Shaping a more open, respective and inclusive culture by Ian MacLeod

 

North of Sydney, Australia

“Since my arrival, I have pledged zero tolerance for every form of discrimination, harassment and abuse of power. They have no place at UNICEF. In our offices. In our workplaces. In the field. Anywhere.” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore.

Expanding the focus led by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to stamp out sexual harassment across the system, UNICEF has continued to take decisive action to ensure that the organization has a safer workplace. For staff and for xUNICEFers this is great news.

The latest step towards eliminating discrimination and abuse of power of any kind was the launching on 27th May of an Independent Task Force to review current practices and provide recommendations to effectively and systematically prevent and address workplace gender-related discrimination, harassment and abuse of power in UNICEF.

The organizational transformation is being directly led from the 13th floor by the Executive Director (who goes by ‘ED Fore’) whose first All Staff Meeting was not the welcoming introduction that was in the transition plan - it had to focus solely on the fallout from the Deputy Executive Director resignation and issues around harassment, discrimination and abuse of power.

In the first four months of 2018, the Office of Internal Audit and Investigation received 70 complaints (including multiple complainants for same issue), translating into 11 cases of alleged sexual harassment, six cases of alleged sexual assault and 36 cases of alleged harassment and abuse of authority. This compares to the 74 complaints that were received in the 12 months of 2017. This appears to indicate that staff have increased confidence in the improved systems and tools to report, investigate and address misconduct by UNICEF staff members.

All staff have been “asked” to (well, in fact told) to complete two mandatory online training courses on Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Abuse of Authority, and on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Importantly, this extends beyond staff and individual consultants are also meant to undertake these courses. This has not filtered down yet, as my current consultancy office has not asked me to provide evidence of completion.

Very encouragingly, over 90% of staff have taken these courses. I have done so. They are far from perfect, like all such online training courses, but it is not easy to develop and deliver a one-size-fits-all course. What was well developed in the online courses was the process of

helping staff understand and identify exactly “what is, and what is not” in very practical terms in relation to abuse of authority, gender discrimination and sexual harassment.

Offices have established ‘Speak Up Committees’ to promote and lead the organizational culture shift. Many offices are ensuring dedicated time is allocated for all staff to discuss contextual issues: differences in working culture, how words and phrases are interpreted in different settings and countries, differences in cultures in relation to physical space and touch, etc. This points to the need for continued organisational investment in guiding and orienting new international staff in their duty stations, not just leaving it to the staff member. I am sure many xUNICEFers will clearly recall arriving in a new duty station and being ‘welcomed’ with no country, culture, language, customs or norms orientation..... just a space, desk, chair, a lot of papers to read, forms to fill and hundreds of new acronyms to learn.

Many xUNICEFers will personally or professionally know the two senior Co-Chairs of the newly established Independent Task Force: Debrework Zewdie and Purnima Mane . Over the next 1 2 six months, they have been asked to lead a “thorough and unbiased examination of our systems and culture, and providing us with objective and actionable recommendations to implement meaningful changes across our organization”.

The Terms of Reference of the Independent Task Force state that it will not only be looking at current, but also historical culture and systems in UNICEF (and other organisations) in relation to harassment, discriminatory practices and abuse of power, with a special focus on gender-related dynamics.

This points to a clear contribution to the important work of the Independent Task Force that can be made by xUNICEFers. With the incredibly range of individual experiences from working in UNICEF as well as pre- and post-UNICEF life in a vast range of organizational settings, xUNICEFers can – and should – be consulted and engage with the Independent Task Force over the next six months. We can help to shape a safer organization whose mandate we all remain firmly committed to.

1 Debrework Zewdie is an Ethiopian national who has led strategy, policy implementation and management of development programs at the country, regional, and global levels for international bodies such as the World Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. She was also the founding Vice President of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa 2 Purnima Mane is from India and is the former President and CEO of Pathfinder International, and former Assistant Secretary-General and UNFPA Deputy Executive Director of Programmes. She also has extensive experience at the country, regional and global levels in her long career in public health policy, practice and advocacy, including at the WHO and the Population Council.