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Doing the right thing at the worst time: this is why protecting human rights protects businesses
Aug 5, 2020
Businesses need to take real action on racial justice here in America and stand up for human rights across the world. An ethical, sustainable, and resilient supply chain protects businesses and brands, strengthens customer relationships, and creates opportunities to innovate. Companies have platforms to drive positive societal change. And there has never been a more important moment to use those platforms to stand up for human rights.
While the coronavirus pandemic has ushered in new challenges for companies around the world, it’s also laid bare injustices that have been with us for generations. In the US, we have seen this in the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on Black and Latino Americans, who are twice as likely to die of the virus. And in recent months, the tragic murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and so many others have brought about a long overdue reckoning with the realities of systemic racism in America.
What's the World Economic Forum doing about diversity, equity and inclusion? The COVID-19 pandemic and recent social and political unrest have created a profound sense of urgency for companies to actively work to tackle racial injustice and inequality. In response, the Forum's Platform for Shaping the Future of the New Economy and Society has established a high-level community of Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officers. The community will develop a vision, strategies and tools to proactively embed equity into the post-pandemic recovery and shape long-term inclusive change in our economies and societies. As businesses emerge from the COVID-19 crisis, they have a unique opportunity to ensure that equity, inclusion and justice define the "new normal" and tackle exclusion, bias and discrimination related to race, gender, ability, sexual orientation and all other forms of human diversity. It is increasingly clear that new workplace technologies and practices can be leveraged to significantly improve diversity, equity and inclusion outcomes. The World Economic Forum has developed a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Toolkit , to outline the practical opportunities that this new technology represents for diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, while describing the challenges that come with it. The toolkit explores how technology can help reduce bias from recruitment processes, diversify talent pools and benchmark diversity and inclusion across organisations. The toolkit also cites research that suggests well-managed diverse teams significantly outperform homogenous ones over time, across profitability, innovation, decision-making and employee engagement. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Toolkit is available here . Show
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