The UK's exit from the European Union continues to bring uncertainty, not least in relation to equality and human rights, and we'll be debating those issues in more detail tomorrow. In these challenging times, the commission's work remains vital, and I again thank the Wales team and their colleagues around the UK for the advice and evidence they provided to our joint committee's report on equalities and Brexit. The decades of EU membership have produced a legacy of benefits covering many, many aspects of daily life in Wales, and we intend to safeguard these benefits in Wales, and we will vigorously oppose any attempt to cut corners or create worse conditions as we leave the EU. 

Creating a more equal Wales, where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential and is able to contribute fully to the economy, will enable Wales to be more prosperous and innovative. It is therefore vital, for example, that all women are able to achieve and prosper, and we are committed to working with the EHRC and others to ensure fair employment in Wales, to protect workers' rights, and ensure women do not face discrimination in the workplace in relation to pregnancy or maternity. The EHRC's Working Forward campaign not only benefits women in the workplace—it also makes good business sense to support staff in the workplace generally. 

The commission continues to promote gender equality, including through its submission to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, assessing the progress on women's rights since 2013, and making recommendations both to the UK and the Welsh Governments. Our own programme of work on gender equality continues through the gender equality review. Chwarae Teg is leading on delivery of phase 2 of the review, building on the work they completed in phase 1. The leader of the house chairs the steering group overseeing the review, and the EHRC is represented by Ruth Coombs. We will be considering both the CEDAW submission and the evidence and recommendations from 'Is Wales Fairer? (2018)?'

Our approach involves working across different equality strands, including race, disability and age, and aiming to ensure that no-one is left behind. We recognise that women and girls who experience multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination are often excluded from progress. By summer 2019, we will have a clear road map, in the form of the phase 2 report, for achieving gender equality in Wales, and the work will continue beyond the formal end of the project to ensure that the right things are being done to achieve this goal.

This year, we have really accelerated progress in delivering the objectives in our national strategy on violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. The number of public sector workers we have trained has topped 135,000. For the first time, local health boards and local authorities have published strategies on tackling these issues. We've run two very successful communications campaigns, and we have worked with survivors and stakeholders to inform policy development and delivery. But there is still a mountain to climb, and we need to do more to ensure that we deliver what is needed, where it is needed and when it is needed. 

During this year, the EHRC has been carrying out an extensive monitoring exercise to assess how well the Welsh public sector is fulfilling their duties under the Equality Act 2010. This work is close to completion, and we look forward to discussing the findings with the commission. I have also been reflecting on what we can do strengthen the public sector equality duty. Our initial priorities, closely linked to the gender review, are to address pay and employment gaps. We will be taking early steps to strengthen the guidance and regulation around these duties, to improve the monitoring arrangements and ensure that information on the performance of the Welsh public sector as a whole is readily available and easy to find.

We acknowledge that there is more to do in Wales to promote disabled people's rights. The EHRC report 'Being disabled in Britain' and their housing inquiry report have both provided food for thought, and influenced our new draft framework, 'Action on disability: the right to independent living'. I urge you to respond to the consultation, which is open until mid January. 

The commission's report on the cumulative impact of UK Government tax and welfare reforms, both implemented and proposed, on people sharing different protected characteristics was a shocking revelation of the UK Government's austerity measures. It is profoundly wrong in a civilised nation to ignore the impacts of these reforms on equality, and it is a serious injustice for the incomes of the poorest and most vulnerable groups in our society to be impacted in such a disproportionate way. Yet a combination of reducing incomes and cuts to vital support services are the bleak reality for too many people in the UK. We will continue our efforts to mitigate the impact of austerity measures on some of the most disadvantaged people in Wales, but we cannot possibly do all that is really needed.

'Is Wales Fairer? (2018)' calls for the Welsh Government to enact the socioeconomic duty of the Equality Act 2010

'to tackle the biggest driver of inequality in Wales: poverty.'

The leader of the house has discussed this extensively, and, in particular, I know she thanks the future generations commissioner for her advice on how this might work within the context of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. Within the last week, officials have been asked to scope a research project to model and test what practical impacts different options would be likely to have. Engagement and consultation with protected groups are fundamental requirements of our Welsh-specific equality duties. This engagement is vital to understand, identify and address barriers to equality and deliver policies and services that are efficient and effective.

'Is Wales Fairer?' adds to our evidence base on equality and human rights and will contribute substantially to the Welsh Government's work in the coming years, not least the consultation on our next set of equality objectives for 2020-24, which will start early in the new year. Aligning our objectives with the commissioner's challenges will ensure we are taking a targeted, joined-up approach to tackling inequality in Wales. I hope it may be possible to develop objectives, not just for the Welsh Government alone, but ones that can be shared and supported across the Welsh public sector. 

Engagement with the public sector and other stakeholders makes up a large part of the EHRC's work, including through their exchange network. This year also saw again an oversubscribed annual conference, which focused on identity-based violence, violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence. Nazir Afzal, one of the two national advisers on these matters, spoke at the event. Also very popular was the EHRC's chair, David Isaac's lecture on human rights in the twenty-first century, which looked at the potential impact of Brexit in Wales. 

So, we thank the commission for their work, not only this year, but since their inception. I think these examples emphasise the importance that Welsh civil society places on the work the EHRC does in Wales to improve lives and safeguard rights. The commission is an evaluator, an enforcer, an influencer and, critically, a catalyst for change. We remain grateful for its guidance and we value its strong and distinct presence in Wales.