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NEA NI Response to the NI Executive’s Draft Anti-Poverty Strategy Consultation

NEA NI Response to the NI Executive’s Draft Anti-Poverty Strategy Consultation

Overall Assessment of the Draft Strategy

NEA NI believes this draft Anti-Poverty Strategy is not fit for purpose, as it fails to outline the necessary steps to meaningfully address poverty in Northern Ireland. While we fully support the vision to eradicate poverty, this document does not provide a clear pathway to achieve it.

NI requires the right Anti-Poverty Strategy, not just a strategy. We urge the Department for Communities and wider Executive to re-write this draft strategy and to do so at pace, drawing on the evidence-based policy recommendations produced by the Expert Advisory Panel (2020) and the Anti-Poverty Strategy Group (updated August 2025). We attach these to our response.

Furthermore, the strategy must coordinate with the forthcoming Fuel Poverty Strategy, to realise the shared vision of eradicating poverty in all its forms across NI.

Alongside over 75 community organisations, faith leaders, trade unions, and academics, NEA NI has signed an open letter, coordinated by the NI Anti-Poverty Network (NIAPN), expressing disappointment that the draft does not meet the criteria of a reasonable strategy. It fails to fulfil what oversight bodies, including the NI Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee, outline as basic elements of any strategy, including clearly defined indicators and targets. The letter calls on the NI Executive to withdraw support for the draft and meaningfully engage with the huge volume of research already produced, including those from the Expert Advisory Panel and the Anti-Poverty Strategy Group (APSG).

You can download the full response and the two attachments from the link under ‘Resources’.

Resources

NEA NI Response to the Draft Anti-Poverty Strategy
Download the report

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