Promoting UNWomen Emp. Principles in Nig In November 2015, Oxfam in Nigeria contracted the Convention on Business Integrity (CBi) to deliver a one-day consultative workshopcentred on the UN Women#s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). The UN Women#s Empowerment principles, seven in all, aim to guidebusinesses on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. The purpose of the consultative workshop was to introduce WEPs, as a quick guide to a Corporate Code of Conduct that focuses exclusively on empowering, advancing and investingin women in business setups to promote inclusive economic growth. The private sector serves as a viable means of driving the women#s empowerment agenda forward
UN Women#s Empowerment Principles, was launched on April 20, 2016 and a Platform of 22 persons(multisector group) was created . At the inaugural meeting, it was decided that large food <(>&<)> beverage (F<(>&<)>B) companies are to be targeted given theirdominance in certain agricultural value chains, international leverage and the potential impact on womenintheir supply chains. Women in Business, Management and Public Service (WimBiz) received training on agribusiness opportunities for women which was delivered by CBi and they agreed to champion advocacy with companies through the Platform to deepen women#sparticipation in the value chains of large food <(>&<)> beverage companies in Nigeria, provided they receive requisite capacity building support.

Currently in Nigeria, food products companies are beginning to source locally due to increasing pressure ontheweak Naira.  By augmenting their local sourcing strategies/policies in favour of women, large food <(>&<)> beverage companies in Nigeria could significantly improve the livelihoods of the poor. The following are amongst the top food and beverage companies inNigeria: Nestlé, Cadbury/Mondel#z, Olam, Guinness Nigeria and Nigerian Breweries. Nestlé and Cadbury/Mondel#z are signed up at a global level to the UN Women#s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and early engagements have already begun with both Nestle and Guinness Nigeria. Nestle Nigeria Plc. is a locally based subsidiary of the Swiss company Nestlé.  Cadbury Nigeria, Nestle#s main competitor is a member company of Cadbury Schweppes Plc. now owned by Mondelez International, a major player in the global confectionery and beverages markets with 40,000 employees. Olam though not publicly traded in Nigeria, started operations in Nigeria and has since grown into a global integrated supply chain manager, processor and trader of soft commodities, supplying productsacross 16 platforms to 14,000 customers worldwide . Guinness Nigeria is a subsidiary of Diaego Plc, UK; a major multinational alcohol beverages company. Lastly, Nigerian Breweries Plc. started as far back as 1946 and is currently owned by Heineken Brouwerijen B.V.
The emphasis on local sourcing and buying in the country could spell new avenues for competitive advantage for these companies. Nevertheless, as gender data on the 5 selected companies is not readily available for analysis, the need to performgenderimpact assessments on these companies is imperative at the stage in pushing the UN WEPs agenda. The analysis will enable the participating companies assess what they need to do to improve the impact of their sourcing strategies on women in theirrespective value chains and follow up with remedial actions based on stakeholder, informed, advocacy.

Therefore, the project proposes to conduct gender impact assessments of the local sourcing strategies/policies of selected companies. These findings will be validated with stakeholders and case studies developed for public dissemination of findings. The Platform, drivenby WimBiz, would not only publish the findings but use various strategies to use the findings to advocate for the adoption of the UN WEPs by the private sector in general. They will at the same time push the participating companies to commit to remedial action that will then be monitored by the Platform members. We expect to have a baseline on impact of sourcing policies of companies on womeninselected value chains; a clear advocacy campaign developed and run by stakeholders and a menu of remedial actions, with cost-benefit, presented to the companies. As a result of the engagement (research, information dissemination, advocacy, cost-benefitanalysis of possible interventions,), Oxfam expects a good number of the participating companies to define and implement remedial actions. Those who then implement remedial actions should tend towards more sustainable local sourcing strategies and more women should be ableto participate in their value chains leading to more sustainable incomes for them