FCO hosts launch of new Civil Service Diversity Strategy

On 17 July 2008, the FCO hosted the launch of Promoting Equality, Valuing Diversity, the Civil Service’s diversity and equality strategy for the next few years.

Speaking at the launch, the FCO’s Permanent Under Secretary and head of the diplomatic service Sir Peter Ricketts said:

'If the FCO is to represent modern Britain effectively, it must look like modern Britain. In becoming more diverse we will be a better organisation. We will also be more effective at putting the UK firmly at the forefront of work to eliminate all forms of discrimination, and to promote equality in all walks of life. So we are strongly committed to this Strategy.'

The FCO's Network of Networks event, London

The first Network of Networks event, held in June 2007, brought FCO employee groups together with diversity experts from other Government departments and the private sector. The aim was to share best practice on staff support networks. Guests included representatives from Reuters’ First Thursday women's network, HSBC’s Islamic Society, BP's Beyond Pride LGBT group and Brook Graham, consultants on diversity and networking.

The meeting was addressed by the former Foreign Secretary, Margaret Beckett, and provided an opportunity to explore different perspectives on how to get the most out of staff support networks. Speakers described their experiences setting up staff networks within their own organisations and companies offered advice and guidance on how to make a network effective.

FCO's disAbility Aware, London

In December 2007, the FCO's Disability Action Group hosted a Disability Awareness Event to celebrate the International Day of Disabled People.  Guests were welcomed by Meg Munn, Minister responsible for diversity and equality at the FCO.  

Guests included the Royal National Institute for the Deaf, the Royal National Institute for the Blind  and the Terrence Higgins Trust, a leading HIV and AIDS charity in the UK. Keynote speakers included Chloe Holland from Diverse Business Solutions and Phil Friend, acknowledged as the UK's foremost consultant on disability matters.

FCO staff were also made aware of the work the department does to promote disability internationally — such as the promotion of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, through representatives from our Human Rights, Democracy and Governance Group.

Executive Women’s Consortium, London

The Executive Women's Consortium was an all-female event with 10 senior executive women from five non-competing companies: FCO, HSBC, O2, Reuters and BP. The Consortium coincided with International Women’s Day on 8 March 2007. The business topic discussed focused on 'One Way Global vs Federated Local - the challenge of operating in a global environment whilst taking account of local processes, culture and people'.  

Co-organiser of the event, Jacey Graham of Brook Graham Consulting, said: "Despite seemingly different contexts, many of the business challenges experienced by senior executive women operating in global corporations and the FCO were similar, so the Consortium proved to be a tremendous opportunity to learn and share across sectors and industries, in what many participants described as the unique environment of an all-female setting.”

Hear By Sight – FCO Deaf Aware, London

The aim of the 2007 Hear by Sight event was for FCO and other staff from Government departments to have a better understanding of the barriers deaf and hard of hearing people face. The event was organised by the FCO’s Disability Action Group and other staff with an interest in deaf issues and sign language.

At the event, Jane Cordell from the British Embassy in Warsaw relayed her experiences as a deaf officer based overseas. Peter Ricketts, the Permanent-Under-Secretary, and Mariot Leslie, the FCO's Disability Champion also attended the event, Ricketts saying that "diversity in all its meanings really matter to us in the FCO".

As a guest speaker, Liberal Democrat MP Malcolm Bruce, who has a profoundly deaf daughter and is involved in a number of deaf organisations, explained that he felt "strongly that every possible assistance to help deaf people communicate with hearing people is something that we should do if we really believe in social inclusion".

Communication support was on hand throughout the event with BSL interpreters, lipspeakers and a palantypist (speech to text typist) showing the different ways deaf and hard of hearing people communicate. 

Showcased on the day included the pilot of two travel advice pages with British Sign Language (BSL) video translations, created by the FCO e-media team and SignStream. The aim was to determine if there is an interest and demand from the BSL deaf users in the UK. Workshops on sign language, lipreading and Typetalk were other features along with deaf awareness drama sketches performed by Deafinitely Theatre and a sign language songs performances by Music in Motion.