Women'sEmpowerment
Principles
Established by UN Women and theUN Global Compact Office​September 2020

Issue 3 | 2020

WEPs Bulletin:
Launch of #WeCommit Campaign

We are excited to update you about our new#WeCommit campaign. It is a call to action
for all companies – private companies, enterprises and employers’ organizations, stockexchanges, pension funds and wealth management funds, among others – to sign anddeepen the implementation of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). We would
like to invite you to become an ally by encouraging your partners and networks to join andsign the WEPs too! See the campaign’s Action Guide and Ally Package to learn more
about how you can get involved.
Tomorrow (September 22) we will have two events during the 75th session of the UN
General Assembly, Uniting Business LIVE, “Supporting women-owned businesses in
COVID-19 recovery” at 12:00-1:30 pm EDT and a fireside chat on “Fighting domestic
violence and everyday sexism in the workplace” with the participation of L’Oréal at
2:30-3:00 pm EDT. More info and how to register below!
The aftermath of COVID-19 continues to hit women entrepreneurs hard. As we respondand recover from the crisis, we have an opportunity to build back better – with a globally
coordinated multi-stakeholder approach to build an eco-system that fosters genderequality, growth sustainability, and resilience for women-led businesses. We are proud topresent our new Advocacy Tool – Strengthening Support for Women Entrepreneurs during
COVID-19. The Tool aims to drive support from stakeholders within the women’sentrepreneurship ecosystem amid COVID-19. It features key recommendations for thepublic sector, private sector, and civil society in supporting women entrepreneurs along five
key themes: creating an enabling environment, access to information, skills andknowledge, access to markets, access to networks, and access to knowledge. We would
like to take the opportunity to thank all our partners and stakeholders, particularly theEuropean Union, for having supported the preparation of the tool.

In this Bulletin we would also like to present our most recent category of resources:WEPs
Leaders, which include interviews with inspiring women entrepreneurs and heads ofcompanies sharing lessons learned and perspectives of successfully embarking on theWEPs journey.
If you have not already done so, take a few minutes to create your Company“ProfilePage”. By doing so your company will be featured on our website, showcasing yourcommitment to gender equality and women's empowerment publicly. Completing the profile
page also allows you access to the WEPs Welcome Package providing you withcommunication tools and templates. Read on for more exciting updates!

Global WEPs Signatories

Globally, over 3,600 organizations have joined our WEPs community to advancegender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community.
The top 5 countries with the most WEPs signatories areBrazil, Turkey, Japan, Spain andthe United States.
The largest interest is coming from companies in support services, financial services,software and computer services.

HAPPENING THIS WEEK

To mark the opening of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Uniting
Business LIVE will convene leaders from business, Government and civil society to
showcase their commitment to the UN’s mission. Uniting Business LIVE will include
the Private Sector Forum (Monday 21September), the Global Impact Forum (Tuesday22 September) and the SDG Business Forum (Wednesday 23 September).
Join us at the following events within the Global Impact Forum on 22 September:
The dialogue on “Supporting women-owned businesses in COVID-19recovery” will take place at 12:00-1:30 pm EDT with the aim to discuss theimpact of COVID-19 on women-owned SMEs. The winners of the WE
Empower UN SDG Challenge will also be announced and presented.
Register here!
A fireside chat on “Fighting domestic violence and everyday sexism inthe workplace” will take place with the participation of L’Oréal at 2:30-3:00
pm EDT to discuss the responsibility of the companies in addressing
everyday sexist behaviour and domestic violence and mitigating its effects.
Register here!

The 2020 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards launched in August 2020 and seeks to encourage,
value and recognize the efforts of individuals and businesses that promote genderinclusive business cultures and the achievement of gender equality. Award categories
include: Leadership Commitment, Youth Leadership, Gender-inclusive Workplace, Genderresponsive Marketplace, Community and Industry Engagement and COVID-19 Action.
Application closes on this Friday the 25 September.
Learn more about the award here. Qualified companies can apply directly to theAwards
website until the end of September.

Join us for our second #WeLearn learning session on Wednesday, 23 September 2020 at
11 am EDT. During the upcoming session, the trainer, Laura Didyk, Vice President andNational Lead Women Entrepreneurs, Business Development Bank of Canada will sharethe basic financial knowledge and skills you need to manage your business’s finances.
Register here!

WEPs SATISFACTION SURVEY
Dear CEO's and Focal Points of all WEPs Signatories, as COVID-19 has
drastically changed the way we live and work, we are reaching out to ensure theWEPs continue to support your company’s commitment to gender. To completethe survey please click the button below.
We look forward to hearing from you!
GO TO
SURVEY

WEPs LEADERS

We have introduced a new category of resources: WEPs Leaders. This series include
interviews with women entrepreneurs and head of companies to showcase lessons learned
and perspectives of the individuals behind the innovative and successful WEPs signatories.
Please find the Leaders in Action interviews to learn the inspiring stories of womenfounders and how they overcame challenges in their chosen field. Our Leaders Insights
interviews reflect opinions from company leaders on different themes of gender equality
and women's empowerment.

