Equality & Diversity
England’s Northwest is a culturally diverse region - one of
its key assets. The NWDA is committed to enabling all the
region’s people to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a good
quality of life, without compromising the quality of life for
future generations.
In order to achieve the vision of the Regional Economic Strategy
(RES), it is vital that all communities must be able to access
employment and engage in skills development. The RES
recognises the need to ensure that the talents of all the
Northwest’s individuals and communities are maximised in order to
progress economic growth and create greater levels of social
cohesion.
In support of this, the Agency is supporting Action for
Equality, the first comprehensive statement on equality and
diversity in the Northwest. It has been developed through a
partnership between the NWDA, the Northwest Regional Assembly
(NWRA) and Government Office for the Northwest (GONW). It is led by
the Northwest Equality and Diversity Leadership Group, comprising
over 30 stakeholder organisations and agencies.
Action for Equality sets out the Northwest’s successes,
challenges and priorities for action on equality issues.
It has five key aims:
- To raise awareness of equality issues and promote diversity as
a key asset
- To set clear objectives and determine priorities for the region
on equality and diversity issues
- To gain and consolidate commitment from regional agencies and
stakeholders in delivering equality objectives
- Promote the inclusion of equality and diversity concerns
into all programmes and regional policy-making
- To provide a single coherent plan of action on equality, based
on the experiences of people living in the Northwest, existing
research and new evidence.
It has been developed following extensive consultation with
over 300 organisations and individuals in the region. It outlines
three objectives which the people and organisations of the
Northwest have indicated must be priorities:
- Economic participation for all, which will be led by the
NWDA
- Reducing hate crime and violence, which will be led by
GONW
- Promoting diversity as a regional asset, which will be led by
the NWRA.
The NWDA has recognised the importance of the Equality &
Diversity agenda by having an Equality & Diversity subcommittee
of the Board (formerly Health & Social Inclusion subcommittee),
chaired by Dave McCall, and an Equality & Diversity Team,
within in the Policy Directorate, headed up by Evelyn Asante-Mensah
OBE.
The NWDA has also released a consultation draft of the Single
Equality Scheme which can be found on our Consulations Page
The NWDA is committed to the legal responsibilities it has under
the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, Disability Discrimination
Act 2005 and Equality Act 2006. It has therefore published
the following documents:
Race
Equality Scheme (2005-8) - September 2005
Disability Equality
Scheme - December 2006
Gender Equality
Scheme - April 2007