It was an activity held under the Business Forum “Equality Means Business”, co-organised by the Vietnam Women Entrepreneur Council (VWEC) under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and European Union (EU) Delegation in Vietnam.
This event aimed to share best practices on enhancing enterprises’ competitiveness and exchange thoughts on strategies to invest in women to encourage their own development and prosperity.
The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a joint initiative of UN Women and UN Global Compact, comprises seven steps that businesses can take to empower women and promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community.
With guidance provided by the Principles, businesses can empower women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors and throughout all levels of economic activity.
By signing the statement today, the enterprises reaffirmed the importance of gender equality and the empowerment of women. They also demonstrated leadership on gender equality and women’s empowerment and encouraged fellow business leaders to do the same.
Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh, Chairwoman of VWEC said that the expansion of employment opportunities, dedication and promotion for women and men in community, at the workplace and in supply chain will help the potential and strength of all. This is the perfect supplement and foundation to improve the prosperity and sustainability of each country and company, she added.
Elisa Fernandez Saenz, UN Women Vietnam Country Representative, stressed that there is a direct correlation between investing in women’s employment and GDP per capita: countries with greater gender equality have faster-growing and more competitive economies. Likewise, businesses with greater gender equality display higher returns, higher levels of productivity and competitiveness, with a better labour force and work environment.
During today’s forum, companies shared and discussed their experiences and initiatives on the promotion of women’s participation in their supply chains, investment in women and gender equality promotion through corporate policies and their efforts to support their communities.
The discussion motivated other companies to put gender equality and women’s empowerment at the heart of their business and corporate responsibility policies/practices. The forum is contributing to strengthening the trade and cooperation relationship between Vietnam and the EU thanks to the mixed participation of Vietnamese as well as European businesses in the discussions as well as their acting as new WEPs signatories.
There are 3358 WEPs signatories worldwide, 67 of which are Vietnamese including today’s twenty-one new signatories.
