Community Cohesion.
Community is about more than the place you live. It is a feeling of being connected to other people
as individuals and/or to a group. Debates around community cohesion and integration seem to concentrate
invariably on how BAME people are not making the effort to link with White British majority communities.
At ROTA we believe this is not going to bring about the desired outcome. We believe that London works best
when bonds between people are created by celebrating their differences and embracing their backgrounds so there
is a sense of belonging to a community.
In some ways London has done well in terms of community cohesion, having not seen ‘race riots’ in many years, even after the horrific bombings in July 2005. However, building a sense of community in one of the most diverse, multicultural and multilingual city’s in the world still needs work. Although BAME people now form approximately 42% of London’s population, there is much evidence that race inequality still exists in our city. Where people are treated less favourably due to their race and/or other elements of their identity they may feel that they don’t belong and will not be able to integrate. The work of ROTA and other equalities organisations set up and ran by people who have experienced discrimination are key to tackling inequality as they help develop people’s confidence in their rights and an understanding of their responsibilities. This in turn gives them a sense of belonging and a greater ability to bond with those around them.
ROTA and HEAR is currently working in partnership with others to carry out some research on this human rights and cohesion.
Single Group Founding.
ROTA, MiNet and HEAR in collaboration with a number of organisations such as Voice 4 Change England, Women’s Resource Centre and London Advice Services Alliance have been carrying out work on the Commission on Integration and Cohesion’s recommendation against single group funding. The Commission was established in August 2006 as an independent body to consider how barriers to integration and cohesion might be overcome. In its final report, Our Shared Future, published in June 2007, the Commission recommended that single groups such as BAME organisations and other groups supporting specific equality communities should only be funded as an exception.
The Department for Communities and Local Government's response to the Commission’s report set out actions that the Government will take to support strong cohesive communities. It contains some positive elements such as the Equality and Cohesion Impact Assessment they will carry our on the guidance for public funders consultation. The guidance, being consulted on until May 2008, also has potential actions which could negatively impact on equality organisations, in particular those supporting particular ethnic, cultural, national or religious groups. They have for example suggested that cohesion be looked at in all funding not just funding directly linked to community integration. This could lead to the loss of much needed support for non-cohesion equalities projects.
ROTA will continue working with others to respond to the guidance and other issues arising from the policy debate on community cohesion and integration.