New York, United States of America

UNITED NATIONS, New York, 15 March 2022 - The private sector must do more to advance gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community as it continues to be impacted by a range of interconnected emergencies Sanda Ojiambo, the CEO and Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact noted in her opening remarks at TARGET GENDER EQUALITY LIVE, which took place today during the 66th Commission on the Status of Women.

“It is more important than ever to have this discussion as the world continues to face a range of interconnected emergencies: the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, rising inequalities, financial instability and, of course, the war and humanitarian emergency in Ukraine” Sanda Ojiambo, CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact told the virtual gathering of over 3,200 business, civil society and government leaders.

The UN Global Compact announced it has developed a Business Guide to provide concrete action for businesses to support the UN Secretary-General’s three-month Flash Appeal for people in Ukraine, and the Regional Refugee Response Plan as women and children bear the brunt of the crisis.

Dmytro Sakharuk, Executive Officer of DTEK, a Ukrainian utility company, joined the event live from Ukraine and spoke about the impact of the war.

The President of the UN General Assembly,  Abdulla Shahid, noted the need to prioritize gender equality as we look towards recovery from the pandemic: “As we craft and implement recovery policies, we must prioritize the gender dimension. Not only because it is right, but because we need all hands on deck to finally put this pandemic behind us. Only with the full and unhindered involvement of women can we truly recover better.”

This year’s TARGET GENDER EQUALITY  LIVE was held as research recently released by the UN Global Compact, UN Women, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and BSR showed businesses are increasing their efforts to promote gender equality as they continue to tackle pandemic challenges but levels of implementation, measurement and transparency remain low. 

Climate and gender activist, Julieta Martinez, speaking from Chile, noted how business will be much more effective in fighting climate change if it promotes climate-resilient solutions with a focus on women: “For years, we've been trying to solve problems from isolated agendas, from boards of ten or five people deciding our future and presence. It's time to change our way of creating solutions. It's time to connect gender equality with the climate crisis. It's time to say loud and clear that the climate crisis has a woman's face."

To address these concerns, UN Global Compact CEO & Executive Director Sanda Ojiambo also announced that the TARGET GENDER EQUALITY Accelerator initiative, which has already supported more than 800 companies to set and meet ambitious targets for women’s representation and leadership, is now open for new registrations from participating companies of the UN Global Compact in over 50 countries. As Adam Roy Gordon, Director of the Global Compact Network USA pointed out at the event “It is encouraging to see that more than 90% of TARGET GENDER EQUALITY participants around the world either have targets for gender equality in place, are adapting existing targets or drafting new targets.” 

Moreover, the event showcased a new video launching the organization’s new workstream focusing on gender-responsive procurement (GRP), developed in partnership with the Women's Entrepreneurship Accelerator. The video features a UN Women report that builds the business case for adopting GRP. The workstream will offer learning materials on the integral role business has to play in working with more women-owned businesses in their supply chain, as well as supporting suppliers to adopt more gender-responsive business practices.

Notes to Editors: 

About the United Nations Global Compact

As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 12,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world.

For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org.

About TARGET GENDER EQUALITY

TARGET GENDER EQUALITY is an accelerator programme focused on supporting companies participating in the United Nations Global Compact in setting and meeting ambitious corporate targets to advance gender equality. This initiative is run in collaboration with Global Compact Local Networks and currently offered in over 50 countries across all regions.