Diversity and equality
This page concentrates on gender and draws heavily on "Women, girls, boys & men, different needs – equal opportunities" – see further reading. Similar considerations apply to ensuring that there is a balance and equality on ethnic and religious grounds
Equality
Equality between women and men:
- refers to the equal enjoyment by women, girls, boys and men of rights, opportunities, resources and rewards.
- is enshrined in International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law.
Balance
Ensuring that there is a balance of women and men at all levels in the team has practical advantages for your programme by:
- creating more possibilities for discussing and addressing the differing impacts of policies and programming on women and men.
- allowing your team to reach out to a wider cross-section of the beneficiary population.
Ensuring that there is a balance between women and men in your team may also be the requirement of your organisation, donors or applicable legislation.
Examples
- In Afghanistan, foreign males or non-blood relatives can not talk to local women. Women working with humanitarian agencies are however able to talk to both Afghan women and male leaders .
- A well-prepared man may be better placed to speak with a warlord while a trained woman may be better suited to speak with a female survivor of sexual violence.
Practical ways to have a balanced team of women and men
- Widely distribute vacancy announcements to attract a diverse pool of applicants
- Check that experience and education requirements are not too narrowly defined.
- Where women or men are underrepresented, the vacancy announcement could say “Qualified women/men are encouraged to apply.”
- Include both women and men on interview panels.
- Evaluate all candidates against the same criteria.
- Do not assume that some jobs are too difficult or dangerous for women.
- Consider alternative working arrangements to overcome cultural limitations to women’s employment, such as the employment of brother/sister teams.
- Provide training on gender and cultural diversity to all staff.
- Offer separate facilities (toilets, sleeping quarters) for women and men; provide child care to staff, where possible.
- Keep all staffing data disaggregated by sex for easy monitoring.
This page was last updated by Phil Wilks on 28 April 2010 at 12:14:45 (2 years ago).
View page history (1 version).