The Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) is a tool used in the UK to prevent discriminatory policies and practices. It considers the effects of a project on society, environment, and health. The Equality Act 2006 and 2010 protect the rights of UK citizens, and the EqIA is a structured assessment tool to ensure individuals and companies consider the impact of their actions on groups or communities. It often concerns society, environment, and health, and can lead to changes in public decision-making and a more proactive approach to promoting equality.
Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) is a tool widely used in the UK to discourage discriminatory policies and practices. This assessment is often based on three individual components: the effects of a project on society, the environment and health. Consequently, social impact assessment can look at how a project or plan can affect wealth, while environmental assessment can look at how industry affects air quality. Health impact assessments often consider how a project may harm or benefit people and its potential to lead to new lifestyle habits.
The UK Parliament passed the Equality Act 2006 to protect the rights of all UK citizens. Its essential purpose is to transcend the boundaries that may normally exist in contexts of gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, race and disability. Pregnancy, motherhood and gender reassignment are additional features that now offer protection against discrimination. The act is both advocated and enforced by the Commission on Equality and Human Rights, which is an organization joined by three individual commissions originally protective of racial equality, equal opportunity, and the rights of persons with disabilities.
The Equality Act 2010 grew out of those statutes originally developed from the 2006 act. This framework is an updated version that purportedly provides greater accessibility to policies and defines people’s rights more concisely. Parliament officials intend that, in turn, the laws are easier to comply with and can be easily applied to businesses, public bodies and private individuals.
One axis that has grown out of this commitment to equality is equality impact assessment. This is a structured assessment tool in line with the provisions of the 2010 Act. The aim of EqIA is to improve the quality of life of UK citizens by ensuring that individuals and companies consider the impact of their actions on groups or community. In this way, negative consequences can be eliminated or minimized before actions are implemented.
An equality impact assessment is planned before service agencies and companies implement policies. The Parliament also believes that this should be a guideline for the provision of the service. Where an assessment reveals the risk of discrimination against any protected class, steps must be taken to address those risks. Therefore, equality impact assessment often concerns three points: society, environment and health.
People can be influenced by any number of development projects. For example, a plan to promote commercial agriculture may lead to significant wealth changes for one segmented population, while the construction of a new airport may impose housing consequences for another area. A tool known as social impact assessment (SIA) helps identify the influences that a proposed project or policy can create. The consensus generally sees it as an important component of equality impact assessment. While an SIA can occur in many countries and across different industries, the methodologies used for the assessment can vary widely.
Similar to that conducted for societal implications, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) examines a project’s potential to affect nature. The EIA is often developed through studies and analyses, which in turn inform policy makers and the public concerned. In cases where the EIA recognizes negative consequences for the land, such as air quality disturbances or wetland destruction, alternatives to the proposed project may be provided. Changes in infrastructure, industrial development and private sector actions can affect the environment differently, thus creating a need for EIA in many practices. In turn, an equality impact assessment often uses EIA to identify environmentally sound policies.
Just as corporate and government actions can alter the environment, these same activities can also have a profound impact on human health. Transport, for example, often contributes to traffic accidents, air pollution and noise. Policies designed to improve health can reduce these risks and also encourage beneficial activities such as walking and cycling. Health impact assessment (EIA) is a tool that can assess the impact of projects and policies in different economic sectors. When considered as part of the equality impact assessment, EIA can alleviate undue burdens on poor or underdeveloped areas.
The EqIA is largely a component of the UK Parliament. Its individual components, however, can be used worldwide. These segmented portions often allow policy makers to consider the entire project from different angles. Such an approach can lead to changes in the culture of public decision-making and a more proactive approach to promoting equality.
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