Equinet, the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA), and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) are holding a Roundtable online on Zoom and in Brussels on 25 September 2024. The Roundtable is aimed at Equality Bodies, EU institutions, National Authorities, NRCPs, and Civil Society Organisations.
Background
The Racial Equality Directive prohibits direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin across different areas including healthcare. Despite the advanced legal framework against discrimination, inequalities in access to healthcare persist and legislation needs to be backed up with further actions. According to the EU Action Plan Against Racism, the COVID-19 crisis brought the consequences of existing health inequalities suffered by people with a minority racial or ethnic background into the spotlight as well as underlined that racism can also affect people’s mental health. Likewise, the EU Roma Strategic Framework for equality, inclusion and participation for 2020 – 2030 pointed out the significant life expectancy gap at birth between the general population and Roma people, specifically 10.4 years for Roma women and 10.2 years for Roma men. The current importance of this topic is also emphasized at the international level. This is the case of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, whose General Recommendation N° 37 on racial discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to health identify common challenges and provides guidance on measures to address them, in line with the ICERD.
The effectiveness and sustainability of the abovementioned plans and actions depends to a large extent on the existence of robust monitoring and reporting mechanisms. The EU Action Plan against Racism, the EU Roma Strategic Framework and the Council Recommendation on Roma equality, inclusion and participation propose a partnership approach to such endeavour, including detailed expectations concerning the role of Equality Bodies, civil society organizations and National Roma Contact Points.
Equinet organized an online workshop in April 2022 and February 2023 to discuss National Roma Strategic Frameworks and National Action Plans against Racism. Furthermore, Equinet is an active stakeholder of the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)-led DisQo network which through a series of webinars, explored some of the key priorities where action is required in relation to racism and discrimination on both mental and physical health inequities.
Building upon the above activities, Equinet, EPHA and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) will organise a roundtable to explore the inequalities and experiences of discrimination of Roma and racialised communities with a focus on monitoring and reporting on access to quality healthcare, as well as to discuss the role Equality Bodies may play in collaborating with CSOs and National Roma Contact Points (NRCPs) in ensuring equal access to quality healthcare.
Objectives
To identify challenges, showcase and disseminate knowledge about specific and potentially replicable activities of Equality Bodies and relevant stakeholders in addressing health discrimination and inequalities of racialised communities and Roma people.
For further information, contact Daris Lewis Recio (daris.lewis@equineteurope.org).