Balancing Work & Family in the Aid, Development and Humanitarian Sector Event Recap

Critical in securing senior roles is the knowledge that a career will progress after a break, because balancing family and work can be quite difficult, and overseas placements with partners and children, a challenge. Add to this the new ‘norm’ of hybrid working arrangements, where your home may have become your office, also impacting families and that work/life balance.

Our July events focused on how working mothers and those with other caring responsibilities ‘juggle’ their roles and responsibilities in the sector, and what we in the sector can do to better carve out the necessary flexibilities, to ensure we don’t lose staff, particularly those in direct program roles.

The event was held ONLINE so that we could keep warm. We are grateful to the incredible speakers who shared their experiences and how they faced challenges in securing roles and progressing their careers with attendees. Here is a recap of the event. Don’t worry if you missed it, you can also watch the full event below.

—

Critical in securing senior roles is the knowledge that a career will progress after a break, because balancing family and work can be quite difficult, and overseas placements with partners and children, are a challenge. 

In July we were delighted to have three women who ‘juggle’ caring responsibilities with their work and with an eye to their career progression. Unsurprisingly, no one finds it easy, and with children in the mix demands and expectations constantly change.

Jenny Bell provided excellent insight into policies delivered by a large well-funded agency, Fred Hollows Foundation, which is a member of Women in Aid & Development, it has some of the most forward-thinking and valuable supports in place to support women in the workplace to enable them to work in a way that suits their family and ensures women do not miss out on promotion if on leave or working part-time.

However not all agencies are as well funded and for those workplaces Casey McCowan suggested internal and collective advocacy to management to ask them to adapt and change some conditions, especially around travel and flexible working, to ensure women can continue in the role when also bringing up children.

We also heard how busy it is with children at home and how the situation changes as children grow and start school with greater demands on time to attend events, prepare costumes and help with schoolwork. Vivian Chordi benefits from having a strong supportive framework of family and particularly friends who step in with support at times of need and stress. She also explained how she and her partner had to decide where to work when children were contemplated which led to roles in higher education where leave and salaries are better.  

Finally, we were reminded that families come in all shapes and types so fathers need supportive, flexible environments so they can be present and engage in caring responsibilities, families with same-sex parents may need to avoid some postings for cultural reasons and others their ‘family’ is not a child but a pet which may need flexibility when very young or very elderly.

Chris Franks - WiAD Chair

I found it interesting that organisations are only just now starting to become progressive in terms of maternity leave and negotiating a better work/life balance when they return to work. Jenny and Casey spoke very highly of the Fred Hollows Foundation because they have implemented quite a lot of benefits, for example, returning to work part-time and 14 weeks maternity leave. Whereas, one of the attendees mentioned they work for a small non-profit organisation and only get four weeks leave because they don't have as much funds and if they’ve hired maternity leave cover. they would essentially be paying two people for one individual's work. 

Ally Kemp - WiAD Communications Volunteer

You can watch the full event here.

————————————————————————————————————————————

A massive thank you to all of our amazing speakers, Jenny Bell, Vivian Chordi, Casey McCowan, and all those who attended. You ensured this event was a success.

We hope to see you all again at our next series of events!