Race equality strategy

Actions speak louder than words

Buster Cox, immigration adviser at Law Centre (NI), looks at the new OFMDFM racial equality strategy for Northern Ireland and questions whether government is giving itself the means to achieve the objectives contained in the document.

The Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) has recently published A Racial Equality Strategy for Northern Ireland. The strategy is a result in part of the Good Friday Agreement and a consultation process within Northern Ireland. There are a number of well established ethnic minority communities in Northern Ireland (for example, the Chinese, Indian, Jewish and Irish Traveller communities). As the strategy highlights, there has recently been an increasingly visible rise in migrant workers from very diverse backgrounds. Unfortunately, as the strategy acknowledges, the rise in numbers has been accompanied by a significant increase in racially motivated attacks and intimidation of ethnic minority people.

The strategy’s objective is laudable, in that it seeks to ‘establish a framework:

n to tackle racial inequalities in NI and to open up opportunity for all;

n to eradicate racism and hate crime;

n to initiate actions to promote good race relations.’

The aims are also noteworthy and bold. For example, they include the elimination of racial inequality, promoting racial equality in all walks of life and to combat racism and provide effective protection as well as redress against racism and racist crime.

However, there are a number of shortcomings within the document. First, there are considerable gaps in information. For example, there is very little information as to how many migrant workers are living in Northern Ireland – clearly problematic for service providers, if they want to ensure that they are able to respond to migrant workers' needs. A rough estimate suggests that there are now around 25,000 migrant workers in Northern Ireland – although primarily based in certain areas of Northern Ireland, anecdotal evidence suggests that migrant workers are prepared to live and work throughout Northern Ireland.

Secondly, and perhaps the most important issue, is how the strategy will be implemented. A Race Equality Unit has been set up within OFMDFM and has central policy responsibility for overseeing the implementation of the strategy. In addition, the Racial Equality Forum has been set up to help draw up an action plan to implement this strategy and to monitor and review progress. As such, the drafting of an action plan which will include input from the various government departments and public bodies is key. Although the strategy includes some examples of proposed actions for the future, these are generally uncontroversial and are the very least that should be expected. A concern is that by including examples of actions the strategy could limit the scope of an action plan and undermine its effectiveness as they could be treated as the maximum required rather than being illustrative (as suggested).

Another limitation impacting on the effectiveness of the strategy is the lack of resources and discrete funding envisaged to implement the strategy. Unfortunately, the chapter on resources is not clear. It appears that no additional funding will be made available and that the implementation of the strategy will be effectively covered within present budgeting constraints. At a time when government departments and public bodies are having to make difficult decisions on budgets, it is conceivable that insufficient funding will be available to implement the initiatives central to the proper implementation of the strategy.

Hopefully, by the end of the strategy’s lifetime, there will have been a significant reduction in the number of violent racist incidents and a respectful and appropriate response to the needs of ethnic migrant communities. Then Northern Ireland will have gone some way to achieving the strategy’s desire to see a ‘society in which racial diversity is supported, understood, valued and respected, where racism in any of its forms is not tolerated’. Whether the Racial Equality Strategy will assist in achieving this remains to be seen. Its success will depend on a sufficiently robust action plan being drafted and the willingness of all, particularly the government, to ensure that a Racial Equality Strategy is at the forefront of decision making that impacts on ethnic minority communities.

© Law Centre (NI) 2006