The Centre will provide legal assistance to persons who are victims of discrimination on the basis of religion, belief, race, colour, or national or ethnic origin. It will also monitor the types and extent of racial discrimination. The Norwegian Government is concerned with the fact that our present legislation does not provide sufficient legal protection for victims of discrimination. In March this year the Government appointed a committee to draw up proposals for an act combating ethnic discrimination. The Governments opinion is that to prevent and combat racism and discrimination, we have to address the problem at various levels and through various efforts.
Legal protection is one.
Continuous monitoring of the situation is another. Research and development programmes are also required. Furthermore we require practical measures basically in all areas of society. I would like to draw attention to a governmental Plan of Action for Recruiting Persons with an immigrant Background to the Government Sector. The plan that was launched in 1998, aims to increase the number of persons with immigrant backgrounds working in the government sector, as well as increase awareness amongst the employers.