GARD Network Demands Doc
(Note that this document was originally released to IRC Leadership, via IRC’s internal website platform, in October 2020.)
FOR INTERNAL PURPOSES
To: International Rescue Committee (IRC) Leadership Board
David Miliband, President and CEO; Jeannie Annan, Chief Research and Innovation Officer, Airbel Impact Lab; Ricardo Castro, General Counsel; Ciaran Donnelly, Senior Vice President, Crisis Response, Recovery and Development; Oscar Raposo, Chief Financial Officer; Madlin Sadler, Chief Operations Officer; Jennifer Sime, Senior Vice President, Resettlement, Asylum and Integration; Awards Management Unit; Measurement; Hans Van de Weerd, Interim Senior Vice President, Europe
This time of national and global crisis spurred on by the deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and the countless other Black and Brown people in the U.S. and around the world has once again illuminated the culture of racism and the preservation of white supremacy in our global order and within the IRC. [White Supremacy is “the idea (ideology) that white people and the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions of white people are superior to People of Color and their ideas, thoughts, beliefs, and actions.” (source)] To fully appreciate the magnitude of the issue, it is critical to connect racial injustices perpetrated within the U.S. context to the ways in which white supremacy permeates societies globally and across the regions in which IRC operates to shape the realities and experiences of People of the Global Majority (BIPOC/PGM) and marginalized individuals. [In previous communication, we have used the terms BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and People of Color (POC) to refer to non-white racial categorizations. However, members of GARD have flagged that BIPOC/ POC does not fully resonate with communities outside of the Western context. One option put forth is to use the term “People of the Global Majority” (BIPOC/PGM) to define non-white racial categorizations. “BIPOC/PGM (is a term sometimes used) interchangeably with ‘black, indigenous, and people of color’ (BIPOC), since black, indigenous, and people of color represent over 80% of the world’s population. This wording points out the demographic inaccuracy of the euphemism “minority” and can feel more empowering for some people.” (source) As such, formerly described BIPOC or POC communities will now be referred to as BIPOC/PGM to allow for flexibility in self-identity and understanding that one singular term may not capture this identity globally. As we evolve, reflect, and learn, note that this term may also change to reflect our new understanding.]
In this spirit, we come together as colleagues, having been subject and witness to blatant acts of racism and microaggressions that have intentionally and unintentionally flourished under the protection of white supremacy culture at the IRC, steadfast in our determination to create a culture of equity, anti-racism, and decoloniality at the IRC. We call upon you — IRC Leadership — for accountability, swiftness, and sustained action.
Like so many of our sister organizations in the humanitarian aid sector, such as Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Women’s Health Coalition, we have been disappointed by the initial slow response and subsequent lack of direction from Leadership on this matter, especially as there is an intrinsic link between our mission and values as an organization and the mission of the Black Lives Matter movement. Like the IRC’s mission, the Black Lives Matter movement and the fight against police brutality are global issues that require us to confront deeply ingrained systems of oppression.
In a public statement issued on June 1, 2020, the IRC vowed “to work with all Americans to heal division by tackling injustice, to drive progress by confronting discrimination — including in our own workplace — and to build the nation by working together.” However, we are disheartened to see that in the weeks, now months, following this statement, there are still voices that have been systematically overlooked within our own organization. We commend the IRC for taking first steps in coordinating listening sessions, dedicating a budget to DEI work, and creating the DEI Team, Charter, and Council. [A note about the listening sessions: several colleagues who participated in Leadership Board listening sessions were dismayed by parts of the process, particularly that summations of points discussed reflect a sanitization of the comments shared by staff. We are therefore left unsure about the validity of the exercise if the take-away of staff participation is not a clear reflection of their thoughts and feelings.] We continue to urge the IRC and senior leaders to take action to dismantle racist and oppressive systems and practices in a committed, well-resourced, transparent, accountable, and sustainable manner for the long-term. We want an IRC that truly lives up to and goes beyond its values and mission to the people we serve and takes significant action to show steadfast commitment to anti-racism and decoloniality in the humanitarian sector and the world.
As members of the IRC’s Global Anti-Racism and Decoloniality (GARD) Network, we submit the attached petition of demands that was aggregated from the input of hundreds IRC employees.
