Paris, 28-29 September 2023 — The Network on Diversity and Inclusion in civil aviation (NETD&I) held its first in-person meeting in Paris in September. The objective of the meeting, chaired by Giovanna Laschena (Italy), was to finalise the final action points of the 2023 work programme and prepare a proposal for the 2024 work programme to be presented to Directors General in December.
The two-day meeting involved a constructive and goal-oriented dialogue, which enabled the group to complete its remaining tasks and gain a clearer focus of its mission for the next year. During the meeting, the participants refined the 2022 survey on diversity and inclusion with a view to its launch at the start of 2024. This now includes more targeted questions about Member States’ D&I policies and their specific D&I needs.
The group also developed comprehensive guidelines on the best practices for inclusivity and recruitment processes to be implemented within the civil aviation administrations of the Member States. Additionally, participants decided to schedule a new meeting specifically dedicated to analysing the results of the 2022 survey to identify existing gaps in the policies of the ECAC Member States. They also decided to propose orienting the 2024 Directors General Forum around the theme of D&I. This will provide an opportunity to learn more about the challenges faced by the national administration of the Network and the different solutions each of them is attempting to implement. Moving forward, the Network is committed to increased interaction with ECAC’s sister organisations, industry stakeholders, and to actively liaise with Member States who are not yet members of the Network. The date for the next online meeting of the group has yet to be decided.