UN Presentation : Women Empowerment Principles
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UN Presentation : Women Empowerment Principles
- 1. Women’s Empowerment Principles Equality Means Business Ursula Wynhoven, General Counsel Chief, Governance and Social Sustainability UN Global Compact
- 2. Overview I. UN Global Compact II. Gender Equality and Corporate Sustainability III. Overcoming Barriers to Achieving Gender Equality IV. Sustainable Development Goals and Women’s Empowerment V. The Women’s Empowerment Principles
- 3. UN Global Compact – Vision and Objectives Two: encourage businesses to take action in support of UN goals and issues Two: encourage businesses to take action in support of UN goals and issues One: incorporate respect for the Ten Principles into businesses’ strategy and operations One: incorporate respect for the Ten Principles into businesses’ strategy and operations InternalizationInternalization ContributionContribution A more sustainable and inclusive global economyA more sustainable and inclusive global economy One visionOne vision Two objectivesTwo objectives 3
- 4. The UN Global Compact: The 10 Principles Anti-Corruption Principle 10: Businesses should work against all forms of corruption, including extortion and bribery. Environment Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges; Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies Labour Standards Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour; Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. Human Rights Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.
- 5. Breaking Down Silos & Riding the Corporate Sustainability Wave Corporate Sustainability: The delivery of long-term value in financial, social, environmental and ethical terms. How can we leverage the momentum behind corporate sustainability to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment? Social Environmental Governance
- 6. Bringing down barriers to achieving Gender Equality – A call to action Structural, legal, cultural and unconscious barriers continue to hinder women’s and girl’s contributions to economic growth, sustainable development and business productivity and performance. Women are: Underrepresented in power and decision making roles, and face barriers to reach the top Men make up 82 per cent of all S&P 500 Board seats Receive unequal pay for equal work Women in most countries earn on average only 60 to 75 per cent of men’s wages Hindered by laws affecting their economic participation and safety Almost 90 per cent of 143 economies have at least one legal difference restricting women’s economic opportunities Only 8 of 100 economies have explicit legislation on sexual harassment in public spaces 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not outlawed and more than 2.6 billion live in countries where rape within marriage is not considered a crime. Not offered the same opportunities in jobs, education, training and professional development Women constitute only 40 per cent of the formal global labor force Economically disadvantaged and lack equal opportunity to compete for business More women than men are in vulnerable employment, especially in Northern Africa (54.7 per cent versus 30.2 percent), Sub-Saharan Africa (nearly 85.5 per cent versus 70.5 per cent) and the Middle East (33.2 per cent versus 23.7 per cent) Under-prioritized by decision makers 72 per cent agree that there is a direct connection between gender diversity and business success, but only 28 per cent say it is a top-10 priority for senior leadership.
- 7. While all of the sustainable development goals should be inclusive and gender-sensitive Gender Equality in the international Sustainable Development Agenda Gender Equality in the Sustainable Development Agenda
- 8. The 8 Millennium Development Goals
- 9. The draft Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1. End poverty everywhere 2. End hunger, improve nutrition & promote sustainable agriculture 3. Attain healthy lives for all 4. Provide quality education and life-long learning opportunities for all 5. Attain gender equality, empower women and girls everywhere 6. Ensure availability and sustainable use of water and sanitation for all 7. Ensure sustainable energy for all 8. Promote sustained, inclusive + sustainable economic growth, full & productive employment & decent work for all 9. Promote sustainable infrastructure & industrialization & foster innovation 9 10. Reduce inequality within & between countries 11. Make cities + human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable 12. Promote sustainable consumption & production patterns 13. Tackle climate change and its impacts 14. Conserve and promote sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources 15. Protect and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, halt desertification, land degradation & biodiversity loss 16. Achieve peaceful & inclusive societies, access to justice for all, and effective and capable institutions 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and the global partnership for sustainable development
- 10. Beijing +20 – Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action Critical areas of concern •Women and the environment •Women in power and decision-making •The girl child •Women and the economy •Women and poverty •Violence against women •Human rights of women •Education and training of women •Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women •Women and health •Women and the media •Women and armed conflict - See more at: http://beijing20.unwomen.org/en
- 11. The WEPs spell out business’ role
- 12. The Business Case: Risks By not fully recognizing women as leaders, consumers, entrepreneurs, workers and care takers, we are underutilizing women’s contributions to economic growth, sustainable development and business productivity and performance. Business risks of not fully utilizing women’s talents and skills: - Less competitive - Legal risk from unlawful discrimination - Lower productivity - Missed opportunity to increase market share - Less innovation - Reputational risk
- 13. The Business Case: Opportunities The Business Case for Gender Equality: Supporting women’s health and empowerment leads to higher return Programmes to support female employees’ health have reported a return on investment as high as 4:1. Through female health education and empowerment interventions, worker absenteeism dropped to 3 per cent with significant economic gains for workers and factory owners. Companies with more women at the helm perform better Several studies have shown that companies with more women on boards and in senior management yield a higher return. Creating diverse workplaces increases productivity Eliminating discrimination against female workers and managers could increase productivity per worker by 25-40 per cent, depending on the type and degree of exclusion from the labour force and the managerial pool. Investing in women-owned businesses yields higher return on investment In 2014 average venture-backed companies run by women had annual revenues that were 12 per cent higher than those run by men and used an average of 1/3 less capital. Recognizing women’s consumer power is a smart business decision Women control roughly USD 20 trillion of total consumer spending globally and influence up to 80 per cent of buying decisions.