[The GARD Network is a staff-led initiative that seeks to use community-building and shared collective power to address racism and coloniality at IRC.]
[A call was put out through the existing GARD Network asking colleagues to review and add input into an open brainstorming doc. People were given the opportunity to add to the document anonymously if they so wished. As such, it is not possible to fully assess the demographics of everyone who fed into the document. However, in assessing the backgrounds of the colleagues who have joined GARD to date, the vast majority are people living in the US and UK. The breakdown within these categorizations includes BIPOC/PGM colleagues living/ born in Western countries. As such, we cannot claim that this document is fully representative of our colleagues around the world. We invite colleagues around the world who would like to feed into this document to add in thoughts, ideas, and experiences through the link provided.]
We have assembled a set of 52 attainable action items that we believe would serve as first steps in prioritizing and cultivating a culture of anti-racism and decoloniality at IRC. We call on IRC to engage seriously with these recommendations and integrate these proposals into IRC’s core strategy and Strategy100 work. This transformation must be realized in partnership with BIPOC/PGM staff and clients — particularly BIPOC/PGM with lived experiences of displacement. [Displacement is used throughout this document to refer to the impacted client populations with which IRC works, including refugees, IDPs, asylum-seekers, migrants, immigrants, and other displaced communities.] Leadership must create spaces for opinions to be shared safely and for staff equipped with experience in anti-racism and decoloniality to have decision making power within the organization. We are well-aware that Leadership is in the process of learning about issues of decoloniality, structural oppression, and anti-racism, and we commend them for their efforts. However, we do not believe that IRC Leadership is sufficiently equipped to serve as the sole decision-makers in steering the organization to embrace anti-racism and decoloniality as core tenets through an intersectional lens. As such, central to our demands is that IRC Leadership empower and work with the staff-led GARD Network and other groups representing marginalized communities within the IRC by sharing decision-making power.
We are interested in having voices and votes.
A Note of Intent:
In addressing this letter to IRC Senior Leadership, it is our intent that this demands letter and platform be internal facing only. We are sharing this document through IRC’s approved internal communications mechanisms to adhere to the IRC Acceptable Use Policy and the Confidentiality Policy.
We care deeply about the clients we serve, and for our fellow colleagues that work tirelessly to deliver the best programming possible. We want this platform and space to be a learning tool to make the IRC stronger, for us to grapple with and engage with these issues in order to be better. We do not seek to burn down the house, rather we want to renovate the house and continue to build on the work that has been done by colleagues who have come before us in order to create a better workplace and ultimately better outcomes for our clients. We want people to feel empowered to share and express themselves and their experiences, for this to be a space for growth and learning.
We recognize that some initial work has taken shape on these issues as of late, including the formalization of a leadership-initiated DEI Team and the development of a DEI Charter for the organization, and we are keen to see the work that will result from this collective of dedicated individuals. However, in the interim, we seek to provide a space for unfiltered, staff-led voices.
Consultation Process:
In drafting this Demands document, it was important to the GARD Network that the Diverse Leaders Group (DLG) of CRRD be consulted as CRRD represents 80% of IRC employees and is heavily representative of BIPOC/ PGM staff. We recognize that DLG cannot speak for the breadth of experiences of colleagues throughout IRC. However, we felt that this consultation process was an important first step in creating and/or strengthening avenues for colleagues throughout the expanse of IRC to speak for themselves. The GARD Network also consulted with representatives of IRC’s Refugee Voices to center the perspectives of our colleagues with experiences of displacement. Thank you to Refugee Voices and DLG for your feedback, and we look forward to working together. While the DLG and Refugee Voices were consulted, the statements of this document only reflect the position of GARD and not necessarily those of any consulted group.
This Demands document has been ratified by GARD Network members of BIPOC/PGM communities and GARD working groups to continue to center marginalized voices. [The GARD ratification process entails the passing of a motion with an 80% or greater approval rating by the identified GARD voting body.] The document is supported by the wider GARD Network. Note that the process of signing on to endorse these demands is open to ALL IRC staff.
Thank you for your consideration, and let us continue to push each other ahead, together, in the ongoing fight for justice.
