Have Your Voice Heard!

The NI Executive have published the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy and it is not fit for purpose. The draft strategy does not include measurables, concrete timebound targets, nor have ring-fenced funding.

Over 75 community organisations, faith leaders, trade unions, and academics have signed an open letter asking the NI Executive to withdraw their support for this draft and revisit the recommendations they have already received from the Anti-Poverty Strategy Group. You can contact Becca to add your organisation to the letter, or sign the online petition here.

The consultation for the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy is open until the 19 September, and we are encouraging people to have their say!

We have come together to create a toolkit to encourage pubic engagement on the draft Strategy. We have already been collecting responses and feedback from people with lived experience of poverty and their words need to be heard loud and clear!

This toolkit includes:

1. A short video that can be shared on social media
2. An “easy read” document that outlines what is in the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy. (See below)
3. An online form for people to share their thoughts on the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy
4. A series of images of quotes with feedback about the draft strategy that can be used for social media.

We encourage everyone to use these resources and to fill in the online form so that we can amplify people’s responses to the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy publicly, and with policy makers. 

We support the updated recommendations from the Anti-Poverty Strategy Group, and NIAPN will release a covering letter that others can use if they chose to respond formally to the consultation. If organisations or individuals chose to respond to the consultation, we encourage them to attach the updated recommendations from the Anti-Poverty Strategy Group (see below).

Our people, children and families deserve so much better,

Download the ‘Easy read’ summary of the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy:

Here are the Anti Poverty Strategy Group’s headline recommendations, updated Summer 2025

Below is the updated Recommendations on the Development of an Anti-Poverty Strategy for Northern Ireland Revised Version (Updated August 2025)