Friday knowledge - Racism theme 2023-01-27

"We must talk about racism and we must act. It is always possible to reverse the trend if the will is there. I am happy to live in a society that condemns racism. But we should not stop there. The motto of the European Union is 'united in diversity'. We have a duty to live up to our motto and to give it meaning." -  EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has carried out a wide range of studies showing that there is widespread discrimination in the EU, as well as the areas of life in which racial discrimination is most evident.

 

Discrimination in the labour market occurs not only when people are looking for work, but also in the workplace, where 22 % of respondents felt discriminated against because of their ethnic or immigrant background.
Source: FRA (2017a), Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey - main results.

On today's Friday Knowledge, we discuss the European Commission's Action Plan against Racism 2020-2025. You can find the action plan, and below here

      • A Union of Equality: EU anti-racism action plan 2020-2025, available in the 22 official languages of the EU

      • Stepping Up Action For A Union Of Equality - Factsheet, available in the 22 official EU languages

      • Common guiding principles for national action plans against racism and racial discrimination, available in English only

    Contributors:

    The EU perspective: Vanessa Kabuta, Policy Coordinator Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, EU Commission.
    Vanessa explains what the EU action plan means and what Swedish companies need to know about it.
    OBS! This call is in English.

    The Sweden perspective: Seher Yilmaz, head of Swedish language at SVT and author of the book "What I talk about when I talk about racism".

    Seher shares his experiences of understanding and working with racism, and gives his tips on how organisations can work with anti-racism in an effective way.

    The business perspective: Ayaz Shukat Digitalisation & Diversity Strategist Microsoft.
    Discussing Microsoft's D&I (Diversity & Inclusive) work from the perspective of the broad standard on race and color. White, black or brown - handbook on active measures linked to skin colour - Widening the normand Allyship

    The business perspective: Johanna Abdo, Founder & CEO Elsa and Sam. ELSA and SAM was founded in 2019 to drive change in the market. By working to increase awareness of what our surroundings actually look like and offering concrete solutions to contribute to a more inclusive environment for children. 

    Moderator: Johanna Kropp, management consultant and CEO of Peaking Potential, which helps organisations drive business development with an inclusion perspective. Johanna has worked with D&I issues for about 20 years in the Nordic market.