Gender & Diversity Initiatives
Gender & Diversity Staffing
Gender & Diversity balance is one of IWMI's goals. The HR department has continued to keep a close tab in increasing the gender and diversity balance which is clearly visible in the number of IRS/RRS researchers from the south which has grown from 23 in 2001 to 37 by January 2005. The number of female IRS/RRS researchers has grown from 9 in 2001 to 24 in 2005. IWMI strategic plan 2004 – 2008 has set a target to increase the number of women researchers from the south to 40. We are pleased to report that IWMI is on target where we have increased the number of women researchers from the south from 13 in 2001 to 27 in 2005. In the last quarter of 2004 IWMI advertised for 19 researcher positions in various disciplines. Out of this we made offers to 8 female researchers and 9 to male researchers. Three of these researchers are scheduled to join in 2005.
Gender & Diversity Policies
In addition to the existing family friendly policies, the Board approved a new set of policies on Spouse Employment, Flexi-time & Telecommuting at the 2004 Board meeting. These new policies are now implemented and should further assist us in increasing our gender & diversity initiatives.
Mentoring
Owing to the success and the positive feedback from the participants of the first G&D mentoring program, the second program was launched in 2004. The objective of this program is to provide structured development input to young staff members by more senior staff members as mentors. The second batch consists of 17 mentees and 12 mentors. The 17 mentees consist of 13 women and 4 men representing an increase of women mentees from 3 to 13 over the first batch. There are 8 research/research support staff and 9 non research staff, 10 NRS, 3 RRS/IRS. One mentee is from the north and the balance 16 mentees are from the south. 11 mentees are from headquarters, 3 are based in Tashkent and 1 each based in South Africa , Ghana and Ethiopia .
Leadership Development
The G&D mentoring program complements the IWMI Leadership Development Program (LDP). The IWMI LDP is a two year training intervention where high potential staff across the Institute, in particular young male/female stafffrom the South, are identified and inputs through formal courses and close mentoring by senior staff is provided to facilitate their accelerated growth within the organization. The first LDP which was launched in 2003 with 12 mentees and 4 mentors concluded in March 2005. The 12 mentees included 7 women and 5 men, 9 researchers and 3 non research staff, 7 NRS staff and 5 RRS/IRS staff. LDP-1 is considered a success by both participants and IWMI management and the impact of their development over the past two years is already visible in the organization. Considering the success of the first program IWMI LDP-2 commenced with 12 new mentees (along with 4 mentors).
The mentee group consists of 6 women and 6 men, 8 researchers and 4 non-research staff, 4 NRS and 8 RRS/IRS. |
