Business & Human Rights, News
Launch of the Women’s Empowerment Principles Gender Gap Analysis Tool
UN Global Compact Network Australia | March 15, 2017
By identifying gaps in gender equality, the UN Global Compact works with C-suite business leaders to break gender bias and unlock growth
(New York, 15 March 2017) – Today, the United Nations Global Compact has launched the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) “Gender Gap Analysis Tool”, an online platform which helps global business leaders identify strengths, gaps and opportunities to improve gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace and within the markets and communities they serve. The tool offers an assessment of a company’s progress in advancing gender equality, profiling companies as “Beginner”, “Improver,” “Achiever” or “Leader”. The tool can be accessed online at weps-gapanalysis.org.
More than 170 companies worldwide participated in designing the tool. Inspired by the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) initiative, it is a joint project of the UN Global Compact, UN Women, the Multilateral Investment Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Inter-American Investment Corporation and is supported by the Governments of Japan and Germany, The Coca Cola Company, BSR, Itaipu and KPMG.
“The UN Global Compact, along with its partners, is enabling the business community to bridge gaps in gender equality in the workplace,” said UN Global Compact CEO and Executive Director Lise Kingo. “Having spent many years in the corporate sector, I understand the difficulty of bringing change to prevailing systems. With the Gender Gap Analysis tool, C-suite business leaders can take the first important step in understanding the conscious and unconscious factors influencing gender bias in business.”
Companies all around the world are using the WEPs Gender Gap Analysis Tool and taking steps to consciously champion equality. Putting its Women’s Empowerment Principles to work, the tool is part of the UN Global Compact’s month-long series of initiatives to enable business leaders to consciously commit to decisions supporting gender equality, diversity and inclusion. By offering resources and convening business leaders, the UN Global Compact is striving to demonstrate that gender equality is a catalyst for business success, economic growth and sustainable development.
- Access the WEPs Gender Gap Analysis Tool
- Read Lise Kingo’s article Closing the gender gap can eliminate a big roadblock to growth
- Endorse the Women’s Empowerment Principles
- Learn more about the UN Global Compact’s work on gender equality
