Greater community cohesion

Greater community cohesion is something that most people would like to see. Despite great efforts being made towards developing a peaceful society, it is disappointing that so many people are still living in divided communities. Housing Rights' advisers continue to deal with clients who are victims of intimidation and harassment or who are faced with a lack of shared social housing options. Addressing these housing issues is crucial to the development of greater community cohesion.

A Community Cohesion Strategy

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive recently issued a consultation on Proposals for a Community Cohesion Strategy 2015-2020. Housing Rights believes a Strategy is essential; particularly against the backdrop of more people coming to settle in Northern Ireland. In our response we highlighted:

• That the Government needs to continue to recognize this work as a priority and invest the necessary financial resources to make shared living a reality for those who want it.
• There is an important role for the Housing Executive to encourage local communities to be more involved in developing community cohesion. Communities have a valuable role to play in promoting good relations and challenging negative behaviour.
• A number of practical steps could be implemented to improve the response from the Housing Executive in helping those who are victims of intimidation and/or harassment.
• The Housing Executive should review the availability of temporary accommodation to help those members of minority ethnic communities who have particular social, cultural and religious needs. Measures should also be put in place to ensure that temporary accommodation is a safe shared place and that negative behaviour is challenged.
• The Traveller community should be included in any final strategy on community cohesion.

You can read our full response