Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now: The ALLIANCE’s 2024 human rights journey

Human rights are the path to a fairer, stronger Scotland; each step we take today helps to shape our future.

Human Rights Day 2024 calls for one thing; Our Rights, Our Future, Right Now. This 10 December, this theme embodies the basic cornerstone of human rights – their transformative power to pave the way for a fairer, stronger, and more equitable tomorrow. 

Our human rights are enshrined in the UDHR, proclaimed by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948. As the foundation of international human rights law, the UDHR affirms that our fundamental rights are universally protected. Despite this, these rights remain under threat. The most recent of example of this is the omission of the Scottish Human Rights Bill from the 2024-25 Programme for Government. The Bill aimed to incorporate international human rights treaties into Scots law, to protect rights and make them enforceable. The ALLIANCE has been a vocal advocate for this legislation, urging the Scottish Government to commit to its incorporation. Our advocacy has included signing a joint letter to the government, publishing a statement acknowledging our disappointment in response to the 2024-25 Programme for Government, and participating in the consultation analysis. 

However, this setback did not dissuade us; it has only strengthened our resolve. We have continued to champion and defend human rights as essential to building a fairer, more equitable Scotland.  

This year’s Scottish Human Rights Conference became a rallying point for collective action. It brought together voices from across sectors, reaffirming a shared commitment to advancing the Bill and emphasising its potential to enact meaningful change. Our attendance reflects the ALLIANCE’s unwavering dedication to ensuring that human rights legislation aligns with the needs of Scotland’s diverse communities. 

Over the past year, the ALLIANCE has made significant strides in advancing human rights through targeted advocacy and initiatives. Our policy work has been a cornerstone of this. We published our 2024 General Election Manifesto, Rights, Wellbeing, Fairness, which outlined key demands for embedding human rights into public policy and spotlighted the importance of the Human Rights Bill at the 2024 SNP Conference. Additionally, we responded to consultations on critical legislation, including the Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill, the Abortion Services Bill, and the Scottish Budget, highlighting how economic and social policies impact fundamental rights. We joined calls to reject the UK Government’s Rwanda Bill and advocated for the right to a healthy environment. 

Health rights have remained a consistent focus for us. As part of Human Rights Day, we launched a podcast on the Children’s Charter of Health Rights, a tool for children and young people to better understand their rights in a healthcare setting. Our Health and Social Care Academy’s launch of the Five Ambitions has driven work which champions human rights at its very core, specifically the right to health. We also published a podcast episode titled ‘The Right the Health Special’, which explored what the right to health is and what it looks and could look like for people and practice across Scotland. 

Events like ‘Being Human: Everyone has the right to health’ and ‘Integration in Action: Be Human’ aimed to inform people on the right to health, and explored the intersection of health with housing, substance use, and economic justice. This year, many of our opinion pieces kept the issue of rights at their heart, with topics ranging from how poor housing in Scotland is fuelling health inequalities, the idea that empathy is the key to battling human rights opposition and fatigue, and discussing how we can make the right to health a lived reality. 

Intersectional advocacy has been another key area. From addressing drug deaths in Scotland as a public health emergency to tackling fuel poverty, and addressing gambling harms, we have sought to connect human rights with urgent social issues. The Charter of Rights for People with Substance Use, which will be launched on 11 December, exemplifies our commitment to amplifying the voices of marginalised groups and addressing health inequalities. The launch of a new edition of Humans of Scotland, in partnership with Terrance Higgins Trust, is another example of this. H is for Human brought together strong and powerful stories from people living with or otherwise affected by HIV in Scotland, aiming to tackle stigma and championing their right to live well without discrimination.  

As we reflect on the past year, progress has been made but significant challenges remain. Looking ahead, there are numerous opportunities to reignite momentum. The ALLIANCE will continue its advocacy efforts, focusing on specific rights such as health, housing, and those of marginalised groups. Our upcoming opinion series, starting in January 2025, will delve deeper into these issues. 

This year, Human Rights Day highlights the power of collective action, and the ALLIANCE is proud to have championed fairness, dignity, and equality in Scotland’s human rights journey over the past year; but we can’t do it alone. Collective action will be key to addressing unresolved challenges and creating a sustainable, equitable future for all. Together, we are stronger.  

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