Our demands fall under three main pillars: Power, Accountability and Transparency, all of which are fluid and may traverse other pillars.
1. Power
The IRC uses ‘Power’ as a measurement in how we talk about empowering our clients. Until we address the pervasiveness of white supremacy in our work, program creation, implementation, measurement, fundraising, and communications; we will only be perpetuating a culture of white supremacy.
Leadership must actively drive the dismantling of white supremacy within the structures of the IRC. This means that those in a position of authority must be willing to yield some of their formal power to more inclusive and diverse decision-makers. To commit to becoming anti-racist, Leadership must make room (financial and physical) for IRC clients and BIPOC/PGM colleagues to vote at decision-making tables throughout all levels of the organization.
2. Accountability
The IRC must be comfortable with talking about the fact that it has perpetuated a culture of racism and white supremacy. This is a critical step in finding solutions to the problem. The composition of the IRC’s Leadership Board and Senior Leaders Group is evidence that our leadership model is rooted in colonialism and imperialism. Regardless of intent, we must critically and explicitly call out the problem that our existing power structures feed this culture and make the necessary concessions to rectify this and meaningfully measure the progress towards achieving change related to the IRC’s values. Our Leadership across the board should look more like the people we serve.
3. Transparency
Strategy100 should serve as a platform to integrate racial justice, human rights, and intersectional approaches (not just a needs-based approach) to all aspects of our work — even where it may not be convenient in the short term to do so financially, but will ultimately make us the most effective organization possible. Only when we have diverse and empowered representation that is responsive to client needs and inclusive of the communities that we serve, will we be able to achieve our mission of “[helping] people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover and gain control of their future.” To achieve this, we must ALL educate ourselves on issues pertaining to structural oppression, anti-racism, and aid decolonization to effectively and transparently incorporate these ideas and practices into Strategy100. Ultimately, client-centered approaches should be practiced across all departments.
There is a lot of hope amongst us. There is a strong belief in this organization’s mission, values, and the work that we all do across our regions. None of us joined the IRC with a conscious desire to marginalize oppressed communities. In fact, most of us joined to be of service to humanity. This includes the IRC Leadership. Through this work, we see an IRC on the other side that is a visionary collaborator and role model working to build an anti-racist and decolonized humanitarian aid sector — standing with and for the most marginalized amongst us. We bring with us the dedication and conviction from staff already engaged in efforts to move us towards this vision, and we hope that you, IRC Leadership Board, will work with us on this critical and defining issue to create a more just, equitable, and anti-racist IRC. Below is our collated list of demands — grouped for ease of reference but in no particular order.
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GARD Network Demands Document
Please find below the GARD Network’s list of demands for IRC leadership.
Pillar 1: POWER
Language and Identity
1) Cancel the “RESCUE” re-branding as it explicitly connotes white saviorism. [The “White Savior Industrial Complex” is a term coined by Teju Cole that describes the damaging effects of white people who utilize charity, activism, religion, media, culture, and national policy to prioritize a “big emotional experience” for white “saviors” at the expense of marginalized communities. This ideology focuses on infantilizing non-white people and centering whiteness as the hero/ solution to the world’s problems without any dissection of larger issues such as systemic oppression, global corruption, imperialism that if fully assessed often implicate the US and Western Europe for much of the global inequality plaguing the world.]
a) Share the research behind and cost of the rebrand decision, including information on race/ gender and subject matter expertise of the individuals/team behind the change. Confirm if the rebrand decision-making process involved: a diverse set of voices, trauma survivors, refugees, IDPs, immigrants, migrants, asylum-seekers, and other displaced people.
2) Explicitly name and define the race-related issues that IRC must work to combat, including — but not limited to — white supremacy, racism, racial diversity, intersectionality, marginalization, and disassociation from power.
3) Examine and change the language used as descriptors of “international”/ “national” staff and offices to reflect a more inclusive culture.
a) Move away from International/ Western equivalency and National/ Non-Western connotations. b) Eliminate usage of pejorative terms like “the field,” “field staff,” and “localization.”
