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11 Sept 2025

Public speak-out rally on the Assembly's draft Anti-Poverty Strategy in Derry

Anti Poverty Network calling on people of Derry, community organisations, unions and faith leaders to join the speak-out rally at Central Library

Anti Poverty Network calling on people of Derry, community organisations, unions and faith leaders to join the speak-out rally at Central Library

Anti Poverty Network calling on people of Derry, community organisations, unions and faith leaders to join the speak-out rally at Central Library.

Reporter:

Staff Reporter

11 Sept 2025 2:30 PM

Email:

news@derrynow.com

The NI Anti Poverty Network (NIAPN) is holding a public speak-out rally on the Assembly's draft Anti-Poverty Strategy.
A spokesperson for NIAPN said it was calling on the people of Derry, community organisations, unions and faith leaders to join the speak-out rally at 6.45pm tonight (Thursday, September 11) outside Central Library on Derry's Foyle Street. 
Following the rally, the Department for Communities consultation event on the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy is taking place in the library. The public consultation on the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy is due to close on Friday, September 19, at 5.00pm.
The NIAPN speak-out rally has been endorsed by: the Foyle Network Foundation, the Focus Project, NW Forum for people with disabilities and Disabled Persons Against the Cuts.
The NIAPN spokesperson said: "There has been a 19 year wait for this Anti-Poverty Strategy, and the NI Executive has signed off on a draft that is not fit for purpose.
"It is not a credible strategy. It does not have targets, measurables, timeframes nor funding attached to it. The draft strategy has not incorporated the recommendations from the Expert Advisory Panel nor the Co-design group who were commissioned by the Department to provide evidence-based policy recommendations that would reduce poverty.
"Furthermore, the Department has not had meaningful engagement with people with lived experience of poverty. NIAPN and others have engaged with hundreds of people and are using this speak-out as an opportunity to amplify their voices. 
"This rally and response to the consultation is on the back of an Open Letter to NI Executive that NIAPN and over 75 community organisations, unions, faith leaders and academics have signed calling on the NI Executive to withdraw their support of this draft Anti-Poverty Strategy. We need real policy change and investment that tackles the structural inequalities in our society. Our children, families, and communities deserve so much better," said the spokesperson.
NIAPN is encouraging everyone to respond to the consultation before September 19, 2025: https://www.communities-ni.gov.uk/consultations/consultation-ni-executive-anti-poverty-strategy 
NIAPN's response to the consultation, which includes the feedback from over a hundred people with lived experience of poverty can be read here: https://niapn.org/response-to-the-draft-anti-poverty-strategy/

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