- 14. Companies with three or more women corporate directors outperformed those with no women on the board Source: Catalyst, 2011 Reported increases in Return on Equity Return on Invested Capital Return on Sales 46% 60% 84% The Business Case: Opportunities – an example
- 15. The Women’s Empowerment Principles The Women's Empowerment Principles are a set of 7 Principles for business offering guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. They are the result of a collaboration between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Global Compact. MORE THAN 850 CEOs HAVE SIGNED THE WEPs CEO STATEMENT OF SUPPORT www.WEprinciples.org
- 17. CEO Statement of Support We, business leaders from across the globe, express support for advancing equality between women and men to: •Bring the broadest pool of talent to our endeavours; •Further our companies’ competitiveness; •Meet our corporate responsibility and sustainability commitments; •Model behaviour within our companies that reflects the society we would like for our employees, fellow citizens and families; •Encourage economic and social conditions that provide opportunities for women and men, girls and boys; and •Foster sustainable development in the countries in which we operate.
- 18. WEPs Signatories Around the World 22 Companies listed themselves as global As of 30 December 2014 1- 4 No signatories 20 - 49 5 - 19 > 50 Number of Signatories More than 850 CEOs from companies around the world have signed the CEO Statement of Support
- 19. Why Sign the CEO Statement of Support • Demonstrate leadership on gender equality and women’s empowerment • Lead by example • Use the 7 Principles to assess company policies and programmes • Take advantage of WEPs tools and resources to develop an action plan • Connect with fellow businesses and other stakeholders • Share good practices and lessons learned with others • Engage in dialogue and collective action • Join exciting engagement opportunities and WEPs related events • Showcase the gender dimension of corporate sustainability and business' role in sustainable development and corporate responsibility • Work towards achieving global Sustainable Development Goals • Communicate progress to stakeholders “When you embrace these Principles, you join a great and gathering movement to unleash the power of women and change the world…By working together based on shared values, we can advance the common good.” - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
- 20. How to Engage in the WEPs COMMIT Leadership commitment to mainstream gender equality throughout corporate sustainability and other relevant strategies and operations ASSESS Apply a gender lens when assessing risks, opportunities, and impacts DEFINE Apply a gender lens when defining goals, strategies, and policies, and metrics IMPLEMENT Implement gender equality strategies and policies throughout the business and across the value chain MEASURE Measure and monitor impacts and progress towards goals COMMUNICATE Communicate progress and strategies while engaging with stakeholders for continuous improvement
- 21. Implementation: Company Examples Principle 5: RBS, a financial services company headquartered in Scotland, adopted and is implementing a Supplier Diversity and Inclusion Programme Principle 3: Levi Strauss Foundation in collaboration with Business for Social Responsibility found that by providing health training programmes and services to a factory workers in Egypt the factory had a $4:$1 return on investment in the form of reduced absenteeism and turnover. Principle 2: Westpac Banking Corporation, a financial services company in Australia ,offers a flexible 2 year parental leave policy so the parent can arrange his or her schedule to accommodate family and work life Principle 4: Recognizing that recruiting more women into the company is not just the right thing to do, but critical for long term growth, Anglo American, a global mining company, started training women for non-traditional jobs in the coal and mining sector to address skill shortages Principle 6: Dean’s Beans, a North American Coffee company, developed a training programme for young girls in a Guatemala coffee village to help increase the self-esteem of women and raise awareness of the importance of gender equality Principle 7: Aitken Spence, a Sri Lankan travel and leisure company, conducts gap assessments measuring progress towards the 7 Women's Empowerment Principles
- 22. Making and Measuring Progress Track Progress Detect Gaps Benchmark Replicate Success Demonstrate Progress Gain Recognition For more information on the WEPs reporting guidance visit: http://weprinciples.org/Site/WepsGuidelines/