Empowerment of Clients & Colleagues with Lived Experiences of Displacement
4) Develop a measurable staffing and management pipeline for IRC clients, colleagues, and volunteers with lived experience as displaced people in all regions in which IRC operates. After all, IRC was set up to serve these communities.
a) Increase representation of people with lived experiences reflective of our client population on Leadership Board, Board of Directors, and Senior Management
i) We would ask that the Leadership Board, Board of Directors, and IRC Senior Management commit to primarily considering candidates with lived experiences of displacement — particularly those representing BIPOC/PGM communities — to fill vacant or new LB, Board of Directors, Senior Management positions until a minimum 50% threshold is met for people with lived experiences of displacement throughout IRC leadership. These candidates, as all IRC leaders and staff, should serve as advocates for client populations.
ii) Create a ‘Shadow Board’ of people with lived experiences of displacement and/or BIPOC/PGM staff — with decision-making power to help IRC during the transitional time to reach the 50% capacity threshold.
b) Invest in creating, promoting, and measuring accessible professional development opportunities for staff from client communities.
i) Each Director or Manager’s ToR should be partially tied to how effectively they create spaces of opportunity, training, equal pay, and advancement for people with lived experiences of displacement.
(1) Provide transparency to staff and clients about how staff members are hired and promoted.
5) Provide anti-racism informational sessions and learning opportunities about structural oppression for all displaced communities. IRC should be accountable to those we resettle and serve — particularly in contexts in which displaced BIPOC/PGM may experience racism. Training should include:
i) International Scale (Global White Supremacy — colonialism/ imperialism; interlinkages across regions and countries)
ii) National Scale (Information tailored to context in which displaced person is relocated)
6) Expand programs like Refugee Voices to contexts outside of the US, recognizing that most displaced people do not live in Western countries.
7) Create a Speakers Bureau to provide training opportunities and fair compensation for clients with displacement backgrounds who are asked to share their lived experiences for informational, advocacy, and/or fundraising purposes on behalf of IRC.
a) Develop and institute an ethical storytelling framework. [Ethical Storytelling provides guidelines to ensure that people who are asked to share details about their lived experiences fully understand the scope of the ask, how details of their lives will be shared, how long their details will be used, and provide affirmative consent. The practice also employs mechanisms to check back in with those that share their stories, asks organizations to consider the potential impact of telling one’s story on the individual (i.e. re-traumatization) and to provide resources to address those impacts. The approach also asks that organizations tell stories with both constituents and target audiences (i.e. donors) in mind. For more information on ethical storytelling, please click here and here.]
8) Develop client and community-centered programming and decision-making (along with associated staffing and funding) as a top-line priority of Strategy100 implementation. This is a critical aspect in shifting power to the communities that we serve.
a) Integrate client and community-centered programming and decision-making throughout all programmatic and operational sectors of IRC.
Empowerment of Staff from the Global Majority
9) Detail how the newly formed DEI Unit and Council will:
a) Engage with GARD and other identity groups throughout IRC.
b) Maintain an intersectional lens.
c) Move beyond a focus on HR practices to center structural oppression.
d) Ensure that staff and clients — particularly those most marginalized — have votes and not simply a voice at the table.
e) Ensure buy-in as a top-level organizational priority.
f) Define the scope of work and accountability mechanisms.
g) Clarify decision-making power of each team.
10) Commit to fairly compensating staff for work put into the DEI Unit and Council, GARD Network, and other groups with colleagues investing time into creating a more just IRC.
11) Formally recognize global DEI groups; this includes resourcing all translations that goes out into the working languages of IRC and other languages requested by colleagues to make group participation as accessible as possible.
12) Create accessible, measurable, and openly communicated ways to support “national staff” — particularly BIPOC/PGM “national” staff to access “international” and growth opportunities.
13) Hire women with BIPOC/PGM backgrounds in top leadership roles, develop a purposeful multi pronged strategy to enable BIPOC/PGM women career progression into leadership roles; this strategy should have metrics behind it and clear accountability similar to the Gender Equality project which has mainly benefitted white women; it should also include internal programs to support BIPOC/PGM women’s career progression into top leadership roles (i.e. a young professionals program for minorities, mentorship opportunities, leadership coaching, etc.).
