Masterclass Series on Gender Equality for Business by UNDP’s Business Call to Action and Oxfam

ISTANBUL, June 5, 2020 /3BL Media/ -- Business Call to Action and Oxfam have developed a two-part masterclass series that looks at gender equality for business and why it matters for companies that are now available online. 

When it comes to the workplace progress in reaching parity has stalled. The World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Gender Gap report found that at the current rate, it will take another 100 years to close the overall gender gap and 257 years to bring about parity in the workplace; in the 2019 report this number was 202 years. Women are paid 23% less than men globally and 600 million women are in the most insecure and precarious forms of work.

The COVID-19 crisis and governments’ measures in response to the pandemic have made visible how critical women’s work is to many businesses in operations and supply chains. It shows how women’s voices, needs and priorities are too often overlooked. 

These informative one-hour masterclass series will explore how businesses can identify, value and address women’s priorities, needs and voices today.

The first in the series, ‘An introduction to Gender Equality for Business’, covers four topics starting with gender equality and why it matters, then unpaid care and domestic work and its relevance for businesses. It moves on to look at safety in and out of work and considers gender-based violence and how to end violence against women and girls. The session finishes with a discussion on the limits of existing audit processes and the importance of going beyond audit.

The second masterclass, ‘Low-income Women and Gender Equality’, looks at supply chains with a specific focus on how this relates to low-income women. It looks at the key drivers which can propel women’s economic empowerment, and how the absence of these drivers typically constricts the roles which women, and in particular low-income women, hold within supply chains – limiting productivity and growth for all. The session ends by looking at why this is relevant to businesses and where are the opportunities to act and innovate in order to recognise and enhance the economic contributions of low-income women to our supply chains and the economy.

As part of this masterclass, Business Call to Action member company Mountain Hazelnuts presents their case study on the steps taken by them in including low-income women across their value chain. 

For any further information on any of the material discussed in the series and for copies of reports and research used please contact: Harmonie Limb (HLimb@oxfam.org.uk) or Kate Cooper (KCooper2@oxfam.org.uk) at Oxfam. 

For more information about Oxfam’s work with the private sector please visit their website here

For more information on Business Call to Action please contact bcta@undp.org or visit their website.

Photo Credit: Oxfam