PARTNERS FOR CHANGE IS UNIQUE UK FIRST

A UNIQUE government strategy to support the Voluntary and Community Sector has being launched for public consultation by Maurice Morrow, Minister for Social Development.

“Partners for Change” sets out a programme of action across every government department and will be taken forward over the next three years. It has been produced in conjunction with representatives of the voluntary and community sector making it the first of its kind.

Under the strategy commitments are made in the areas of neighbourhood regeneration, the economy, transport, the environment, rural development, health and social services, training, education, arts, sport, EU Funding Programmes and a strengthening of existing partnerships in the areas of criminal justice and policing.

Highlighting the important role played by the sector, the Minister said: "Our lives are touched in profound and sometimes invisible ways by the work of the voluntary and community sector. ‘Partners For Change’ builds on this excellent work and is not an end product but the start of a new way of working.

"When government departments and the voluntary and community sector come together in the kind of practical partnership represented by the report, extraordinary things can result that will bring social and economic benefit to individuals, families and communities throughout Northern Ireland."

Referring to the uniqueness of the strategy in the UK, the Minister said Northern Ireland was the only administration in the UK to have developed such a strategy. (MB)