Good morning, convener. It is a real pleasure to give evidence to the Equalities and Human Rights Committee today.
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that human rights and equality are embedded at the heart of everything that we do as Scotland’s national Government. There are significant human rights implications as a result of both the immediate threat that is caused by the pandemic and the longer-term effects of the restrictions that are currently in place. In addition, we know that the impacts of the pandemic are not felt equally. We have heard about that in person from individuals, families and communities who have been affected, and the message has been underlined by those who work directly with some of the people who have been hardest hit.
In order to protect the right to life and the right to the highest attainable standard of health, we have had to pay close attention to the full spectrum of human rights. In ensuring that people across Scotland are being supported through the crisis, we have had to put fairness and equality at the heart of our approach. For example, in recognition of the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on minority ethnic communities, we set up an expert reference group on Covid-19 and ethnicity, and awarded grants in excess of £600,000 to provide direct and tailored support. We have worked closely with disabled people’s organisations to understand and mitigate the impact of the pandemic on disabled people, and we have provided almost £275,000 of funding to support their work.
The social renewal advisory board was established to focus on tackling poverty and disadvantage, and on advancing equality. We have sought to address the unequal impacts of the pandemic throughout our work, and we continue to do so as we roll out the delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine across Scotland. That is about more than just the logistical challenges of delivering a vaccine programme. For example, we know that there is an overlap between some groups that are disproportionately affected by Covid-19 and those who are most likely to be vaccine hesitant. We are working with key equality organisations to identify challenges and take action to reach those communities effectively.
As our work towards recovery continues, we must also take action to secure the progressive implementation of human rights. That means continuing our efforts to put in place mechanisms that enable everyone in Scotland to understand and assert their rights. By extending and advancing human rights, we are working to support individuals to enjoy their rights in full and live with dignity.
I will give some examples of that work. In recognition of the higher risk of increased demand for support for adults and children who face gender-based violence, we have significantly increased levels of funding for our work to tackle violence against women and girls, including prevention work and support for front-line services. We are achieving a fundamental shift in the way in which children’s rights are respected, protected and fulfilled in Scotland through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill, which was passed earlier this week. In delivering a revolution in children’s rights, the bill will help to make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up in.
We also have a commitment to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people, which includes the provision of funding for a range of projects to tackle inequality and realise rights across Scotland. We are developing our new equality and human rights mainstreaming strategy, as set out in last year’s programme for government, which will ensure that the voices of those who are impacted shape our approach and policies.
The work of the national task force for human rights leadership will be central to our on-going efforts to extend and enhance human rights. The “National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership Report” contains a number of recommendations, including a recommendation that three UN treaties should be added to Scots law to enhance human rights for women, disabled people and minority ethnic communities. Those recommendations are bold and ambitious.
In total, the Government has accepted 30 recommendations from the task force, including measures that will, for the first time, improve equality and human rights on an environmental, social, economic and cultural scale. The recommendations include bringing together those rights, which belong to everyone, in one place; incorporating and expanding on the UN treaties; and creating additional legislation to protect the rights of LGBTI people and older people. The recommendations from the task force build on previous ambitious human rights work, and they will help to underpin the new legislation and put Scotland firmly at the forefront of human rights leadership. I thank the task force for all its work.
The committee has recently received a number of written updates, including on activity that is relevant to the pandemic and to the growth of inequality, poverty and food insecurity that has been caused by United Kingdom Government policies. I look forward to discussing all those crucial issues with the committee this morning.