Equity, diversity, and inclusion in public events

IGC seeks to develop an organisational culture that allows us to:

• Gain access to and represent a more diverse pool of expertise and voices among policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and staff. 
• Enhance the IGC’s engagement with new audiences and stakeholders, both in the UK and internationally. 
• Continuously improve diversity and inclusion across the organisation. 

Speakers from developed and developing countries representing government, academia, civil society, and the private sector participate in webinars and in-person events on subjects of wide topical interest. This diverse programme of public events is open to policymakers, academics, representatives from the private sector and civil society, and students globally.  

While it is clear that there is often a lack of meaningful diversity in senior positions within the international development, academic, and policy sectors, this cannot be an excuse to under-represent or exclude women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people, and those with disabilities in public debates. As part of the IGC’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, and in the context of our contributions to the public debate, we have a duty to proactively consider how our events can include a genuinely diverse range of voices in discussions.

With a view to further embedding awareness and hosting a more diverse events programme, IGC has:

• A  goal of a minimum 40% of speakers from different gender identities other than male at IGC events, whether online, in-person, or hybrid. This goal applies to the organisation as a whole, and to individual country teams within it. The target is measured across the year, summing all events. 
• A requirement of at least one woman on an individual panel at all IGC-hosted and co-hosted events . This is reported on for every individual Hub- and country-hosted event. 
• A goal of a minimum 50% of speakers representing researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from developing countries. This goal applies to the organisation as a whole, and to individual country teams within it. This target is in line with IGC’s commitment to engaging and collaborating with researchers in the countries where IGC operates and other developing countries and is measured on an individual event basis.
• A formal monitoring system managed by the Communications and MEL teams to track the performance of events which are part of the Hub and country teams’ public events programmes against the above goals, and disaggregate event information by individual teams on an annual basis. The monitoring system also logs event information on other protected characteristics, which will enable future policy updates. The policy statement is reviewed every two years. 
• A requirement that all teams discuss equity, diversity, and inclusion with regard to event speakers at team meetings when planning an event. The Head of Programme Management and the MEL team manage the review process.
• An aim to ensure wider participation of speakers who are ethnic minorities in all Hub-led events.
• A requirement to ensure that chairs and moderators are briefed to take questions (and proactively encourage questions) from a balance of those in the audience, including women, ethnic minorities, and people from diverse backgrounds. 
• An aim to ensure all audio and video recordings are published online and are available to anyone for download no later than one week after the live event date, assuming there are no technical difficulties and speakers have provided full permissions.
• An aim to encourage teams to consider all measures to ensure online and in-person events are accessible to those with disabilities.