Source: Vibe Film / Victor Bientinesi G De Oliveira & Lucas Buttchewits / Results UK

anti-oppression

where injustice and oppression exist in the world, they always create inequality and poverty

As an organisation committed to ending poverty, and one working in a sector that still grapples with damaging practices and narratives of development, including that of the ‘white saviour’, Results is committed and motivated to do more and better.

We know we are not perfect and recognise that we should be doing better, taking a deeper and more explicit look at how we address oppression and privilege in all their forms. Without this, we will be unable to truly deliver on our mission to ‘empower individuals to exercise their personal and political power for change’ and we will never achieve our goal of ending global poverty.

At Results, we will do our part to bring about a ‘new normal’ where people from diverse communities feel safe, empowered and included. This is not something extra ‘on top’ of our mission: it is central to it.

This is a public commitment. We will listen, learn, and we will act.

changes we are making

committing to improve diversity and inclusion

Anti-Oppression is a major focus of our new 2023-30 strategic plan. We now have a designated Management Team lead and a staff working group for our Anti-Oppression work.

Results has been a Disability Confident employer since 2019 which is encouraging us to consider how to better recruit and support staff members with disabilities. In 2022 we introduced an Equal Opportunities policy and new disability leave.

Results is a supporting partner of the Advocacy Team’s ‘Opening Doors’ programme, a bespoke programme supporting people from under-represented backgrounds to make a first step into paid career opportunities in international development.

We have striven for greater representation on our Board of Trustees from women and people of colour, and established an Anti-Oppression sub-committee.

embedding justice in our policy, parliamentary and grassroots advocacy

Results submitted evidence to the International Development Committee’s inquiry on the Impact of Racism in the Aid Sector. We’re taking steps as part of a longer journey towards fostering a culture of inclusion with the Results grassroots network. In May 2021, we held a training for our grassroots network of advocates, in partnership with JMB Consulting on the importance of anti-racism in our campaigns and in volunteering spaces, and in August 2022, we dedicated a monthly action to encouraging grassroots advocates to listen, learn and act on racism, anti-oppression and their advocacy.

We recognise that terminology commonly used by Results and others working in international development can perpetuate unequal power relations and racist stereotypes. Read our blog about the negative impact of pity communications here.

We have developed an anti-racist language and framing guide to embed anti-oppression in our organisational communications, including staff training sessions.

amplifying voices

Results is committed to creating opportunities that amplify the voices of the people we work to support – those living in countries affected by poverty and with personal experience of the issues we are working on. For example, for World TB Day 2021, we collaborated with Zambian organisation CITAM+ on #TBHope, which asks people with lived experience of tuberculosis why everyone should care about ending TB for good.

We have raised concerns about the danger of pitting the interests of refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK against those of people facing poverty around the globe.

nurturing global partnerships

Our legitimacy to address global poverty and injustice requires collaborations with Southern-led advocacy organisations rooted in their communities. Working with partners involves recognising their leadership,ceding power, listening, and building more equitable systems that centre their expertise. One of the ways we strive to do this is as a partner of ACTION, a global health advocacy partnership.

From 2019-21, community-based organisations in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Tanzania and pan-Africa partner WACI Health partnered on joint youth leadership advocacy programmes, which we were proud to help coordinate.