- 23. WEPs Resources and Engagement Opportunities Calls to Action •Invest in Women’s Employment •Commit to Inclusive Sourcing •Crack the Ceiling, Raise the Floor (women in leadership) •Tackle Unconscious Bias to Create Inclusive Business Environments Webinars •Gender Equality - Human Rights and Business Dilemmas Forum •How to Tackle the Unconscious Mind for Inclusive Behavior •Respecting and Supporting Women throughout the Value Chain •The Business Case for Women's Employment •Business and Women's Health Additional Resources •Making the Connections: Women, Corporate Sustainability and Sustainable Development •Post-2015 Agenda and Related Sustainable Development Goals Issue Focus: Women’s Empowerment and the Role of Business Engagement Opportunities •Join us at the 2015 WEPs Annual Event •Share good practices •Recognize your CEO’s championship for gender equality by nominating her/him for the annual WEPs CEO Leadership Awards
- 24. Spread the Word Take Action Help Build the Consensus www.WEPrinciples.org wynhoven@un.org +1-212-963-5705 @WEPrinciples facebook.com/WEPrinciples
Notes de l'éditeur
- Thank you so much for having me here today! To begin my presentation, I will start by introducing you to the United Nations Global Compact. Together with UN Women, which is the UN”s gender entity, we are the parents of the Women’s Empowerment Principles – which are seven steps for business on how to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. The reason for this introduction is to give you some more context for why and how the Women’s Empowerment Principles were developed by the United Nations and what they aspire to do and how we hope that they can help YOU to get closer to achieving your organization’s diversity and inclusion goals.
- Many of you here represent companies that are already participants of the UN Global Compact. For those that aren’t familiar though, the UN Global Compact is the UN’s corporate sustainability initiative advocating that business should do no harm, make a difference and work with others across all dimensions of corporate sustainability. For us, corporate sustainability is about much more than just the environment, it is a quadruple bottom line concept. You’ve probably heard of triple bottom line, but this is quadruple because it consists of (count on hands) financial sustainability, social sustainability, environmental sustainability, and sustainability in ethical or governance terms. The UN Global Compact’s overarching vision is a more sustainable and inclusive global economy one that delivers lasting benefits to people, communities, markets and the environment. The 193 governments of the United Nations have given us the task of promoting responsible business practices and UN values to the global business community as well as within the UN itself. More specifically, we advocate for organizational change within business AND promote collective action, partnerships and multi-stakeholder dialogue in support of UN goals and issues. To help realize this vision, the initiative seeks to do two things (show on hands): (1) Mainstream universal principles based on international conventions and declarations that already enjoy government consensus into business strategy and operations around the world; and (2) Promote the idea of business action in support of UN goals and issues In a nutshell, the Global Compact calls on companies to “Act responsibly and make a difference” – both to do no harm and to see what good they can do. # ### # We turn 15 this year, having been established in the year 2000. The context for the creation of the initiative was that it started as a speech at the World Economic Forum in 1999. It contained a call to business to align their strategies and action with universal principles derived from UN Conventions and Declarations. The feeling at the time was that while globalization had delivered many benefits, those benefits were distributed very unevenly - there were many that had not yet seen improvements in their lives and some whose situation had worsened having seen harmful effects from globalization, including those caused or contributed to or perpetuated by businesses. Inequality and discrimination were and still are part of this picture. So the intention was to develop an initiative that would put a human face on globalization to engage business on what they could do both to ensure that their actions did not cause or contribute to harm, but also on what they could do to be part of the solution. Thus at the urging of governments, business and others, the UN Global Compact was created to contribute to a more sustainable and inclusive global economy to supplement but not substitute for government’s own role.
