UN Women catalyzes private sector actions to advance women’s economic empowerment and gender equality through the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), which saw increased commitments, actions and strengthened accountability mechanisms among businesses in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2022, the number of WEPs signatories increased by 408 from 1,665 in 2021 to 2,073.
The 2022 report “Trends and Opportunities to Advance Gender Equality in Business in Asia and the Pacific” provides valuable insights into the progress made by signatory companies in promoting WEPs across supply chains and highlights gaps where actions are still needed. Significant advances were made in companies that used the Gender Gap Analysis Tool (GAT) to make this assessment, and as of 31 December 2022, a total of 851 companies in the Asia-Pacific region have undertaken the tool. Among the surveyed WEPs signatory companies in the region, 71 per cent reported that the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged a rethinking of their diversity and inclusion strategy. They perceive their most notable progress to be on promoting women in leadership, advancing workplace equality, and increasing awareness of gender.
To encourage companies to demonstrate their commitments in action, the UN Women Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards were launched under the WeEmpowerAsia (WEA) programme. Open to private sector organizations of all sizes and categories, the Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards offer them a unique opportunity to showcase their work in advancing women’s empowerment across organizational value chains. Growing in prominence since 2020, there has been an increase in the number of applicants, with 508 applications received in 2022 from 19 Asia-Pacific countries. Applications came from a diverse range of industries, including banking, consumer goods, business support, social enterprises, Chambers of Commerce, IT, and impact investors. The progress over the past three years reflects the increasing number of WEPs signatories in the region that self-identify as having exemplary practices and value receiving recognition for it.
The various categories of the WEPs Awards were both relevant and aspirational, with new examples of employer-supported care and care for supply chain workers. The number of applications for Transparency and Reporting doubled from 2021. The highest number of applications were in Gender-Inclusive Workplaces as well as Community Engagement and Partnerships. To make the Awards more inclusive and to recognize the vital contribution that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) make to the economy, the 2021 and 2022 cycles added three additional MSME Champions Awards. In fact, 40 per cent of applications in 2022 were from MSMEs.
The WEPs have also been a driving force for policy advocacy. Under the WEA programme, UN Women and ILO developed the Ecosystem landscaping to advance the accountability to implement the Women’s Empowerment Principles in ASEAN. It provides comprehensive details on policy gaps and sets out a clear policy roadmap for the ASEAN Member States to advance more gender-responsive business conduct, with especially clear guidance on reporting and implementing WEPs-related policies. It is being leveraged by ASEAN and UN Women through the ASEAN Public Policy Action Brief under the leadership of the ASEAN Committee on Women. Similarly, the brief on Advancing Gender and Business Reporting was launched at the 2022 ASEAN Summit on Women and is strongly complementary to and will help generate more traction on the WEPs Transparency and Accountability framework.
Using the official WEPs Awards websiteas an interactive knowledge exchange platform and the evidence generated in the form of 16 WEPs in Action and WEPs Leadership Insights case studies, UN Women has been able to leverage the WEPs in the Asia-Pacific as a catalyst for action and momentum at policy and business levels to accelerate business action in advancing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.
Read more:
Advancing gender and business reporting to implement the women’s empowerment principles (WEPS) as part of an inclusive COVID-19 economic recovery
WEPs Transparency and Accountability Framework: Creating Transparency on Gender Equality to Transform Business
TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO ADVANCE GENDER EQUALITY IN BUSINESS IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC (UN Women 2022)
Women’s Empowerment Principles in Action Case Studies
WEPs Awards Awardee Profiles from 2021 (but published in 2022)
UN Women Think Piece: Innovations in Childcare to Advance Women’s Economic Empowerment