ENG-2008 — Page 76

36 The Legal System

station, Radio Television Hong Kong, and provides a number of other support services to help members of ethnic minorities to integrate into the community.

Support Service Centres for Ethnic Minorities

In order to strengthen support services for ethnic minorities, the Government announced during the year a new initiative to sponsor non-governmental organisations to establish and operate four support service centres for ethnic minorities. The purpose is to provide a telephone interpretation service to members. of ethnic minorities to facilitate their access to essential public services and to organise language classes and other activities to facilitate their integration into the community. The centres are expected to come into operation in 2009.

Children's Rights

The Government has supported various initiatives to enhance awareness of children's rights enshrined in United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

It has set up a Children's Rights Forum to enable better communication with children and advocates of children's rights, and provide children with additional opportunities to express their views.

The Government has established a Children's Rights Education Funding Scheme which provides financial assistance to non-governmental organisations carrying out activities to promote children's rights. Administrative support for the Forum and the Funding Scheme is provided by the Children's Rights Unit of the CMAB.

Equal Opportunities Commission

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is an independent statutory body established under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance in 1996 to implement the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, the Disability Discrimination Ordinance and the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance.

The EOC is also entrusted with the implementation of the Race Discrimination Ordinance which was enacted in July 2008 and expected to be fully operational in 2009.

The EOC's functions include handling complaints, encouraging conciliation, providing assistance to aggrieved persons, and undertaking public education, research and training programmes to promote equal opportunities and eliminate discrimination on the grounds of sex, marital status, pregnancy, disability, family status and race (to be effected in 2009).

In 2008, the commission received 3 540 enquiries and 767 complaints relating to the three anti-discrimination ordinances; and 193 complaint cases conciliated.

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