One of the core thrusts of this Strategy is the need to bring Wexford up to at least the current national standard in a whole range of areas across the economic; social; and cultural spectrum. In essence it is about achieving "fairness for Wexford".

The Strategy however is very aware that there is an equally important concept of "fairness in Wexford": that concept is clearly expressed in the Guiding Principles of Participation and Social Inclusion introduced in Section 3 of the document. From the very start the CDB has been
convinced that if it is to be effective it must reflect the broad range of needs; opinions; and backgrounds that contribute to the County's social and cultural richness. Put simply, the
pursuit and achievement of Equality is central to the CDB's work. One of the ways we have "signed up" to that is via our adoption of our Proofing guiding Principle as presented in Section 3.

WHAT WE HAVE DONE IN RESPONSE

This Strategy document has been developed out of a very substantial consultation process, the details of which are presented in Appendix 2. During this process every effort was made to have the various events; meetings; and groups as representative and as inclusive as possible.
In some areas we were more successful in this than others. We do recognise that for a start there is an under-representation of women on the CDB itself. This is largely the legacy of history: CDBs across the country had to bring together the leading people from the various key agencies ... and even today most of these tend to be men.

As a CDB we respect and acknowledge where we have come from. But we are determined to build
on our history and not be constrained or limited by it. That means identifying and then taking action to address what we might call our "Equality deficits". Among the key areas we need to continue to work on are: women; people with disabilities; Travellers; asylum seekers; people in rural communities; older people; young people; and indeed, any group experiencing discrimination or
exclusion.

WHAT WE PROPOSE TO DO

In keeping with the nature of the process, Wexford CDB has drawn together a number of key Interests and organisations to test the various Equality aspects of the Strategy in a facilitated workshop setting. The purpose of the workshop was to raise issues around the strategy and to provide participants with basic guidelines on proofing which they could apply to their own discussions around the strategy. As well as making an unambiguous statement about the Board's continued commitment in this area, the workshop provided the basis for an equality proofing template. This
template reflects the model outlined below:

The Board's overall approach in terms of evaluation and monitoring is outlined in the next, and final, Section of the Strategy.

       
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