As a global organization with offices and partners in many countries and seeking talent from a variety of areas of expertise and settings, we recognize that a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture are critical to the success of our mission and programmes. Our teams gather an exceptional mix of expertise and embrace our cultural, ethnicity, gender, and other differences. Our culture is also rich and complex as it cuts across science and advocacy worlds, yet neither science nor advocacy alone define us. The first among our values is to be people-centred.
We are committed to creating a work environment that values human dignity and equality; we strive to drive innovation, performance, and productivity by empowering our diverse workforce to use their unique skills, ideas, perspectives, and qualities every day; and we support staff in realizing their full potential by removing employment-related disadvantages and barriers to participation, including through flexible working arrangements. We don’t tolerate any act of discrimination, which we see as a barrier to equality of opportunity, inclusion, human rights, as well as organizational effectiveness.
Our Board of Directors and Executive Team are sponsors of gender equality and geographic diversity at DNDi, and they encourage inclusion in all its forms. With diverse representation on our Board of Directors (12 nationalities from 5 continents*), we strive to ensure further gender diversity by ensuring that the candidate pool for each new board appointment includes both male and female candidates. Our Global Executive Team, with 13 nationalities from 5 continents*, guides the development and oversight of DNDi’s Integrated People Strategy (Español, Français, Português) in partnership with our Human Resources team.
* as of October 2022
Gender definition
Our Board of Directors has decided to use the World Health Organization’s definition of gender.
Gender is used to describe the characteristics of women and men that are socially constructed, while sex refers to those that are biologically determined. People are born female or male, but learn to be girls and boys who grow into women and men. This learned behaviour makes up gender identity and determines gender roles.
Gender analysis identifies, analyses and informs action to address inequalities that arise from the different roles of women and men, or the unequal power relations between them, and the consequences of these inequalities on their lives, their health and well-being. The way power is distributed in most societies means that women have less access to and control over resources to protect their health, and are less likely to take part in decision-making. Gender analysis in health often highlights how inequalities disadvantage women’s health, the constraints women face to attain health and ways to address and overcome these. It also reveals health risks and problems which men face as a result of the social construction of their roles.
Gender equality is the absence of discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex in opportunities, the allocation of resources and benefits, or access to services.
Gender equity refers to the fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men. The concept recognizes that women and men have different needs and power, and that these differences should be identified and addressed in a manner that rectifies the imbalance between the sexes.
Reference: World Health Organization, ‘Gender: definitions’, http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-determinants/gender/gender-definitions [accessed December 2019]
Parental leave and flexible working arrangements
Maternity and paternity leave and pay
Maternity leave is paid in accordance with local legislation. As a minimum, DNDi provides 12 weeks of maternity leave at full pay.
After the end of the maternity leave, employees have the right to request flexible working arrangements until the baby is six months old (e.g., a period of unpaid leave or reduced working hours). This provision is in line with the WHO guidelines on exclusive breastfeeding. Where entitlement under local law exceeds this provision, the local legislation will prevail. All DNDi offices offer breastfeeding facilities.
Entitlement is inclusive of any specific childbirth leave. Maternity leave is granted to mothers and includes adoption. The start of the maternity leave (at childbirth or before childbirth) is dependent on local maternity leave regulations.
DNDi provides a global minimum standard of two weeks’ paternity leave at full pay. Paternity leave may be granted to partners of the same sex.
Flexible working arrangements
All DNDi offices allow flexible working arrangements, with each office organizing ways of working in accordance with local conditions, customs, and legislation. This includes any working at home arrangements. A growing number of offices offer partial working time arrangements, including to facilitate parental and elder care.
In 2018, we established a Gender, Diversity & Inclusion Working Group with representatives in all our offices to help guide our actions towards achieving our vision of a workplace that is equally enabling for all, in all our diversity. Its first focus was to explore gender diversity issues and inform the development of DNDi’s proactive agenda for gender & R&D. Its current focus is to explore the broader diversity agenda, including a rich internal dialog on how DNDi might continue to help address structural racism in global health and R&D institutions as well as adopt best practices in preventing this complex mechanism of discrimination.
A respectful and harmonious workplace
At DNDi, we are committed to creating and maintaining a respectful and positive workplace for all employees. We strive to ensure that all employees are treated fairly, and that no employee is subjected to harassment of any kind.
Our staff are expected to contribute to building a harmonious workplace and working relationships based on team spirit, dignity, caring, fairness, respect, tolerance, equality, and understanding.
All are equally expected to uphold the dignity of all persons with whom they come into contact inside and outside the organization, especially those who are vulnerable, by ensuring that their personal and professional conduct is always of the highest standard.
DNDi staff, consultants, and contractors are guided by DNDi’s Code of Conduct; policies on the prevention of fraud and corruption, and conflict of interest; and by DNDi’s Guidelines for the Prevention of Sexual Misconduct. We are implementing workshops for staff and consultants in all offices to ensure awareness and understanding of a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual misconduct.
Finally, we are accompanied by two independent, neutral, and impartial external people as Ombudspersons to help facilitate good communications, understanding, and trust inside the organization.
Our values
People-centred
- We value our colleagues and recognize their contributions
- We care about the well-being of neglected patients and the communities we work with
- We nurture a respectful, diverse and inclusive working environment
Integrity
- We are trustworthy and ethical
- We are fair, transparent, and honest
- We work to the highest quality to deliver the best science
Innovation
- We encourage new ideas
- We find solutions through collaboration and creative thinking
- We seek sustainable transformation
Courage
- We take smart risks
- We pursue our goals in the face of adversity
- We are ready to challenge the status quo
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