- Here are the 10 universal UN Global Compact principles derived from international conventions and declarations that are the bedrock of the initiative. Support for these and the commitment to implement them and disclose progress in doing so is what the 12,000 companies and other organizations that participate in the UN Global Compact have pledged to do. As corporate leaders begin to recognize the growing relevance and urgency of global environmental, social, governance and economic challenges, the UN Global Compact seeks to engage companies as part of the solution to these challenges and offer a way that companies can align with UN values and goals in order to play their role in helping to achieve a more sustainable and inclusive global economy. As you can see, the UN Global Compact Principles are on human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption and all speak to business’ role. To advance implementation of these principles and to engage business on UN goals and issues, the Global Compact has workstreams across all areas of the principles: human rights, labour, environment and corruption. Some of the specific issues we support include: women’s empowerment, children’s rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, the rights of persons with disabilities, tackling youth unemployment, combatting human trafficking, education, climate change action, water and sanitation, anti-corruption, rule of law, supply chain, financial markets, social enterprises, and business for peace. Each workstream has components of learning, dialogue and collective action. While gender equality is embedded in the human rights and labour principles of the UN Global Compact, the development of the Women’s Empowerment Principles helped articulate how business can respect and support gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. Until we had the Women’s Empowerment Principles initiative, the UN Global Compact was gender neutral, and we lacked a framework for giving explicit consideration to business impacts positive and negative on gender equality.
- The Women’s Empowerment Principles initiative helps companies to see gender equality as a key component of corporate sustainability. According to the Global Compact’s own research, 90% of company boards discuss and act on sustainability issues and this percentage is growing. They see corporate sustainability issues as critical to the long-term growth and sustainability of their business and are making sure that risks are being addressed and opportunities are being seized. There is a real potential for those working on gender equality and women’s empowerment to ride this corporate sustainability wave. We need business leaders to understand why gender equality is important to the company’s own sustainability, how applying a gender lens and embracing the 7 WEPs Principles is strategic to the sustainability of their business. Also, your work on diversity and inclusion is one of the most advanced areas of corporate sustainability to date within many companies. You have the opportunity to be the jewel in the crown of your company’s corporate sustainability strategy. Looking at the relationship between corporate sustainability and gender equality from another perspective, there is also the opportunity to engage women entrepreneurs and women-owned businesses in the broader corporate sustainability agenda and ensure that they are ahead of the game, not left behind. For instance, governments and large companies are increasingly interested in investing in and procuring from businesses that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability. In the US, as an example, where the federal government buys goods and services worth more than $500 billion a year, sustainability requirements have been integrated into purchasing regulations. Nearly all new contracts must be for products and services that are energy-efficient and water-efficient, environmentally preferable, non-ozone depleting, and contain recycled content. Women business owners should not only be going after the small slice of contracts that are reserved for women-owned businesses….they should embrace principles of sustainability in order to widen the pool of opportunities open to them. The UN Global Compact is a great place to start. By riding this corporate sustainability wave, collectively we can also begin to break down the silos inside and outside organizations and highlight the relationship between women’s empowerment and other corporate sustainability issues and topics. Diversity and inclusion is clearly a corporate sustainability issue. But other sustainability issues have gender dimensions too. For example, when a company grapples with growing water scarcity, it is critical that they consider how women and men use water resources differently and how they are impacted in different ways by water shortages. We also know that seeking the active participation of both men and women is needed in order to identify and implement the most effective and appropriate courses of action. In short, we need to break down silos and show the linkages in order to ensure that women and men benefit from corporate sustainability efforts and that the potential of the corporate sustainability agenda is maximized by the participation and input of women as well as men!
