As one of the original holders of the Positive Allies Charter Mark, ReportOUT, a global human rights charity for sexual and gender minorities, reaffirm their commitment to HIV inclusion. After recently gaining re-approval after submitting their annual review, they have made significant steps in developing the organisation to becoming HIV-inclusive for all staff and volunteers. You can read more about their journey as the first charity to achieve the Charter Mark, below.
ReportOUT were the first charity to achieve the Positive Allies Charter Mark. Working globally, as well as in the United Kingdom, this was important. As Drew Dalton, the CEO and Chair of Trustees of ReportOUT, states:
"This is exciting times for ReportOUT. As a global human rights organisation, we have over 80+ volunteers from all corners of the globe working with us to report, inform, and defend the human rights of sexual and gender minorities. Being successful in achieving the Positive Allies Charter Mark means that we are working hard to become an inclusive organisation, especially for those who volunteer with us, globally, who are living with HIV."
After submitting their annual review, ReportOUT have made steep steps since the last time they achieved the Positive Allies Charter Mark, as Drew says:
"We have always had volunteers go onto the HIV Awareness training course, we have celebrated key events such as World AIDS Day, we have had amended relevant policies and put into place the HIV and AIDS policy as recommended by Positive Allies, but we took it much further this time."
How did they do this?
ReportOUT have built Positive Allies into their volunteer induction process through their Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and they also have a highly visible SharePoint space (as their intranet) for all volunteers to see and access information about it. Drew goes onto say:
"As well as pushing the visibility internally to volunteers, we have made the Positive Allies Charter Mark a visible space on our external website to show our deep commitment to tackling HIV-related stigma. This not only appears on our website footer, but actively appears on all volunteer and Trustee recruitment pages. As a global facing organisation, it is vital that HIV stigma is eliminated if we are to reach equity for sexual and gender minorities"
ReportOUT were the first official charity to gain the Positive Allies Charter Mark, and they have made significant steps in pushing it further within their organisation. Let's all stamp out HIV-related stigma in all places of employment and volunteering. Could your charity be next?