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Race Equality Advisory Forum

2 Foreword by the Forum

It has been a privilege to have been able to contribute to the development of a race equality strategy for Scotland, although we acknowledge at the outset that what we have done is only the beginning. This report contains our findings and our recommendations for action.

We have sought to build on and develop channels of communication with communities. In this we recognise that one of the biggest challenges has been to develop our own and others capacity to champion change. We hope that we have done this successfully. We could not have got this far without the support and input of communities, the Scottish Executive and those members of the public and voluntary sectors who contributed so positively to our consultative events and other dialogue.

Our remit offered us significant opportunities to work across different sectors and to lay the foundations for future work. It will be for others in the Scottish Executive and the public, private and voluntary sectors to take forward what is presented here and to deliver the change so desperately sought.

Members unanimously agreed on limiting the group's lifespan. By doing this we ensured that the Forum, while tackling issues of institutional racism, did not itself become institutionalised. It is now for others to take the implementation of our recommendations forward and mainstream race equality.

We believe that there is now a climate for change in race equality. Devolution has given us a context in which to pursue an agenda on race equality close to the needs of communities in Scotland. The commitment of the Scottish Parliament to equal opportunities and the new duty on the public sector in the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 offer real opportunities to promote race equality. This report contains our recommendations on how those opportunities can be taken and progress can be made.

We wish to thank Jackie Baillie and her Ministerial colleagues Louise Donnelly, Rhona Carr and Alastair Crerar for being our Secretariat and officials for their support, encouragement, vision and commitment to action. We look to the leadership and drive of Scottish Executive Ministers to establish, reinforce and sustain partnership working with minority ethnic communities. We encourage communities to maintain their confidence in the willingness of the public, private and voluntary sectors to ask, listen and take action. Finally we hope that communities will want to be active partners, supporting others in developing programmes for change and demonstrating improved accountability.

October 2001

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