Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

"bee Charity" Verein (“BeeCharity”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a Swiss association (Verein) with its seat in Dübendorf, Canton of Zurich, registered in the Commercial Register Office of the Canton of Zurich under UID CHE-457.076.818. Fairness, dignity and respect for every person are values that lie at the very heart of our environmental and humanitarian mission, and they must be reflected not only in what we do in the world but in how we treat everyone connected with our own organisation.

The purpose of this Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy is to set out our commitment to treating people fairly and to building a diverse and inclusive organisation, and to explain how that commitment is put into practice. It describes the standards we apply to everyone involved with BeeCharity — board members, volunteers, applicants, beneficiaries, donors, partners and members of the public — and it makes clear that discrimination, harassment and victimisation have no place in our work.

This policy explains what we mean by equality, diversity and inclusion, the characteristics we protect, how we seek to provide equal opportunities in recruitment and volunteering, how we make our activities accessible, how we deal with harassment, and how concerns can be raised and monitored. It was formally adopted by the board and is published in the spirit of transparency; it describes the standards we hold ourselves to.

BeeCharity is committed to being an organisation in which everyone is treated with dignity and respect, in which difference is valued, and in which people from all backgrounds feel genuinely welcome and able to contribute. We believe that equality, diversity and inclusion are not simply legal or reputational obligations but a source of strength: a diverse community brings a wider range of perspectives, experiences and ideas, and helps us serve the environment and the people we support more effectively.

We understand these three ideas as connected but distinct. Equality means treating people fairly and ensuring that no one is disadvantaged because of who they are, which sometimes means treating people differently to meet different needs. Diversity means recognising, respecting and valuing the differences between people. Inclusion means creating an environment in which everyone feels respected, able to participate fully, and able to be themselves without fear of exclusion or judgement.

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity, to eliminating unlawful and unfair discrimination, and to fostering a culture of inclusion in everything we do — from how we recruit and support volunteers, to how we design our activities, to how we communicate with the public. As a small and still-developing association, we are honest that we are at the beginning of this journey; but our commitment is genuine, it is led from the top by the board, and we expect everyone connected with BeeCharity to share and uphold it.

We are committed to preventing discrimination against, and to promoting the inclusion of, people with all backgrounds and characteristics. In line with Swiss constitutional guarantees of equality and international good practice, we will not tolerate discrimination on the basis of any personal characteristic, including in particular:

This list reflects the grounds protected under the equality guarantees of the Swiss Federal Constitution and related law, together with characteristics widely recognised in international human-rights and equality standards. It is not intended to be exhaustive: our commitment is to treat every person fairly and with respect, and we oppose discrimination on any unjustified ground, whether or not it is specifically named here. We also oppose discrimination by association (treating someone unfairly because of a characteristic of a person they are connected with) and discrimination by perception (treating someone unfairly because of a characteristic they are thought to have).

• Origin, race, ethnicity, colour, nationality or national or social background.
• Language.
• Religion, belief, or lack of religion or belief, and philosophical or political conviction.
• Sex, gender, gender identity and gender expression.
• Sexual orientation.
• Age.
• Disability, health condition or neurodivergence.
• Marital, civil-partnership or family status, including pregnancy, maternity and caring responsibilities.
• Genetic features or any physical, mental or psychological impairment.

BeeCharity is committed to providing equality of opportunity to everyone who wishes to be involved in or benefit from our work. This means that decisions about who may volunteer, take on a role, receive support, or partner with us are based on relevant and objective factors — such as suitability for a role, or genuine need — and never on prejudice or on any of the protected characteristics described above.

We recognise that treating people equally does not always mean treating them identically. Genuine equality of opportunity sometimes requires us to make adjustments or to take positive steps so that people who face particular barriers can participate on a fair footing. We are therefore willing to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people and others with particular needs, to offer flexibility where we can, and to take active steps to reach and encourage people from groups who may be under-represented in our activities or who might not otherwise think of getting involved.

