On Wednesday 7 September the Equal Rights Trust will take part in Advocates for International Development’s (A4ID) Rule of Law Knowledge Group to provide lawyers and others an introduction to statelessness as a conceptual tool and to highlight its connections with sustainable development and human rights.  

During the Group session, Legal and Programmes Officer at the Trust, Jade Glenister, will join speakers Chris Nash, Director and co-founder of the European Network on Statelessness and Amal de Chickera, Co-Director of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion.

We are seeking an Arabic speaking Legal Fellow, with an interest in equality issues and knowledge of international human rights law, to gain experience of research, advocacy and litigation in the area of equality and non-discrimination.

The Fellowship is offered for a 3-6 month period (which may be extended). Fellows will receive a stipend of £2000 (three months) or £4,000 (six months). We are looking for a Fellow who is available to start in September 2016 or sooner.

The Fellow will be involved in certain key aspects of the Trust’s work related to the MENA region, such as:

The Legal and Programmes Officer supports the Trust’s litigation, research, advocacy and movement building work and manages a number of its grant-funded projects. 

Today, the Equal Rights Trust announces that Dr Dimitrina Petrova, who co-founded the organisation and has served as its Executive Director for ten years has stepped down, and that Jim Fitzgerald (former Head of Advocacy) and Joanna Whiteman (former Head of Litigation) have been appointed as Co-Directors to lead the organisation in the next stage of its development.

Dimitrina led the Trust from its inception as a registered charity in 2006 to its present profile as a unique and highly successful organisation in the human rights movement and the Equal Rights Trust is very grateful to her for her inimitable contribution.

In February the Equal Rights Trust launched its Bob Hepple Memorial Fund a campaign which promotes equal opportunity in human rights careers by supporting funded internship and fellowship placements with the Trust.  The Fund levels the playing field, giving those without the financial means to take up unpaid placements the opportunity to enter the human rights sector and fulfil their ambition.

Today, the Equal Rights Trust and Moldovan non-governmental organisation Promo-LEX launch From Words to Deeds: Addressing Discrimination and Inequality in Moldova the first comprehensive study ever produced on discrimination in Moldova. The report finds that while Moldova has made significant strides in improving legislation on discrimination in recent years, much remains to be done to ensure that these laws are effective in practice.

Last Thursday, equality activists, academics, lawyers and other experts gathered at the second annual Equal Rights Trust Bob Hepple Equality Award event, co-organised this year with the Industrial Law Society. The award winner was respected disability activist and academic Professor Anna Lawson.  

Today the Bahamas are voting in a referendum to decide on whether sex discrimination should be eliminated from its nationality law. If the citizens of Bahamas votes yes to equality, the lives of many women and their families will be changed entirely. 

The the Equal Rights Trust and 135 other organisations have pledged to fight plans announced by the Government today that it intends to replace the UK’s Human Rights Act with a weaker “British Bill of Rights”.

The Human Rights Act enshrines fundamental freedoms into UK law and allows the British public to challenge abuse, neglect or mistreatment, and so the pledge reaffirms that human right are universal, indivisible and inalienable – not a privilege to be given and rationed by any government.

Today is International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, which has established itself as the single most important date for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) persons to unite globally and is aimed at decision makers, the media and public to promote LGBTI rights. In the spirit of unity and promoting these rights, we’ve put together some snapshots of our relevant work.