LocationsAnti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion
UNDP is taking steps towards becoming an actively anti-racist organization.
In March 2021, in response to the report and recommendations of the Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Advisory Group, the Administrator committed to make UNDP an actively anti-racist organization and to review how UNDP’s programmatic offer in areas like governance, the rule of law and human rights directly contributes to this agenda. The Director of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support and the Director of the Crisis Bureau were asked to review and provide further guidance on this matter, and an Anti-Racism Focal Point was appointed from the Crisis Bureau’s Rule of Law, Human Rights, Justice and Security team.
Campaign for the detection and management of cervical cancer in the Bollé women penitentiary in Bamako. This campaign was funded by the GFP Mandela Project on the occasion of Mandela
Based on the review and the recommendations of the Focal Point, a decision was made to recruit a Senior Advisor on Anti-Racism to be tasked to review UNDP's programming and policy offer through an anti-racism lens. Rita Izsák-Ndiaye has been appointed as of October 2022 for this role. While housed in the Rule of Law, Human Rights, Justice and Security team, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye will be working under the guidance of the senior management of Bureau for Programme and Policy Support and Crisis Bureau and will be working closely with the Executive Office, the Regional Bureaux and UNDP Bureau for External Relations and Advocacy.
In a parallel process led by the Bureau for Management Support and the Office of Human Resources, a Strategy will be adopted on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the period of 2023-2025 to make UNDP become an even more diverse, equitable and inclusive organization.
The Senior Advisor will carry out a coordinated analysis of the policy and programme areas of UNDP, aligned to the UNDP Strategic Plan signature solutions and service offers, as well as of various anti-racist, anti-discriminatory and other relevant tools to assess how they contribute to the fight against racism and racial discrimination, including through dedicated approaches. She will also analyze regional and national level programme initiatives through an anti-racism lens. She will present an initial assessment report and will propose the adoption of an Anti-Racism Programming Action Plan to guide further organization-wide coordinated efforts in this regard.
Rita Izsák-Ndiaye has dedicated her entire career to the fight against racism and racial discrimination. She is a globally known human rights expert who started working on the protection of the rights of minorities and vulnerable groups after her own experiences of prejudices and discrimination due to her partly Roma origin. She has worked in several countries, including Somalia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, she is a former UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues (2011-2017) and a former member and rapporteur of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (2018-2022).