The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is concerned that the rights of vulnerable and marginalised communities in the UK are being eroded, particularly Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities, migrants and refugees. JRCT believes that equality and human rights play a vital role in protecting the most vulnerable and in turn benefit the whole of society. JRCT wants to grow public support and empathy for the rights of vulnerable racial and religious minorities, to hold governments to account and to strengthen the hand of those advocating with and for these communities.
Funding priorities
1. Protection and promotion of equality and human rights and their enforcement in the UK. JRCT welcomes applications for:
• policy advocacy and campaigning to protect and promote equality and human rights for the most vulnerable
• the provision of accurate information and analysis about human rights and equality to inform decision-makers and the wider public
• holding government and public bodies to account for their implementation of equalities and human rights commitments
• awareness raising of equality and human rights amongst the broader public
• work to develop new voices in the human rights and equality sphere and to create connections between human rights and economic justice issues.
2. Promoting rights and justice for minorities who face the most severe forms of racism
JRCT welcomes applications from civil society organisations that tackle injustices faced by racial and religious minorities, in particular, by Muslim communities, Roma, Gypsies and Travellers across Europe. This includes:
• monitoring and advocacy for legislation and policies to promote rights for these communities
• activities to promote political empowerment, in particular, amongst and led by women within these communities
• efforts to build solidarity amongst advocacy organisations and between advocacy organisations and wider civil society
• work to challenge ideologies and movements that encourage racism and xenophobia and tackle attitudes and policies that deny equal treatment for vulnerable minorities.
3. Promotion of rights and justice for refugees and other migrants by identifying and tackling root causes, structures and systems that may deny them their rights
JRCT welcomes applications to strengthen the ability of migrants to assert and defend their rights through:
• support for alliance building and grassroots organisation, including engagement with non-traditional allies
• advocacy and campaigning to prevent the abuse of migrants’ rights
• promoting access to justice through civil society organisations which spread knowledge of migrants’ rights and judicial procedures and embed advances in the enforcement of rights.
JRCT focuses on work at both a national and European level, although work at a European level is limited and must have direct relevance to communities living in the UK. Funding for European work related to refugees and migrants is primarily channelled through the European Programme on Integration and Migration.
Whilst their focus is to support national advocacy and campaigning, the Trust is open to applications which aim to effect structural change at local and regional levels of policy-making, provided the applicant can demonstrate the wider significance of the work.
For further information and to apply, visit: www.jrct.org.uk/rights-and-justice
Deadline: Monday 12 December 2016