Existing and Planned Measures on the Promotion of Racial Equality
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), established in May 1996, is a statutory body to implement the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO), the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (DDO), the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (FSDO), and the Race Discrimination Ordinance (RDO) in Hong Kong.
The Commission works towards the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of sex, marital status, pregnancy, breastfeeding, disability, family status and race. We also aim to eliminate sexual harassment, breastfeeding harassment and harassment and vilification on the grounds of disability and race. We promote equality of opportunities between men and women, between persons with and without a disability and irrespective of family status and race.
The EOC has prepared a checklist under the “Administrative Guidelines on Promotion of Racial Equality” issued by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB), highlighting the services and the existing and planned measures relevant to the promotion of racial equality and equal access to key public services provided by the Commission. This checklist, together with those drawn up by other government bureaux/departments and public authorities, has been uploaded onto the CMAB's website for public access.
Enquiry and Complaint Services
Services Concerned
- The EOC handles complaints on unlawful acts, conducts investigation and conciliation and provides assistance accordingly under sections 78 and 79 of the RDO so as to work towards the elimination of racial discrimination, harassment and vilification, and promote equality of opportunities and harmony between persons of different racial groups.
- The EOC provides advice to and handles enquiries from public authorities, other parties and individuals on the compliance of the RDO.
Existing Measures
- We ensure equal access to making enquiries and lodging complaints by people of diverse race.
- The needs, sensitivities and concerns of different racial groups are taken into account in provision of enquiry and complaint services.
- Translation and interpretation services are provided to meet the language needs of enquirers and complainants of diverse race as and when in need.
Assessment of Future Work
- The EOC will regularly assess and review its enquiry and complaint handling services and its measures to further enhance equal access to the services by people of diverse race.
Additional Measures Taken/To Be Taken
- Measures have been stepped up to let enquirers and complainants of diverse race have more instant understanding of complaint handling process (CHP) and/or conciliation procedures by providing subtitles of CHP and conciliation videos and CHP information for complainants and respondents in ten languages other than Chinese and English, including Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi, Sinhala, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu and Vietnamese.
- Data of enquiries and complaints concerning racial issues and/or racial groups will be collected for continuous review of racial equality policies and measures.
- Proper records of special language needs requested by enquirers and complainants (other than Chinese and English) will be kept in the internal data collection system.
Training Service for the General Public
Services Concerned
- The Policy, Research andTraining Divisionof the EOC offers two series of training to the general public, namely calendar training and customised training courses in order to provide training on equal opportunities legislation and the related management strategy.
Existing Measures
- Medium used at the training courses
- Under the calendar training programme, EOC organises two series each year during the spring and autumn. Free Cantonese and English training courses are offered in both series to ensure that both Cantonese and non-Cantonese speaking people can participate in our training courses without language barrier.
- Under the customised training, Cantonese and English training courses are provided upon request from organisations.
- Content of the training courses
- The concept of racial equality, culturally inclusive workplace and major unlawful acts under the RDO are covered by existing calendar training and customised training courses when appropriate to promote racial equality.
- Access to the training services
- All the information and enrolment details can be accessed at the EOC’s website in both Chinese and English.
- Enrolment form in Chinese and English is available at the EOC’s website.
Assessment of Future Work
- Content of the training courses relating to racial equality will continue to be reviewed by trainers in both training series every year.
Training Service for People of Diverse Race
Services Concerned
- The Ethnic Minorities Unit (the “Unit”)of the EOC actively reaches out to racial groups to identify training needs on the anti-discrimination protection and assess their language needs.
Existing Measures
- Training programmes for different racial groups will be provided when necessary and practicable through:
- Direct service delivery by staff members proficient in the required languages of the groups
- Referral for interpretation and/or translation services by external service providers
- Collaboration with NGOs, racial groups or consulate offices with the required language support
Assessment of Future Work
- Feedback from diverse racial groups on the training service provided will be collected in the Unit’s outreach activities and regular meetings with racial community leaders.
Additional Measures Taken/To Be Taken
- Trainings and educational materials in other languages are provided for racial groups.
- Language support strategy will be regularly reviewed in accordance to feedback collected from ongoing community engagement exercise with different racial groups.
Provision of Appropriate Language Services to Service Users in Need
Services Concerned
- The EOC is committed to adopting proactive and practical approach to ensure equal access to its services by people of diverse race. To facilitate communication with service users who are unable to read or communicate in Chinese/English, appropriate language services will be provided.
Existing Measures
- Information leaflets on the four discrimination ordinances implemented by the EOC and other related information are provided in eight languages other than English and Chinese: Bahasa Indonesia, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu and Vietnamese. Additionally, the information leaflet in respect of the Race Discrimination Ordinance is provided in two more languages, Bengali and Sinhala. These leaflets are obtainable at the EOC’s Office or can be downloaded from the EOC’s website. Promotion materials are translated into languages other than Chinese and English when necessary and practicable. In order to ensure accuracy, the translation prepared by service provider will undergo an additional step of proofreading by another service provider.
Assessment of Future Work
- Feedback on the effectiveness of language support provided to service users of different races will be solicited for continuous review and improvement.
- Numbers of requests for translation and interpretation service and the serviceprovided will be reviewed regularly to ascertain future service needs and planning of resources required.
Additional Measures Taken/To Be Taken
- To widen the dissemination of information to other growing racial groups, such as Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans, major information leaflets in relation to the other three discrimination ordinances (other than Race Discrimination Ordinance) will be translated and made available for them in person or from the EOC’s website.
- To increase the awareness of the availability of free Interpretation/Translation services in different languages other than English and Chinese, conspicuous notice / poster has been put on display in EOC’s Lobby and will be put on EOC’s websiteas appropriate.
- Frontline staff are encouraged to proactively introduce EOC’s language service to service users. To further facilitate communication with EOC’s service users who do not speak English/Chinese, specialised AI Translator Earbuds, which supports 36 languages, has been made availablefor useas necessary.
- Numbers of requests for translation and interpretation service are collected for service and resources reviews.
- EOC’s Personal Information Collection Statement and Privacy Policy Statement available from EOC’s website has been translated into ten languages other than English and Chinese: Bahasa Indonesia, Bengali, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi, Sinhala, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu and Vietnamese.
- Work procedures for arranging Interpretation/Translation services will be drawn up to ensure all staff, especially frontline staff, are aware of, so as to ensure effective service delivery.
Interpretation and Translation Services Arranged from April 2023 to March 2024
The document is also available in eight ethnic minority languages (Bahasa Indonesia, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu and Vietnamese).
For enquiries or feedback, please contact Miss Gloria YU, Senior Equal Opportunities Officer (Administration & Personnel) of Corporate Planning and Services Division through the following channels
eoc@eoc.org.hk (For general enquiries only. Please see Important Message here.) | |
Phone | (852) 2511 8211 |
Fax | (852) 2511 8142 |
SMS | 61153037 (For people with hearing impairment/ speech difficulties during EOC's Office hours) |
- Persons with disabilities who need physical assistance in getting to the EOC Office can contact us at 2511 8211.
- For general enquiries outside office hours, please leave voice messages at our hotline 2511 8211.
September 2024