Equality and Human Rights Mainstreaming Strategy

Changing process alone with no aligned cultural and capability enhancement will not lead to mainstreaming equality and human rights. Enhancing capability and culture means equipping all public sector staff, at all levels, with the skills, knowledge, and motivation to fully integrate equality and human rights into everything they do.

This requires investment to ensure all staff have a suitable base level of knowledge and skills in equality and human rights.  It also means developing more in-depth skills for specific and specialist roles. All public sector staff must have access to the right development opportunities, guidance, and tools when they need it, with clear frameworks setting out the depth of knowledge required.

Clear frameworks of knowledge, skills and behavioural requirements allow equality and human rights to be built into all aspects of management including:

• recruitment and promotion
• performance management (building on the use of diversity objectives)
• development and talent management

Improving capability means expanding the skills and knowledge of staff so that they understand not only their responsibilities in, but also the benefits of considering equality and human rights. This allows staff to be creative and innovative, using systems, technology, and processes to support the policy-making process. A more diverse workforce further supports cultural change.

Training and development must recognise the needs of different groups e.g., the specific need for disability and gender competence.  There is also a need to ensure this understanding of equality and human rights is specific to policy teams’ working area.  In the Scottish Government, we are piloting Centres of Expertise in Government portfolios to develop officials’ understanding of equality and human rights within the context of different policy areas. The underpinning principle is to offer ‘just in time’ training, development, and resources. This approach helps to ensure that staff are enabled to develop policies, including impact assessments, when required rather than repeat training on a fixed timeline. 

To fully realise the increased capability, all initiatives undertaken must be evaluated and continuously improved, so it will be necessary to consolidate and review any changes in approach. We will continue to develop the necessary skills across the Scottish Government and to share lessons learned and best practices with the wider public sector, so that equality and human rights considerations are hardwired into all thinking across the board.

The Strategy ambition is a transformed culture in government and the public sector where equality and human rights are central pillars guiding all internal and external processes. This means:

• policies consistently considered from an equality and human rights perspective from the outset
• ability to manage relevant tools and approaches such as Impact Assessment and intersectional analysis
• diverse voices and experiences shaping decisions at all levels
• staff confident in applying equality analysis and able to recognise exclusionary practices
• an organisation that feels inclusive, respects all identities, and leverages diversity to innovate
• a workplace where everyone can thrive and reach their full potential

This cultural transformation will enable Scotland to become a true leader on equality, fundamentally improving outcomes for all those who live there.