Ethiopian women sort coffee beans at a long table. Gender equality and equity are vital components of sustainable development (Photo: Wikipedia Commons)
Gender justice is fundamental to achieving IIED's mission. Both for the issues we work on and our own ways of working.
We are an institute that believes in collaboration, impact and fairness – inside our institute as well as in the wider world.
Our research and action aim to put people first on the environmental agenda. We want to empower the world's poorest and most vulnerable people to improve their own livelihoods while respecting environmental limits.
By definition that must include an ambitious approach to gender – one that critically examines gender roles, relations and dynamics; that transforms the underlying social structures, policies and norms that perpetuate inequalities and imbalances between and among women and men.
At the same time, we want a fair and inclusive workplace that is truly gender equal. A workplace that requires us to acknowledge that our approach to gender equality and equity is shaped by our individual and collective knowledge, behaviours, values and by societal norms. One that challenges us to assess our policies, principles and practices on a routine basis, changing them where needed.
What is gender justice?
Gender justice at IIED is to take a holistic approach that breaks the gender binary and seeks to rectify the deeply ingrained structural inequalities that perpetuate gender-based discrimination and exclusion, with an intersectional focus.
It entails dismantling systems that perpetuate gender injustice, including unequal power relations, within national boundaries and across regions. It seeks not only to level the playing field but also to rectify historical and systemic gender injustices.
We approach gender justice and anti-racism through an intersectional lens, where equity and inclusion are championed through daily active allyship.
Equity, inclusion and justice
In 2024 IIED published its new Manifesto for a Thriving World that set out to offer different answers and approaches to address the world’s entrenched climate, nature and inequality crises.
The manifesto was launched in parallel with revisiting and updating our institutional values, which were co-created with staff and include a focus on inclusion and equity and the impotance of those values being championed through daily active allyship.
The same year IIED’s gender champions – responsible for pushing forward on integrating and enhancing gender justice activities across the organisation, supporting researchers, sharing learning, building skills and confidence – formally became the gender justice working group, reporting to the equity, inclusion and justice committee in an updated governance structure within IIED.
And in February 2025 a new equity, inclusion and justice strategy was published with a vision to create an environment where all our people and partners feel welcomed, respected, supported and valued to be their full selves. This built on previous gender work that include a gender manifesto (2016) and gender equality policy (2020).
- Find out more about IIED's work to analyse and integrate gender issues in all our activities, and to engage and contribute to emerging debates on gender
- Read the new equity, inclusion and justice strategy
