improving government service delivery to minority ethnic ... - NCCRI
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unlawful discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and promote good relations between persons of<br />
different ethic groups. Race Equality Schemes set out how the organisation will:<br />
-<br />
-<br />
-<br />
-<br />
-<br />
-<br />
Assess whether their functions and policies are relevant <strong>to</strong> race equality<br />
Moni<strong>to</strong>r their policies <strong>to</strong> see how they affect race equality<br />
Assess and consult on policies they are proposing <strong>to</strong> introduce<br />
Publish the results of their consultations, moni<strong>to</strong>ring and assessments<br />
Make sure that the public have access <strong>to</strong> the information and <strong>service</strong>s they provide<br />
Train their staff on the new duties.<br />
In Ireland, no such duty exists as yet. The National Action Plan Against Racism refers <strong>to</strong> the Working Group<br />
on Equality Proofing, which had been in operation prior <strong>to</strong> the National Action Plan and which has made<br />
some important progress in this area. However, equality proofing is not manda<strong>to</strong>ry and is not widely used.<br />
The National Action Plan Against Racism contains a commitment <strong>to</strong> consider a new statu<strong>to</strong>ry ‘positive duty’<br />
requiring public bodies <strong>to</strong> promote equality of opportunity and commits <strong>to</strong> a review of existing models and legal<br />
frameworks for positive duties in other jurisdictions will take place, including the statu<strong>to</strong>ry duty that operates in<br />
Northern Ireland.<br />
40_Chaney, P & T. Rees<br />
(2004), The Northern<br />
Ireland Section 75 Duty:<br />
An International<br />
Perspective. Paper<br />
presented <strong>to</strong> the<br />
Section 75 Equality Duty<br />
– An Operational Review<br />
Conference, Belfast.<br />
41_Office of First Minister<br />
and Deputy First Minister<br />
(2005), A Racial Equality<br />
Strategy for Northern<br />
Ireland, p.42.<br />
42_House of Commons,<br />
Official Report, 18<br />
November 1998, cols.<br />
1069–1070 (Mr. Murphy).<br />
‘Positive action’ on the other hand is legislated for in each of the three jurisdictions under consideration. The<br />
Section 75 duty has been described by some as ‘mainstreaming’. 40 Under the Racial Equality Strategy for<br />
Northern Ireland, positive action is seen as a component of mainstreaming rather than a separate approach:<br />
“ Mainstreaming involves the application of equality proofing, guidelines, participation of<br />
groups experiencing racism, positive actions, data collection, proactive moni<strong>to</strong>ring and<br />
impact assessment.” 41<br />
(Emphasis added)<br />
During the parliamentary debate in the House of Commons on the legislation it was clear that Section 75 does<br />
not preclude positive action and in fact means that public authorities are bound <strong>to</strong> have regard <strong>to</strong> the need for<br />
affirmative action when considering their duty under the clause”. 42<br />
In Ireland the Equality Act 2004 allows positive action <strong>to</strong> be taken in respect of all of the discrimina<strong>to</strong>ry<br />
grounds, including the ‘race’ ground; whilst in Scotland, the Race Relations Act does not allow positive<br />
discrimination except <strong>to</strong> prevent discrimination, or <strong>to</strong> overcome past discrimination.<br />
International and EU Policy Context<br />
2005 was also the first year that Ireland’s compliance with the UN CERD Convention was reviewed. Ireland<br />
ratified the convention in 2000, whereas the United Kingdom had ratified in 1969 and so has been working<br />
<strong>to</strong>wards compliance for some years. The CERD convention is the key international instrument on racial<br />
discrimination and is explicitly referred <strong>to</strong> in the Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland strategies.<br />
An additional international human rights instrument of importance <strong>to</strong> tackling racial discrimination and inequality<br />
is the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action from the World Conference against Racism which was<br />
held in Durban, South Africa in 2001. The UN General Assembly Resolutions 56/266 and 57/195 call for<br />
comprehensive implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action. The Durban Declaration is<br />
particularly relevant here as one of the recommendations was that States establish and implement national<br />
policies and action plans <strong>to</strong> combat racism. Again both Northern Ireland’s Racial Equality Strategy and Ireland’s<br />
National Action Plan Against Racism make explicit reference <strong>to</strong> the Durban Declaration.