Today (30 Sept) Pavee Point Co Director, Lynsey Kavanagh, is in Brussels for the EU High-Level Roundtable on equality data: contributing to a panel discussion on ‘Cooperation for inclusive equality data’ as part of Ireland’s EU presidency.
The discussion focused on the vital role of civil society, including Traveller and Roma organisations in equality data collection and monitoring; and also looked at good practice.
The two-day High-Level Roundtable brings together a range of stakeholders involved in equality data collection, discussing the collection, use, and dissemination of disaggregated equality data that supports the development of appropriate policy and service.
Accurate data on ethnicity is required to protect the human rights of Travellers, Roma and potentially discriminated minorities, which is important now more than ever. Pavee Point, along with other Traveller organisations and groups working with Roma, has been key in ensuring the State undertakes this work within a human rights framework and Ireland is one of the first Member States to develop a National Equality Data Strategy.
The European Commission is preparing a recommendation for all Member States on Equality Data, and Pavee Point looks forward to seeing autonomous civil society included as key partners.
Image1: Wojciech Wiewiorowski, European Data Protection Supervisor
Image2: Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management