Report from the Diversity & Inclusion Working Group
M. Névant (FR)
The Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Working Group (WG) was set up in September 2021, and has met on a monthly basis since then.
The first “task” of the WG was to prepare a policy on D&I to be adopted by epi Council. This was done during the Council meeting in May 2022 (C92). The policy can be found here.
In the aftermath of C92 the WG tackled the following issues:
1/ The attention of the WG was drawn to the fact that epi forms for registering to seminars or to meetings are in English and all comprise a mandatory pre-filled salutation, i.e. either Mr or Ms. Remedies are currently being investigated, for example allowing selection of salutation rather than pre-filled as now, and including a further salutation option in the forms (e.g. “not specified”, “no title”, “Mx” etc.).
2/ A seminar on D&I was held on the eve of the C92 meeting. A video recording of that seminar is available via the epi-learning platform (which can only be accessed after specific registration). The WG is currently working to make the video available to all members (after login) directly from the « diversity and inclusion » epi webpage.
In a presentation given during C93, the WG stressed that it is important to continue D&I-related work, including updating information and providing materials and support for members. The WG considered whether this is best handled by a permanent Committee within epi, ideally to be set up at a future Council meeting, with appropriate Terms of Reference. At the end of the presentation Council approved a motion allowing the WG to continue its work until at least C94.
