Northern
Ireland Council for Voluntary Action represents the Voluntary Sector |
Under
the section Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity, the signatories
to the Good Friday Agreement commit themselves to promoting community development.
During the Troubles the community and voluntary sectors played an invaluable
role in holding communities together. Their inclusion in the Agreement
is recognition on the part of the British and Irish governments that the
community and voluntary sectors have a significant contribution to make
to social and economic regeneration.
The
Northern Ireland Executive's first Programme for Government, Making a
Difference, published in April 2001, demonstrated that it is committed
to community development. Its programme includes 13 action plans to encourage
the development of sustainable and inclusive communities. These are:
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by
2002, agree Community Support Plans with all 26 district councils
and funding support for the Community Support Programme |
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from
April 2001, introduce a programme of action to support community infrastructure
and to strengthen those areas where it is weakest with the objective
of reducing social and economic disadvantage |
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by
2002, develop measures of the effectiveness of community and voluntary
organisations in delivering community infrastructure |
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