UN Global Compact Network Canada

About the UN Global Compact Network Canada

The UN Global Compact Network Canada is dedicated to assisting Canadian organizations with the advancement of the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In doing so, the Canadian Local Network unifies and builds the capacity of the Canadian private sector to embrace responsible business practices by convening and accelerating opportunities for multi-stakeholder collaboration, and mobilizes businesses to achieve sustainable value by delivering measurable impact to the world’s most pressing challenges.

 

The UN Global Compact Network Canada and the 50 – 30 Challenge

As an Ecosystem Partner supporting the 50 – 30 Challenge, the UN Global Compact Network Canada will be providing 50 – 30 Challenge participants with the tools, training, resources, knowledge, and networking opportunities to achieve ambitious representation targets as well as foster greater capacity for diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the future. To cultivate long-term growth, the UN Global Compact Network Canada’s support for Challenge participants is designed to help organizations embed equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts into their business’ core and better incorporate sustainable development principles with a specific focus on human rights and advancing Goal 5, “achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls”, Goal 8, “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all” and Goal 10, “reduce inequality within and among countries.”

 

Activities and Support for 50 – 30 Challenge Participants:

From September 2022 – March 2024, the UN Global Compact Network Canada’s 50 – 30 Project Team will be:

  •   Developing and delivering tailored workshops that aim to provide Challenge participants with a roadmap and corresponding action plan, and tested strategies for improving inclusion to work more effectively towards meet representation targets. 
  •   Producing and making widely available a series of case studies featuring Challenge participants in order to outline best practices and recommendations to help Canadian organizations set and meet representation targets and achieve broader objectives that help to advance equality, diversity, and inclusion.
  •   Holding a multi-stakeholder roundtable event that brings together government, Challenge participants, equity-deserving groups, and private sector allies to discuss the outcomes of the 50 – 30 Challenge and how to continue momentum for equity, diversity, and inclusion work in the future.

 

These three activities will be available to all Challenge participants and aim to help organizations build capacity to meet the 50 – 30 Challenge targets in the future by focusing on key interventions and actions that contribute to building more inclusive, resilient, and responsible workplaces.

To learn more about the UN Global Compact Network Canada and its support for the 50 – 30 Challenge participants as an Ecosystem Partner, please visit our webpage here, or contact:

Yah Hélène-Karelle Ekpini (she/her): [email protected]

Nada Khan (she/her): [email protected]

Definition

Microaggression

Microaggression is defined as: “A comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group” – Source: Merriam Webster

Definition

Unlearning

Unlearning is defined as: “To make an effort to forget your usual way of doing something so that you can learn a new and sometimes better way” – Source: Cambridge Dictionary

Definition

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is defined as: A framework for understanding how different aspects of a person’s social and political identities (e.g., gender, race, class, sexuality, ability, physical appearance, etc.) combine to create unique modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies advantages and disadvantages that are felt by people due to this combination of factors – Source: Kimberlé Crenshaw, TIME

Definition

Privilege

Privilege is defined as: “The unfair and unearned advantages individuals are granted for having, or being perceived to have, social identities that align with those deemed to be superior according to societal rules and norms. It is often experienced as an absence of barriers related to a particular social identity (e.g., White privilege, straight privilege)” – Source: Egale

Definition

Safe Space

Safe Space is defined as: “A place intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations” – Source: Merriam-Webster

Safe spaces allow individuals to feel comfortable having brave and honest conversations.

Definition

Emotional Tax

Emotional Tax is defined as: “The combination of feeling different from peers at work because of gender, race, and/or ethnicity, being on guard against experiences of bias, and experiencing the associated effects on health, well-being, and ability to thrive at work” – Source: Catalyst

Definition

Tokenism

Tokenism is defined as: “Performative policies that ostensibly promote diversity or equality (placing women or diverse groups in leadership positions), but do not truly have a positive impact on the workplace. Tokenism isn’t progressive, and it especially causes harm to tokenized individuals, causing extra pressure to succeed due to being perceived as representative of a group and often leaving them in an alienating work environment” – Source: Catalyst

Definition

Psychological Safety

Psychological Safety is defined as: “An environment that encourages, recognizes and rewards individuals for their contributions and ideas by making individuals feel safe when taking interpersonal risks. A lack of psychological safety at work can inhibit team learning and lead to in-groups, groupthink and blind spots” – Source: Gartner