The South Belfast MLA stated: "What is striking about the report is how predictable it is. We know that young people want greater integration and to move on from the past, but we also know they are being given little sense that they will experience this.
"We shouldn’t believe that the situation is hopeless, because it is anything but. Programmes such as the Executive Programme for Tackling Paramilitary Activity are in fact, delivering clear and positive outcomes, even though we know that good news rarely makes the headlines.
"However, we are still a long way from the target. Two years ago, our ‘peace walls’ were meant to be brought down to enable community integration across all of Northern Ireland, including the inner city, and we are yet to see this happen.
"Fundamentally, responsibility for delivery in this area rests with the First and deputy First Minister and their department. It’s time the Executive Office recognised that we cannot keep lumbering the next generation with divisions of the past. Inaction is not an option. What is required is meaningful change to move on from segregation as a default."
"We shouldn’t believe that the situation is hopeless, because it is anything but. Programmes such as the Executive Programme for Tackling Paramilitary Activity are in fact, delivering clear and positive outcomes, even though we know that good news rarely makes the headlines.
"However, we are still a long way from the target. Two years ago, our ‘peace walls’ were meant to be brought down to enable community integration across all of Northern Ireland, including the inner city, and we are yet to see this happen.
"Fundamentally, responsibility for delivery in this area rests with the First and deputy First Minister and their department. It’s time the Executive Office recognised that we cannot keep lumbering the next generation with divisions of the past. Inaction is not an option. What is required is meaningful change to move on from segregation as a default."