This week Fair Play Talks is honoured to highlight the work carried out by Ipolito T Mubiru, Founder & Executive Director of the African Diversity and Inclusion Center (ADIC), to promote diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) across the African continent. Mubiru founded the African Diversity and Inclusion Center, a pan-African organisation working to foster DE&I for women, youths and minority groups of people across the region. Below he explains why he created the very first African Diversity and Inclusion Influential Lists (ADIIL) – the only lists showcasing the talent promoting DE&I across the continent.
Fair Play Talks: Can you tell us more about ADIC and ADIIL?
Ipolito T Mubiru: The African Diversity and Inclusion Center (ADIC) is a Pan-African led organisation working with diverse partners to promote DE& across the continent. Through different programmes and cutting-edge initiatives, ADIC works to promote the belief that unless all of us work together as Africans, embrace each other and treat every single one of us as equal, we cannot achieve the dreams we have for Africa. Our not-for profit organisation, works with diverse communities to push for the inclusion of women, youths and minority groups of people in Africa in the workplace and in society. We do this by partnering with governments and corporations throughout Africa to help facilitate meaningful and worthwhile exchanges, to create more diverse and inclusive workplaces and societies.
Fair Play Talks: Why are you focusing mainly on women, youths and minority groups?
Ipolito T Mubiru: Women, youths and minority groups of people have historically been consistently deprived of their fundamental rights by those in power – mostly men. When reviewed, it is these groups of people that are at the bottom of the pyramid and thus receive little if anything of the national cake, so we shed light on all the injustices being faced by these groups, while working on different programmes with a number of partners to create change leading to the equality and inclusion we seek.
Fair Play Talks: Can you tell us about ADIIL and how people qualify to be on these lists?
Ipolito T Mubiru: The African Diversity and Inclusion Influential Lists (ADIIL) comprises individuals from different settings who work together to foster diversity and inclusion for women, youths and minority groups of people all across the continent. We started by looking for 40 influential people in the categories of women, youths and minority groups of people, and 20 men who matter. These people were chosen from different backgrounds and different sets of achievements, which are outstanding in their own right. Therefore, we are looking for that exceptional achiever, not necessarily because they have all the tools at their disposal, but because they go the extra mile in working to help different groups of people to achieve their rights thus driving Africa towards becoming an inclusive society.
Fair Play Talks: How are people on these lists evaluated?
Ipolito T Mubiru: We looked at the achievements of a particular individual. We also looked at the odds that always have to be overcome as any particular individual worked on a particular initiative. We also considered the resources available, the particular group being served by this individual and the innovations in place to see their visions coming to reality. They are judged by community and business leaders of various organisations across the region, as well as journalists, many of whom who have also carried out outstanding work to help Africa become a better continent. Check out the story here.
Fair Play Talks: What programmes do you offer at ADIC?
Ipolito T Mubiru: We are working with partners to develop the diversity and inclusion fellowship supported by major donors, together with an annual summit which aims to bring together leaders from different spheres to discuss DE&I on the African continent. We are planning a major summit involving business, political, corporate and civil society leaders, for either 2021 or 2022, and would welcome interest from diversity and inclusion professionals in different major corporations to come forward to help.
Fair Play Talks: Can you tell us how the pandemic and lockdowns has affected the African region?
Ipolito T Mubiru: In March, when African governments started enforcing mandatory lockdowns and curfews for citizen, there was a public outcry from citizens whose rights were grossly abused. This included rape in Burundi and Rwanda by security forces to beating and arrests of women and marginalised community members in Uganda. Thankfully, top political leaders came to the rescue of citizens, and this is no longer the case. We have, however, witnessed a rise in the number of domestic gender violence cases due to the lockdown.
Fair Play Talks: What other initiatives is ADIC involved with?
Ipolito T Mubiru: Apart from preparing yet other lists to come, we are looking forward to collaborating with national and regional organisations, as well as the African Union to push for an inclusive and equal Africa where women, youths and minority groups of people are all treated as equals in Africa. We seek to collaborate with corporations that specialise in DE&I in the workplace, policy makers, researchers, training experts, event planners and funding institutions to make this a reality to help us push the DE&I agenda across the continent.
Fair Play Talks: Tell us about your personal interest in DE&I?
Ipolito T Mubiru: I have had great exposure to HIV/AIDS epidemic through the loss of my father and relatives, but also working closely with minority and marginalised communities in Uganda, who struggle to access health services, including basic human rights, while fighting all kinds of discrimination. Working with marginalised communities exposed me to the harsh realities faced by women and people from minorities groups. They revealed the inequalities in society and how these become building blocks and breeding grounds for greater challenges in society, such as terrorism,, suicides, gender-based violence, etc.
As we began to fight against discrimination and advocate for increased access to health services, we saw a decline in the rates of HIV among both the marginalised communities and the general population. This was a turning point as we acknowledged that diversity and being as equitable and inclusive, particularly for the most marginalised amongst us, would create results for all of us, including people who do not acknowledge this but are part of society.
Secondly, having been raised by a single parent, I saw first-hand how she struggled to make ends meet, through working hard for a living on other people’s farms to fermenting a local brew among to see her family through. Incidentally, the day she raised enough money to buy her own land was the day when everything changed for her and for us. She could later afford to send me to boarding school – around US$100 a year for tuition. It was a huge sum of money then but she worked her way through. She is my source of inspiration. So I firmly believe in land rights for women and the empowerment of women for the betterment of society. It’s one of the reasons why I do what I do – all mostly anchored on the harsh realities I witnessed first hand during my growing up years with mum. Advocating and pushing for the realisation of women, youths and minority groups of people rights across Africa would be the only way to give back to her and ultimately society, as we lead more people to realise that empowering these people, means changing lives for everyone.
Fair Play Talks: How can other international organisations help or get involved?
Ipolito T Mubiru: We call upon all members cognizant of the fact that our continent is not where it is supposed to be, to bring on board expertise in organisational development, resource mobilization, programme development, and work alongside us and cheer us on as we work together to create the Africa we want to see. It would be great to hear from professionals in international organisations or corporations that are prepared to guide us and share their expertise to advance our DE&I work across Africa, and those that can help us to put together our inaugural summit, late next year or in 2022.
Check out the website for more information or get in touch with Ipolito T Mubiru directly by clicking here.
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