Extern Responds to Northern Ireland Executive’s Draft Anti-Poverty Strategy

Extern has submitted a comprehensive response to the Northern Ireland Executive’s Draft Anti-Poverty Strategy, expressing strong support for its overarching vision to eradicate poverty and offering targeted recommendations to enhance its impact.

We welcome the strategy’s emphasis on collaboration, sustainability, and its three foundational pillars: Minimising Risks, Minimising Impacts, and Exiting Poverty. To further strengthen the strategy, we have called for:

· A rights-based approach that upholds the dignity of individuals with lived experience of poverty.

· Greater focus on mental health, recognising it as both a cause and consequence of poverty, and advocating for investment in trauma-informed services.

• Robust action on housing and homelessness, including rent controls, increased investment in social housing, and rapid rehousing initiatives.