Time is nearly up on NI’s Racial Equality Strategy 2015-2025.  In 2023, the Executive Office (TEO) commissioned an Independent Review on any progress, by chief executive of the Scottish Refugee Council Sabir Zazai. Mr. Zazai used interviews, surveys and research in his review, and submitted his findings to TEO in March 2024.

TEO did not publish them until Monday 23 December 2024 – for many, the beginning of the holiday break, when they unsurprisingly received little attention. The findings were published alongside and simultaneously with TEO’s response to them; a response which, in PPR’s view, fails to address the core of the valid substantive issues raised.

Though mildly and constructively worded, Mr. Zazai’s review pointed to grave failings:

“the aims of the strategy have been undermined by the lack of: an action plan; involvement of people with lived experience; and a process for ethnic monitoring; and could have been enhanced by more attention to governance. “

He went on to propose concrete actions in each of these four areas, beginning with the most basic of building blocks for any policy meant to be more than just a paper exercise: “develop an action plan with an associated budget”. He wrote that while the initial strategy featured 11 proposed actions, 7 shared aims, 4 outcomes and 3 purposes, there had never been either an action plan with concrete tasks, or a budget to pay for them.

(He identified one funding stream, the Minority Ethnic Development Fund, and described how this seemed to place the burden of delivery onto community and voluntary organisations while obliging them to compete with each other for support.) 

ethnic monitoring has been identified as essential for “establishing a fundamental baseline for assessing impact” of NI’s racial equality strategies; yet to date no effective mechanisms have been established

His second main recommendation was that – nine years into a 10-year policy --  the TEO “develop a strategy for the meaningful engagement of people with lived experience”. He described this as a “vital element, which has been somewhat neglected, and which could be a very positive force in re-energising this strategy”, quoting an incontrovertible point raised by an interviewee:

“to make truly informed decisions, and effectively support marginalised communities, it’s essential to have representatives with lived experience at the decision-making table, contributing as equals in the decision-making process.”

In a third area, Mr. Zazai highlighted that since 2005, ethnic monitoring has been identified as essential for “establishing a fundamental baseline for assessing impact” of NI’s racial equality strategies; yet to date no effective mechanisms have been established. 

The same concerns were echoed in August 2024  by UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which welcomed efforts by the London government “to enhance the collection of ethnically disaggregated data” but pointed out that such statistics “are not and uniformly collected” elsewhere, including NI. The Committee explicitly spelled out the need for this data “to identify ethnic disparities, inform policy decisions to eliminate racial discrimination and to evaluate their impact” (para. 8).

Even more pointedly, on 28 February 2025 the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights urged the UK to:

“strengthen measures to prevent and combat intimidation by paramilitary groups against ethnic minorities and migrants in Northern Ireland to ensure their access to adequate housing and to prevent de facto segregation, collect data on such acts and ensure that they are promptly and effectively investigated (para. 47(h)).”

Mr. Zazai noted participants’ concerns about costs and capacity around data collection, but pointed out that in Scotland, academics, universities, public bodies and civil society organisations have all contributed such information to help inform policy.

“Racial equality needs to be driven at a senior level, although race relations may take place at community level. Racial equality cannot be realised if the burden remains entirely on the goodwill of communities and voluntary organisations.”

Finally, in the area of governance, he proposed greater clarity around the roles, responsibilities and powers of the TEO’s Racial Equality sub-group and of departmental Racial Equality Champions, amongst others, saying:

“Racial equality needs to be driven at a senior level, although race relations may take place at community level. Racial equality cannot be realised if the burden remains entirely on the goodwill of communities and voluntary organisations.”

He closed the report with the assurance that “these calls to action are not a criticism but an opportunity”. PPR urges TEO to seize the opportunity. 

Subsequent to the Christmastime publication of his March report, TEO issued a four-week Racial Equality Call for Views on 6 February 2025, “to support the development of the new strategic approach to racial equality”. Its text said that the Call for Views will be followed by ‘stakeholder engagement and information analysis’, then public consultation.

PPR’s full submission to the Call for Views is here