On Thursday 25 April, the European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, launched ‘European Diversity Month 2024’ at a high-level event organised in Brussels. The one-day conference kicked off a month of events and activities in May aimed at calling on businesses and other organisations across Europe to join forces with the European Commission to promote the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and in society.
“Diversity is a strategic necessity for our cohesion and competitiveness in a rapidly changing, interconnected world”, said Ms Dalli. She stressed the importance of integrating diversity as a strategic imperative for social cohesion and competitiveness.
The European Commissioner also announced progress in the field of gender equality, with new rules to reduce the pay gap through greater transparency of pay (see EUROPE 13089/1) and the directive against gender-based and domestic violence (see EUROPE 13350/35). “Over the past five years, we have made equality for all and equality in all its forms a major priority of the Commission’s mandate”, added Ms Dalli, reaffirming the Commission’s commitment to making equality a priority covering all forms of identity and diversity within the European Union.
The Commissioner also expressed her satisfaction at the expansion of diversity charters, a commitment signed by employers to promote inclusive workplaces, now covering all EU Member States. “More than 17,000 organisations representing 17 million employees have signed one of the diversity charters in the European Union”, she said, to demonstrate the scope of these initiatives.
During the panel discussion entitled ‘Building a Union of Equality’ the European Commission’s Deputy Director-General for the International Dimension of Justice Policies in the Directorate-General for Justice (DG JUST), Irena Moozová, stressed the importance of mainstreaming equality in all EU policies via dedicated strategies.
“They look at specific actions that will be dedicated to specific areas such as disability, the LGBTQI community, gender equality”, and determine how these specific policies can be mainstreamed more generally in agriculture, research and elsewhere, explained Ms Moozová, indicating how these mainstreaming strategies affect various policy areas.
She has promoted the intersectional approach, which is fundamental to inclusive legislation and effective strategies. “Another element common to all is the combination of the internal dimension, i.e. the European Union dimension, with the external dimension, because with what we are trying to do in Europe, we are also trying to inspire our partners outside Europe”, added Irena Moozová, emphasising the global impact of the EU’s efforts. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)