14) Employ and properly compensate Women from BIPOC/PGM communities to lead and develop programming and studies on structural oppression and decoloniality.
a) Including: Stephanie Kimou, PopWorks Africa and Sonya Renee Taylor
15) Create cross-exchange pipelines of learning between HQ/UK and non-HQ/UK for offices. Provide opportunities for BIPOC/PGM “national” staff to work in HQ/UK and for HQ/UK colleagues to work in non-HQ/UK offices. Employ term limits at HQ to ensure that the pipeline is a 2-way exchange. Ensure that HQ/UK based staff, especially leadership, gains continual experience in front-line work (e.g., every 5 years).
16) Elect ‘Racial Justice’ Champions for offices modeled after Gender Champions. Fairly compensate elected representatives for their labor.
17) Create an internal podcast to lift the voices and share the impactful stories, unique challenges, and varying perspectives of minority staff, providing a space for safe and constructive dialogue.
Programmatic Engagement
18) Adhere to a written, practiced, and continuously assessed commitment to ensure that people with lived experiences of displacement, BIPOC/PGM representatives, and people from varying nationalities (with balanced representation between Western/ non-Western speakers or majority non-Western representatives) are on all panels — both internal and external — in which IRC participates.
a) Similar to the “no Manel” (no all-male panel) movement, which many senior leaders committed to a few years back.
b) Mandatory follow up data on all panels (internal and external) assessing success of this commitment.
c) Analyze and report programmatic data by race/ ethnicity/ and displacement experience d) Ask humanitarian leaders’ networks what they are doing to address anti-racism within their organizations.
19) Encourage senior leaders to use their blogs/ town halls/ global huddles to engage on matters related to racial equity and justice in a similar fashion to how gender parity is discussed and elevated throughout the organization.
20) Create a cross-cutting unit to study internal (HR and programmatic) and external (aid/ development sector) practices of coloniality and structural oppression. The unit should be equipped with power to influence IRC priorities and strategies.
a) Team should be primarily staffed by people with lived experiences of displacement and BIPOC/PGM who are advocates for client communities and understand the intricacies of how structural oppression manifests in the humanitarian aid/ non-profit sector.
21) Ensure that all anti-racism training is led, developed, and implemented by a team with specific expertise in this area with a focus on thought-leadership from BIPOC/PGM living in the Global South.
22) Review and overhaul the PEERS process so that it is truly about partnership with local partners rather than protecting IRC.
23) Invest in promoting scholarship from BIPOC/PGM with expertise across all sectors in which IRC works.
a) Resist the reflex to constantly filter voices of BIPOC/PGM communities through white interpretation and subjectivity — even when unpacking anti-racism, intersectionality, decoloniality etc.
i) Examine the reflex to favor scholarship from Western institutions
ii) Examine the reflex to favor use of Western M&E metrics
24) Implement an Anti-Racism Review Process/ Scoring Metrics cutting across all work areas and to align with performance review/financial year.
Pillar 2: ACCOUNTABILITY
Acknowledgement of IRC’s Complicity in White Supremacy Culture
25) Provide a fuller context of Albert Einstein’s views. In addition to highlighting his incredible merits, address the issue of Albert Einstein holding racist views and recognize this in the narrative of Einstein as IRC’s founder. In Einstein’s published travel diaries from the 1920’s, he used racist and xenophobic language to describe BIPOC/PGM communities. We believe that this gives space to have a richer, more holistic, and more honest discussion of Einstein’s views and ushers in the space for present-day staff to engage in anti-racist work in a more substantive way.
26) Ensure that David Miliband and senior leaders participate in one of the GARD identity groups: particularly White Fragility and Unpacking Anti-blackness in BIPOC/PGM Communities. Alternatively, David Miliband and senior leaders can establish a group to collectively learn and unlearn white supremacist ideologies. This group should have a clear system of accountability that goes beyond a reading checklist.
27) Publicly acknowledge that working for multicultural and vulnerable populations does not immunize us from prejudice, racism, and bias and commit to a zero-tolerance policy on racism.
28) Publicly recognize how the mostly white racial makeup of IRC’s leadership contrasts with the more diverse racial makeup of its entry- and mid-level employees and commit to diversifying our leadership at various levels.
29) Publicly acknowledge that diversity alone, without inclusivity, equity and power, is insufficient in the effort to “drive progress by confronting discrimination.”
