Confrontational report on racism at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs | News item

News item | 12-12-2022 | 3:30 pm

Secretary-General Paul Huijts: “The report contains hard conclusions and painful examples. The report touches us deeply. What colleagues go through, what is said and what kind of feeling that gives, we find unacceptable. We regret that we apparently have not been able to provide a working environment that does not allow for such occurrences. On behalf of the Executive Council of our Ministry, I apologize for this. It is in no way consistent with how we as an organization want to commit ourselves to a safe working environment in The Hague and at the missions. Racism cannot and should not have a place in our organisation. We stand for a BZ in which every colleague is respected and valued. In our organization, core values ​​and standards such as equal treatment, non-discrimination and respect must be upheld and violations of these should not be tolerated. The fact that racism occurs in our organization is especially painful because any form of discrimination is prohibited and we advocate international justice. In that light too, we will do everything we can to combat racism within our own organization.”

Ask for your own research

“Partly in response to the Black Lives Matter protests, the Board of Directors decided to investigate which forms of racism occur within our organization,” said Deputy Secretary-General Carola van Rijnsoever. “The report maps out the nature and patterns of racism within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and makes recommendations. With quotes from in-depth interviews, it sketches a penetrating picture of the forms in which racism manifests itself and how this is experienced by colleagues. I find it very sad that colleagues experience racism. It is good that we have now visualized this. That helps us to fight racism in our organization and that’s what we’re going to do. First and foremost, we now want to offer support to colleagues who have experienced racism.”

Strengthen

“The organization is being structurally strengthened to prevent and combat racism. We are convinced that almost all our colleagues worldwide condemn racism and that they want to join us in preventing and combating it,” says Paul Huijts. “This also fits within our broader mission and ambition to be a diverse and inclusive organization in which the workforce is also a reflection of society, where every colleague is equal and can develop optimally. We adopt the recommendations from the report. A project group led by the Deputy Secretary-General will coordinate the work, building on steps we have already taken in the past period and drawing on expert advice. This involves better prevention, better action in case an incident occurs and institutional changes. It is our ambition to take major steps quickly, but we are aware that combating a cultural problem takes time. The special advisors for diversity and inclusion are part of the project group.”

Three tracks

The follow-up runs along three tracks, whereby BZ, where possible, naturally links up with the government-wide approach to discrimination and racism, including the Central Government Integrity Code of Conduct.

Firstly, BZ wants to achieve widespread recognition and awareness of the problem and initiate a structural cultural change. The aim is to make racism negotiable and to banish it, and to prevent colleagues from consciously or unconsciously acting racist.

Secondly, BZ improves and simplifies the options for reporting and following up on incidents. The aim of this is to effectively combat racism when it occurs and to optimally assist colleagues who unfortunately have to experience it.

Thirdly, BZ is building an organization in which there is no room for racism. The aim is to eradicate institutional racism. For example, we take a closer look at our recruitment and selection process. And we look at the progression of colleagues with a bicultural background.

Listening, sharing emotions, reacting and asking questions

We expect that the report will cause a stir within the organisation. There are external confidential advisers that colleagues can contact. Colleagues can also contact the confidential advisers of the Ministry and the missions, corporate social work and the central integrity coordinator of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The board also wants to take the time to discuss this in the organization. To listen, to give colleagues in The Hague and abroad the opportunity to share emotions, to respond, to ask questions. Talks will therefore be organized throughout the organization in the near future. All managers in The Hague and at the posts are asked to actively and safely discuss the theme of racism.

Paul Huijts: “We will do everything we can to ensure that every colleague, anywhere in the world, feels welcome and valued, can be themselves, is treated correctly and can develop optimally. We do this with full confidence and in the knowledge that we will take important steps together. We can do this as an organization and with each other, we have every confidence in that.”