New strategy protects athletes and Federation employees from sexual harassment and discrimination
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has become the first world sports governing body to achieve EDGE Move certification for gender equity. This achievement is confirmation of the steps the Federation has taken in this area and the impact it can already demonstrate.
EDGE is the leading global assessment and business certification for gender and intersectional equity. Certification involves a rigorous third-party review of representation across the pipeline, pay equity, effectiveness of policies and practices, and inclusiveness of an organisation’s culture. As an integral part of the assessment, employees receive a comprehensive survey to assess perceptions of gender equity in the workplace.
Two years on from being certified to EDGE Assess – the initial independent validation and benchmark of an organisation’s commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) – the UCI is now able to showcase the progress made to reach the EDGE global standard in certain critical areas including policies, practices and pay.
For example, it has recently published a Charter for Gender Equality and revised its statutes to include minimum gender representation. Women now make up between a quarter and a third of members across the UCI Management Committee, UCI Commissions and continental executive committees.
The UCI has similarly introduced an enhanced Code of Ethics to protect athletes from any form of harassment as well as a Charter of Gender Equality for Official Ceremonies for UCI World Championships. It has also enforced minimum levels of live TV coverage for all UCI Women’s World Tour events.
The UCI’s actions are in response to objectives set out in its Agenda 2022, including increasing the number of women in management positions, and further leveraging third-party expertise to evaluate internal policies and procedures to remove gender bias. The Federation is now working on establishing an Agenda 2030.
Amina Lanaya, the UCI’s first female Director General, says the international Federation is on a journey to create a culture of equality and gender equity: “As the first woman Director General of the UCI, I was very proud in 2019 when we became the first sports federation to obtain EDGE certification. With this next level of certification, EDGE Move, we have demonstrated that gender equity is truly part of our organisation. To achieve this, we went through an ambitious action plan, and I would like to thank all our staff for their work and involvement.”
In 2019 the UCI made history in becoming the first sports federation to begin the EDGE certification journey. Since then, it has been joined by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).
Aniela Unguresan, Founder of EDGE Certified Foundation, says it’s a sure sign that there is a momentum building for other federations to do the same: “We’re excited to facilitate the acceleration of the gender equity process with the UCI. They have a long history of being key players in the sporting world and they are to be congratulated on leading the race on equality where others are sure to follow.”
Amina Lanaya concludes: “We will ensure that our federation continues to uphold the keys to good governance: transparency, equity, representation, and respect.”
ABOUT THE UCI
Founded in 1900 in Paris (France), the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the worldwide governing body for cycling. It develops and oversees cycling in all its forms, for all people: as a competitive sport, a healthy recreational activity, a means of transport, and also just for fun. The UCI manages and promotes the nine cycling disciplines: road, track, mountain bike, BMX Racing, BMX Freestyle, cyclo-cross, trials, indoor cycling and cycling esports. Five of these are featured on the Olympic Games programme (road, track, mountain bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle), two in the Paralympic Games (road and track) and four in the Youth Olympic Games (road, mountain bike, BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle). For more information: www.uci.org.
ABOUT EDGE STRATEGY
EDGE Strategy offers an integrated SaaS-based DE&I solution allowing organizations to measure, accelerate and get certified for where they stand in terms of gender and intersectional equity. EDGE’s customer base consists of 200 large organizations in 44 countries across five continents, representing 29 different industries.
