UN Women has started accepting nominations for its annual Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards, which recognize Asia-Pacific business action and leaders that champion gender equality.
The awards are organized by WeEmpowerAsia, a UN Women program funded by the European Union that promotes women’s participation and leadership in the workplace, marketplace and community.
Nominees will compete in six categories: Leadership Commitment; Gender-inclusive Workplace; Gender-responsive Marketplace; Community Engagement and Partnerships; Transparency and Reporting; and Youth Leadership for Generation Equality.
The latter three categories are new to this year’s awards. Also new are three Champion titles for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
“We are proud to recognize businesses that are persevering through the unprecedented upheaval of COVID-19 and leading us to a more gender-inclusive economic recovery,” said Mohammad Naciri, Regional Director for UN Women Asia-Pacific.
“Gender equality and promoting women’s empowerment across the globe are crucial,” added Hilde Hardeman, Director of the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI).
“The EU is proud to support The Women’s Empowerment Principles awards as part of the WeEmpowerAsia project. These enable companies to promote their activities and policies that directly support women and move our societies to full gender equality.”
This year, Investing in Women (IW), an initiative of the Australian Government, is supporting the awards together with the Philippine Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (PBCWE) and Indonesia Business Coalition for Women Empowerment (IBCWE).
“Investing in Women is delighted to partner with UN Women for the 2021 WEPs Awards and awarding the Gender-inclusive Workplace category this year, as we know improving performance in gender equality is linked with positive business outcomes,” said Dr. Julia Newton-Howes, CEO of IW.
“Recognizing the work some companies are doing toward workplace gender equality will demonstrate the benefits this brings such as better risk management, greater innovation and increased profitability.”
National WEPs Awards ceremonies will be hosted by WeEmpowerAsia in October in its seven program countries: China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. All nominees will be eligible for the regional awards to be announced on 18 November 2021.
Nominations for the 2021 WEPs Awards are being accepted until Bangkok midnight (GMT+7) on 31 July 2021.
