Dear Colleagues
Over the last year we have been listening to Member Associations and the Secretariat through the work that is now laid out in our Anti-Racism Programme of Action. The Board of Trustees has taken the report issued by the independent researchers to heart. We are humbled and grateful for all those who bravely came forward to speak to them of their experiences. We take our responsibilities to now address those concerns very seriously.
The Board’s decisions to establish the Anti-Racism Plan of Action Committee is a strong signal of that and is providing the additional space for our consideration of these issues to ensure we all move forward with purpose and a clear direction.
As the Board of Trustees, we are determined to enable IPPF to take the steps needed to clearly identify, call out and address its own institutional racism and intersecting forms of discrimination, wherever that may be. To this end, the Trustees have issued a joint statement – attached here – to convey to you our commitment to this crucial work and to establish a clear basis for our accountability for its progress.
On behalf of the Board, as the Chairpersons of the Board, and of the Board’s Anti-Racism Plan of Action Committee, we affirm that this is both a renewal and a beginning. It is a renewal of the Board’s deep commitment to inclusion and non-discrimination, understanding both as intersectional and matters of power relations. However, it is a beginning too, in that the actions set out here are to be followed by many others, a part of the larger effort which involves us all, every single one of us. We are extremely grateful for the privilege of walking with you, and learning from you, as together we see this vital work through.
In solidarity
Kate and Bience
on behalf of the IPPF Board of Trustees