Org-Wide Diversity Survey and Analysis
30) Conduct an immediate and independent agency-wide audit of IRC HQ, CRRD, and all RAI offices using diversity metrics, including an assessment of leadership levels. This should be a review of race, displacement status, nationality, hiring band level, management status, salary, training opportunities and promotions afforded (by race and by years of employment).
a) The auditing agency selected should have deep knowledge of structural oppression/ anti-racism in organizations in general and the humanitarian aid sector specifically. Review and approval of this consulting agency from the IRC DEI/ Diversity groups.
b) Qualitative data should include an IRC wide survey that captures the experiences of staff/ volunteers with displacement backgrounds and BIPOC/PGM colleagues within IRC and if people are willing, include their experiences of racism within the organization. The development of anonymous qualitative survey tools and methodology and analysis of results should have oversight from groups representing people with lived experiences of displacement and BIPOC/PGM communities. The results should feed into a learning paper for IRC and should inform policy/organizational change.
c) The facilitation of safe, confidential listening sessions with IRC Leadership (HQ, RAI, CRRD)/ the Board and BIPOC/PGM staff to explore experiences of racism and perceptions of inequality, lack of mobility, needs etc. Sessions should also include time for IRC Leadership/ the Board to address and explain the lack of diversity and representation of people with displacement backgrounds in leadership to BIPOC/PGM staff and addresses the steps being taken to rectify this issue. It is critical that these sessions be led by staff/ consultants well-versed in the complexities of white supremacy and structural oppression who do not misquote or water-down the statements of staff and provide follow up with notes to ensure that staff sentiment are properly recorded.
d) The outcome of the reviews and audit should be used to build on the work from Strategy100 approach to the people model, with clear metrics established on representation, voice, and influence of our workforce, across the organization including expat (privileged immigrant) positions, IRC Leadership, and the Board. [“The People Model” is a part of the IRC Strategy100 approach and is tied to HR functionality, including: recruitment, retention, and promotion of staff. (source)]
Explicit Commitment to Anti-Racism Included in Onboarding and Trainings
31) Ensure that the IRC DEI approach explicitly commits to anti-racism work and that this is included in all language and communications related to DEI.
a) Share DEI resources systematically during new hire employee training.
b) Incorporate DEI issues into Compass, Navigator training and leadership week.
c) Integrate DEI topics/discussions into existing bodies of IRC work.
d) Enforce mandatory online anti-racism/ unconscious bias/ micro-aggressions training with resources and links to anti-racism groups in/ external to IRC for all board members, current staff, new staff, consultants, interns, and volunteers.
e) Mandate that all new and current staff complete the decolonizing aid webinar from Pop Works Africa. This should be included on IRC’s training page.
f) Set aside one day/ fiscal quarter for global learning around anti-racism with mandatory participation. Additional mandatory training for managers to understand implicit bias and the organizational benefits of having a diverse staff.
g) Sponsor workshops, lecture series, reading groups, common reads, and other initiatives for education.
h) Assess impact with specific and measurable outputs and goals for all of the above.
Recruitment and Retention Analysis and Process Changes
32) Conduct an audit of recruitment and hiring practices and policies as they pertain to creating a more diverse staff.
a) Address the fact that in some countries, the labor laws/employee contracts make it so that people are more willing/able to speak up, because they feel protected and able to do so without retaliation. Staff in different parts of the world (including HQ) may not feel that same kind of supportive HR framework, which may cause some staff (especially those most marginalized/least privileged to speak up) to remain quiet in the face of injustices/inequalities/perpetuated racism.
33) Complete a review of how systematic underpayment of lower-level staff/ consultants/ interns and reliance on programs such as Americorps creates income insecurity and serves to ensure that only people from financially more secure/ elite families are given pathways to work at IRC. a) Institute paid internships across all of IRC, opening these early career opportunities to a wider variety of individuals with a focus on client communities. Create funding pools specifically for this effort.
b) Expand relationships with universities, colleges, student and local organizations that cater to BIPOC/PGM in the countries where we work by offering paid internships and creating early career opportunities with institutions such as historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) [in the U.S. context] and communities with lived experiences of displacement globally.
c) Partner with local youth workforce development agencies/partners to bring a more diverse group of youth interns to all offices. Workforce agencies have specific funding set aside for paid internships for youth from disadvantaged communities (including BIPOC/PGM, people with experiences of displacement, and immigrant youth) to gain work-experiences. Atlanta’s Youth Programs team led this successfully for two summers (2018, 2019) and expanded to year-round internships in 2020.
d) Develop and fund programs that allow youth with experiences of displacement and immigrant youth to complete paid internships at IRC offices.
