The Department of Foreign Affairs is fully committed to promoting gender, equality, diversity and inclusion and creating a culture of dignity and respect in the workplace, as set out in our Statement of Strategy 2021-2023. Over recent years, my Department has taken a proactive and strategic approach to advancing gender equality and wider diversity and inclusion issues. In 2012, a Management Board Sub-Committee focusing on diversity and inclusion issues, including Gender Equality was established, which brings together key stakeholders across the Department to provide leadership and strategic direction.
As part of my Department’s Human Resources Strategy 2019-2022, a number of initiatives and policies have been advanced to improve gender, equality, diversity and inclusion. In 2019, a dedicated Lead Officer for Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion was appointed who co-ordinates work in this area across the Department. Through the Human Resources Strategy 2019-2022, as part of a wider Gender Equality Action Plan, my Department has published a Maternity Leave Cover Policy; a Guide to Supports for Maternity, Adoptive and Parental Leave; and is finalising the adoption of a Menopause Policy, which is expected to be launched in Q2 2022.
Since 2019, my Department has published three reports on the Gender Pay Gap within DFA and in 2021 developed a Gender Pay Gap Action Plan. The Department of Foreign Affairs has reduced its Gender Pay Gap from over 30% in 2013 to 16.48% in 2020, and has made determined efforts to work towards a better gender balance at HQ and overseas positions. The next Departmental Gender Pay Gap report will be published in line with regulations to be introduced under the Gender Pay Gap Information Act, 2021.
Efforts towards ensuring greater gender balance at more senior levels is a key priority in the Department. As the end of 2021, the percentage of women at Principal Officer level and higher was 40 percent. In addition, of the 22 Ambassadorial and senior-level Head of Mission nominations for 2022, 11 are women and 11 are men. Including Consuls General appointed, 18 women will take up Head of Mission roles in 2022 out of a total of 31. Once all these appointments to bilateral and multilateral missions are in place in 2022, the percentage of female Heads of Missions will be 46%, up from 36% one year ago. As part of my Department’s commitment to tackling the Gender Pay Gap, it led on the establishment of an inter-departmental working group on the Gender Pay Gap, which acts as an informal means of sharing best practice in the area of reducing the Gender Pay Gap and promoting Gender Equality.
More broadly, my Department is working to embed a culture of diversity and inclusion across the Department. In October 2020 and November 2021 the Department launched two surveys to gather the views of staff on how we can make further progress in this area. Combined, the results of these surveys will be used to develop a bespoke Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan and Training Programme, which will be both be finalised by the end of Q2 2022.
Gender Equality and the empowerment of women and girls is a key priority for Ireland’s foreign policy. A Better World, Ireland’s international development policy, establishes gender equality as one of four core policy priorities. We are committed to integrating gender equality across all our interventions and in our wider foreign policy; and to increasing allocations to interventions directly dedicated to achieving gender equality. Ireland has a longstanding reputation as a leader on gender equality on the international stage. In 2018 and 2019, Ireland successfully chaired the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Ireland is consistently ranked by the OECD DAC as among the OECD member countries with the highest gender equality focus in official development assistance (ODA). Gender features as a theme of the 2020 Irish Aid Annual report.
