Dignity in Poverty: Building a Just Future
Too often it can seem that the idea-building and on-the-ground work needed to support and amplify our communities’ marginalized voices is left to the usual suspects: non-profits, social workers, and staff members and volunteers within different advocacy sectors. While it is vital to have experts and seasoned professionals leading the way, there is also much room for non-traditional voices to contribute to human rights discussions. Building a just and equitable future means recognizing our individual and collective knowledge and abilities and what each person can contribute.
This call to bring many diverse and dynamic voices to the human rights table was heeded in December 2023, when the JHC and its event partners Righting Relations Canada and Canadians for A Civil Society hosted the Ignite Change Global Convention, a ten-day commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The eighth day of the convention examined the theme “Dignity in Poverty: Building a Just Future.” Topics explored included the roles the arts can play in creating agency for marginalized communities, how understanding and leveraging economics can result in more equitable outcomes for civil society, and how government policy can best be informed by the people for whom it is meant to serve. The sessions were both positive and pragmatic, not shying away from acknowledging the deeply entrenched biases that can sometimes make overcoming injustices seem insurmountable.
As Avnish Nanda, a passionate Edmonton-based lawyer and one of the day’s keynote speakers, said:
“In the history of this country, we’ve tended to have a public space, in terms of the law, that reflects certain communities, certain interests...particularly [a] white, Eurocentric, cisgender conception of what our society ought to be and who is allowed here to make claims, to stake out rights, to be acknowledged and respected—even by our courts.”
Ignite Change’s sessions served as a platform for those who are actively seeking to change our public spaces and our conversations, with a goal of diversifying what we think we think about and do when advocating for the rights and dignity of marginalized peoples and those in poverty.
We encourage you to spend some time exploring some or all of the fascinating and important presentations from Day 4 of the Ignite Change Global Convention, found below. Each presentation and the folks behind them contribute to building a stronger, more equitable, and barrier-free Canada.
Ignite Change Day 8 presentation playlist
Click on the + to the right to expand each presentation and access the YouTube recording.