World Day for Cultural Diversity 2021 Celebrations at EY

In 2001, UNESCO adopted the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, and in In December 2002, the UN General Assembly, in its resolution 57/249, declared May 21 to be the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. The day provides us with an opportunity to deepen our understanding of the values of cultural diversity and to advance goals such as:

·      Support sustainable systems of governance for culture

·      Promote human rights and fundamental freedoms

Last year, when CD@EY (Cultural Diversity at EY, our cultural diversity D&I network) first conceived the idea of Round the World in 80 Minutes, a celebration tour around a number of countries around the world where EY Oceania folk are originally from and the same places we were all restricted from holidaying to due to Covid, all of us organising the event in May 2020 never for a minute thought that a year later we may still have our borders closed to these destinations. And, what's more, from recent announcements by government, it may well be that we remain restricted in 2022!

This year, we had over 420 attendees for our annual virtual Round the World in 80 Minutes event. This was a special opportunity to hear about unique cultural experiences and stories brought to us by our people. By sharing unique stories and experiences, we were able to view the world and appreciate the diversity and inclusiveness of our people at EY.

Around one in three (35 per cent) recent migrants say they faced hurdles to finding their first job due to a lack of Australian work experience or references (64 per cent), language difficulties (33 per cent), a lack of local contacts or networks (23 percent) or difficulties having their skills or qualifications recognised (15 per cent). The recent Australia Talks survey of over 60,000 Australians by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation indicated, sadly, that 61% say their friends, relatives or colleagues tell racist jokes. CD@EY works to reduce such hurdles and unconscious bias by increasing the awareness of cultures, the strength in diversity and the importance of being anti-racist. CD@EY also coordinates mentoring programs for our culturally diverse team members to overcome some of these hurdles. The Round the World in 80 Minutes is one of the fun events where serious issues relating to cultural diversity are put aside for an episode of adventure and knowledge as we virtually travel through countries and cultures. 

This event each year reminds me how lucky we are in Australia to be surrounded by cultures from every country in the world, to learn from and understand better these cultures starting with, of course, the oldest continuous living culture in the world – our own First Nations Peoples’.