to social security, to take part in cultural life, to water and sanitation, and to work. States have a duty to respect, protect and fulfil these rights.
Recommendations within the SHRC report include that the Scottish Government should:
- Strengthen access to justice and improve legal protection for ESC rights such as housing, healthcare and food.
- Scrutinise measures to tackle poverty and destitution, and ensure people’s incomes are sufficient to achieve human dignity and quality of life.
- Improve the accessibility of healthcare services across Scotland
- Embed a human rights based approach across decisions about how public services are organised and money is allocated in Scotland.
These findings will be shared by Chair of SHRC, Professor Angela O’Hagan, to the UN Committee, alongside other National Human Rights Institutions and civil society organisations.
This work highlights recent evidence from the SHRC’s report on challenges with accessing human rights to health, housing, and food across the Highlands and Islands, published in November last year. The Commission is returning the Highlands and Islands in February and March 2025 for a series of community events. They will be also be expanding the monitoring model to other areas of Scotland over the next three years, starting with the South of Scotland in 2025.
Read the Executive Summary and full report on the SHRC website at www.scottishhumanrights.com. It is also available as an Easy Read version.
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