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Diversity EducationIntroduction | Schools | Youth | PUBLIC AUTHORITIES | Subject-specificThe project on 'Anti discrimination training measures in public authorities' is one of the activities originally supported by the EU's Community Action Programme to Combat Discrimination. It was developed between 2002 and 2004 by CEJI and the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities (NICEM), and included a large number of participants among public authorities and NGOs in Northern Ireland and Germany. The training manual remains highly relevant today as public authorities seek to implement effective measures that prevent discrimination. For information on how to bring this programme to your public authority, please contact Educational Projects Manager Ruth Friedman Why?The provision of anti-discrimination training to public authorities is inspired by the recognition that public authorities need to be free from prejudice and to treat both the people they serve and those they employ equally and fairly.The ApproachThe aim is to ensure that public authorities are sensitive to the needs of all the different sections of the community they serve and act accordingly. It is also to make sure that they behave in the same equitable way towards the men and women they recruit and employ, who have similarly diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and equally diverse characteristics in terms of religious belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, political opinion, or marital status.The project underlines the importance of combating all forms of discrimination together. Because the same kind of prejudice and ignorance tend feed all forms of discriminatory behaviour, it is essential to fight against religious discrimination, sexism, homophobia, ageism and all forms of exclusion at the same time. It is equally important to involve sections of the community vulnerable to discrimination in the design of policy and delivery of services in order to ensure their relevance and increase their effectiveness. Community involvement will foster better community relations and better communication with local interest groups. The approach encourages cooperation between public agencies as well as involves those affected by the policies and practices in question in their design, and to create awareness throughout the institutions concerned of the need to ensure that attitudes and behaviour are not coloured by prejudice. Programme Design
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