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 These included United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2009), Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights (2012) and United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing (2014).  All of the above interventions have called on the UK government and the NI Executive to adopt measures to address religious inequality affecting the Catholic community in North Belfast.
The Equality Can’t Wait group, yesterday, posted letters to the 6 political parties who have supported their campaign for a time bound, resourced strategy to tackle religious inequality in north Belfast housing.  In the letters, residents detailed the camapaign's unprecedented progress since the 'Equality Can't Wait - Residents Tell Their Stories - A Call To Action' event held in Stormont on the 6th May. 45 MLA’s, including five Executive Ministers, from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, the Alliance Party, the Green Party, NI21 and the Ulster Unionist Party have now echoed the concerns of the United Nations Special Rapportuer on Housing by signing pledges to use all of their powers as elected representatives to tackle the problem.

This widespread support across political parties, however, has not reached as far as the Minister for Social Development, Nelson Mc Causland who, refused even to meet with residents at a meeting organised at his request on the 3rd June 2014.

Following the Housing Ministers refusal to meet, the group have now asked the MLA’s and Ministers in support to force action on the issue by making a strategy to tackle religious inequality an Executive priority.

Marisa Mc Mahon who posted the letters to all parties this morning said:

"The Equality Can’t Wait group and north Belfast residents have done everything in their power to convince the Housing Minister of the need to engage with residents to create a time bound, resourced strategy to tackle a problem that we all know has been there for years."

"He won’t listen, he won’t meet with us, and when he writes back to residents it is only to deny time and again that religious inequality exists."

"It is extremely unfortunate that that is where it’s at. The Minister is choosing to ignore two separate UN reports, the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner, the Children’s Commissioner, MLA's from six political parties and ten years of work by residents on the ground. However, his response cannot dictate the rights of residents nor should it effectively condemn families to housing which the Children's Commissioner said is not fit for human habitation in the 21st century."

"Thankfully we now have widespread political support from MLA's and we are hoping that support will now turn into concrete action at the Executive level to hold the Minister to account and to deliver real change on the ground for families waiting for a place that they can call home."