- Turning now to the broader context. Companies are not islands and do not operate in a vacuum. The contexts in which they and their value chains operate have enormous impacts on their abilities to live up to their own commitments. While progress has been made, women and girls and other groups as well around the world continue to face discrimination and barriers to empowerment. Achieving gender equality will require not only getting one’s own house in order with the best policies and processes and initiatives, but also looking at how we can collectively tackle the systemic challenges that perpetuate inequality. Some of the persistent issues that affect women are highlighted here. We all have a role to play in helping to tackle them. Businesses can also leverage their products, services, marketing, staff, expertise, reach, relationships, resources to help bring down the barriers in their workplaces, marketplaces, and communities. Barriers that also hold back companies from achieving their own sustainability. # #### # Sources: The Facts: Men make up 82 percent of all S&P 500 Board seats (Source: http://www.bloombergview.com/quicktake/women-boards) World Bank Gender Data Portal. http://datatopics.worldbank.org/gender/key%20gender%20employment%20indicators Almost 90 per cent of 143 economies studied have at least one legal difference restricting women’s economic opportunities and Only 8 of 100 economies have explicit legislation on sexual harassment in public spaces (World Bank. (2014). Women, Business and Law 2014: Removing Restrictions to Enhance Gender Equality. http://wbl.worldbank.org/~/media/FPDKM/WBL/Documents/Reports/2014/Women-Business-and-the-Law-2014-Key-Findings.pdf ) 603 million women live in countries where domestic violence is not outlawed and more than 2.6 billion live in countries where rape within marriage is not considered a crime. (source: UN Women, 2011-2012, “Progress of the World’s Women: Factsheet Global”) Women constitute only 40% of the formal global labor force (Source: International Monetary Fund, 2013, “Women, Work, and the Economy” IMF Staff Discussion Note pg. 6, see more at: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2013/sdn1310.pdf) More women than men are in vulnerable employment, especially in Northern Africa (54.7 per cent versus 30.2 percent), Sub-Saharan Africa (nearly 85.5 per cent versus 70.5 per cent) and the Middle East (33.2 per cent versus 23.7 per cent). (Source: ILO, Global Employment Trends. (2014). Table A12, p. 99. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_233953.pdf. ) 72 per cent agree that there is a direct connection between gender diversity and business success, but only 28 per cent say it is a top-10 priority for senior leadership. (Source: Deloitte. (2010) “The Gender Dividend: An urgent economic imperative
- It is important that more and more businesses are recognizing their key role in helping to achieve gender equality. Later this year at the United Nations, the international community will adopt a set of sustainable development goals for all countries to work towards and report progress on. Consultations about their content have been going on since 2012. The good news is that there appears to be wide consensus that removing barriers to gender equality and women’s empowerment must be a top priority. Thus gender equality is very likely to be one of the goals adopted. Another area that is widely recognized is that all societal actors and not just governments have a role to play. Thus, many businesses around the world have taken part in the consultations and stand ready to engage further when the goals are adopted. As part of the consultations, UN Global Compact business participants and other stakeholders have identified that gender equality and women’s empowerment not only needs to be a stand-alone goal but also at the heart of all sustainable development goals. For example, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that if women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent. This increase could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5 to 4 percent and reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12 to 17 percent, or up to 150 million people. 1) First and foremost, equality between men and women is a fundamental human right, contained in international human rights treaties. 2) Second, women’s empowerment is a critical driver of sustainable development. Empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors and throughout all levels of economic activity is essential to: Expand economic growth and build strong economies Promote social development and establish more stable and just societies Improve quality of life for women, men, families and communities Propel businesses’ operations and goals, and enhance business performance 3) Last, but not least, Equality Means Business! Equal treatment of women and men is not just the right thing to do – it is also good for business. The full participation of women in our enterprises and in the larger community makes sound business sense now and in the future. In order to achieve these future looking goals and gender equality, concerted efforts of all stakeholders, including business —the engine for jobs, innovation, capital creation and investment – is more important than ever.
- The Sustainable Development Goals will replace the Millennium Development Goals, which covered the period 2000-2015 and which will expire this year.
- Here are the draft Sustainable Development Goals. Current indications are that these are likely to be what is adopted in September this year. Goal 5 focuses on gender equality and women and girls empowerment, but gender is also a dimension in many of the other goals. There are business opportunities to be had in aligning corporate goal setting with such goals, which will cover the period 2016-2030.