We also seek to avoid indirect discrimination — that is, applying a rule or practice that appears neutral but in fact puts people with a particular characteristic at a disadvantage — unless it is genuinely necessary and proportionate. We keep our practices under review to identify and remove unnecessary barriers, and we expect everyone acting for BeeCharity to apply the principle of equal opportunity in their own decisions and behaviour.

Although BeeCharity is currently run by its board and volunteers rather than by paid staff, the principles of fair recruitment apply to every process by which we bring people into roles, and we are committed to making those processes open, fair and free from discrimination. This applies to the recruitment of board members, of volunteers, and — should we engage them in future — of employees and contractors.

We aim to describe roles honestly and to base our requirements on what a role genuinely needs, avoiding criteria that could unfairly exclude people with a particular characteristic and that are not truly necessary. We advertise or share opportunities as openly as we reasonably can, we welcome interest from people of all backgrounds, and we assess applicants on the basis of their relevant skills, experience, qualities and suitability for the role, not on assumptions or stereotypes. Where checks such as references or, for certain roles, background checks are required, we apply them consistently and only where they are relevant and proportionate, in line with our Safeguarding and Volunteer policies.

We make reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment and selection processes so that disabled applicants and those with particular needs can take part on an equal basis — for example by offering an alternative way to express interest, or by adapting how a conversation or task is conducted. Any personal information provided by applicants is handled confidentially and in accordance with our Privacy Policy, and used only to consider their application and support them in a role.

Volunteers are central to everything BeeCharity does, and our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion applies fully to them. We want people from all backgrounds and walks of life to feel welcome as volunteers, and we are committed to ensuring that no one is excluded from volunteering, or treated less favourably as a volunteer, because of a protected characteristic.

This commitment runs through the whole of the volunteering relationship, as set out in our Volunteer Policy and Code of Conduct: we recruit and select volunteers fairly, we provide induction and support inclusively, we make reasonable adjustments so that disabled volunteers and those with particular needs can take part, and we allocate roles and opportunities on the basis of suitability and interest rather than assumptions about what someone can or cannot do. We also seek to remove practical barriers to volunteering — such as inflexible arrangements or inaccessible information — wherever we reasonably can.

Volunteers are, in turn, expected to uphold this policy in their own conduct: to treat fellow volunteers, beneficiaries, donors, partners and members of the public with dignity and respect, and never to engage in discrimination, harassment or victimisation. Creating an inclusive environment is a shared responsibility, and we ask all volunteers to help build a culture in which everyone feels valued and able to contribute, and to challenge or report behaviour that falls short of these standards.

Inclusion means little if people cannot actually access our activities, our information and our communications, and we are therefore committed to making what we do as accessible as we reasonably can. Accessibility is an integral part of our approach to equality, not a separate concern, and we consider it across both our digital presence and, where relevant, our physical activities and events.

For our website and digital communications, we aim to meet recognised accessibility standards and to provide information in alternative formats on request, as set out in detail in our separate Accessibility Statement. In our wider activities, we try to think about the needs of people with different abilities — for example by choosing accessible venues for events where possible, communicating clearly and in plain language, and being ready to make reasonable adjustments so that disabled people and those with particular needs can participate.

We recognise that, as a small organisation with limited resources, we cannot always remove every barrier immediately, and we are honest about that. What we can promise is that we take accessibility seriously, that we welcome requests and feedback about how to make our activities more accessible, and that we will always try to find a reasonable way to enable someone to take part or to access the information they need. Anyone who requires an adjustment is encouraged to contact us using the details below.

BeeCharity does not tolerate harassment, bullying or victimisation in any form, and everyone connected with us has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Harassment means unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic, or of a sexual nature, that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them. It can take many forms — spoken or written words, images, gestures, jokes, exclusion, or conduct online — and it can occur even where it was not intended to cause offence.

