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Helping municipalities incorporate non-discrimination and equal treatment into their work

Municipality/Region

Barcelona, Spain

 

Summary

The Barcelona Provincial Council is a supra-local organisation. It works with the 311 municipalities making up the province of Barcelona. The Council’s Department for Coexistence, Diversity and Citizen Participation has developed a line of work to help municipalities incorporate non-discrimination and equal treatment into their portfolio of services to citizens.

The Department organised working groups with experts from municipal services dealing with coexistence and management of diversity. The aim was to analyse the needs of municipalities in this area and to define a conceptual framework, practical lines of intervention and a specific public policy. The results of this work were published in a guide.

This work has also enabled further group work on the development of a model for non-discrimination and generated new initiatives. Thus, work is under way to create a training plan on non-discrimination and human rights for those working in the local administration. The training plan aims to match training needs with the professional competences of different responsibilities and skills within the administration.

 

Areas of integration covered by practice

Fighting discrimination and promoting diversity

 

Background and purpose

The practice was launched because the issue of non-discrimination tends to be absent in local agendas. The promotion of coexistence from an intercultural perspective needs to include non-discrimination in the professional practices of local administrations at all levels, in line with the European, national and local social contexts, and the role of the Department for Coexistence, Diversity and Citizen Participation. The Department therefore needs to aid local bodies so they can start introducing relevant services.

Introducing non-discrimination topics into municipalities is necessary both in terms of policymaking (political responsibility) on the one hand, and management (technical responsibility) and direct public attention, on the other. Priority sectors for the practice include local police and political staff.

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Timeframe

This good practice started in 2016 and is ongoing. The first working group was organised in 2016-2017, the second in 2018, and the third working group is now underway.

 

How does it work?

In line with the Barcelona Provincial Council’s role of supporting the 311 municipalities in the province, the practice builds public policy on non-discrimination in cooperation with local actors (people in key positions and technical staff working in local bodies), establishes work strategies and considers useful products and actions, taking a collaborative approach.

2016-2017

The Department organised the Working Group on Services for Civil Rights and the treatment of discrimination (on grounds of origin and religious diversity). Stakeholders included 16 municipalities; the Secretariat for Equality, Migration and Citizenship of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia; Barcelona City Council; people representing other areas or services of the Provincial Council (Youth, International Relations, Women and LGBTI, Legal Services and Social Welfare); and technical staff of the Department.

The working group obtained information through interviews with sixteen people who had political responsibility and via questionnaires given to people with technical responsibilities. There was also a small working group tasked with thinking about essential content and validating the work process, and a group open to all municipalities in order to present results and thus determine actions and content. The final product of the process was to draft a guide on the introduction of non-discrimination services.

2018

The Department organised the Working Group on Services for Non-Discrimination and Equal Treatment, which included several municipalities in the work process. The municipalities underlined the need to focus on more specific topics. Experts in different areas—regulation, training, coexistence and intersectionality—participated in the working sessions. This working group revised and validated the content of the guide drafted in the previous working group.

Additionally, the Department organised the working group on Non-Discrimination and Human Rights Training Plan, which included the Directorate for Civic and Community Action of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia and civil society bodies working on raising awareness and education on equality and non-discrimination. The conclusions of this group highlighted the need to train all staff working in local government bodies in order to introduce non-discrimination and equal treatment services. The working group identified a lack of knowledge about the regulatory and conceptual framework and the duties and obligations of staff working in public services.

 

Results and evaluation

The major achievements of this practice include:

  1. Inclusion of non-discrimination in the policy lines of the Department for Coexistence, Diversity and Citizen Participation of the Barcelona Provincial Council. Non-discrimination is not only a separate line of support for municipalities in the province but also an axis that should be included in all other areas: public space, neighbourhoods and coexistence plans. This has promoted cross-cutting work within the Department, with other institutions and synergies for cooperation.
  2. Introduction of non-discrimination work to the municipalities, raising and creating awareness of its importance. Non-discrimination and equal treatment are essential for promoting the integration of racialised people. In addition to having an objective dimension with measurable impact on people’s lives, discrimination also has a subjective dimension, which affects their sense of belonging. Non-discrimination is therefore key to creating more cohesive societies and promoting coexistence and civic relations.
  3. The publication of a guide (to be translated into English) and other materials such as the production of an informational video (in progress).
  4. The drafting of a training plan is in the pipeline, with a view to meeting the training needs of people working in local government bodies at all levels, positions and levels of responsibility.

Evaluation of the practice is ongoing. The people taking part in the working groups assess both the working dynamics and the methodology, format, location, etc. At the end of the working process, the members of each working group complete an evaluation questionnaire. The evaluation is ongoing throughout the working process.

 

Funding

The practice is financed using the departmental budget allocated for this purpose.

 

Further information

Barcelona Provincial Council – Coexistence, diversity and civil rights

Communit@s

About this good practice

Details

Original source
Posted by
Monica Li
Content manager

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