POLICIES
ISV Anti-Harassment Policy
Commitment Statement:
The International Society for Vaccines (ISV) is committed to global outreach and global equity to promote and provide a welcoming and safe environment for all membership and meeting participants, regardless of their sex, race, ethnicity, color, national origin, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identify, disability, or other status. The organization has a zero tolerance for harassment of any kind towards congress delegates or congress support staff. The ISV expects all congress delegates to engage in considerate and professional discourse.
Reporting & Notification Steps If an ISV congress delegate or society member believes that they have been discriminated against or harassed because of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, culture, or religion they are encouraged to notify the ISV Society President, or the Society President-Elect or the ISV Congress Co-Chairs. Anonymous concerns may be expressed to the ISV general email, and the email contact of ISV Officers may be provided for direct communications to the complainant or person filing a complaint on behalf of another person. An ombudsman may be appointed to help the person submitting the harassment complaint.
Any violation of the ISV Code of Conduct will result in the ISV launching investigation, taking appropriate action against the individual(s) concerned. This may result in individual(s) not being admitted to an event, being removed from an event and/or being removed from the membership (if they are a member). The ISV reserves the right to take action as deemed necessary and appropriate.
ISV Diversity Plan
The International Society for Vaccines is an organization that engages, supports, and sustains the professional goals of a diverse membership in all areas relevant to vaccines. As such, ISV is fully committed to the continuous growth of its heterogeneous and global membership. Each year’s annual congress program is designed by the Congress Co-Chairs, with input from the Scientific Committee and ISV Officers and Board members; invited speakers are selected to bring a variety of scientific expertise to the program, avoid repetition of speakers from year to year, and to reflect the diversity in the audience. These plans for diversity focus on the inclusion of underrepresented (UR) groups defined by gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, culture, geography, country of origin, stage of career, affiliation, culture and background and also breadth of viewpoints important for the fruitful exchange of information, sharing of research for the acceleration of vaccine development. In addition, ISV’s leadership and congress co-chairs are selected based on their expressed commitment to mentoring and developing the careers of scientists.
Diversity in Life Sciences at ISV
Diversity is a central pillar of the ISV mission as articulated in the sections below. ISV leadership has proactively ensured that diversity in its different guises is represented at ISV membership and committee level, Board and Officer group and at the ISV annual international conferences and regional partnership conferences. It is widely understood that coordination by government, academia and industry for recruiting and maintaining women and underrepresented (UR) groups has significant benefits.1 ISV has a focus to boost diversity and inclusion in vaccinology and its underpinning sciences to bring people with diverse backgrounds, experiences and viewpoints together for the sharing of ideas and acceleration of vaccine research.