Bullying — offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour that misuses power to undermine, humiliate or injure the person on the receiving end — is equally unacceptable, as is victimisation, which means treating someone badly because they have raised a concern about discrimination or harassment, or supported someone else who has. These behaviours are corrosive to the inclusive culture we are committed to building, and they will always be taken seriously.

Everyone acting for BeeCharity is expected to behave in a way that is respectful and free from harassment and bullying, whether at activities and events, in meetings, in written and online communications, or in any other setting connected with our work. Anyone who experiences or witnesses such behaviour is encouraged to raise it through the reporting routes described below, and we will respond supportively and without allowing anyone to be disadvantaged for speaking up in good faith. Serious cases may be dealt with under our Volunteer Policy, our Complaints Policy or, where relevant, our Safeguarding Policy, and may result in a person’s involvement with BeeCharity being ended.

We want anyone who experiences or witnesses discrimination, harassment, bullying or victimisation, or who has any concern about how this policy is being applied, to feel able to raise it, and we will treat every concern seriously, fairly and as confidentially as we reasonably can. No one will be disadvantaged for raising a genuine concern in good faith.

In many cases a concern can be resolved quickly and informally by raising it with your usual point of contact or with a member of the board. Where that is not appropriate, or does not resolve the matter, a concern can be raised formally under our Complaints Policy, using the contact details in the Contact chapter below or by writing to beecharity1@gmail.com. Where a concern relates to a member of the board, it can be directed to the other board member so that it is never considered only by the person it concerns. Concerns involving the safety or welfare of a child or vulnerable person are dealt with under our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy, and serious wrongdoing can be raised under our Whistleblowing Policy.

When a concern is raised, we will listen, look into it fairly and without pre-judging the outcome, and explain how it has been dealt with. We will handle any personal information involved in accordance with our Privacy Policy, sharing it only with those who need it to resolve the matter. Where a concern reveals that we need to change something in our practices or culture, we will act on it, because learning from concerns is an important part of becoming a genuinely inclusive organisation.

We recognise that a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion means little unless we pay attention to how well we are living up to it in practice. As a small, largely volunteer-run association we keep our monitoring proportionate, but we are committed to reflecting honestly on our progress rather than simply assuming that good intentions are enough.

In practical terms, monitoring includes keeping this policy and our related practices under review, paying attention to the diversity and inclusiveness of our volunteer community and our activities, and taking seriously any complaints or concerns raised about discrimination, harassment or exclusion. Where we gather any information about people’s characteristics — for example to understand who is and is not reached by our work — we do so sensitively, only where it is useful and proportionate, on a voluntary and where possible anonymous basis, and always in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable Swiss data-protection law.

The board has overall responsibility for equality, diversity and inclusion at BeeCharity and considers what our monitoring, and the concerns we receive, tell us about where we can do better. Where monitoring identifies a barrier, an under-represented group, or a recurring problem, we will consider what practical steps we can take to address it. In this way, monitoring feeds directly into the ongoing improvement of our culture and practices.

This policy was formally adopted by the board and is reviewed at least annually, or sooner if there is a relevant change in Swiss law, in recognised good practice on equality and inclusion, or in the nature and scale of our activities. As BeeCharity grows — for example if the board expands or if we take on employees — we will develop this policy and our related practices accordingly.

Any material change to this policy is approved under our joint signing authority, with two authorised representatives acting together. The version and status shown at the top of this page reflect its current standing as a policy formally adopted by the board, and we will update the version history when it is adopted or amended. We welcome suggestions from our community on how this policy, and our approach to equality, diversity and inclusion, could be improved.

If you have any question about this policy, if you would like to request an adjustment so that you can take part in our work, or if you wish to raise a concern about discrimination, harassment or inclusion, please contact us and we will be glad to help.

Equality, diversity and inclusion enquiries: beecharity1@gmail.com

Complaints: beecharity1@gmail.com

Safeguarding: beecharity1@gmail.com

Postal address: "bee Charity" Verein, c/o Jasmin Semra Gabrielli, Bahnhofstrasse 33, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland