Defence

About Defence

Equal opportunities in the Armed Forces

Corporate approach to equal opportunities in the Armed Forces

The Goal

The Armed Forces diversity goal is to achieve an environment free from harassment, intimidation and unlawful discrimination, in which all have equal opportunity and encouragement to realise their full potential. The Armed Forces respect and value every individuals unique contribution, irrespective of his or her race, ethnic origin, religion, gender, social background and sexual orientation, and seek to enhance their operational capability by maximising that contribution.

Corporate Principles

For the overall goal to be realised, the Armed Forces need to recruit and retain high calibre personnel, irrespective of race, ethnic origin, religion or gender and without reference to social background or sexual orientation. We recognise that the Armed Forces must take a lead nationally in promoting and demonstrating racial equality and diversity. The corporate principles laid down below will help us achieve the diversity goal.

Leadership and commitment from the top down to the principles of diversity.
Respect for all individuals.
Education of all personnel in diversity through effective training programmes.
The moral courage to take appropriate action, in line with the expressed core values and standards of the Services, against bullying, harassment, unlawful discrimination, prejudice and negative attitudes.
To deal with complaints expeditiously and fairly.
To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of our policies regularly, learning from best practice.
To comply with equality legislation, including the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 duty to promote race equality.
Tolerable variation will not apply.

MOD Ministers and the Service Chiefs have demonstrated their firm commitment to embracing equal opportunities and diversity. Their commitment is about action, not just words. Real progress has been made and is continuing to be made.

Leadership in Action

The Service Chiefs are each personally committed to the Commission for Racial Equality’s Leadership Challenge. Sir Herman Ouseley described the work of the Armed Forces in the field of equal opportunities as "a model of leadership in action".

Strong leadership is vital in establishing a military culture which promotes and welcomes diversity. A number of tri-Service and single Service initiatives are in place to take practical steps to implement change, some of which are described below. But most important of all is the personal ownership and accountability of every individual, at every level, for the delivery of diversity policy. Only in this way can equality of opportunity become a reality.

Since March 1996 the MOD has been working with the Commission for Racial Equality to promote racial equality practices and eliminate all forms of racial discrimination and harassment in the Armed Forces. On 25 March 1998, the MOD and the Commission for Racial Equality signed a five-year Partnership Agreement. Sir Herman Ouseley recently described the Partnership Agreement as "a good, ground-breaking model for other employers".

The MODs 'We Were There' website won an award in the prestigious Race in the Media Awards. In 2001 the Army took part in the Race for Opportunity Benchmarking Model where it was compared against the top diversity practitioners in the country. The Army received the highest grade by some margin and the Army's leadership and commitment was noted. At the British Diversity Awards in both 2001 and 2000, the Naval Service won the Best Diversity Practitioner award in competition with all public sector candidates. In November 1999 the MOD won the Gold Award for Best Diversity Practice by a Government Department at the British Diversity Awards. The Royal Navy and Royal Air Force also picked up awards. This achievement follows the MOD and Armed Forces· success in both the 1998 British Diversity Awards and 1999 Windrush Awards.

What People Have Said

Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, former Chief of the Defence Staff
"Diversity is key to getting the very best out of all our personnel and to our reputation as employers. I am determined to make the Armed Forces more representative of our diverse society and to reap the benefits that diversity undoubtedly offers for sustainable operational capability."

Sir Herman Ouseley, former Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality
"The Armed Forces have recognised that equality and diversity are positive strengths for an organisation and their work in this area is setting standards that other sections of society should follow."

General Colin Powell, United States Secretary of State and former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff
"The leadership of the Armed Forces, working with their civilian leaders and the Commission for Racial Equality, have a firm understanding of the nature and dimension of this challenge and have put in place policies and programmes to get the results that they want and the results that they very badly need."

Practical steps to implement change

Initiatives aimed at promoting diversity and combating unlawful discrimination in the Armed Forces include:

Individual Equal Opportunities directives and action plans in each Service are underpinned by the Corporate Equal Opportunities Goal and Principles.
A Zero Tolerance policy on all forms of harassment and bullying. Complaints are taken seriously.
Confidential telephone helplines have been introduced to give all personnel access to advice and support if they feel they are being harassed or unfairly discriminated against.
Equal opportunities training is provided to all personnel.
The Tri-Service Equal Opportunities Training Centre, located at Shrivenham, is the first of its kind in Europe. It has a vital role to play in providing training for dedicated Equal Opportunities. Advisers and all senior officers - both Service and civilian.
Challenging goals for ethnic minority recruitment are aimed at making the Armed Forces more representative of the culturally diverse society which they exist to defend.
Community partnerships and outreach work forge stronger links with ethnic minority communities and aim to promote the Armed Forces as an employer of first choice for the many talented young people from these communities who have so much to offer the Services.
The Armed Forces make every effort to accommodate religious or cultural requirements, and encourage people from all faiths to practise their religious observances. Whenever practicable personnel are allowed to observe religious festivals or holidays and to say prayers at a certain time. Halal, Kosher and vegetarian meals and operational ration packs are provided.
The MOD and the Armed Forces are committed to expanding career opportunities for women. In 1998 the number of posts open to women in the Army increased from 47% to 70%. 73% of posts in the Naval Service and 96% of posts in the RAF are open to women. Certain front line posts are still closed to women on grounds of combat effectiveness, but women serve in combat roles both at sea and in the air. Women currently represent 7.9% of the total strength of the Armed Forces.

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