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Press Release

8 May 2006

DFID praised for commitment to gender diversity

The Department for International Development has been recognised for its commitment to equality and inclusiveness in the workplace. At the 11th annual Opportunity Now awards, DFID was the winner of the Public Sector category, an acknowledgment of the Department’s successful Global Women into Leadership programme.

The judging panel were impressed by the high level leadership given in this area and the ongoing commitment to enhance diversity in the Department. Initiatives within the programme have included the appointment of a Diversity Director; the launch of the Global Women’s Network to act as a support forum and the targeting of professional women in recruitment.

Commenting on the award, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, Permanent Secretary of DFID said:

“Working in a global environment to reduce poverty means diversity is at the heart of our business. Increasing our capacity to understand and apply diversity means we will do our business even better. In DFID this is not just a paper commitment, allocating resources and high level leadership is seeing some excellent returns.

“DFID works in over 67 offices worldwide and by 2007/8 will have a budget of £5.3 billion, we are committed to helping deliver the Millennium Development Goals, one of which is Promoting Gender Equality and Empowering women, as such we have a clear role in leading the way on gender.

“I am very pleased that DFID has been recognised by Opportunity Now for our work on gender diversity.”

DFID’s diversity champion, Nemat Shafik added:

“DFID is strongly committed to diversity and it is great to get this award in recognition of the effort and focus we have given to gender equality in particular. Increasing the representation and role of women in the department has been an imperative for us and I am happy to see that we are making strides in both areas.

“More women are now represented at the highest levels, but we are also actively developing our 'pipeline' for the future. Diversity is a long term commitment for DFID not a quick fix, it is not only about numbers but also about the way we conduct ourselves, a benefit of this means the culture of the department is also becoming more diverse.”

Notes to Editors

1. Opportunity Now is a UK organisation which works towards gender equality and diversity in the workplace. It has a membership of over 360 employers with a combined workforce of over 4.2 million employees. Opportunity Now is part of Business in the Community.

For more information please contact the DFID Press Office on 0207 020 0600 or pressoffice@dfid.gov.uk or contact Helen Wells of Opportunity Now on 0207 566 8713 or helen.wells@bitc.org.uk

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