EQUAL Mainstreaming Policy Group:
Terms of Reference
Through the EQUAL Mainstreaming Policy Group:
- To identify best practice and lessons learned within the pilot and experimental activities of EQUAL Development Partnerships and associated national thematic networks.
- To support their integration into local, regional, national and European employment and human resources development policies and practices in the context of achieving a labour market open to all
- To support a capacity within re levant organisation s to incorporate such good practice
Objectives and guiding principles
The EQUAL Mainstreaming Policy Group is working towards these key objectives:
- To support a three stranded approach to mainstreaming i.e. dialogue, public profile and practices within mainstream organisations
- To make policy makers in or associated with relevant Departments formally aware of the outcomes from the Programme and mainstreaming events and developments at National and European level
- To enable future policy actions by Departments and Agencies in the areas identified to be influenced, as appropriate, by these relevant outcomes in a systematic way
- To facilitate greater interaction between the various actors involved in the DPs and relevant Departmental and Agency Officials
- To encourage and support the mainstreaming strategy being developed jointly between Northern Ireland and the Republic under EQUAL
- To facilitate reporting on mainstreaming and dissemination to the Equal Monitoring Committee and to the European Thematic Networks
- To inform the policy-making process of the equality mainstreaming implications arising for that process and, where relevant, service delivery, from the adoption of specific policy lessons emerging from the work of DPs.
- To consider specific Action 3 proposals and other proposals for mainstreaming activities put before it from time to time, such proposals emerging from the work of the national thematic networks, groups of projects and/or individual projects and the EQUAL Managing Authority respectively.
- To create effective communication amongst the key stakeholders both within and outside EQUAL.
- Focusing on the causes of discrimination instead of target groups
- Emphasising equal opportunities
- Emphasising prevention and anticipation instead of crisis management
- Focusing on concrete outcomes instead of theoretical approaches
- Building on (not replicating) the work of previous initiatives
- Seeking out the views of all key stakeholders
- Emphasising genuinely innovative approaches.
Facilitation and support
The EQUAL Mainstreaming Policy Group (MPG) will be facilitated and supported in its endeavours by the co-chairs of the Group (D/ETE and the Equality Authority) and by the Technical Support Unit for EQUAL in Ireland (WRCsec).
Each member of the MPG will be provided with concise documentation that will contain briefing on a range of issues, to include:
- EQUAL aims, objectives, principles and structure;
- The roles of the various actors, to include, the role of the Managing Authority, the Equality Authority and the TSS;
- Development Partnership aims and objectives;
- Development Partnership composition;
- Development Partnership mainstreaming products and policy targets.
Representation and Participation
The MPG offers members an opportunity to acquaint themselves with a range of innovations and experiments that may be of interest and use to them and their parent organisations in dealing with particular issues/problems and in coming to terms with the equality agenda and its implications, in particular its implications for service providers.
As such, EQUAL may provide the opportunity for members of the MPG
- To act as champions of innovation that could, for example, assist in the achievement of policy objectives, better targeting of services and, at a more basic level, meeting with legal obligations
- To create a learning environment within and around EQUAL. This would include objective includes raising the competences of labour market actors and organisations to accommodate learning and facilitating the dissemination of good practice. The objective would also create an environment that encourages innovation
- To create an environment that encourages innovation alongside processes that incorporate this innovation into the mainstream
- To demonstrate best practice in inter-agency cooperation
- To engage in an integrated approach to policy innovation in a benign environment
- To reflect on and discuss the merits of proposed innovations taking into account a range of policy perspectives and responsibilities possibly leading to a more holistic and well-rounded policy response.
Members of the Group will be senior officers and decision-makers who are well acquainted with relevant areas of policy and practice and the policy making process. As such, they should be in a position to introduce relevant and evidenced innovations into the policy domain. They should also be in a position to influence the policy-making process itself. For example, where it is apparent that a particular innovation has emerged from a process that involved inclusive consultation, a partnership approach and/or required the use of a particular tool (e.g. a diagnostic tool or an equality audit), the member of the MPG would be in a position to sensitise the policy-making process to that fact and to introduce an equality dimension that may not have previously applied.
Activities
It would be desirable for members of the MPG to involve themselves in and/or be aware of developments at the thematic networking levels within EQUAL, both at a national and EU level. Members of the MPG could attend events as observers, as experts or as engaged representatives of their respective organisations. Members of the MPG might also contribute to EQUAL publications, policy seminars and conferences over time.
Therefore, the members of the MPG will have flexibility as to the degree of interaction they may have with the EQUAL Programme. At a minimum the members of the MPG should be prepared to be open-minded as to the innovation potential of EQUAL and willing to promote, advocate or champion what prove to be effective solutions to given issues. In parallel, Members of the MPG could become directly involved as actors in the process and could help to build innovation as well as promote it.
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