The Government at Westminster has to make reports to the EU about the different things it is doing to carry out the various EU conventions.

In April 2009 it is due to report on the convention for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This convention covers a wide of topics, areas of work including: traveller site allocations, racial discrimination, equal pay, representation of women in public life, unemployment, inequalities in access to healthcare and many more.

Government has a duty to consult with NGOs prior to submitting their report and a number of organisations working in NI are either currently submitting reports or have done already.  To find out more about the process, how to get involved, what is being said etc go to the CAJ website at: www.caj.org.uk. The deadline for submissions is April 6th 2009.

Interesting fact

Also did you know that one of the areas government reports on is information ensuring the Olympics does not have a negative impact on vulnerable groups.  A recent CAJ meeting discussed the fact that many groups felt that the Olympics was having a detrimental effect on funding to groups across the sector. CAJ are compiling a report about this, use the web contact if you have something to add.