I feel I should put the current debate about the LA Equal Opportunities Statement into context. I am the CILIP officer who manages the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Panel affairs and Pat Beech, from the National Library for the Blind, is its Chair. One of the tasks of the Panel is to draft a new equal opportunities and diversity statement for CILIP. This is the first stage of a process to meet the objective in the corporate plan to "develop a proactive strategy on matters of equal opportunity and diversity".
We have already decided at a previous meeting not to use the LA Statement on Equal Opportunities but to begin afresh and develop a statement for CILIP. You will have noticed (I hope!) that we are now CILIP, and neither the IIS or the LA. The statement also has to embrace diversity and not only equal opportunities. It needs to understand the direction, aspirations and challenges for CILIP as expressed in the Corporate Plan, and the "CILIP in the Knowledge Economy" report produced by a CILIP Executive Advisory Group chaired by Nigel Oxbrow. It also needs to be aligned with the values expressed in the new Code of Professional Ethics that CILIP will be consulting on, in a draft form, soon.
Philip Wark, the vicarious generator of this discussion, is the CSG representative on the Equal Opportunities and Diversity Panel. He asked me for a copy of the old LA statement which I readily supplied. It may not be our intention to use the old statement but nevertheless we may rifle it for good ideas or an apt phrase. It may also be useful as a benchmark to determine what is missing or what is changing. The Equal Opportunities & Development Panel meets next Tuesday and I will pass on any comments that may appear on the list before then.
Thanks for any help that comes
Guy Daines
Principal Policy Adviser
CILIP
Tel: 020 7255 0632
Email: [log in to unmask]
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