Executive failing womens sector

The womens sector which has played such an important process is being cast aside by the executive according to a number its leaders. They have warned that further job losses are imminent as a result of the Executives failure to release millions of pounds of Peace III funding approved for the women’s sector.

Delays in the full implementation of the Peace III programme have created a climate of uncertainty for many local groups who have been allocated funding under Peace III, with a number of organisations facing closure in the coming days as a direct result of the delays. Initially scheduled to come on stream in mid 2008 the Peace III programme was designed to fund organisations engaged in activity focused on reconciliation. Despite the full approval of £2.8m funding to the Womens Sector via a successful application made by the Training for Women Network (TWN), an indefinite delay in signing off the funding for release into the community by the Executive has now precipitated a situation whereby scores of direct job losses will occur in the coming days across Northern Ireland. These job losses will be further compounded by the subsequent loss of vital training and indirect job losses in some of the most economically disadvantaged communities

The effect of this delay is being particularly felt in the women’s training and education sector where a number of projects due to be funded under the Peace III programme are in a state of limbo, with no real indication of when or indeed if the approved funding will be made available to them. Speaking about the situation TWN Chief Executive Norma Shearer commented “The irony of the imminent job losses is not lost on those directly affected by this logjam in the Executive. In this time of great economic uncertainty within the local economy, with literally thousands of homes across NI losing their means of income due to job losses related directly to the global economic downturn  – here we have a situation where further jobs losses are happening not because of the economic slowdown but because of bureaucratic problems and a failure of the Executive to distribute much needed funding which has already been approved for use within the most economically vulnerable sections of our local community”