Page 337 - Ministry of Economy - December 2017

12/26/2017 Concrete steps to promote women’s leadership in economic growth taken at WEEGS | Sharjah24

tolerate child mar riage or trafficking. Ever ywhere, we will have me chanisms to ensure these practices do not thrive. In 2030,
we will want to ensure that equal pay is a norm, and wome n enjoy greater representation in a diverse set of economi c and
.leadership roles. Is this too mu ch to ask, or is this rocket science,” she added
The imp ortance role of technology specifically in addressing wome n’s entrepreneurship issues were highlighted, in context of

its role in creation and mar keting of products, accessing finance, increasing the reach of comp anies and enhancing
.profitabilit y
WEEGS raised the bar on the Wome n’s Emp owerme nt Principles (WEPs) by being a platform where 20 organisations, public
and private, demo nstrated leadership on gender equalit y by adopting of t wo WEPs each under the ‘ WEEGS Pledge’ The
summi t emp hasised that this initiative was a step towards ensuring that by 2030, businesses around the world will promo te
gender equalit y, and emp ower wome n in the workplace, ma rketplace and commu nit y as a norm and not an exception. Big
international conglome rates like Ernst and Young, Mubadala Investme nt Comp any, Citi, Accenture, and Procter and Gamb le

.(P&G) have signed up to WEPs at the summ it
Joelle Zilliox, IMEA Purchase Leader at P&G, shared the comp any’s experience, saying, “P&G wanted to expand diversit y and
inclusion beyond the walls of their offices for a reason. These qualities are rooted in our culture with a sma ll examp le being
the 95,000 people who have come together from all over the world to ma ke up our workforce. Through bringing our external
suppliers into this amb it of diversit y and inclusion, we have sourced goods and ser vices worth USD 2 billion from diverse and
mi norit y wome n-owned businesses in the US and Canada. This numb er is growing. Why? Because our findings show that

comp anies that run effective supply diversit y programme s report increased profitabilit y. Our internal data shows that

”.wome n-owned and diverse suppliers actually perform better than the average supplier base
The final session of the t wo-day event , dedicated to the WEPs, and titled ‘ riving WEPs Imp leme ntation: From Promi se to
sheds light on the fact that with 1,655 countries signed up to WEPs so far, the ball ma y be rolling, but there is a long
Practice,’
.way to go
Dr. Enas Makkawi, Director of Wome n, Fami ly and Children's Departme nt at the League of Arab States said, “ We have Japan
and Turkey as our largest contributors but the figures are peanuts comp ared to what they should be. From issues such as

recruitme nt and fair pay to encouraging suppliers to expand their operations to wome n owned and ma naged businesses, the
”.pillars of WEP are not only workable, they are positively beneficial

The responses are simp ly that dealing with a gender balanced workforce results in better comp any performa nce,” Dr. Enas"
.Makkawi added
Abdullah Al Saleh Undersecretar y, Ministr y of Economy , UAE, attended the closing ceremo ny and emp hasised that gender

equalit y is one of the biggest goals around the world, especially when all sectors in the ma rket are increasingly
.interdependent and require diverse viewpoints and perspectives to enable innovation
He said, “This is an international platform that furthers the vision and philosophy of the UAE with regards to the
emp owerme nt of wome n. I would like to express deepest thanks on behalf of the UAE Ministr y of Economy to His Highness
Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohame d Al Qasimi , Memb er of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, for his patronage and
”.supporting wome n to reach the highest positions in societ y and economy
Legislations will be the mai n aspect for developing wome n’s skills and enabling their economi c emp owerme nt and bridging"
the gap bet ween the t wo genders. UAE is tr ying ever y day to set an examp le. A few mo nths ago, the UAE launched an equalit y

booklet for the public sector, which will help comp anies to take the steps required to impleme nt the highest standards and
best practices of bringing about equalit y in its true sense. We are aimi ng to become the #1 countr y in gender balance
.internationally by 2021,” he added
In her closing remar ks, Reem BinKaram, Director of NAMA Wome n Advanceme nt Establishme nt, said, “After t wo days full of
exciting experiences and discussions, we have found effective ways to lead this drive that will change the realit y of wome n in

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