We speak out against injustices that create inequality and poverty, such as tax dodging by multinationals and climate change, together with people and churches across the Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Advocacy, or lobbying, is a key part of how Christian Aid believes change can happen. We meet with politicians, policy makers, business leaders, media outlets and other influencers, to encourage them to consider our issues and the concerns of our partners in the laws they pass, the policies they develop and the stories they publish.

Our Approach

Through our advocacy and campaigns work we:

  • Conduct advocacy in Ireland and the EU on issues such as tax justice, climate change and peace building. We have particular expertise in tax justice and are a leading voice against corporate tax avoidance in Ireland.
  • Commission research, write reports and make recommendations that amplify the voice of our partners overseas, which are working for justice in their own communities. We write opinion pieces for newspapers and instigate radio interviews to ensure that those voices are heard and to remind policy makers that Christian Aid Ireland and others are monitoring twill hold them to account.
  • Engage with church leaders on issues of global social justice and encourage them and their congregations to act and speak out and advocate for the poor and most vulnerable. There is a long and honourable tradition among Irish Protestant churches of engaging in issues of social justice. We are privileged to be a part of this movement.
  • Develop and build awareness and understanding amongst people in Northern Ireland and the South of Ireland around global poverty and injustice and how we can create a more equal world. 
  • Mobilise an effective social movement in Ireland, both church-based and through the general public, to influence policy debate on overseas development in alliance with partners in academia, civil society and the private sector.

Our Impact

Tax Justice:

  • We have led in the fight for tax justice since 2007. In 2010, when nobody else was talking about tax as an issue for developing countries, we published Tax of Life. It resulted in the Department of Finance, Irish Aid, and the Revenue Authority appearing before an Oireachtas committee hearing to respond to our recommendations - the first time that these three institutions had to come together on tax justice.
  • We lobbied for two years from 2012 to get the government to carry out analysis of the possible impact of Ireland’s tax rules on developing countries. In 2013 they agreed to this and cited Christian Aid Ireland as one of the principle motivators behind their decision.
  • In 2017, we published our own response to the government’s analysis, which was a front page story in the Irish Times, and covered extensively in media across the country. It was discussed and debated in the Dáil and Seanad.
  • In 2016, Christian Aid's Sourced campaign in Northern Ireland called for local councils to ask tough questions of the companies they deal with to ensure they were not dodging taxes. In Northern Ireland, six councils signed up to the campaign, as well as the Central Procurement Department, part of the Department of Finance. 

Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory:

  • In 2012 we lobbied for the introduction of a ban on the importation of produce originating in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. In 2015 the EU introduced new labelling guidelines, meaning any produce coming from the illegal settlements, should be labelled as such.

Climate Justice:

  • As part of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, we lobbied for the introduction of a climate law in Ireland that would put us on the right path for low carbon future. The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act was introduced to Irish legislation in 2015.
  • We lobbied the Northern Ireland Assembly for the introduction of a climate change bill for Northern Ireland.