- This year is also Beijing+20, the 20th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA). An unprecedented 17,000 participants and 30,000 activists streamed into Beijing for the opening of the Fourth World Conference on Women in September 1995. They were remarkably diverse, coming from around the globe, but they had a single purpose in mind: gender equality and the empowerment of all women, everywhere. Two weeks of political debate followed, heated at times, as representatives of 189 governments hammered out commitments that were historic in scope. Thirty thousand non-governmental activists attended a parallel Forum and kept the pressure on, networking, lobbying and training a global media spotlight. By the time the conference closed, it had produced the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women’s rights. As a defining framework for change, the Platform for Action made comprehensive commitments under 12 critical areas of concern. Even 20 years later, it remains a powerful source of guidance and inspiration. - See more at: http://beijing20.unwomen.org/en/about#sthash.MzkbWm5X.dpuf
- Many of you may also have seen the Youtube video of Emma Watson at the UN making her historic speech on He for She and the role of men. The Women’s Empowerment Principles spell out business’ role in all this. At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, several male CEOs such as from Unilever, Tupperware and PWC have chosen to sign the CEO Statement of Support for the Women’s Empowerment Principles or to ramp up their company’s implementation efforts of the WEPs as a commitment to HeforShe.
- Bringing this back to the individual company level. The international community increasingly recognizes the importance of gender equality and are placing more priority on it. Businesses should recognize the zeitgeist and step up their efforts on gender equality too and be an important part of the conversation and solution. Equality will increasingly mean business. The tide is turning. Don’t miss the boat! Many countries that have made strong progress within their government in tackling gender equality tell us that they are frustrated that change is happening much more slowly within the private sector.
- And on the upside, investing in women and girls yields significant dividends for the workplace, marketplace and community, and provides ample reasons and opportunity for business to contribute to sustainable development. # ### # The Facts: Sources Sources: Programmes to support female employees’ health have reported a return on investment as high as 4:1. (Business for Social Responsibility “HerHealth”. http://herproject.org/herhealth) Through female health education interventions related to menstruation, worker absenteeism dropped to 3 per cent with significant economic gains for workers and factory owners. (GIZ. (2014). “Incubate, Invest, Impact: Building and Investing in High-Impact Enterprises for Empowering Women and Girls. http://www.giz.de/en/downloads/giz2014-en-incubate-invest-impact-report.pdf. ) Eliminating discrimination against female workers and managers could increase productivity per worker by 25-40 per cent, depending on the type and degree of exclusion from the labour force and the managerial pool. World Bank. (2011). World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development. The Facts- Sources Supporting women’s health leads to higher return Programmes to support female employees’ health have reported a return on investment as high as 4:1 (Source: Business for Social Responsibility “HerHealth”. Learn more: http://herproject.org/herhealth) Through female health education interventions related to menstruation, worker absenteeism dropped to 3% with significant economic gains for workers and factory owners. (Source: GIZ (2014). “Incubate, Invest, Impact: Building and Investing in High-Impact Enterprises for Empowering Women and Girls. Learn more: http://www.giz.de/en/downloads/giz2014-en-incubate-invest-impact-report.pdf) Creating diverse workplaces increases productivity Companies with diverse workforces are shown to be 22 per cent more productive, have 27 per cent higher profitability and 39 per cent higher customer satisfaction. (Source: The Centre for Tomorrow’s Company, (2014) “Tomorrow’s Global Leaders How to build a culture that ensures women reach the top”) Productivity per worker could soar by up to 40 per cent by eliminating all forms of discrimination against female workers and managers. (Source: UN Women:- http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-and-figures) Investing in women-owned businesses yields higher return on investment In 2014 that the average venture-backed company run by a woman had annual revenues that were 12% higher than those run by men and used an average of one-third less capital. (Source: Women2Boards. (2014). “Why Women? The Business Case is Solid.” Learn more: http://women2boards.com/find-candidates/why-women/) Taking advantage of women’s consumer power is a smart business decision Women control roughly US$20 trillion of total consumer spending globally and influence up to 80% of buying decisions. (Source: Deloitte, (2011) “The gender dividend: Making the business case for investing in women”)
- One example that many here are very familiar with is that: Women board directors and women in senior leadership are connected with better financial performance: A 2011 Catalyst study of companies over the 2004-2008 time period showed that companies with three or more women corporate directors (in at least four of the five years) outperformed those with no women on the board by 84% on return on sales (ROS), 60% on return on invested capital (ROIC) and 46% on return on equity (ROE).
