Our Response
NICVA welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation on the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy. However, we echo the concerns raised across wider civil society and strongly assert that the current draft falls short of meeting statutory obligations and civil society’s expectations of a strategy that is 'fit-for-purpose'.
As a member of the civil society Anti-Poverty Strategy Group, NICVA agrees with members concern that the strategy fails to meet the statutory obligations under Section 28E of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. We agree that with the groups view that the draft lacks ambition, measurable targets, dedicated resources, and a rights-based foundation—falling short of the transformative change needed to meaningfully tackle poverty.
Poverty in Northern Ireland is deepening, and inequality is growing. The draft strategy, as it stands, does not reflect the scale or urgency of the challenge.
In our response we endorse fully the updated recommendations of the Anti-Poverty Strategy Group (August 2025) Ending Poverty in Northern Ireland: A Civil Society Roadmap for Real Change | NICVA, which provide a clear, evidence-based roadmap for a transformative and inclusive strategy.
In our response we urge the Department to revise the draft to reflect these recommendations and to meaningfully engage with civil society in shaping a final strategy that is:
- Grounded in rights and objective need;
- Ambitious in its targets and outcomes;
- Fully resourced and legislatively underpinned;
- Centered by lived experience;
- And accountable through robust oversight mechanisms.
Key areas of focus should include addressing child and pensioner poverty, tackling working-age poverty, investing in the most deprived communities and ensuring access to timely, high-quality services for all, underpinned by dignity, fairness, and respect.
Call to Action
NICVA’s message is clear: poverty is not inevitable—it is the result of political choices and policy decisions. The voluntary and community sector has long stepped in to fill the gaps left by government, but this is not sustainable. Civil society must be recognised as an essential partner in the design, delivery, and monitoring of the Anti-Poverty Strategy.
We impress upon the Department and wider NI Executive the need to respond to the breadth and depth of civil society’s concerns with a clear and immediate commitment to revise the draft Strategy, address its critical gaps, and deliver a credible roadmap to ending poverty in Northern Ireland.
NICVA, alongside our civil society partners, urges the Executive to make the bold decisions necessary to break the cycle of poverty. Poverty costs , not only in terms of its impact on individuals and communities but also the 'public purse'. A fundamental shift in approach is required. While we acknowledge fully, the ongoing budgetary constraints facing government, this ambition cannot be realised by simply delivering more of the same or ‘tinkering around the edges’.
We call on the NI Executive to act decisively, engage meaningfully with civil society, and deliver a strategy that reflects the rights, dignity, and aspirations of all individuals and communities.
