A note from our staff on Black Lives Matter and combatting racism and discrimination

The killing of George Floyd in the US has released a wave of protest and reflection about systemic racism, not only in the US but around the world. We recognise the presence of systemic racism in our own societies and around the world and recognise our own responsibilities to act against racism and to use our own voices to draw attention to it.

The many indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant communities and forest peoples with whom we work experience the brutality of systemic prejudice in their own societies and lives. For 30 years, FPP has accompanied forest peoples to help them secure their rights, achieve self-determination, amplify their voices, and  support them to challenge the longstanding legacy of colonialism. Questioning power and privilege is an essential part of our daily work, but we must recognise the privilege that exists within our own organisation, too, and within our sector more widely. We are committed to working on our own internal policies to ensure that we are not part of the problem, and understanding the role that everything from our recruitment processes to our use of photography can play in dismantling prejudice and inequality – as well as to exacerbating them.

A Northern NGO working in predominantly Southern and indigenous spaces demands self-reflection and questioning , in order to ensure that we really do things right.These words need to be matched with actions. There’s a lot to do but we’re sharing here some of the steps we’re taking to give meaning to these words:

1. We are increasing indigenous representation on our Board.
2.  We actively promote applications to work with us from people of indigenous background and will continue to develop a strategy and ways of working to recruit and retain staff from a diversity of backgrounds. We are carrying out an internal review of FPP’s recruitment processes conducted by our Gender Group. The review will look at inclusion and diversity of all forms, including sexuality, gender, race and economic background, as well as internships.
3. With involvement of the Board we will ask people with lived experience of systemic discrimination, including partners and indigenous leaders, to review the steps we are taking and propose what further steps we can take.

If there are other ways you think we can become better allies and a better organisation, we’re always happy to hear from you