The Change Agenda: Challenges for Diversity

• Lack of buy in for diversity as a value end business benefit
• Diversity seen as a minor HR issue
• Diversity seen as low in list of priorities in scientific community (in country national)
• Lack of retention of senior women
• Tension between British expatriate staff and locally based staff

The issues outlined above were restricting progress and affecting retention recruitment progression and the general wellbeing of the institutes.

The Solution
The CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program provides corporate support to the ‘Future Harvest’ an organisational culture of inclusion, dignity, and opportunity. Amongst staff working for CGIAR are 8,000 scientists, technicians and managers, working in 16 international agricultural research centres around the world. Farrah Qureshi was commissioned to assist the organisation to overcome the challenges above.

Looking Forward E-Conference
Farrah Qureshi took part as the diversity expert in the “Looking Forward” E-conference. This was an important participatory step in strategic planning for gender and diversity work in the CGIAR for the next four years. The E-conference brought together 146 CG staff members: 68% female and 32% male.

Diversity Strategy Workshop Sri Lanka
This workshop brought together gender and ‘ambassadors’ from all 16 Future Harvest Centres with a world-class panel of diversity experts to focus on sharing positive, practical tools and methods for diversity work. Farrah chaired the event. She also facilitated all the training delivery over the five days. She also presented a session on Global Best Practice.

Outcomes

• Engagement with diversity
• Transfer of skills and responsibility to a wider audience
• Commitment to change outdated employment practices
• Strategies developed to increase women in senior management
• Promote international sharing of best practice
• Training plan and strategy for identifying multiple diversity learning needs
• Opened up debate on previous ‘no-go areas’

Early indications are that retention has improved dramatically and that the organisation is beginning to influence international organisations to address diversity issues. Farrah is currently working with the organisation to rollout its’ learning and development globally starting with the International Rice Institute in Columbia.

Farrah and her team have designed and delivered a series of toolkits titled “Every day methods in Diversity” including

Collaborating across Cultures and Managing Virtual Teams amongst many other topics

Farrah has also delivered and designed Dignity at Work Awarensss training for the CGIAR in Indonesia ,India,Italy and in November 2009 Mexico to global audiences.

Farrah has supported three Jamborees for the CGIAR in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India .She has delivered a variety of sessions for CGIAR on topics as diverse as Best Practice in International Organisations,Crosscultural Clinics, Global Worklife Balence Issues, Goalsetting and Competence building for the global team of GDA’s to designing “A Diversity Market Place ” with its own currency for buying and selling best practice across all fifteen centres in the CGIAR family.