We know that societies and working environments grow and thrive where there is understanding, trust and respect between people. It is the reason why we aim to ensure that issues of equality and diversity are a part of all that we do, why we measure our progress through our own unique tool, and why we invest in a global diversity network that spans all the countries we work in.

We are committed to treating our staff, customers and partners fairly, removing barriers to equal treatment and acting to redress existing imbalances. Our agenda is based on the idea of societies and working environments where people are understood and their differences are respected. In recognising, valuing and managing diversity between people and cultures, we seek to demonstrate these principles and deliver impact for the UK.

We focus on seven main areas of diversity – age, disability, ethnicity/race, gender, religion/belief, sexual orientation and work–life balance – and have developed an equal opportunities policy and a diversity strategy around them. Documents explaining both policies can be found on our website.

Measuring progress

By measuring and monitoring our actions we can make progress in bringing equality and diversity into the mainstream. We have a number of ways of doing this, including equality monitoring, an integrated equality scheme and a diversity assessment framework.

Integrated equality scheme

To meet our UKequality legislation obligations, we have established an integrated equality scheme. Details of this scheme are available on our website, with progress reports that explain how we are seeking to eliminate unjustified discrimination in the areas of disability, gender and race, and how we are seeking to promote equality and inclusion, specifically the inclusion of disabled people. More info can be found here.

Diversity assessment framework

The British Council’s Diversity Assessment Framework (DAF) is a tool which helps embed equality and diversity into our work. It encourages and guides our network of offices to develop good practice and report what they have achieved against a range of equal opportunities and diversity measures. It acts as an internal benchmarking tool, generating examples and evidence of good practice from which others can learn in the process. The approach has attracted considerable interest from the public and private sector in the UK and around the world.

Disabled employees

We are committed to attracting disabled people to work with us and to ensuring disabled employees are able to progress and develop their careers. The Positive About Disabled People, double tick symbol, is displayed on our recruitment advertisements and our web pages; this aims to encourage disabled people to consider applying to work with us and reflects our commitment to existing employees. We guarantee an interview to all disabled people who meet the required criteria and make reasonable adjustments to help support the full participation of disabled people. Our internal Disability Working Group and external Disability Advisory Panel are a valuable resource in promoting understanding and awareness, supported by training and development materials and initiatives.