AfriLabs

AfriLabs Gender Equality Policy

  • INTRODUCTION

     

    AfriLabs is a pan-African network of over 500 technology and innovation hubs across 53 African Countries. It was founded in 2011 to build a community around rapidly emerging tech hubs – innovation spaces that serve as meeting points and communities for developers, entrepreneurs and investors. Its operations are run by the secretariat team.

     

    AfriLabs recognizes that over the years, there is a bias against certain gender in the workplace which must be challenged while promoting gender equality to achieve social justice through this policy, and is committed to ensuring that gender equality is fully incorporated in all spheres of its work to further promote awareness of dignity and human rights for all genders and ages, and eliminate gender inequality within its space. 

     

    This policy will be implemented in the context of local legal environments.

     

    AfriLabs recognizes that terms and definitions related to gender and sexuality are diverse and continue to evolve hence, to facilitate ease of reading this policy, it refers to ‘all genders and ages’ throughout. This demonstrates the organization’s recognition of and ability to work with individuals of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and/or gender expressions. It also recognizes that rigid gender norms limit people of all genders and sexual orientations by creating and reinforcing assumptions and systems of privilege (sometimes codified in laws and policies), about their recognition in society and the range of roles and opportunities open to them and that gender norms and hierarchies are constructed by people and systemically privilege some groups over others. 

     

    Throughout this policy when reference is made to all genders and ages this includes women and girls, men and boys as well as people who identify beyond the binary; and people of all sexual orientations.

     

    OBJECTIVE AND PURPOSE:

     

    The objective of this manual is to establish a policy and guide for the organization as it pertains to the equal treatment of people irrespective of gender in the workplace.  It sets out the guiding principles and mandatory requirements for mainstreaming gender across AfriLabs’s governance and operations with a view to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in support of the AfriLabs’ vision to achieve a thriving innovation economy in Africa, driven by the power of our community, by ensuring equal opportunities for women and men to participate in, contribute to and benefit from AfriLabs financed activities in support of the AfriLabs’ vision.

     

    The purpose of the policy is to:

    • Define and communicate clear commitments and consistent messages regarding gender equality within and outside the organization.
    • Continue to strengthen efforts to promote gender equality in the organization, increasing AfriLabs’ integrity and credibility as a leader in the gender equality fight. 

     

    SCOPE OF APPLICATION: 

     

    This policy applies to the Afrilabs Board members, Secretariat employees, Consultants, Vendors, all partners as well as financed activities.

     

     CORE PRINCIPLES:

     

    The following principles guide efforts to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women in AfriLabs governance and operations:

    1. Efforts to mainstream gender and promote gender equality and the empowerment of women are pursued in accordance with the decisions on gender policy guiding the organization, and in recognition of related international and national commitments to gender equality and human rights.
    1. AfriLabs-financed activities address and do not exacerbate existing gender-based inequalities.
    1. Board election, Stakeholder engagement, and analysis are conducted in an inclusive and gender-responsive manner so that the rights of women and men and the different knowledge, needs, roles, and interests of women and men are considered.
    2. Afrilabs-financed Activities are conducted, designed, and implemented in an inclusive manner so that women’s perspective, regardless of their background, age, race, ethnicity, or religion, is reflected in decision-making, and that consultations with women’s organisations, including Indigenous women and local women’s groups, are supported at all scales.
    3. A Gender-responsive approach is applied throughout the identification, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of AfriLabs-financed activities.
    4. Identify and take opportunities to address gender gaps and support the empowerment of women in order to help achieve the organization’s goal.

    OUR COMMITMENT TO GENDER EQUALITY IMPLEMENTATION 

     

    In order to effectively promote gender equality, girls’ rights, and inclusion, the organization:

    1. Designs implements, monitors, and evaluates quality gender transformative and inclusive development programmes. 
    2. Integrates gender equality and inclusion measures that align with and complement its values and behaviors framework into its business processes, management functions and leadership, and the way we conduct our work. The organization does not tolerate practices that result in gender-based discrimination, exclusion, or inequality based on gender or other forms of identity;

     

    ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

     

    All staff members, regardless of function or location, are responsible for the implementation of the requirements outlined in this policy. These requirements are reflected in recruitment processes, job descriptions, and performance reviews of staff at all levels and in the way we hold each other to account.

     

    All senior managers are accountable for this policy; the Executive Director will monitor what senior managers are doing, and the AfriLabs Board Members are ultimately responsible for our commitment to and implementation of this policy.

     

    To support accountability for this policy, there will be an effective review and monitoring process, led by

    AfriLabs Human Resources Department. In AfriLabs, this will include a perennial review and auditing of implementation and compliance with the policy, which will be shared across the ecosystem, and the Executive Director will report on the implementation annually to the Board. 

    CONCLUSION

     

    This policy is complementary to the set of standards of behavior that all AfriLabs employees are required to adhere to in the AfriLabs Code of Conduct and Ethics and any further codes or related

    policies defined by AfriLabs Board or Management.

     

    This Policy is also a response to AfriLabs’s accountability to the communities it works with and is therefore to be operationalized as part of the broader AfriLabs Accountability Framework.

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