Women’s Empowerment Principles, UNIFEM
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The document outlines seven principles for promoting gender equality and women's empowerment in the workplace. The principles address establishing leadership for gender equality, ensuring equal opportunity and nondiscrimination, health and safety, education and training, enterprise development and marketing practices, community engagement, and transparency in measuring progress. Each principle includes specific recommendations for corporate policies and programs. The document also describes how the Women's Empowerment Principles can be used as a tool by businesses, governments, and organizations to promote gender equality.
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Women’s Empowerment Principles, UNIFEM
- 1. Women’s Empowerment Principles Equality Means Business
- 2. Women’s Empowerment Principles in Brief 4. Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality. 5. Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and nondiscrimination. 6. Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers. 7. Promote education, training and professional development for women. 8. Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women. 9. Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy. 10.Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.
- 3. Principle 1: Leadership Promotes Gender Equality a. Affirm high-level support and direct top-level policies for gender equality and human rights. b. Establish company-wide goals and targets for gender equality and include progress as a factor in managers’ performance reviews. c. Engage internal and external stakeholders in the development of company policies, programmes and implementation plans that advance equality. d. Ensure that all policies are gender-sensitive – identifying factors that impact women and men differently – and that corporate culture advances equality and inclusion.
- 4. Principle 2: Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Nondiscriminiation a. Pay equal remuneration, including benefits, for work of equal value and strive to pay a living wage to all women and men. b. Ensure that workplace policies and practices are free from gender-based discrimination. c. Implement gender-sensitive recruitment and retention practices and proactively recruit and appoint women to managerial and executive positions and to the corporate board of directors. d. Assure sufficient participation of women – 30% or greater – in decision-making and governance at all levels and across all business areas. e. Offer flexible work options, leave and re-entry opportunities to positions of equal pay and status. f. Support access to child and dependent care by providing services, resources and information to both women and men.
- 5. Principle 3: Health, Safety and Freedom from Violence a. Taking into account differential impacts on women and men, provide safe working conditions and protection from exposure to hazardous materials and disclose potential risks, including to reproductive health. b. Establish a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of violence at work, including verbal and/or physical abuse, and prevent sexual harassment. c. Strive to offer health insurance or other needed services – including for survivors of domestic violence – and ensure equal access for all employees. d. Respect women and men workers’ rights to time off for medical care and counseling for themselves and their dependents. e. In consultation with employees, identify and address security issues, including the safety of women traveling to and from work and on company-related business. f. Train security staff and managers to recognize signs of violence against women and understand laws and company policies on human trafficking, labour and sexual exploitation.
- 6. Principle 4: Education and Training a. Invest in workplace policies and programmes that open avenues for advancement of women at all levels and across all business areas, and encourage women to enter nontraditional job fields. b. Ensure equal access to all company-supported education and training programmes, including literacy classes, vocational and information technology training. c. Provide equal opportunities for formal and informal networking and mentoring. d. Offer opportunities to promote the business case for women’s empowerment and the positive impact of inclusion for men as well as women.
- 7. Principle 5: Enterprise Development, Supply Chain and Marketing Practices a. Expand business relationships with women-owned enterprises, including small businesses, and women entrepreneurs. b. Support gender-sensitive solutions to credit and lending barriers. c. Ask business partners and peers to respect the company’s commitment to advancing equality and inclusion. d. Respect the dignity of women in all marketing and other company materials. e. Ensure that company products, services and facilities are not used for human trafficking and/or labour or sexual exploitation.
- 8. Principle 6: Community Leadership and Engagement a. Lead by example – showcase company commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. b. Leverage influence, alone or in partnership, to advocate for gender equality and collaborate with business partners, suppliers and community leaders to promote inclusion. c. Work with community stakeholders, officials and others to eliminate discrimination and exploitation and open opportunities for women and girls. d. Promote and recognize women’s leadership in, and contributions to, their communities and ensure sufficient representation of women in any community consultation. e. Use philanthropy and grants programmes to support company commitment to inclusion, equality and human rights.
- 9. Principle 7: Transparency, Measuring and Reporting a. Make public the company policies and implementation plan for promoting gender equality. b. Establish benchmarks that quantify inclusion of women at all levels. c. Measure and report on progress, both internally and externally, using data disaggregated by gender. d. Incorporate gender markers into ongoing reporting obligations.
