New report highlights human rights challenges and opportunities in the City of York
The York Human Rights City Network, hosted by The Centre for Applied Human Rights at The University of York and York CVS, has published its tenth annual Indicator Report, Human Rights in York: State of the City.
The latest human rights report for the City of York shows that many residents still face unfair differences in things like income, housing, and access to services. It also notes growing pressures on how well people from different backgrounds live and work together. At the same time, the report highlights positive work in the city, including helping young people speak up, bringing communities and faith groups together, and working jointly to tackle homelessness and mental health issues.
The annual York Human Rights City Network Indicator Report tracks York’s progress in realising five human rights prioritised by residents – the right to education, equality and non-discrimination, the right to housing, the right to a decent standard of living, and the right to health and social care. It also showcases human rights-based practices in different areas of urban governance and everyday life across the city.
Included in the report:
- Growing inequalities in education among children and young people in York
- Ongoing cost-of-living crisis and deepening poverty
- High level of food bank use
- Homeless and at risk of becoming homeless
- Mounting challenges in achieving social cohesion in York
- Increasing number of hate crimes and hate incidents
Amidst these challenges in protecting human rights, the report features several case studies to demonstrate civil society’s resilience and solidarity when human rights are challenged on different fronts. Among the featured case studies are civil society-led projects that empowered young people to exercise their human rights through the arts and a poster campaign initiated by local residents in response to the flag flying controversy.
Stephen Pittam, Chairperson of the York Human Rights City Network, said:
‘Through evidence-based reporting and other case studies, we hope the Indicator Report will initiate and facilitate discussion on how we may unite as a city to ensure that everyone’s human rights are promoted and protected. We will continue to engage constructively with the City of York Council and other statutory bodies, the Human Rights and Equalities Board, and other stakeholders to make York a human rights city for all.’
Marking the tenth anniversary of the Indicator Report, Professor Paul Gready, Director of The Centre for Applied Human Rights and member of the York Human Rights City Network, reflected on the role the report has played over the last decade in York and the wider human rights city movement:
‘The York Human Rights City Network report has become a living document in the city and a model for participatory, local human rights reporting in the UK and beyond. Time and again it has provided recommendations on how policy making and civil society activism can be guided by principled, evidence-based analysis’.
Alternative versions
The report is available in Easy Read, and in BSL Hard copies at all the city’s libraries and on request from [email protected]