Yojoa and the city of Carouge work together for greater inclusion and diversity
Yojoa recently spoke with Noémie Sommer, head of the Solidarity and Community sector at the city of Carouge, following the workshops provided by Yojoa for all the municipality's employees. An opportunity to talk in depth about the project, its impact and the future actions carried out by the municipality to promote equality and fight against discrimination.
Where did the idea come from?
It emerged from a collective awareness between the cities of Carouge, Lancy, Plan-Les-Ouates and Vernier on the need to strengthen actions in favor of integration and the fight against discrimination. In association with the Office of Integration and Citizenship (BIC), they set up a pilot project to train their collaborators on these issues.
The reason?
"In discussions with the municipalities and the BIC, we realised that the focus of the Cantonal Integration Programme (PIC) on protection against discrimination was not being sufficiently exploited and that there were actions to be taken by the municipalities", explains Noémie Sommer. This innovative pilot project was financed by the BIC, which made it possible to train certain representatives of the municipalities carrying the project.
The content of the workshops?
Two workshops of 3.5 hours each:
- A theoretical workshop, on racial discrimination, the issue of bias, statistics and data on the subject, offered by researchers in social psychology from the University of Geneva;
- A more interactive workshop delivered by Yojoa.
Asked by the BIC, Yojoa immediately committed and invested in this pilot project. She met with the team to discuss the content of her workshop and create a tailor-made module on the issues of racial discrimination, diversity and unconscious bias.
“The strength of the training course offered by Yojoa lies in its content and form. Interactive and dynamic, the workshops are lively and allow participants to decentralize and deconstruct preconceived ideas. What particularly struck me was the quality of the animation provided by the facilitators. Thanks to their know-how, they approached sensitive subjects with tact and discernment, and guided our collective reflection with kindness, non-judgment and pedagogy,” Noémie Sommer
In total, seven workshops were provided for some of the collaborators of the municipalities involved, between March and June 2023. The pilot phase has come to an end, giving way to a new stage for the city of Carouge. Encouraged by the success of the pilot phase and convinced of the need to raise awareness around this issue and equip staff, the municipality has decided to extend the training to all of its collaborators, thus wishing to move towards a more diverse and inclusive administration. Noémie Sommer explained that in a context marked by heightened awareness of discrimination issues, the city of Carouge wanted to take a further step to raise the profile of the issue beyond the number of cases that go unrecorded, and become part of a proactive exemplary approach.
"There are no indicators - discrimination is invisible", Noémie Sommer
Based on the 2022 federal reports on racism and cantonal recommendations and programs on integration and anti-discrimination, Noémie Sommer, the BIC's referent in this field, together with the project's delegates for integration and the team of social workers, were able to propose a thorough project. The new equality law (General Law on Equality and the Fight against Discrimination, LED), which came into force in March 2023, supported this initiative, and quickly obtained the support of HR and the administrative council of the municipality. The city of Carouge released the funds and between October 2023 and June 2024 trained all its collaborators (around 300 people).
What were the objectives of this training course?
- Raise awareness among all teams at all hierarchical levels of the issues surrounding discrimination and racism in general, which are also present in the workplace.
- Offer concrete tools to improve interpersonal relations, in order to build a more inclusive and respectful professional environment for all.
- Strengthen the desire to deliver quality public services, which are always improved, accessible to all and free from all bias.
For Noémie Sommer these objectives have now been achieved, and this is just the beginning.
As soon as the new school year starts, the municipality wants to include workshops on discrimination in the catalog of compulsory workshops for all new collaborators.
The long-term goal?
To perpetuate the awareness-raising activities around this theme. Noémie Sommer and the municipality's HR department have already come up with a number of new ideas to take this approach further:
- Offer specific workshops for HR and management staff on recruitment and the biases that influence it;
- Create an educational kit on existing forms of discrimination - what to do and who to turn to when a case comes to light;
- Set up listening and discussion forums in the form of themed lunches, to "bring the issue to life".
So many innovative ideas that demonstrate the city of Carouge's desire to make equality a daily reality.
By investing heavily in the training of its collaborators, the city of Carouge is laying the foundations for a more inclusive administration that respects diversity. Its efforts testify to the desire to better understand the mechanisms of discrimination and to develop tools to act on a daily basis. By offering quality public services and striving to combat bias, the municipality is helping to strengthen the bond of trust with its citizens and promote a more harmonious society.
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For Yojoa, this partnership represents a valuable opportunity to contribute to systemic change within public institutions. The workshops developed go beyond the simple transmission of information, but invite each participant to question themselves, deconstruct prejudices and actively integrate the principles of diversity inclusion into their daily practice. This subtle yet decisive approach is a catalyst for real change, both in mentalities and in institutional practices.
"Our commitment to the city of Carouge is not just to impart knowledge, but to foster an inclusive culture in public service, within which diversity is respected and valued. Yojoa is delighted to see the city of Carouge embrace this vision with such determination."
This shared effort demonstrates that when skills and convictions come together, significant advances can be made.
