The British Council is committed to:

• understanding, valuing and working with diversity to enable fair and full participation in our work
• ensuring that there is no unjustified discrimination in our recruitment, selection and other processes
• ensuring action that promotes equality of opportunity
• treating individuals with whom we work fairly and with dignity and respect, playing our part in removing barriers and redressing imbalances caused by inequality and discrimination

All staff are required to ensure their behaviour is consistent with our policy. We also require that clients, customers, partners and suppliers are aware of this policy and operate consistently with it.

Latest news:

Women are held back in Britain by "clapped-out rules" which discourage professional development after they take maternity leave, Nick Clegg (the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister) will say as he unveils new plans for flexible parental leave. He will announce that both parents will be allowed to share up to a year's leave after the birth of a child, and will also say that new mothers face a narrowing of career options.

A crash victim thought to have been in a vegetative state for more than a decade has used the power of thought to tell scientists he is not in pain

World Mental Health Day is on 10 October.  This year the theme focuses on depression, which is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Mental health is one of the most stigmatised areas of disability, so World Mental Health Day aims to raise public awareness by promoting discussion and greater understanding of how paying attention to mental health can contribute to good overall health and wellbeing. Read more here

“Creating the Spectacle!“ is a ground breaking series of live art and film events that record an underwater wheelchair as it flies through the water with its human occupant.

Great readers’ advice page on accessible holidays (in the UK and elsewhere) in the Guardian this week

The stark social class divide in health is widening as better-off people increasingly shun damaging habits such as smoking and eating badly but poorer people do not, authoritative new research reveals.

Well, the Olympics may be over but the best is yet to come: the London Paralympics start on 29 August!

Switzerland is sending a great team to the London Paralympics - here's their webpage and Facebook page.

Elton John said, at the Aids Conference in Washington DC: “….the Aids disease is caused by a virus, but the Aids epidemic is not. The Aids epidemic is fuelled by stigma, violence and indifference."

This report is the result of the work of an amazing group of women from Asia and Africa who came together to research into the conditions of women in same-sex relations in their countries.

Ramadan and the London Olympics coincide for the first time in many years. It is the ultimate test of sporting ability, but this London Olympics will provide extra challenges for many Muslim athletes.

New partnership between the EU and UN Women to enhance gender equality worldwide

The Amnesty International report Choice and prejudice: discrimination against Muslims in Europe, exposes the impact of discrimination.

Children from poorer families in Australia and Canada have a greater chance of doing well at school, progressing to university and earning more throughout their working lives than in the US and the UK, according to findings published at a social mobility summit organised by the Sutton Trust and Carnegie Corporation.

Britain is the best place in Europe for gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people to exercise their legal rights, claims an index published by the European International Lesbian and Gay Association Europe.