Advancing racial equality - Recent Human Rights Recommendations
 

In brief:
 

• Recently, a number of human rights bodies have called for action to advance racial equality aligned to a number of the Equality Commission’s priority areas: Law Reform; Hate Crime; Travellers & Roma; Asylum Seekers & Refugees; Action Plans & Data / Evaluation.
• The information below provides an update on these recent developments, and sets out the steps that government and stakeholders can take to advance racial equality; reform race law, policy and practice; and ensure compliance with human rights standards.

What have human rights bodies recommended?

The Equality Commission continues to work to advance key policy priorities and recommendations for racial equality in Northern Ireland.  This includes direct engagement with key international human rights bodies.

Recently, three international human rights bodies have recommended action by government which, if implemented, would advance racial equality in Northern Ireland. The three bodies are:
 

• UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
• European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI)
• Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM)

Here are some of the key recommendations aligned to areas that the Equality Commission has identified as priorities for change: