How Can the Women's Empowerment Principles Benefit Your Company?

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of Principles offering guidance to business on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. Established by UN Global Compact and UN Women, the WEPs are informed by international labour and human rights standards and grounded in the recognition that businesses have a stake in, and a responsibility for, gender equality and women’s empowerment.

WEPs are a primary vehicle for corporate delivery on gender equality dimensions of the 2030 agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. By joining the WEPs community, the CEO signals commitment to this agenda at the highest levels of the company and to work collaboratively in multistakeholder networks to foster business practices that empower women. These include equal pay for work of equal value, gender-responsive supply chain practices and zero tolerance against sexual harassment in the workplace. to assist all private sector employers and businesses to realize the business potential from improved gender equality. Currently, 3,788 business globally have committed to the WEPs community.
 

The Nordic countries are leaders on gender equality. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are well reflected in domestic policies and in development and humanitarian strategies. However, the number of WEPs signatories in the Nordic countries is very low considering the placement gender equality has on the political agenda. Only eight Swedish companies have signed the WEPs while the number of signatories in both Denmark and Finland are nine, Norway has 14 signatories and Iceland ranks the highest with 19 signatories.

SPEAKERS

- Opening remarks: Caroline Rusten, Director, Nordic Liaison Office, UN Women

- Presentation I: Anna Fälth, Manager, WE EMPOWER - G7 Programme and Head of WEPs Secretariat, UN Women

- Presentation II: Lauren Bartley, Head of Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility, Ganni

- Closing Remarks: Sara Krüger Falk, Executive Director, UN Global Compact in Denmark.

- Moderation: Diana Rusu, Policy Specialist, UN Women

The event is co-hosted by the UN Global Compact in Denmark and UN Women. UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.

Promoting Economic Empowerment of Women at Work through Responsible Business Conduct in G7 Countries (WE EMPOWER - G7 Programme) is a programme funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by UN Women and the International Labour Organization (ILO). The WE EMPOWER G7 Programme convene multistakeholder dialogues in the EU, Canada, Japan and the US to exchange knowledge, experiences, good practices and lessons learned in the context of the changing world of work.

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of Principles offering guidance to business on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. Established by UN Global Compact and UN Women, the WEPs are informed by international labour and human rights standards and grounded in the recognition that businesses have a stake in, and a responsibility for, gender equality and women’s empowerment.