Outcome Report -India's Premier Business Event- ‘Equality Means Business: Women’s Empowerment Principles in Practice’

1. ‘Equality Means Business: Women’s Empowerment Principles in Practice’
8 September, 2015
Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi, India
Over 150 representatives from business,
government, UN, civil society, and academia
gathered for India’s premier business event on
gender equality - "Equality Means Business:
Women’s Empowerment Principles in Practice."
Organized by the UN Global Compact and Global
Compact Network India, and driven by four
strong supporters of the Women’s
Empowerment Principles (BNP Paribas, Deloitte,
HCL Technologies and Sodexo), the event
highlighted the essential role that businesses can and must play to realize gender equality and achieve
sustainable development. Guided by the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), participants
reflected on the persistent barriers to advancing gender equality, showcased promising solutions and
approaches and highlighted how companies throughout India are scaling up diversity, inclusion and
sustainability strategies to mitigate risks and maximize positive impact. The event also showcased how
WEPs signatories can come together to inspire further gender equality action in India.
Top Highlights from the Event:
1. Gender Equality is a Critical Component to Achieving Future Sustainable Development
Participants recognized that in order to address some of the most pressing challenges such as climate
change, water and food scarcity, health needs and education disparities, the full potential of men and
women, boys and girls will need to be unleashed. Speakers highlighted the multiplier effect of
empowering women and stated equality has significant impacts on economic,
inclusive and sustainable growth. United Nations Members States validated the
importance of gender equality to sustainable development, when they adopted
the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) this September, and identified the
need for a standalone goal on women’s and girls’ empowerment and gender
related targets under many of the other 16 goals.
While the SDGs are a global agenda, they will be driven and implemented at a
national level, which requires the concerted efforts of all stakeholders including
business. The Women’s Empowerment Principles were recognized as a ready-
made platform to engage businesses to do their part to advance gender equality
as well as contribute to the other 16 goals.

2. 2. India Identified Gender Equality as a Top Priority, but More Work Needs to Be Done
Participants noted that while many progressive laws have been adopted to ensure the economic, social
and legal empowerment for women and girls, implementation of the laws needs to be enforced and
cultural mindsets need to change in order to further advance gender equality in the country. Women’s
participation in the labour force and in political positions is significantly underrepresented, women
owned businesses remain low, and training opportunities are still targeted at men. Dr. Nagesh Kumar,
Head, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)’s South and
South-West Asia Office stated “India’s GDP could be 25 percent higher if the skills and talents of women
were tapped equally.” Participants identified that the WEPs provide a holistic framework to help
companies play their part in creating inclusive environments for both men and women. It was
recognized that there are tremendous opportunities for companies to scale up actions on Principles 1, 2,
4 and 7. The new mandate under the Companies Act for at least one woman on every corporate board
will hopefully help companies move in the right
direction. Companies should assess and review
their policies, invest in training and development
opportunities for women and create target
indicators to report back to their stakeholders.
There is also a huge opportunity to further
develop public-private partnerships. Rashmi
Singh, Union Territory Civil Services and Former
Executive Director, National Mission for
Empowerment of Women (NMEW), Ministry of
Women & Child Development, Government of
India, commented that these partnerships enable
various actors across different levels of society to
contribute.
3. Private Sector Leaders Recognize a Business Case for Gender Equality
Top level business leaders acknowledged ignoring 50%
of the population and talent pool has significant
impacts on the bottom line. Companies are powered
by the ideas and innovation of the men and women
that work there and diversity is essential to generate
these ideas. Men and women bring a diverse set of
skills to the table that contribute to creating an
adaptable and changing business environment that
meets a broad consumer base and various employee
needs. One company mentioned their internal study
which showed the strong correlation between gender
diversity and factors such as profitability, employee

3. retention, cash-flow etc. Speakers also mentioned that gender equality needs to be engrained into the
company’s core objectives by senior management, but equally supported by the people that are most
impacted by and leading the company’s programmes and policy changes.
4. Time for Men to Take Equal Responsibility for the Gender Equality Agenda
Women’s empowerment has a multiplier effect creating significant impacts
to families, communities, economies and nations. Therefore, gender
equality does not just benefit women, but benefits humanity. Engaging men
and boys as agents of change for gender equality will create a unified
movement to address inequalities that impact all people. UN Women
launched the ‘HeforShe’ campaign to encourage male activism around
gender equality and in the first three days one man from every single
country had signed up for the campaign. Male private sector leaders can
support this campaign by signing the CEO Statement of Support and
implementing the 7 WEPs Principles.
5. Need To Create Workplace Models that
Prioritize Inclusion
In an interactive session on the workplace, panelists
discussed the various approaches their companies
were taking, including executive women’s leadership
programmes, to ensure women and men have equal
opportunities to succeed up the pipeline. The
moderator of the session highlighted the need for
companies and societies to adapt their models to
incorporate the various roles that women and men
play within the workplace and family environment. Panelists also reflected that to ensure
implementation of stated company policies, it is critical that companies be transparent through the use
of sex-disaggregated data. One company mentioned that sex-disaggregated data was used for a study
that then further supported the business case for diversity.
6. Innovation to Create Gender Equal Market Systems
In order to address the world’s most pressing challenges, society will need to
develop new and innovative business models and products by tapping into the
knowledge and talents of both men and women. Participants reflected on the
huge opportunity for companies to go beyond their workplaces by integrating
the WEPs into their supply chains and supporting and investing in women-
owned business. One speaker mentioned, in India where women make up the
majority of the informal value chain, human rights are a big concern. There is a
need for targeted gender specific training to suppliers and buyers to address

4. these issues. Another speaker highlighted the opportunity to create innovative products that meet the
specific needs of women. In particular this company creates a gender sensitive insurance product that
helps women deal with discrimination in the workplace and domestic violence situations.
7. Investing in Women has a Multiplier effect on the
Community
Beyond the workplace, companies have an opportunity to partner
with other stakeholders to bring significant impacts to the
communities in which they operate. Speakers recognized the
invaluable knowledge that women can contribute to their own
societies and workplaces when economically empowered within their
community. One organization is working with cutting edge technology
to build the masonry and plumbing skills of women in rural villages to
ensure they have employable skills. Another company from New
Zealand works in collaboration with the Hunger Project in India to
develop a leadership exchange program where executives from New
Zealand teach governance to women leaders in rural Indian villages and the women leaders teach new
ways of thinking to top executives. The invaluable exchange of knowledge helps the company’s
executives broaden their way of thinking galvanizing new innovative solutions to business challenges.

5. This Event Was Made Possible
by the
Generous Contributions
of
Our Sponsor Organizations