- Coming back to the Women’s Empowerment Principles and what they can do for you and your organization. Listed here on the right are the Women’s Empowerment Principles in brief…At WEPrinciples.org you can see their full content. The WEPs provide a comprehensive road map on how to achieve gender equality and empower women and men in the workplace, marketplace and community. They also help companies understand the gender dimension of other areas of corporate sustainability (for example environmental sustainability, supply-chains sustainability etc.). The principles have been road tested around the world. They are truly global and universal and have been endorsed by governments around the globe so you can confidently use them to underpin and benchmark the gender dimension of your diversity and inclusion strategy. They are evidence based because they are built on policies and practices that businesses are using around the world. Their comprehensiveness is one of the most important of their features. Research shows that more and more CEOs recognize that gender equality is of strategic importance to their businesses and that companies have a range of initiatives, but that many of the initiatives are not yet delivering on their objectives and that CEOs are frustrated but that they are open to new approaches. Being more comprehensive and systemic in the way that the WEPs lay out is a key element to such new approaches. The CEO Statement of Support is the Statement that CEOs sign to signal their support for the WEPs.
- In this short video, business leaders from around the world speak about the importance of gender equality and how the WEPs can help achieve that goal.
- Here is an excerpt from the CEO Statement of Support for the WEPs. By signing the Statement, CEOs demonstrate leadership on gender equality and women’s empowerment and encourage fellow business leaders to do the same. They also send a key signal throughout their own organization and to business partners that this is a strategic priority for the company. The CEO Statement of Support encourages business leaders to use the seven Women’s Empowerment Principles as guide posts for actions that advance and empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community, and communicate progress through the use of sex-disaggregated data and other benchmarks. Signers underscore that equal treatment of women and men is not just the right thing to do — it is also good for business and needs to be a priority. The CEO statement of support is a: Mechanism for business leaders to signal their support for gender equality and specifically, the WEPs themselves, helping to further build consensus in the business community on the importance of gender equality. Platform for corporate executives to encourage fellow business leaders to support women's empowerment and join them in signing the CEO Statement. Tool for businesses to engage with their employees and their communities to develop more effective workplace, marketplace and community action around gender equality. Helps connect the company’s gender equality efforts to the broader corporate sustainability agenda inside and outside the company. A great way to demonstrate the first WEP Principle on leadership. Signing does not create a binding legal obligation.
- To date, more than 850 CEOs representing from 57 countries and a range of sectors have signed a CEO Statement of Support for the WEPs. In many cases WEPs support is driven by local country networks on the ground.
- Drawing on the UN Global Compact management model, here is a process for joining, managing and reporting on implementation of the WEPs. Commit: Affirm high level support by signing the CEO Statement of Support demonstrating your company’s commitment to mainstreaming gender equality. Assess: Equipped with a commitment to the WEPs, apply a gender lens when assessing risks, opportunities, and impacts. Define: Using the 7 Principles as a reference point, apply a gender lens when defining goals, strategies, and policies, and metrics. Implement: Implement corporate sustainability strategies and policies through the business and across the value chain that respect women’s rights and support gender equality and women’s empowerment. Consult WEPs tools and resources and participate in WEPs engagement opportunities, including peer-learning events, to deepen implementation. Measure: Measure and monitor impacts and progress towards goals and targets. The use of sex-disaggregated data is critical to understanding progress made and areas needing improvement. Communicate: Report on progress and share forward-looking strategies with stakeholders through the company’s annual Communication on Progress (COP) submission to the UN Global Compact. WEPs signers that are not currently UN Global Compact participants are encouraged to connect with the WEPs Secretariat to learn how to join the UN Global Compact. WEPs companies may also wish to highlight their efforts to implement the WEPs on the UN Women-run Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerment. Spread the Word: Connect with fellow businesses and other stakeholders to raise awareness about the WEPs and promote their implementation. Share good practices and lessons learned with others. Support the WEPs initiative.
