Mission
The Center for WaSH-AID's Equity & Justice Working Group was born out of the social justice movement of the summer of 2020 in our own community and across the United States, as well as Duke University's "Living While Black" conversations and participation in #ShutDownStem, both part of the University's larger response to address systemic racism. As part of Duke University, Durham, and the global community, we commit to the following:
- Reflection, self-education, and accountability
- Naming and dismantling racism and racist structures in the workplace and in our field
- Involvement in our local and regional communities through education and outreach
- Examining how our research agenda can better reflect and support equity and justice
Activities
The Equity & Justice Working Group meets monthly to identify opportunities and actions that we as a Center can undertake. Activities generally fall into two groupings: 1) Education and Outreach, and 2) Social and Environmental Justice.
We are exploring local environmental and social justice groups to gain a fuller understanding of their work and to learn how we may be able to support their leadership, expertise and efforts. In 2021-2022, we participated in the Community-Engaged Scholars Fellows program led by the Duke Office of Durham and Regional Affairs. The video below shares more about that experience. On a global level, we've signed the Nakuru Accord, a call for global WASH professionals to increase transparency and accountability by adopting a culture of sharing and adaptation when things go awry.
Our thanks to Don Taylor, director of the Social Science Research Institute, for permission to adopt his framing of ways to undertake equity and justice work.