By ITOHAN ABARA-LASERIAN

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) says it has opened nominations for the 2024 Diversity and Inclusion Awards.

This is contained in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday via email.

According to the statement, nominations are welcome from all individuals or organisations in the aviation sector and will close at 23:59 CET on April 17.

It said that this Is the fifth edition of the annual awards which focus on recognising excellence in diversity and inclusion in three categories

The categories are; The Inspirational Role Model Award to recognise a woman holding a senior position within the air transport industry who has had a significant impact on the aviation agenda through her strong contribution to business delivery.

The second category is the High Flyer Award to recognise a female aviation professional under the age of 40 who has demonstrated leadership through concrete action in favour of diversity and inclusion.

Also, the Diversity & Inclusion Team Award, which recognises an airline that has seen measurable positive change in diversity and inclusion as a result of the work it has been doing in this area, only open to all IATA member airlines.

Mr Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, was quoted in the statement as saying that the aviation industry has proven over and over again that it is capable of reinventing itself.

“For five years, these awards have recognised aviation’s notable progress on diversity and inclusion, in particular on improving aviation’s gender balance.

“I encourage the many aviation professionals working hard in this area to share with us what they or their colleagues are doing to make a difference.

“With all the good work going on in this area, I am sure that the judging panel will have a challenging task in evaluating the nominations.

“We all look forward to celebrating the impact of the winning entries at the upcoming IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Dubai this June,” said Walsh in the statement.

It said that each award winner would receive $25,000 (payable to the awardee or their nominated charity for diversity and inclusion activities), sponsored by Qatar Airways.

The Qatar Airways Chief People Officer, Mr Antonio Schulthess, said: “The aviation industry is a truly global community, providing around 90 million jobs to people of all ages, backgrounds and disciplines around the world.

“This diversity is something that is strongly reflected in the Qatar Airways workforce and we are extremely proud of our ongoing work to promote a multi-talented and multi-cultural approach across the organisation, particularly in relation to gender matters.”

Creating diverse and inclusive workplaces plays a key role in driving better business outcomes.

By bringing diversity and inclusion into the heart of the business, organisations are preparing themselves for the future where diversity and inclusion are no longer an add-on to HR initiatives but a key component of Environmental, Social and Government (ESG) and Corporate Social Responsibility and Disclosure (CSRD) frameworks.

Through the Diversity and Inclusion Awards and 25 by 2025 Best Practice guide, IATA is helping organisations across the entire value chain become more diverse and inclusive.

It said that the last four editions of the IATA Diversity and Inclusion Awards saw the total of 224 nominations coming from the entire aviation value chain.

The winners of these awards come from different parts of the world and represent airlines, NGOs and educational institutions.

This year’s nominations will be evaluated by an independent judging panel chaired by Karen Walker, Editor-in-Chief, Air Transport World among seasoned professionals. (NAN)