Christian Aid launches diversity plan to counter inequality criticism

Christian Aid is to launch a three-year diversity plan to address racial injustice after a commissioned report identified the need to tackle inequality in the organisation.

Interviews were conducted with Christian Aid staff in Britain by Xtend (UK) Ltd, who identified an organisational culture in which Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff both encountered racism at work and did not feel confident in the organisation’s willingness to highlight and deal with its prevalence.

The report found that:

• 69% of respondents considered that there was discrimination within Christian Aid in the UK.
• 69% of respondents considered that there was no strategic or leadership visibility in engaging with race equality and injustice in the UK.
• The leadership of Christian Aid, at all levels, needed to understand the organisation’s racial dynamics and be equipped to address racial injustice.

The report made a number of key recommendations to help tackle what it found as a culture of “colour blindness and silence on race”, while a series of interventions to combat structural and systemic racism were also outlined.

Christian Aid agreed to recruit a race and diversity lead to join the organisation’s leadership team, and to increase oversight of race and diversity within the board. It has also agreed to the revision of policies, the creation of safe spaces for continued dialogue and regular race and diversity training.