Third Strategic Plan Published

The Scottish Human Rights Commission has today published its third Strategic Plan. Building on its first eight years as Scotland’s National Human Rights Institution, the new Strategic Plan sets out five priorities for the Commission’s work until 2020.

The new Chair of the Commission, Judith Robertson, took up post in March this year. Commenting on the new Strategic Plan, Judith said:

“Coming from a background in international development, community development and mental health, I am excited about working with different communities across Scotland. This is a challenging time for human rights protection in the UK, but there are great opportunities too. The Commission will be engaging with a wide range of people and organisations as we move forward.”

Based on consultation with people and organisations across Scotland, the Commission’s new Strategic Plan sets out five priorities.

First, the Commission will continue to build a human rights culture in Scotland – where people are empowered to claim their rights, where government and others know how to respect people’s rights and are held to account when things go wrong.

Second, the Commission will build on its strong track record of work in health and social care to embed human rights in practice throughout services. A particular focus will be mental health, including work to secure supported decision making.

A third focus will be work to put human rights at the heart of how Scotland achieves social justice. This will build upon experience of working with people directly affected by poverty and exclusion and continue the Commission’s past work to actively influence policy in this area.

The Commission will work to increase accountability for rights by defending existing human rights laws, scrutinising other legislation, spotlighting issues and holding organisations to account when things go wrong.

Finally, the Commission will put a greater emphasis on learning, sharing and promoting good practice when it comes to human rights, both nationally and internationally.

Read the Strategic Plan in PDF format.

Read the Strategic Plan in EasyRead format.