OPINION
Amanda Ellis
ASU Julie Ann Wrigley Global
Futures Laboratory
Opinion: As we enter the United
Nations Decade for Action and deal
with the devastating impacts of theCOVID-19 pandemic, many women
entrepreneurs have responded to theincredible challenges with both gritand innovation, pivoting rapidly tocope with the impact of the crisis andhelp create better futures. ASU Julie
AnnWrigley
GlobalFutures

INTERVIEW
Bessie Schwarz
Cloud to Street​Interview: In times of environmental

Laboratory,
GlobalPartnerships
Director Amanda Ellis explains thecrisis, all existing social vulnerabilities
are heightened. When environmental
crises strike, women and girls feel thecritical role the women entrepreneurs
play in guiding genuine progress forbrunt of the impact because ofdisplacement, poverty, hunger, andthe benefit
business.

the loss of life, income and property.
Bessie Schwarz, the CEO and co-of

Read more herebothsociety

andfounder of flood-mapping platform
Cloud to Street, explains thechallenges she and her co-founder
faced to establish a social business
whose mission is to remove barriers
to life-saving information.
Read more here

RESOURCESWe have launched a new Advocacy Tool, designed to drive increased support from thePublic Sector, Private Sector and Civil Society for women's entrepreneurship amid COVID19. The tool launched on September 9th and came out of the virtual café consultation andonline discussion.
We wish to thank all those who joined and let you know that the tool is availablehere!

The Guidance Note: “Tackling Sexual
harassment in the World of Work”
focuses on preventing and addressing
harassment in the workplace. It forms partof a toolkit to guide gender-responsive
business conduct in the private sector inline with the WEPs and ILO international
labour standards. It highlights the highcosts of sexual harassment in theworkplace for workers, companies andeconomies alike. The note provides
concreterecommendations
forhow
companies can tackle sexual harassment
head on by developing and enforcing
training, policy, procedure and a culture
based on dignity and respect.
Download the guidance note here.

As part of the “Win-Win Programme:
Genderequality
means
goodbusiness” programme, a study about
theGenderPay
Gap in Uruguay was launched. The
study aims to contribute to theanalysis and awareness of themeasures adopted by different
countries
inLatinAmerica
We have gathered perspectives on
how the pandemic has affectedbusinesses and women through 65
semi-structured interviews with private
sector CEOs and leaders in the AsiaPacific and in Europe. This reportsummarizes
keyrecommendations

findingsonandhoworganizations steered their responses,
safeguarded women employees andand Caribbean between 1990-2018,
and explains the correlation between
maternity leave and the gender paygap. It also describes policies
introduced for the mitigation of thegender pay gap. The study waspresented during a webinar with theparticipation of the Vice President ofUruguay, Beatriz Argimón, Minister

maintained business continuity.

of Labour
authorities

PablofromMieres andthepartner

Full report is available here.

implementers: ECLAC, UN Womenand European Union.
Download the study here.

OPPORTUNITIESThe applications for the Industry Disruptor
European Chapter is now open. Thisuniqueincubationandmentorshipprogrammethatprovides
Europeanentrepreneurs the opportunity to learn fromleading industry experts, scale solutions

sustainably, access international supply
chains and be part of a global network
committed to social change.
Apply here.

CASE STUDIES
We continue to gather information from our WEPs signatories who have implemented
successful and innovative measures for gender equality and women’s empowerment.

In this newsletter, you can read more about Enel Group. an Italian multinational energy
company, that shares with us how creating a culture of inclusion and diversity calls for arange of initiatives and actions.
Find one of our previous case studies with Groupe PSA and make sure to fill out this form if
you are interested in sharing your success story!

PAST EVENTSLast week we organized a webinar on"Leveraging Women's Networks toAdvance Gender Equality" available
here. Make sure to keep an eye out on
our website where the recording and Q& A from the webinar will be publishedshortly.

If you are interested in learning more about
our resources on the WEPs and COVID-19,
you might be interested in our webinar“Empowering Women Entrepreneurs to Drive
Economic Growth” Virtual Café that took placein July here.

Following the Virtual Café, we kicked off a week-long online discussion in partnership with
the European Institute for Gender Equality. Engaging discussions took place on topics
such as leveraging civil society networks, building inclusive supply chains, innovative
financial instruments and financial literacy, social protection and care, the digital economy
and e-commerce. You can find more information and additional resources here.

In August, our Uruguay team co-organizeda webinar on “Shared Co-responsibility”
with the Inter-American Development Bank
to promote equitable business models
within the region.
Find the presentations here.
See the webinar recording here.
Twenty-one business leaders in Viet
Nam signed the WEPs during the“Equality Means Business” Forum on 18
August 2020. The Forum was organized
by UN Women, the EU Delegation inViet Nam and the Viet Nam Women
Entrepreneur Council (VWEC) under theViet Nam Chamber of Commerce andIndustry. Read more here and watch theforum opening video.

Read more on the CEO’s committing toWEPs here.

In Asia, we launched a unique incubation and mentorship programme that provides
entrepreneurs with women-benefitting enterprises in India and Viet Nam the chance
to tackle key sustainability challenges in the fashion industry in collaboration with theDO School, H&M and Tchibo. The programme kicked off with over 70 women
entrepreneurs and continued over five weeks. Learn more here.

Thank you for reading and see you soon again!
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.

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