- 10. WEPs as a Tool Focusing on how to bring the private sector can play in to promoting gender equality and women's empowerment Take them into account in developing and revising public policies on gender equality and women's empowerment and corporate responsibility Use them when engaging in dialogue with the private sector about their role Consider corporate commitment the WEPs when making decisions about which businesses to partner with, procure from, or other such economic decisions.
- 11. Materials and Resources For more information, please visit: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/Issues/human_rights/equality_means_business.html Or http://www.unifem.org/partnerships/womens_empowerment_principles/
- 12. THANK YOU
Editor's Notes
- Listed above are the Women’s Empowerment Principles in brief… The seven Principles are designed to help the private sector focus on key elements for promoting gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community.
- Principle 1 encourages companies to establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality. Leadership from the top is essential to close the gender gaps. For example, a high-level task force may be established to identify priority areas, establish benchmarks and monitor company progress. We know from experience that this can make a big difference. A global accounting and consulting firm determined that the company was losing out on business by failing to attract and retain highly skilled female professionals and, on the basis of these findings, worked to change company culture and policies through leadership and board involvement.
- Principle 2 calls on companies to treat all women and men fairly at work and to respect and support human rights and nondiscrimination. Addressing gender inequality requires the implementation of gender-sensitive recruitment and retention practices, the development of flexible work options and equal representation of women and men in decision-making and governance roles.
- Principle 3 calls on companies to ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers. This may involve undertaking a gender sensitive inventory of health and safety conditions, surveying employees to elicit the views of women and men on health , safety and security issues, and tailoring company policies to serve the different concerns of women and men. Companies should adopt and publicize a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of violence at work. Company health programmes should be equipped to deal with workers needing counseling or other health services as a result of violence. Some companies are already leading the way. For example, two Spanish companies offer victims of domestic violence job placement services specifically tailored to their needs to ease transition to the workplace.
- Principle 4 asks companies to promote education, training and professional development for women. In order for women to have the same opportunities for career advancement as men, they must have equal access to education and training; this is especially important for encouraging women to explore non-traditional jobs and industries. For instance, a large European airline company reaches out to youth through education projects to break down the barriers that traditionally limit women to certain jobs in the industry and men to others. It is also critical that company employees, particularly male staff, are trained and educated on the company’s business case for women’s empowerment and inclusion.
- Principle 5 calls on companies to implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women. Companies can request information from current and potential suppliers on their gender and diversity policies and include these in criteria for contracting. Companies can analyze their existing supply chain and establish a baseline number of suppliers that are women-owned enterprises. Businesses should also respect the dignity of women in all marketing and other company materials and ensure that they are in no way contributing to or facilitating human trafficking and/or labour or sexual exploitation.
- Principle 6 focuses on what the private sector can do to promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy. For instance, a multinational mining company with operations in Ghana implemented a gender mainstreaming programme to encourage female employees to assume greater responsibility within the mine and connect to the local community. Similarly, a large international cosmetics company launched and sold products to raise funds for local organizations working to end domestic violence in their communities. There are many ways that the private sector can positively contribute to women’s rights and empowerment that involve the community and bring benefits to all.
- Principle 7 calls on companies to measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality. Although many companies now recognize the business case for gender equality and have launched programmes and initiatives aimed at empowering women, few are monitoring their performance or communicating their progress in a transparent way. However, companies that do report on their progress have found that doing so helps to set gender equality goals and targets. Being able to communicate progress can also create a competitive advantage.
- The Principles also reflect the interests of Governments and civil society and will support interactions among stakeholders as achieving gender equality requires the participation of all actors. For Governments, the Principles may be a tool for: Focusing on how to bring the private sector into promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment; Using their gender lens to develop and revise public policies; Engaging the private sector and civil society in dialogue about their role and potential for impact; and Considering corporate commitment to the Principles when making decisions about which businesses to partner with, procure from, or other such economic decisions.
- Please be sure to pick up a copy of the Women’s Empowerment Principles brochure. This key resource outlines why gender matters and highlights key facts and figures from around the world, provides an introduction to the business case for women’s empowerment, and includes a detailed explanation of each of the seven Principles. It also provides concrete examples of how companies around the world are advancing women’s empowerment and suggests ways for companies to make and measure progress. Additional materials can be accessed by visiting the UN Global Compact and UNIFEM websites.