Vodafone 2026 Annual Report

Empowering People continued 39

Vodafone Group Plc Annual Report 2026

Strategic report

Governance

Financials

Other information

Diversity, equity and inclusion Strategy Our global policies, standards and toolkits form the backbone of our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (‘DEI’) framework. By weaving DEI into key employee moments, we are able to embed inclusion throughout the organisation. This approach supports our 2030 objectives of 25% ethnically diverse senior leadership and 40% women in management and senior leadership, and ensures our workforce reflects the markets in which we operate. To achieve our commitments, inclusion must be the responsibility of everyone within our organisation. Our Code of Conduct sets the tone for expected behaviours, reinforcing our zero- tolerance approach to discrimination and reaffirms our dedication to diversity and inclusion. To attract and retain diverse talent, our global talent acquisition standard aims to ensure our hiring processes are standardised, inclusive, and free from bias. The standard also outlines our target of gender parity in appointments, helping us to open pathways for women to thrive in leadership roles. R ead more about our Code of Conduct on page 44 Our reward philosophy is guided by six fair pay principles that drive the design of our reward structures and underpin our pay decisions. Each year, we conduct a review of our principles to ensure these are embedded across our geographies. One of these principles is ensuring our people have a good standard of living and for this we partner with the independent organisation, WageIndicator Foundation, to assess how our pay compares to the living wage in the relevant country, and in the UK we are recognised as an Accredited Living Wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation. Read more about our six Fair Pay principles at Vodafone: vodafone.com/fair-pay Our commitment to women in management and senior leadership extends beyond recruitment to progression and retention. Our global parental leave standard ensures at least 16 weeks of fully

LGBT+, parents and carers, and multicultural inclusion. We offered development workshops to all our employee networks via our partner Radius, providing network leads the ability to track their progress, identify strengths and areas for improvement. We enhanced our network support by appointing new global executive sponsors and launched an employee network toolkit to help our networks grow. We continued to support survivors of domestic violence and abuse and trained more employees for our allies against abuse programme which equips colleagues to recognise signs of domestic violence and abuse, respond appropriately to disclosures, and refer survivors to help and support. We now have at least one ally against abuse in 17 countries, ensuring a wide support network for survivors. To reinforce allyship within the organisation, we refreshed our global withstander training, which gave employees the tools to challenge non-inclusive behaviours through deepening their understanding of allyship and offering practical examples of how to be an ally. The training was mandatory for managers and senior leaders. Our LGBT+, REACH (‘Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage’), gender, and disability allyship programmes reached 3,727 allies globally. We engaged colleagues by celebrating and recognising International Women’s Day, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Pride, and International Day for Persons with Disabilities. Our webinars, training, and celebrations reached at least 62,000 employees across our markets. These programmes and events encouraged colleagues to continue their journey of active allyship through participating in community and network events and learning. Gender Diversity We continued to drive gender diversity progress through programmes, policies and leadership incentives. This year we reached 37% women in management and senior leadership roles against

paid leave and a phased return for all parents across our footprint, regardless of gender or circumstance, helping to address one of the barriers to women’s career advancement. Research shows that one in three women will experience domestic violence at least once in their lifetime. 2 Each market has a domestic violence and abuse standard in place, including 10 days of paid safe leave and practical support measures, reinforcing our commitment to a safe and supportive workplace. Promoting active allyship is important to our DEI strategy, and our employee networks play an important role in embedding allyship throughout the organisation. By utilising the ‘4 A’s Allyship Framework’ – ask, acknowledge, act and amplify – we encourage employees to join these networks and engage with different communities. Our networks help to build psychologically safe environments where everyone is empowered to advocate for themselves and others as allies. We maintain global standards and toolkits covering gender, disability, LGBT+, and multicultural inclusion, alongside guidance on flexible working, mental health, allyship, and life-stages support like menopause. These measures help us break down barriers, challenge norms, and build a workplace where everyone can thrive. They are applicable to employees in all our operating companies and developed based on input from senior leadership, global DEI leads and our employee networks. This approach guarantees that key stakeholders contribute to all guidance, and senior leaders approve it, making sure inclusion guidelines are integrated throughout every level. This year We progressed gender equality, strengthened our focus on LGBT+, race and ethnicity, and empowerment of diverse talent. We want all of our employees to feel psychologically safe at work. To do this we actively supported multiple employee networks operating across our markets, including networks for women, disability,

Fostering diversity, equality, and inclusion is key to creating workplaces where everyone can thrive. Our mission is to connect everyone. We are passionate about making the world more connected and creating an inclusive, sustainable workplace where everyone can be themselves and belong. This supports our ambition to build a global, agile workforce that is future ready and reflects the diversity of our customers and communities.

37% women in management and senior leadership 22% ethnically diverse senior leadership team 1

Note: 1. E xcludes Egypt, Mozambique, Vodafone Automotive, VOIS_Egypt, and Telekom Romania. 2. World Health Organisation, Violence Against Women Prevalence Estimates, 2018.