International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
21 Mar 2024
Today (21st March) is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a day we are recognising at LCL Awards as part of our drive for inclusivity across our centres and in the world at large. Headed-up by the United Nations, this year’s theme is “A Decade of Recognition, Justice, and Development: Implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent”.
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination focuses on the legacies of slavery and colonialism, which continue to destroy lives and curtail opportunities, preventing billions of people from enjoying their full human rights and freedoms. The day is observed annually, marking the terrible anniversary of where police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid in 1960.
Much has improved since 1960, with apartheid dismantled and racist laws and practices abolished in many countries, however there is still a long way to go to end racism - throughout the world and in our country. While we might like to think the UK is not a ‘racist’ place to live, for many sadly this is not the case.
According to the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS), a major new survey of racism and ethnic inequalities carried out by the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) issued last year, more than a third of people from ethnic and religious minority groups in Britain have experienced some form of racist assault. Nearly a third of those asked reported racial discrimination in education and employment, and this is something LCL Awards wants to ensure doesn’t happen within our centres and the industries our qualifications train people to work in.
Training with an approved LCL Awards centre should be a positive experience for everyone, and for our sector to thrive, we need to welcome as many different people as possible.
Overall, building services and construction related trades are suffering a significant skills shortage, and a wide cross-section of experiences and influences will help drive our industry forward. We all need to do what we can to fight against views that stand to get in the way of progress and equity.
“It can be easy to look back on the violent, explicit racism of earlier decades and think that racial discrimination is not a major problem in Britain today, but our data proves this idea wrong,” said Professor James Nazroo, Professor of Sociology at The University of Manchester, part of the team behind the EVENS survey. “Now we have this evidence, it is simply not acceptable to pretend racism does not exist and to carry on as before - EVENS is a wake-up call to make society fairer for everybody.”
#FightRacism
How can you help combat racism in our sector?
LCL Awards approved centres are encouraged to sign-up to the Inclusivity Charter, which focuses on ensuring our centres are welcoming places that treat people with respect, while encouraging as many trainees through the doors as possible.
The Inclusivity Charter is a framework that centres can use to take active steps to implement inclusive practices, underpinned by the following statements:
· LCL Awards centres are committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive environment where both learners and centre staff feel safe, heard and supported.
· We do not tolerate offensive language, such as sexist or racist comments – from trainers or trainees.
· We consider the needs of all learners, in order to enhance learning experiences and increase opportunity.
· We are actively exploring a range of training options, using creativity and innovation to improve engagement.
· Our ambition is to help as many people as possible access the building services engineering sector; to improve lives, improve the sector and combat skills shortages.
· We believe that inclusion creates an environment where everyone is valued, feels valued and are therefore able to achieve their highest potential.
We are reviewing and expanding the Inclusivity Charter this year. More information coming soon….
Today (21st March) is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a day we are recognising at LCL Awards as part of our drive for inclusivity across our centres and in the world at large. Headed-up by the United Nations, this year’s theme is “A Decade of Recognition, Justice, and Development: Implementation of the International Decade for People of African Descent”.
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination focuses on the legacies of slavery and colonialism, which continue to destroy lives and curtail opportunities, preventing billions of people from enjoying their full human rights and freedoms. The day is observed annually, marking the terrible anniversary of where police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid in 1960.
Much has improved since 1960, with apartheid dismantled and racist laws and practices abolished in many countries, however there is still a long way to go to end racism - throughout the world and in our country. While we might like to think the UK is not a ‘racist’ place to live, for many sadly this is not the case.
According to the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS), a major new survey of racism and ethnic inequalities carried out by the Centre on the Dynamics of Ethnicity (CoDE) issued last year, more than a third of people from ethnic and religious minority groups in Britain have experienced some form of racist assault. Nearly a third of those asked reported racial discrimination in education and employment, and this is something LCL Awards wants to ensure doesn’t happen within our centres and the industries our qualifications train people to work in.
Training with an approved LCL Awards centre should be a positive experience for everyone, and for our sector to thrive, we need to welcome as many different people as possible.
Overall, building services and construction related trades are suffering a significant skills shortage, and a wide cross-section of experiences and influences will help drive our industry forward. We all need to do what we can to fight against views that stand to get in the way of progress and equity.
“It can be easy to look back on the violent, explicit racism of earlier decades and think that racial discrimination is not a major problem in Britain today, but our data proves this idea wrong,” said Professor James Nazroo, Professor of Sociology at The University of Manchester, part of the team behind the EVENS survey. “Now we have this evidence, it is simply not acceptable to pretend racism does not exist and to carry on as before - EVENS is a wake-up call to make society fairer for everybody.”
#FightRacism
How can you help combat racism in our sector?
LCL Awards approved centres are encouraged to sign-up to the Inclusivity Charter, which focuses on ensuring our centres are welcoming places that treat people with respect, while encouraging as many trainees through the doors as possible.
The Inclusivity Charter is a framework that centres can use to take active steps to implement inclusive practices, underpinned by the following statements:
· LCL Awards centres are committed to creating a welcoming, inclusive environment where both learners and centre staff feel safe, heard and supported.
· We do not tolerate offensive language, such as sexist or racist comments – from trainers or trainees.
· We consider the needs of all learners, in order to enhance learning experiences and increase opportunity.
· We are actively exploring a range of training options, using creativity and innovation to improve engagement.
· Our ambition is to help as many people as possible access the building services engineering sector; to improve lives, improve the sector and combat skills shortages.
· We believe that inclusion creates an environment where everyone is valued, feels valued and are therefore able to achieve their highest potential.
We are reviewing and expanding the Inclusivity Charter this year. More information coming soon….