Why equity 'is not an HR function'

Development organizations must put structures in place to support diversity if they are to make progress, according to the founder of an organization for equality in the development sector. In an interview for Devex World, Indira Ahluwalia, founder and chair of the Coalition for Racial and Ethnic Equity in Development, known as CREED, said that good intentions are not enough to produce results. “For us to make the shift we have to change how we incorporate diversity or equity in our thinking,” she said. “It's not an HR function. It's a strategic paradigm that we have to bring into every element of our policy, our systems, and our ethos. “While this is personal, the solution has to be systemic. It is not about the white person or the Black person or the Brown person. It is about being in development. It's about running organizations. It's about what types of people [and] what skill sets [are] going to make the solution come alive.” She said that for equity to succeed, it needed to be included in budgets and strategies in the same way as something like digital systems. “This is a technical space,” she said. “The same way doing an [enterprise resource planning] system is. If you were to diversify, you would put resources into it, you would create a charge code, you would allocate expertise and time. What this needs is the resources, the time and the expertise.” Watch the full interview below.