Issue 2 | 2020

WEPs Bulletin:

Equality Means Business
As the world continues to respond and recover fromCOVID-19, and simultaneously publicly outcry
against structural racism and oppression heightens,
we bring you the next iteration of the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs)
Bulletin of 2020.
This year, despite the somber tone, we continue to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of
the establishment of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs+10)!
As we move the WEPs into its next 10 years we are happy to bring you more tools,
more guidance, and deeper engagement to really move the needle for genderresponsive business conduct.
If you haven’t done so already, please visit our new home atwww.weps.org.
*We have updated the WEPs In Support of logo policy. To use the “In Support of” logo,
signatories must agree to the Terms and Conditions and complete and sign theAgreement Form. Once the agreement is completed, a high-resolution PNG and AI files
will be provided.

Read on for more updates!

Global WEPs Signatories

Around the world, more than 3,000
companies are advancing gender equality inthe workplace, marketplace and community.
We surpassed the 3,000 milestone!!
Now 3,279 companies (and counting) have joined ourWEPs community with the largest interest coming fromthe support services, financial services, software andcomputer services, personal goods, food producers
sectors.
The top 5 countries with the most WEPs signatories are
Brazil, Turkey, Japan, Spain and United States ofAmerica.

Interview: The CEO of the Hong Kong

Interview: The COVID-19 pandemic

Stock Exchange Laura Cha explains
how the responsibility of the company
goes beyond their role as an exchangegroup and the ways that being a WEPs
signatory will contribute to theorganization’s ambitions to advancegender equality in the company.

has increased the urgency to reach
women with mobile technology. GSMA
Director General Mats Granryd
explains how connecting more womenand helping them reap the benefits ofmobile technology will support themand their families to navigate thisglobal pandemic.

Read On
Read OnInterview: Even before

Interview: Bombay Stock Interview: NEOsigning the WEPs theExchange signed theArgentinean stock
WEPs on 8 Marchexchange, Bolsas yInternational Women’s
Mercados Argentinos, orDay. Its Managing
ByMA, was committed to
Director and Chiefadvancing gender equality Executive Officer,
in business and capital
Ashishkumar Chauhanmarkets, actively attracting explains why it isand retaining women as
important to promote
employees, investors and women’s economic
market participants.
empowerment and how
Gabriela Terminielli,stock exchanges can
ByMA’s Director and Coinfluence their markets
Chair of Womenand steer their listed
Corporate Directors
companies to become
Argentina, explains.
more gender-responsivein policies and practice.

Exchange is establishedon the principles offairness andtransparency. Its coFounder, President andCEO, Jos Schmitt shares
why the Canadian stock
exchange decided to sign
the WEPs and how beinga signatory changed theinstitution. Being anadvocate for diversity
make stock exchanges
stronger and better, andNEO Exchange is leading
the way in Canada.

Read On

Read On
Read On

EVENTS

UN Global Compact Leaders Summit
The UN Global Compact 20th anniversary Leaders’ Summit convened
leading voices from business, government, the United Nations, civil society
and academia in a 26-hour virtual conversation about rebuilding more
inclusive economies and societies.
UN Women hosted a 26-hour live virtual booth and a breakout session withthe European Union on “WEPs: RECOVER BETTER, TOGETHER AND
STRONGER” to highlight the role of the private sector to ensure that we donot backslide on our progress towards gender equality amid COVID-19.
READ ON

Ring the Bell for Gender Equality

Annually, Ring the Bell for Gender Equality events in celebration of International
Women's Day are organized around the world to highlight the pivotal role of stock
exchanges in advancing gender equality in collaboration with UN Global
Compact, UN Women, Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, InternationalFinance Corporation, World Federation of Exchanges and Women in ETFs. Stockexchanges are in a unique position to influence markets and their listedcompanies to take action on gender equality.

In New York, the Ring the Bell for Gender Equality was co-organized by Nasdaq
and UN Women as part of the WE EMPOWER - G7 programme implemented inpartnership with the European Union and ILO. During the “We Are All Generation
Equality - A Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” event, C-level executives andadvocates took the stage to talk about ways businesses are stepping up andmoving the needle toward more equitable workplaces, marketplaces andcommunities. Check out the summary video here.

Lebanese private sector
companies engage on WEPs
amidst compounded crises
With support from the Ford Foundation,UN Women Lebanon and UN Global
Compact Network Lebanon organized
the first in a series of technicalassistance interventions aimed at
supporting Lebanese signatories inimplementing the WEPs. READ ONOPPORTUNITIESCall for Case Studies
The WE EMPOWER - G7 programme of UN Women, European Union andILO in support of the WEPs Secretariat is in the process of gathering
information from our signatories who have implemented successful andinnovative measures for gender equality and women’s empowerment withan aim to document these concrete measures into case studies. Please findthe case studies of BBVA, Diageo, Groupe PSA, L’ORÉAL, Orange Group,RELX, Sodexo, Swedfund and Tele2.
Fill out this form if you are interested in sharing your success story using
the hashtag #WeShare.

LEARN MORERESOURCES
Equality Means Business
Check out the new WEPs brochurethat explains what the WEPs are, why
companies should join the WEPs
community, and what is expected fromWEPs signatories.
We encourage you to share it with yourbusiness partners, suppliers andvendors so that they know that they too
can use the WEPs as a multiplier foraction towards gender equality in theworkplace, marketplace andcommunity!

READ ON

COVID-19 Resources
We developed and collected wide range ofresources amid COVID-19. The COVID-19
and Gender Equality: A Call to Action for
the Private Sector brief describes how theWEPs guide businesses on promoting
gender equality and women’s
empowerment during this time of upheaval
and uncertainty. Building on the sevenWEPs, COVID-19 and Gender Rapid SelfAssessment Tool enables companies toassess their COVID-19 response andensure they are supporting women during
and beyond the crisis with gender-sensitive
measures throughout their value chains.
The COVID-19 Shadow Pandemic:
Domestic Violence in the World of Work
brief explains how companies areresponding to the problem of increased
domestic violence during the COVID-19
crisis and provides recommendations tocompanies for immediate and long-term
measures. Other resources developed on
gender equality and COVID-19 can befound here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Company Profile Page
We have created a guidance note “How to Complete Company ProfilePage” that is a step-by-step guide to help you: (1) create an account as aWEPs signatory on the WEPs website, and (2) edit and maintain yourcompany profile page.
For those who joined before December 2019, you will also need to createan account and populate all of the information, for example: full CEO name,photo and quote; general company information; UN Global Compact
membership; industry and location.

WEPs Welcome Package
Creating your company’s profile page
will unlock your access to the WEPs
Welcome Package. We encourage you
to get started using it soonest.

This welcome kit includes plenty ofpromotional materials and templates todownload for your internal and external
communications – you can use them atyour meetings, conferences, booths,
events to showcase your commitment –but please note the importance of
keeping to our branding and logo
guidelines outlined in the Welcome
Package. Don't forget to tag@WEPrinciples in your Twitter
messages.

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) guide businesses on how to promote gender equality and women's empowerment in theworkplace, marketplace and community. Jointly established by the UN Global Compact and UN Women , the WEPs are underpinned byinternational labour standards and human rights and by the recognition that businesses have an important role in promoting gender equality andwomen’s empowerment. Adopting the seven principles is the best way that businesses can deliver on the ambitions for gender equality andwomen’s empowerment as outlined in the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and in the 17 SDGs.

Questions? E-mail us at weps@unwomen.org | www.weps.org​