- Company Examples While the implementation of the Principles can take many forms as the principles are broad and implementation can depend on context, company size etc… here are a few examples of what companies are doing to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment. Principle 1- high level leadership – for the past three years the WEPs initiative recognized business leaders for their exceptional championship of gender equality and support for the Women's Empowerment Principles. CEOs from around the world are implementing programmes to advance gender equality both internally within their own companies and externally within their communities and marketplaces Principle 2-equal treatment and nondiscrimination- A large financial services company in Australia offers a parental leave policy that provides a total of two years parental leave for the primary care giver, which can be taken flexibly, rather than on a full-time basis. Another example- One of the largest dairy companies in the world, is working with practical techniques, called Inclusion Nudges to mitigate unconscious bias and to achieve an inclusive and innovative collaborative culture that contributes to the global business strategy. During the two-day I&D development session, leaders gain insight into how the unconscious mind influences their leadership, how behavioral patterns and group dynamics affect their collaboration and performance, and how they can change this to strengthen their management and business. Principle 3: Levi Strauss Foundation in collaboration with Business for Social Responsibility found that by providing health training programmes and services to a factory workers in Egypt the factory had a $4:$1 return on investment in the form of reduced absenteeism and turnover. 4. Principle 4: Recognizing that recruiting more women into the company is not just the right thing to do, but critical for long term growth, Anglo American started training women for non-traditional jobs in the coal and mining sector to address skill shortages 5. Principle 5-supplier diversity- a large bank in Scotland adopted and implemented a Supplier Diversity & Inclusion Programme, which specifically affirms the bank’s commitment to providing a level procurement playing field for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), women-owned businesses and other under-represented suppliers, across its supply chain. 6. Principle 6- Community engagement- A North American Coffee company, initiated a community based program in Guatemala to raise self-esteem, gender awareness and create educational and economic opportunities for indigenous teenaged girls in rural Guatemalan coffee villages. Through train the trainer models, these girls become peer educators and advocates within their communities. 7. Principle 7- Transparency and reporting – A Sri Lankan travel and leisure company conducts gap assessments measuring progress towards the 7 Women's Empowerment Principles. In 2014, the company decided to include this gap analysis in the annual report to its shareholders
- While there is no official reporting requirement associated with the WEPs, Principle 7 underscores that accountability and transparency go hand-in-hand. Companies that have signed the CEO Statement of Support have explicitly stated their intention to measure and publicly report on their progress towards gender equality in their workplace, marketplace and community. This commitment can help: Track progress against commitments Identify gaps in existing policies and procedures to develop next steps for action Recognize high impact initiatives and practices for further replication Benchmark performance against competitors Demonstrate progress to key stakeholders (investors, NGOs, employees, unions, consumers governments) Gain public recognition for actions to promote gender equality In 2012, at the request of WEPs signers, the UN Global Compact and UN Women launched WEPs-specific reporting guidance, available on the WEPs website. The guidance offers practical advice on how to report on implementation of each of the seven Women’s Empowerment Principles. It provides general reporting approaches and specific examples of disclosures and performance indicators for each Principle. Importantly, the guidance aligns with established reporting frameworks that businesses use such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) 3 and 4, and can be integrated into business’ UN Global Compact Communication on Progress (COP). In an effort to help companies implement Principle 7 and report on gender, in 2014 the WEPs initiative integrated 4 questions into the UN Global Compact's Self-Assessment of the Annual Communication on Progress (COP). The questions, which are for all UN Global Compact participants that have signed the CEO Statement of Support for the WEPs, provide an opportunity for companies to transparently disclose their efforts around women’s empowerment and gender equality.
- Listed are some useful resources to further support companies in advancing gender equality and in their implementation of the WEPs. Thank you to many in the room who have worked with us on these and other efforts. We look forward to working with more of you in the future. # ### # In particular the WEPs Annual Event provides an opportune time to learn more about the WEPs, progress made and steps to scale up implementation. – The Event, which is held annually around International Women’s Day, brings multi-stakeholders from around the global together to discuss pertinent issues for women’s empowerment. The 2015 WEPs Annual Event marks a decisive year for women’s empowerment. It is anticipated that Member States, the UN and international community will decide on a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will steer the development agenda for the next 15 years. It is also the 20th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action – the 1995 comprehensive global framework for women’s empowerment. In this context, the WEPs Annual Event provides a strategic opportunity to leverage the guidance provided by the WEPs and momentum behind the initiative to provide private sector perspectives and spur business action to meet these future goals and targets.
- Thank you very much!