The National Office Against Racial Discrimination (Italian translation Ufficio Nazionale Antidiscriminazioni Razziali), also known by the acronym UNAR, is an Italian state body with the function of promoting equal treatment and the removal of discrimination based on race or ethnic origin. Active since 2003, it is established at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. It operates in an autonomous and impartial manner and also deals with the different impact that discrimination can have on women and men, as well as the existence of forms of racism of a cultural and religious nature.
It was established by the Berlusconi II Government with the legislative decree 9 July 2003, n. 215, transposing community directive no. 2000/43 EC.
Functions
The tasks entrusted to the office by law are the following:
provide assistance, in jurisdictional or administrative proceedings undertaken, to people who consider themselves harmed by discriminatory behaviour, also according to the forms referred to in art. 425 Italian civil procedure code; carry out investigations, in compliance with the prerogatives and functions of the judicial authority, in order to verify the existence of discriminatory phenomena; promote the adoption, by public and private entities, in particular by associations and bodies carrying out activities in the field of combating discrimination, of specific measures, including projects positive actions, aimed at avoiding or compensating for disadvantaged situations linked to racial or ethnic origin; spread the maximum possible knowledge of the protection instruments in force also through actions to raise public awareness of the principle of equal treatment and the implementation of information and communication campaigns; formulate recommendations and opinions on issues related to discrimination based on race and ethnic origin, as well as proposals for amendments to current legislation; draw up an annual report for the Parliament on the effective application of the principle of equal treatment and on the effectiveness of the protection mechanisms, as well as an annual report to the President of the Council of the Ministers on the activity carried out; promote studies, research, training courses and exchanges of experiences, also in collaboration with associations and bodies that carry out activities in the field of combating discrimination, with other non-governmental organisations operating in the sector and with institutes specialists in statistics detection, also for the purpose of developing guidelines on the fight against discrimination.
Composition
The office is directed by a manager appointed by the President of the Council of Ministers or by a Minister delegated by him. It also makes use of personnel from other public administrations, including magistrates, lawyers and public prosecutors, in positions of command, on leave or outside the role, as well as experts and external consultants.
Editorial series
UNAR directs the editorial series "Rights, Equality, Integration" which has the declared aim of contributing to the realization of the general principle of non-discrimination and equality, enshrined in Article 3 of the Italian Constitution, and to spread the values of diversity and differences against every form and cause of discrimination.
Publications
The series is composed of the following volumes:
Controversies
In 2017 an investigation by the program Le Iene reported that in a private club affiliated to the ANDDOS , association which had access to state funding amounting to 55,000 euros thanks to a UNAR tender, not yet disbursed, group sex and prostitution homosexual. Subsequently ANDDOS specified that the money paid by UNAR (awarded through a regular tender) was not linked to the support of the group but the aim was to finance specific projects relating to courses on discrimination. On 20 February 2017, following the media outcry caused by the investigation, the director of UNAR Francesco Spano resigned from office.
In July 2018 all the accusations relating to the former director of UNAR, Francesco Spano, were dropped and the court of auditors confirmed the correctness of the announcement that ended up under accusation.