In 2022 ICON successfully secured funding from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) to carry out a project entitled ‘Applying a Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty Approach to the Human Rights and Equality Issues identified by Service Users of Drug Treatment Services in the North East Inner City (NEIC).

The project aimed to apply a public sector equality and human rights approach to issues identified by service users of drug treatment projects in the NEIC and deliver evidence based, peer led research as well as raising awareness of the duty in a broader context through community events. In addition, the process aimed to:

• build on the extensive research carried out by Community Action Network and Service Users Rights in Action on applying a public sector equality and human rights approach to issues identified by service users of drug treatment services and apply it to the NEIC (see Appendix 1).
• review the key monitoring points from the previous research and assess what changes came about from the HSE Action Plan.
• facilitate service users to communicate lived experiences and empower them to have a say in the decisions that affect their lives from a rights-based perspective.
• support their active involvement and leadership to address human rights and equality issues identified by themselves.
• address the experience of services users in their treatment by public bodies and promote positive actions to fulfil responsibilities and act on non-compliance
• raise awareness in the NEIC of the function of the duty and how it can improve access to and experience of public services