Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement

The Foundation is fully committed to promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion across all aspects of its work:

• The Foundation recognises that people from different backgrounds bring fresh ideas and a different approach which makes the way we work and learn more fun, more creative, more efficient and more innovative, bringing benefits to the organisation.
• The Foundation actively seeks to recognise, value and take account of individuals’ different backgrounds, knowledge, skills and experience to create a more productive and effective organisation.
• The Foundation seeks to ensure that all who work for and deal with us feel valued and welcome.
•  The Foundation strives to ensure that everyone has access to the same opportunities in their dealings with the Foundation but recognizes that advantages and barriers exist for different individuals. The Foundation recognises that individuals have unequal starting places and that we must make efforts to correct and address such imbalance.

Below we set out the concrete ways by which we seek to give effect to the Foundation’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Values
COSARAF is a family-led foundation and, in large part, the vehicle by which to disburse the family’s Zakat donations. As such, the Foundation’s values are rooted in the Islamic faith and in the Sheikh family’s ethos. The Foundation has sought to distil these characteristics in to the following three values which are intended to establish very clearly how the Foundation and all involved in its work will undertake its important work:

• Entrepreneurial
• Principled
• Loyal

Staff
The Foundation is committed to the provision of training and development of managers and employees to ensure a supportive working and home environment for all employees.

The Foundation endeavours to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect; no person acting on our behalf shall discriminate in any situation against another individual or group, directly or indirectly.

All employees – whether part-time, full time or temporary – will be treated fairly and with respect. Selection for employment, promotion, training or any other benefit will be on the basis of their individual aptitude and ability to carry out duties expected of that post.

The Foundation seeks to ensure that our policies, procedures and practice within the organisation do not discriminate against any individual and that all individuals will be treated fairly and equally regardless of whom they are, their background or their lifestyle or the number of hours worked. We will actively encourage applications for roles from individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Services and Beneficiaries
The Foundation seeks to ensure that our policies, procedures and practice within the organisation do not discriminate against any individual and that all individuals will be treated fairly and equally regardless of whom they are, their background or their lifestyle.

We will monitor the backgrounds of the individuals who apply for grants from the Foundation, as well as the outcome of grant-making decisions in respect of applicants’ backgrounds, to see how we can improve access to our services.

We will encourage partners with whom we work to examine their own policies, processes and delivery to see how they can improve access to individuals or groups of individuals under-represented in their work.

We will actively seek the views of those groups whom we seek to support, both directly and indirectly.