Published on Sustainable Cities

Promoting social inclusion to achieve zero discrimination

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Zero Discrimination Day (March 1) comes this year at an opportune moment.

The global discourse is abuzz with conversations around discrimination and its impacts on those who have experienced it. In fact, in some ways the #MeToo movement is an assertion against a form of discrimination, as are other movements of groups that have historically been oppressed. They are sometimes minorities based on race, but often, as in the case of the movement against sexual harassment and assault, they may well be members of half the population.

So, to mark this day, we talk about a related issue – exclusion, especially social exclusion. We could well debate the conceptual relationship between the ideas of exclusion and discrimination, but this is not the forum for that debate. Here is a paper that specifically addresses discrimination.


This is the moment to remind ourselves who would be most likely to be excluded, stigmatized, and discriminated against. A number of people could be at risk, but we find that social identity is usually a potent driver. Individuals and groups who are disadvantaged on the basis of their identity are at greatest risk of exclusion, but probably also of discrimination.  We have talked about at length about this in our 2013 report “Inclusion Matters,” including the processes that underpin exclusion and discrimination.

Watch our video blog and tell us in a comment how we can ensure development projects are truly inclusive.


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Authors

Ede Ijjasz-Vasquez

Former Regional Director, Africa, Sustainable Development Practice Group

Maitreyi Bordia Das

Director, Trust Funds and Partner Relations, Development Finance (DFi)

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