04/10/2016
ECRI Report reinforces Equality Commission Recommendations
The Equality Commission welcomes today’s report from the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) on the situation in the UK regarding racism and intolerance. It supports our recommendations that there needs to be urgent reform of the Race Relations Order so that all individuals have the same level of legal protection against disadvantage on grounds of colour and nationality as there is on grounds of race, ethnic origin and national origin.
“It is vital that the Executive takes action and makes reform of race equality law a priority under the Programme for Government and its Racial Equality Strategy. There has been a pressing need for reform of race equality law for some time and we have made detailed submissions on what this reform should be” Dr. Michael Wardlow, Chief Commissioner said.
“The Equality Commission has the duty to keep equality legislation under review and to work towards eliminating race discrimination. There needs to be high level commitment to drive effective implementation of the Executive's Racial Equality Strategy across all aspects of life, alongside a detailed action plan with concrete targets, monitoring mechanisms and supported by resources.”