The members of the North's new Equality Commission, set up to promote equal opportunities on grounds including religion, race and gender, were announced yesterday.
The 20-member commission will combine the work of four existing bodies which are to be dissolved: the Fair Employment Commission, the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission for Racial Equality for Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Disability Council.
The new body was envisaged in the Belfast Agreement and fulfils part of the British government's pledge to ensure that employment is fairly shared and to promote equality of opportunity. The agenda includes a 13-year target to end the jobs imbalance in the North, where Catholics, particularly males, are twice as likely to be unemployed as Protestants.
The commission will begin work on October 1st and will be chaired by Ms Joan Harbison, the current chairwoman of the Commission for Racial Equality for Northern Ireland. Her part-time deputy will be Ms Bronagh Hinds, director of the Ulster People's College and a former election manager of the Northern Ireland Women's Coalition.
The North's Secretary of State, Dr Mo Mowlam, said equality and justice for all formed the core of the Belfast Agreement. "These are not abstract concepts, but will make a difference in day-to-day life," she said. "They will form the basis of a stable and prosperous Northern Ireland. The new commission has a key role in promoting and developing a society in which equality is a reality for all."
The commission will enforce the legal duty of public sector bodies, such as local authorities, health and education boards and a range of quangos, to promote fair employment in areas including religion, political opinion, gender, race, age, marital status, sexual orientation and disability.
The appointments were welcomed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, who said the commission had a pivotal role under the Belfast Agreement in combating discrimination and promoting equality.
Sinn Fein, which has been calling for progress in implementing the equality agenda of the Belfast Agreement, especially since failure to establish a multi-party executive, welcomed yesterday's announcement as long overdue. The party's equality spokesman, Mr John Kelly, said it would be judged by nationalists and republicans on "results, not words".
Ms Harbison has twice been chairwoman of the Commission for Racial Equality since it was set up in 1997. She said the new commission faced a challenge to bring existing bodies together to form a "dynamic and forward-looking" agency aiming to "eliminate discrimination and to work for a society with parity of esteem and equality of opportunity for everybody."
The commission will be established next month and begin work on October 1st. The staff of the four bodies being dissolved will be transferred to the Equality Commission.