Category - equality

Landmark conferences to look at equality, rights, religion and belief

staff writers — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:31:51 +0000

The first of four major conferences looking into issues regarding equality, human rights and ‘religion or belief’ will take place in London on Monday 10 November, involving a range of senior figures in the field.

Religion, belief, rights and equality

Press Office — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:41:37 +0000

Simon Barrow, co-director of the religion and society think tank Ekklesia, has welcomed a series of conferences on equality, human rights, religion and belief which are being part-funded by the Equ

Changing faith schools for the better

staff writers — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:33:25 +0000

To coincide with Ekklesia's involvement as a founding member of the Accord coalition, this paper contains a cross-section of documents and media articles from Ekklesia and other sources (2205-2008) to resource the ongoing debate about the reform of faith schools. These cover a range of issues concerning current policies of – and towards – religiously sponsored state-funded schools, in the light of the principles and practice of fully-inclusive schooling. They remain the copyright of their originators and contain the original link. We begin with the Accord principles and the case for them; then four documents from the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) with whom we cooperated on their very helpful Faith Schools Position Paper; Populus polling data on the public and faith schools; then a selection of media articles and research (including LSE, Institute of Education and National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), in chronological order.

staff writers

New coalition for inclusive schooling to be launched

Press Office — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:15:10 +0000

A new coalition called Accord, which will be launched officially on Monday 1 September 2008, is calling on Children, Schools and Families Secretary of State Ed Balls to stop publicly-funded faith schools from discriminating against students and teachers on the grounds of their beliefs.

Close discrimination loopholes for faith groups in welfare, government urged

staff writers — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:03:58 +0000

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has said that the government should close the discrimination loopholes for religious organisations involved in public service provision, and should ensure that all services are fully inclusive.

Prime Minister to meet Faithworks award winners at No 10

staff writers — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:41:05 +0000

As the debate on church and welfare continue, the Prime Minister and other senior government figures today host a reception with the winners of the 2008 Faithworks Awards at No 10 Downing Street.

Black campaigners say UK mental health services are failing

staff writers — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 11:58:25 +0000

Churches, faith groups, racial justice campaigners and civic and community organisations need to work together more determinedly in the face of continuing serious failures in mental health provision, says Black Mental Health UK.

Don't misuse religion to suppress women, says Cherie Booth

staff writers — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:25:15 +0000

Religion and culture are abused when they are employed illegitimately to justify the suppression of women and the denial of their equal humanity, human rights lawyer Chrie Booth argued yesterday in a lecture at Chatham House in London.

UK Christians Worry About Implications of New Equality Laws, Cybercast News Service, 21 Sept 2007

Press Office — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 11:29:40 +0000

Ekklesia comments on the forthcoming Single Equality Bill, urging churches to embrace equal access and rights in the public sphere with greater enthusiasm.

Continuing concern about faith schools' policies

Simon Barrow — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 19:03:24 +0000

The think-tank Ekklesia has said that it will continue to raise concerns about the policies and practices of faith schools in areas such as access, equality and employment - on grounds both of fair