34) Issue manager’s guidance on increasing diversity in recruitment practices.
a) Increase the diversity of our applicant pools/pipeline — particularly in Western countries and in leadership/ management positions across all IRC regions through substantive changes to the recruitment process, including intentionally posting positions on a wider range of platforms. i) Create and include stock language in every job posting that states we seek to hire people with lived experience.
b) Create an application & recruitment metrics that all hiring managers must fill to document the application/ advertisement and the selection processes from a lens that encourages the recruitment of BIPOC/PGM and people with lived experiences of displacement. i) Assess criteria such as: what is the current diversity composition of the team? Where were applications placed? What was the set recruitment criteria and why? Who is disqualified/ discouraged from applying? How many people with lived experiences of displacement, white people, or BIPOC/PGM were interviewed for the position? Who made it to round 2 of interviews? Who was selected and why?
c) Currently, hiring managers are often asked to provide specific platforms if we ask for diverse candidates, and many times, we are asked to provide budget codes for posting on these locations. Pursue non-academic approaches to hiring people from different experiences and skills sets.
d) With the COVID-related increase in remote working, encourage recruitment practices that allow hiring from a wide-range of geographic locations.
e) Incorporate questions around racial and ethnic diversity into the HR screening form. Currently, there is a question on candidates’ thoughts regarding gender equality, but nothing on other metrics of diversity.
f) Create an inclusive hiring policy brief/document that institutionalizes IRC’s commitment. It is not enough to have non-discrimination policies, we should have a document that recognizes the value, to the organization and the people we serve, of hiring BIPOC/PGM, especially people with lived experiences of displacement.
g) Train all hiring managers, local HR focal points, and HR leads on inclusive hiring practices, the value of candidates’ lived experiences in addition to their academic and career credentials, and how to look beyond a candidate’s resume (with specific question phrasing).
h) Recognize the work that BIPOC/PGM who are hiring managers have done in building diverse teams and provide them with a platform/opportunity to share their thoughts/questions when hiring new staff.
i) Investigate “banning the box” in the application process, limiting questions about an applicant’s criminal history. Review the practice of background checks for all staff. [We understand the anti-terrorism checks are a key part of compliance in the work in which IRC engages. However, we also believe that any practices that serve to discriminate against people for non-violent, non-terror related crimes should be thoroughly examined. We would welcome input for HR to better understand how one’s criminal history affects employment opportunities with IRC.]
Pillar 3: TRANSPARENCY
Organizational Policies
35) Update the IRC Code of Conduct by specifically naming — isms (including racism).
36) Support systems for reporting and escalation of issues.
a) Develop guidelines for HR teams on recognizing/ reporting/ recording acts of racism (and other isms) in the myriad of (sometimes subtle) ways racism is carried out.
b) Establish a clear, well-supported, and widely communicated mechanism for reporting concerns pertaining to racism. This process should be incorporated into the general IRC safeguarding document. Update security trainings and guidelines to address racism.
i) Provide the option to report incidents of racism to POC in our Ethics and Compliance Unit — if that is the appropriate reporting mechanism.
ii) Provide transparency on how these concerns will be acted upon.
c) Set a threshold for intolerance/disciplinary action and enforce them.
d) Provide clear guidance on reporting racism perpetrated by prospective donors, donors, clients, suppliers, government officials etc.
37) Incorporate racism discussions and micro-aggressions into all IRC Way Days.
a) Have regions also lead IRC Way Day to make it a less top-down exercise.
b) Create more realistic and applicable scenarios for different groups of staff (HQ staff, staff interfacing with country or RAI clients in all of their diversity — e.g. children/ adolescents, women, LGBTIQA+, persons with disabilities etc.)
