Our Consular Assistance Unit in Islamabad won the Innovation Award at the third Civil Service Equality and Diversity Awards, which were presented on 27 October at City Hall, London.

Civil servants from around the UK were honoured for their dedication in encouraging diversity and helping some of the most vulnerable people in society.

A winning team

At least once a week, every week of the year, members of the Unit head into the villages of rural Pakistan to prevent young British men and women of Pakistani origin being forced into marriage. The work they carry out is complex and difficult – negotiating for many hours with local police and families. It takes patience, persistence and a great deal of cultural sensitivity.

The results are life-changing – each year the team prevents over 100 forced marriages and repatriates over 50 British nationals back to safety in the UK. Those helped are amongst the most vulnerable members of British society, completely isolated and often subjected to violence. The Unit is their lifeline.

Until 1999, FCO policy was that we would not assist, as these British nationals were in their country of second nationality. But then we decided to scrap the bureaucracy and focus on human rights and equality. If anyone needed support from the government it was these highly vulnerable individuals. And so an interesting experiment in unconventional public service delivery began. We now go out and actively fight the abuse – visiting the villages and talking directly to the young men or women involved. If they are unhappy we help them to leave and give them a safe place to stay in a local refuge.

We then assist them in getting back to the UK, where they are supported by our cross-governmental Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), based in the FCO. The FMU, which comprises staff from the Home Office and the FCO, works with refuges and NGOs to provide safety and support.

This work was recently powerfully highlighted by the BBC documentary Forced to Marry, which followed the Unit over a six-week period and showed diversity being harnessed to carry out ground-breaking work. In particular it showed the central role of our Pakistani staff – without their local knowledge and expertise we could not do this work. They are central to everything we do. Indeed, the Unit is now headed by an inspiring member of our Pakistani staff, Albert David, whose cultural sensitivity is often central to the successful completion of rescues. When he received the award Albert said:

'It’s great to receive the award, which recognises the importance of forced marriage work, of co-operation between different teams, and of the need to look for innovative solutions when traditional ways of working don’t allow us to do all we want to do.' 

Julian Braithwaite, Director of Consular Services, said:

'This is a real achievement for the Islamabad team and our consular work in support of British nationals overseas. I saw first-hand in a visit to Pakistan the real impact our help can make to vulnerable young people. I am delighted that the team’s diversity and innovation have been recognised and am proud of their success. They represent the very best of the British Civil Service.'

Challenging traditional approaches

The Unit does not just help in forced marriage cases. Other cutting-edge work includes lobbying to prevent the death penalty being carried out on dual British–Pakistani nationals; assistance to British nationals caught up in major terrorist incidents; and work on complicated and emotionally draining child abduction cases. The Unit is an inspiring example of the British government delivering for British minority ethnic groups. It is also a great example of what can be achieved when we, as civil servants, decide to take a risk and challenge our traditional approach.

There were 520 nominations for the awards from across central and local government. The FCO submitted 14 nominations, of which two made the final shortlist of 20. The FCO’s Diversity Strategy Unit was shortlisted in the Inspiration category for its local staff attachment scheme. The Islamabad winners will now go forward to the Civil Service Awards in November.

Peter Ricketts, Permanent Under-Secretary, said:

'It was great news that the FCO had two nominations shortlisted in this year’s Civil Service Equality and Diversity Awards. Congratulations to BHC Islamabad on winning the award. I know from my own visit last year that their commitment to diversity helps them to deliver more effectively in the difficult circumstances of Pakistan. This is a very well-deserved recognition.'

Sir Gus O’Donnell, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, who presented the awards, said:

'I am proud to lead a Civil Service that is delivering on equality and diversity and changing to meet the evolving needs of the society we serve. Your stories and successes show how civil servants go out of their way to reach the most vulnerable, improve opportunities and raise aspirations.'

Harriet Harman, Minister for Women and Equality, said:

'I am delighted to be here to congratulate all those individuals and teams who have demonstrated such excellence in equality and diversity… Your innovation and hard work are important and show how the Civil Service brings about real change to people’s lives and is helping some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable in our society.'

Bill Jeffrey, Civil Service Diversity Champion and Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, said:

'We’ve made good progress on improving the diversity of the Civil Service, including at senior levels. But I know we need to do more and part of my role as Diversity Champion is to drive these changes forward.'

Notes for Editors

British High Commission in Islamabad

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