More about the Equity Action Collaborative
The Charter for the Equity Action Collaborative puts in place an open, transparent, democratic, inclusive and collaborative process of input and decision-making for our Action Groups.
(Field Hearing discussion in India)
History: In 2012, IfE convened a participatory civil society process to negotiate an Equity Treaty, which contains an agreed-on set of ideas, principles and goals concerning equality within and between societies, and 15 commitments for global action. You can see and sign the Equity Treaty here. The Equity Action Collaborative is IfE’s process for working towards those goals and commitments.
Structure & Coordination: Participation in the Action Groups is entirely voluntary and unfunded. IfE’s Equity Action Collaborative approach is spelled out in its Charter (EAC Charter 23 March 2014) includes the following 3 steps:
- Take input to determine which issues most need global platforms for collaboration
Read the report on poll results here: Equity Action Collaborative Poll Results After assessing the results of the consultation, we decided on 6 Action Groups, representing the most preferred topics (or combined topics in a few cases) from the poll (see Action Groups listed on the Sidebar Menu to the left). More recently we added another Action Group topic that had not been included in the poll: the Refugee & Migrant Action Group. Note that we do not represent these as the most important topics in the world, but rather as the topics most in need of platforms for global collaboration at this time.
- Develop Action Groups for the issues that need global platforms for collaboration
Action Groups with volunteer coordinators and active volunteer participation will be launched and maintained. Each new Action Group will then develop its own Charter to define the issue it will work on, the goals of the group, and the approaches it will take.
- Provide platforms, coordination, and information resources to the Action Groups
The Equity Action Collaborative will set up communications capabilities and offer coordination to support the Action Groups, including platforms for communication and collaboration, training materials, and access to experts who can assist Action Groups (upon request) with technical expertise, fundraising suggestions, trainings, and organizing or advocacy advice.
The Equity Action Collaborative will implement and protect the democratic and participatory integrity of the Action Groups.
In keeping with the principles of equity and equality spelled out in the Equity Treaty, we reject a centralized or top-down model, and favor an open, transparent, democratic, inclusive and collaborative process of input and decision-making. We also recognize the need for division of labor and decisiveness in order to move forward, and thus do not expect absolute consensus in all decisions. These principles are spelled out in a Charter developed by the founding Coordinating Committee of the Equity Action Collaborative (EAC Charter 23 March 2014) and adopted by the IfE Board of Advisors. Each Action Group will develop its own Charter to define its goals and protect the participation process, and will also place one person on the Equity Action Collaborative Coordinating Committee.
Read about the Action Groups (see Sidebar Menu to the left) and then contact us if you would like to work with one of the groups. Email us at info@initiativeforequality.org.