38) Reassess or develop policies/ practices relating to equity, diversity and inclusion including equal opportunities and diversity policy, dignity at work policy, anti-harassment procedure, maternity/parental leave, compassionate leave, and safety and security, flexible working policy.
39) Systematically include anti-racism objectives in leaders’ job descriptions and progress assessments. Hold leadership accountable for progress in this area, provide opportunities for development and let people go if meaningful progress cannot be made.
40) Eliminate policies and practices within CRRD that differentiate between “national staff” and “expat (privileged immigrant) staff” when it comes to differential allowances for the same position (e.g.: stark inequality in the allocation of per diem, housing, national tax payment, childcare, etc.)
Representation and Commitment to Racial Justice
41) Increase diversity in staff representation at all levels, providing specific measurable outputs.
a) Develop a system of salary transparency.
b) Determine how internal audits of salaries can be conducted to reflect on salary disparities and to commit to salary equity across staff doing similar job functions.
c) Invest in discovering how data pertaining to race/ethnicity/nationality/ displacement status can be assessed in a manner that is in accordance with local governance regulations. Data will be key to assessment.
d) Analyze and publish IRC’s data by race and lived experiences of displacement (the same way we do by gender) to assess differences in outcomes. Report out regularly on diversity data within the organization as it relates to hiring, retention, recruiting, promotions and salary band.
42) Learn from and support local Community-Based Organizations that represent marginalized communities including BIPOC/PGM, women, domestic workers, LGBTQIA, minority castes, and other marginalized groups.
43) Build meaningful national and local partnerships with BIPOC/PGM-led racial justice organizations. a) Rethink the IRC approach and engage in these partnerships with humility and as an opportunity to amplify the voices of other organizations.
44) Integrate an intersectional racial-justice lens into all aspects of our work.
45) Publicly support concrete racial justice and reform policy proposals at various levels of government in regions of operation. (e.g. police reform bills, anti-discrimination efforts etc.)
46) Partner with racial justice organizations to amplify the messaging and engage in the work of anti racism and decoloniality.
Fundraising and Funding
47) Explore the concept of feminist & anti-racist fundraising and how IRC’s fundraising methods perpetuate power dynamics, including racism, colonialism, and sexism.
a) Evaluate the IRC’s due diligence process for donors in way that centers clients and the IRC’s values even where it may not be convenient in the short term to do so financially but will likely pay off in the longer term as it is the right to do for the IRC’s clients and staff.
b) Consider using the IRC Way to develop criteria around who we can accept as donors.
48) Provide clear information regarding how IRC’s Endowment is invested.
a) Create a mandate to work with ethical organizations as subcontractors, suppliers, and corporate donors.
b) Hold IRC Board members and their professional and business decisions to the same standard of IRC’s values and ethics.
i) Assess what activities IRC Board Members’ companies are invested.
ii) Examine company codes of ethics.
iii) Clarify IRC Board Members’ personal codes of ethics.
49) Create transparency and accountability around the use of unrestricted funding and significantly reallocate unrestricted funding toward anti-racism work. Embody this ethos by prioritizing a more equitable distribution of unrestricted funds to offices delivering programming.
a) This process should include a re-assessment and re-prioritization of existing positions that are funded through unrestricted funds.
Communication from Leadership
50) Provide transparency into the Equality page, including information on who is coordinating/leading the effort, how the information will be used, and who is feeding into it. Consult with and meaningfully involve the GARD Network and other identity groups across IRC regions in conversations and key decisions.
51) Use global huddles to address ongoing issues of systemic racism. Provide updates and report out on IRC’s progress in dismantling systemic racism.
a) Spotlight and support staff and leaders who are engaging in meaningful anti-racist/ anti oppression work.
52) Streamline communication to staff during times of racial, ethnic unrest such as following the murder of George Floyd. Disseminate information to staff before releasing statements publicly to external parties such as donors.
While these concrete demands cover a wide range of issues and themes, we would like to recognize that these demands are not fully exhaustive and reflective of all experiences and demands across all IRC regions particularly CRRD offices. As such, we expect a committed effort to especially engage with BIPOC/PGM staff from across the world including African, Asian, Middle Eastern and Latin American staff in various positions in CRRD offices while also continuing to listen and learn from HQ/Western BIPOC/PGM staff.
