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A scathing report today reveals the details of numerous incidents of racism suffered by staff at Unicef UK – and says the charity has “little understanding” of how to stop it.
The charity has apologised after an independent review found more than 20 racist microaggressions faced by employees.
They included being mistaken for colleagues from the same ethnic background and the repeated mispronunciation of names.
The report, which was shared with staff this morning and published by the charity this afternoon, says: “Covert racism, everyday racism and unconscious bias are part of life for some at Unicef UK.”
Chief executive Jon Sparkes said any racism was “intolerable” and told colleagues he was “truly sorry”.
The charity has accepted all the recommendations in the report and pledged action to become “truly anti-racist”.
The review, conducted over the past year by the consultants Full Colour, also found that ethnic minority staff were less satisfied with working at Unicef UK than their colleagues.
It was commissioned after concerns were first raised about racist behaviour, both publicly and inside Unicef UK, in 2021.
Unicef UK said that, since the report was commissioned, it had taken steps including “overhauling” its recruitment system and investing in two diversity specialists to work across the organisation.
The review welcomed these and other initiatives, such as ethnic pay gap reporting and more support for staff networks, but said: “There is little organisational understanding of what anti-racism is, no shared understanding of what Unicef UK should be working towards achieving or how it will address and eliminate racism within the organisation.”
The report defines microaggressions as “attitudes, behaviour and use of language that intentionally or unintentionally diminish people from minoritised groups”.
Further examples listed in the review included white staff being chosen to represent the charity in public and the concerns of ethnic minority staff being dismissed.
Nearly half of the people of colour at Unicef UK who responded to the review – 47 per cent – said they had experienced such microaggressions, while 38 per cent said they had witnessed microaggressions against their colleagues.
Just under half of the charity’s white staff said they had witnessed “some form of racism” there, while 56 per cent had racist “issues and incidents” reported to them.
The review criticised the fact that there was “no clear process for addressing racism” at the charity, placing a burden on informal staff networks – “which is neither fair nor sustainable”.
It also said: “The lack of diversity at Unicef UK, particularly but not only at executive leadership team level, was consistently raised as an issue by participants in this audit.”
There are currently two people of colour on the charity’s senior leadership team and executive leadership team, the consultants said.
Some staff reported that “inequitable practices” in career progression disproportionately affected people from ethnic minorities.
Employees also “raised repeatedly” concerns about a high-profile campaign conducted with an external partner “involved in racism allegations”, the review said.
The paper does not identify the campaign or the individual and Unicef UK said it could not comment further.
Unicef UK promised that an action plan for becoming an anti-racist organisation would be shared with staff in January next year and said the charity had already taken steps including strengthening its internal social justice network, introducing mandatory training on microaggression and bringing all its diversity and anti-racism work together in a single plan.
Sparkes said: “This is intolerable for me and for Unicef UK, and I am truly sorry this has happened and is happening, and I want to sincerely apologise for the hurt this has caused colleagues.
“This is not an easy truth or reality to be faced with, but I know that we need to understand the problem fully, in order to move forward.
“I am determined that we learn, build, and grow from here. We fully accept the report’s findings and recommendations and acknowledge that, even though we have made much progress, we have some way to go to becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.”
He added: “It is unacceptable to us that anyone should experience racism and I am committed to creating a positive working environment for all.”
The review was based on conversations with well over 100 members of Unicef UK staff, through interviews, focus groups, a workshop and an online survey.