WME is proud to announce it’s pledge towards supporting the Women’s Empowerment Principles, which is an initiative of the UN Women and the UN Global Compact.
Companies around the globe are promoting gender equality and women’s full participation and leadership in the workplace, marketplace and community. UN Women and UN Global Compact are encouraging firms of all sizes, in all countries, industries and sectors, to take decisive action towards gender equality with the Women’s Empowerment Principles.
By signing the Women’s Empowerment Principles, companies galvanize their shareholders and stakeholders to drive change for gender equality. They are becoming role models for attracting talent, entering new markets, serving their communities, while measurably improving the bottom line.
LEADERSHIP: Business leaders make gender equality a top priority by signing the Women’s Empowerment Principles. Working towards gender parity at all levels of a company is a great first step. But corporate cultures need to be transformed to put gender equality, diversity and inclusion into practice.
WORKPLACE: Women and men employees should have equal access to and enjoy the same resources, opportunities, benefits and rewards. Women’s Empowerment Principles signatories advance gender equality through their recruitment, retention and promotion policies; work-life balance measures, such as maternity and parental leave; and promotion of equal pay for work of equal value. They enforce zero-tolerance policies for violence and sexual harassment at work, and introduce measures to ensure workplace health and safety.
MARKETPLACE: Making purchasing policies and practices gender-responsive can be very effective to diversify suppliers and engage women, entrepreneurs. WEPs signatories are also removing negative gender stereotypes from their advertising and marketing.
COMMUNITY: Companies that have signed the WEPs are tailoring their products and services to meet the expressed needs and priorities of women and girls. Investing in local communities builds good relationships and creates goodwill – and consumers prefer to buy from companies that are actively supporting community initiatives.
TRANSPARENCY: Gathering, analyzing and reporting sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics about company performance on gender equality is critical for transparency. Companies that actively track and benchmark their performance have discovered that this kind of analysis and reporting can lead to increased interest from investors who want to promote gender equality (commonly known as “gender-lens investing”).
The Women’s Empowerment Principles were adapted from the Calvert Women’s Principles®.
The Women in Construction Forum and Awards takes place at The Big 5 on 27 November, and as part of this event, there will be an official Pledge Ceremony for the companies who are willing to sign the WEPs.
To register your company’s interest, click here.
