Equality and Partnership

The SDLP recognises that equality issues between the communities are matters of fundamental importance, but we also recognise that within and cutting across the two main communities are other groupings -- those defined by deprivation and unemployment and by gender, race, age or disability.

Clearly inequality and marginalisation can be defined in political, economic or social terms. The SDLP recognises that inequality is a complex and changing phenomenon.

It is the SDLP view that an effective strategy to address these issues will be multi - dimensional, involving structural elements, legislation, changes in process, target-setting, monitoring, public education programmes and new tolerant attitudes.

· at the level of policy the strategy will be based on ensuring access to services based on need, access to jobs based on merit established through an open recruitment procedure and objective assessment at an interview, and access to public space based on a right of mobility for the disabled. At the same time policy will seek to encourage sharing and partnerships across the communities

· at a structural level of governance and administration it will involve partnership, powersharing and general sharing between both major political traditions in the public sector and effective choice for individuals operating in the private sector who wish to share and integrate

· at the legislative level it will require effective legislation to outlaw discrimination against vulnerable groups and ensure equal treatment including an overarching Bill of Rights

· at the level of process it will require radical changes in how policies are developed and implemented and will involve mainstreaming to achieve the objectives identified such as PAFT and TSN

· within the above context an effective strategy will include target - setting and monitoring to ensure that the agreed objectives are met

The SDLP wants to see effective and fully resourced Equality Commissions to deal with complaints based on gender, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, martial status and dependants.

Women

The SDLP is deeply concerned by the fact that after twenty years of sex discrimination and equal pay legislation there is still a need for a strong lobby on women's issues.

In the new Administration the SDLP will work for:

· independent legal status for women married to working men and the end to inequalities experienced by women in the social security system

· a major overhaul of the law on sex discrimination and equal pay, to produce a single comprehensive piece of legislation

· the adoption of the Social Chapter, the implementation of a minimum wage and guaranteed rights for all workers, regardless of contractual status

· better rights and conditions for all parents in the workforce

· universally available childcare

· Increased confidence-building and training opportunities to be directed at women wishing to enter or re-enter the job-market

· a co-ordinated childcare-training strategy to enable parents to train while childcare is available

· new Sex Offences legislation

Senior Citizens

The SDLP believes that the good health, independence and well-being of senior citizens must be a top priority and are concerned that today's pensioners are being forced to live on such meagre pensions.

The SDLP wants to see an end to the discrimination against older people in the workplace. As well as being grossly unjust, such discrimination is costly and inefficient.

In the new Administration the SDLP will work for:

· an increase in pensions, and a government commitment to assess the needs of senior citizens and provide satisfactory benefits

· an end to VAT on heating fuel, and in the interim, exemption for pensioners

· high quality health-care provided free to all pensioners

· subsidised electricity and telephone rental and rates and a new offence to make it illegal to disconnect the telephone or electricity supply of pensioners without getting a court order

· free security chains, door and window locks and alarms for senior citizens

· training schemes for people of all ages, and new legal provisions to outlaw discrimination in the job-market solely on the grounds of age

· an awareness raising scheme to deal with the one third of pensioners who are not claiming all the money they are owed

People with Disabilities

In the new Administration the SDLP will work for:

· a single, comprehensive and simplified benefits scheme and a guaranteed reasonable standard of living for all those either partly or totally prevented from working with as much independence as possible

· adequate resources for the Commission on Disabilities with the power to take individual cases, and legal aid for claimants

· improved access for children with disabilities in schools, to ensure that they are given the education they deserve to enable them to fulfil their potential

Children and Young People

The SDLP does not accept that there can be any compromise or two-tier system where the rights of children and young people are concerned. The SDLP is committed to the principle that, regardless of the wealth of the family, all children must be guaranteed a good minimum standard of living, and given the best possible education, health-care and opportunities to develop their potential.

In the new Administration the SDLP will work for:

· an end to child poverty and disadvantage

· proper funding to ensure the effective implementation of the Children's Order

· the DHSS and DENI to co-ordinate efforts in relation to youth needs including a strategy on lone-parents, benefit levels, benefit to work transition, and training and employment

· urgent action to deal with the dramatic inequalities in child health in Northern Ireland

· ex gratia payments for victims of child abuse who come forward after the three year deadline from their 18th birthday

Race Relations

In the new Administration the SDLP will work for:

· proper funding to ensure the effective implementation of the new Race Relations legislation

· a radical re-think on site-provision for Travellers to ensure that all families have the right to basic amenities guaranteed

· the inclusion of an ethnic grouping question on the next census form for the North in order to make an accurate assessment of the needs of the various minority ethnic communities

· the introduction into Northern Irish law of the offences dealing with racial violence and harassment

· the provision of adequate resources to meet the needs of the minority ethnic communities, particularly in the fields of health, education and social services

· the establishment of a European Union Centre to monitor racism

Fair Employment

Since its formation the SDLP has highlighted employment differentials as a fundamental cause of the social division in the North. Unfortunately much remains to be done and the Fair Employment Commission's Annual Report highlights the fact that Catholics are still hugely over-represented amongst the lowest paid, the unemployed, and particularly the long-term unemployed.

The Employment Equality Review, co-ordinated by the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights, highlighted the growing consensus around the need for attention to be focused more on equality-related measures than on the Fair Employment legislation itself.

In the new Administration the SDLP will work for:

· legal aid for applicants making challenges under Fair Employment legislation and the tightening up of targets and time-tables for achieving equality in the job market

· the implementation of the recommendations of the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights review "Employment Equality: Building for the Future.

 

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