Current status: Answered by Kaukab Stewart on 15 July 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to directly (a) fund and (b) engage with (i) experts and (ii) organisations in black and multi-ethnic communities.
The Scottish Government approved £21 million of funding for the 2021-2024 period to support equality and human rights in Scotland through the Equality and Human Rights Fund Equality and Human Rights Fund: projects funded - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . Of that total, nearly £5.5 million is specifically allocated to fourteen organisations delivering a range of activities to engage with and support black and minority ethnic organisations and communities in Scotland. Overall, the funded organisations have provided support to 4,168 people, and 747 organisations.
The Scottish Government also established a short term Anti-Racism Interim Governance Group to Develop National Anti-Racism Infrastructure (AIGG), which was comprised of academic experts, young people and community leaders with specific expertise in anti-racism in Scotland. An important part of the group’s work was commissioning participatory community research Community-Report-_-Executive-Summary-September-2023.pdf (antiracismobservatoryforscotland.org) to engage with racialised communities across Scotland to ensure they are informed and engaged with the work being done to progress anti-racism in Scotland.
The Scottish Government has long-standing and continued engagement with a variety of organisations in the minority ethnic sector, including our strategic partners BEMIS, CRER and CEMVO, to collectively drive change for our diverse communities across Scotland.