The Master and Members of the Company were very pleased to support Hearing Unheard Voices: the Dividends of Incorporating Diversity organised by the Community of Women in Water and hosted by Arup.
Many unheard voices work on water-related challenges. One such group is women, who are 50% of the population, 47% of the global paid workforce, but less than 20% of paid employees working on water issues globally. Stakeholder consultations and professional teams that lack women risk projects being less financially successful, less innovative, and less sustainable.
The keynote speaker Professor was Mala Rao, CBE, Director of the Ethnicity and Health Unit and Senior Clinical Fellow at Imperial College London. She is also Clinical Adviser to the UK General Medical Council on equality, diversity and inclusion. Mala spoke of the greater awareness of the health impacts of climate change, safe water and sanitation but also of the sexism and racism in the health service displayed by staff and, even worse, by patients. Alan Nicol, Researcher at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). spoke of the collective action needed to solve the problems facing the vulnerable and most marginalized. Jenna Browning, Associate Director at Arup, flood resilience strategy and delivery, described inclusive and fair project delivery and design, and engagement with diverse and representative stakeholder groups.
Kathryn Pharr, founder of the Community of Women in Water, moderated the discussion, which picked up on the challenges and changes resulting from the global political push back against inclusion and tackling climate change. There is a need for stronger alliances to challenge these retrograde movements and a need to use different language to engage and persuade.
Congratulations on an energising evening.
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