G20 of Twenty Finance Ministers and Centra : Empower Alliance meeting - Statement

EMPOWER Alliance Meeting

Statement by the Private Sector Representatives of the EMPOWER Alliance

October 24, 2020

Preamble

The EMPOWER Alliance, comprised of private sector representatives and supported by government points of contact of the G20 and invited countries, met during the Saudi G20 Presidency to advocate for the advancement of women in the private sector. EMPOWER is a private sector led alliance and does not reflect the views of all G20 members, EMPOWER strives to increase women's access to opportunities, through greater cooperation between the private and public sectors in order to remove the barriers that hold women back from participating in the economy.

EMPOWER supports the G20 leaders' existing strong commitments and monitoring of progress of women's economic empowerment and gender equality, including the Brisbane goal of reducing the gender gap in labour force participation; as well as initiatives such as the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and the Women 20 (W20) Engagement Group.

Statement by the Private Sector Representatives of the EMPOWER Alliance

Women's equal participation in the labor market, and access to opportunities and advancement to leadership positions in the public and private sectors is key to the economic empowerment of women. As we strive to recover from the health and socioeconomic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and recognize its disproportionate impact on women and girls, we, the EMPOWER private sector representatives, seek to take advantage of the opportunity this crisis presents to actively advance opportunities for women as drivers of the economic recovery, and reduce gender gaps.

We urge all private sector institutions to take steps towards women's economic empowerment and support the advancement of women to leadership positions. To encourage practical actions amongst the private sector, a voluntary EMPOWER pledge was developed in order to be supported by private sector representatives in G20 countries and beyond (Appendix I). The EMPOWER pledge contains commitments from private sector signatories, representing companies or institutions and includes: setting internal targets, applying a gender lens to leadership opportunities, collecting gender data, fostering a supportive and inclusive culture, encouraging a positive ecosystem in the world of work, and actively collaborating with the EMPOWER network to share learnings.

We thank the private sector institutions for signing the pledge and for their ongoing commitment and support of women's empowerment. We thank our advocates for their support to EMPOWER as well as for their sharing of good practices on women's advancement in leadership. We recognize the efforts of the ILO and OECD as knowledge partners for the EMPOWER Alliance and for the development of the reports: "Women in Managerial and Leadership positions in the G20" (Appendix II), and "Perspectives on Policies and Practices to Promote Women in Leadership Roles in the Private Sector" (Appendix III). We will continue to seek their tracking of women's participation in private sector leadership positions, as appropriate.

We commend the G20 Leaders for launching the EMPOWER Alliance and for advocating for the economic advancement of women. We thank the government points of contact for their consistent input and support. We recognize that the alliance between private sector and government is essential to increasing the share of women in leadership positions in the private sector. We support efforts to increase women's economic participation across

EMPOWER is a private sector led alliance and does not reflect the views of all G20 members.

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EMPOWER Alliance Meeting

Statement by the Private Sector Representatives of the EMPOWER Alliance

October 24, 2020

G20 nations. Policy approaches we recommend G20 Leaders consider selecting from, in combination with private initiatives, include:

1. Promoting increased representation of women on company boards and senior management, including through business led initiatives or voluntary targets;
2. Annually monitoring progress of women's representation in leadership roles; and sharing data, including disaggregated data, in accordance with local laws and privacy regulations;
3. Encouraging the disclosure of gender representation in boards and senior management;
4. Introducing diversity and non-discriminatory campaigns and policies;
5. Reducing the legal, regulatory, and policy barriers that prohibit women from fully and freely participating in the economy at all levels and across sectors; and
6. Advancing the meaningful participation of women in decision-making processes and in the development of policies and plans, especially in the design and implementation of the recovery of the COVID-19 crisis.

We appreciate the Saudi G20 Presidency's efforts in establishing the EMPOWER Alliance. We thank the Saudi EMPOWER chair and co-chairs: Japan, Italy and Canada, for their leadership during 2020. We look forward to continuing our collaboration to ensure further progress during Italy's G20 Presidency in 2021.

About EMPOWER: The Private Sector Alliance for the Empowerment and Progression of Women's Economic Representation (EMPOWER), launched at the G20 Summit in Osaka, is intended to identify challenges and to share evidence-based analyses, practical lessons learned, and good practices that support the greater recruitment of, and advocates for, the advancement of women as business leaders, as stated in the EMPOWER Terms of Reference (Appendix IV).

EMPOWER is a private sector led alliance and does not reflect the views of all G20 members.

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EMPOWER Alliance Meeting

Statement by the Private Sector Representatives of the EMPOWER Alliance

October 24, 2020

Appendix I: EMPOWER Pledge and Signatories

EMPOWER Pledge

We, the EMPOWER Pledge signatories support women's advancement to leadership

positions in the private sector by:

1. Setting measurable internal targets and / or action plans to increase the number of women in leadership in our companies;
2. Applying a gender lens in our provision of leadership opportunities for women, reviewing the board(s) and senior managers' compositions, and enabling women to access and be part of all levels of seniority;
3. Collecting gender data to internally measure progress on women's advancement in leadership;
4. Fostering supportive and inclusive cultures to dismantle barriers to women's advancement to leadership, including combatting stereotypes, removing barriers, and striving to end all forms of gender-based discrimination;
5. Encouraging the building of a positive ecosystem in the world of work through measures such as: equal pay, flexible work policies, family leave, social dialogue, community initiatives, wellbeing programs, employee networks, and training, mentoring and sponsorship; and
6. Actively collaborating to share our learnings on best practices to advance women's recruitment and advancement in the corporate world, supporting one another, advocating for women, and enhancing global communication.

Signatories (as of 24th October 2020)

ACWA Power

Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

AXA

Bayer

Competence Centre for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of St. Gallen

DBS Bank

Deloitte Tohmatsu Group

Emaar The Economic City

EY Japan

Geodis

Grupo Diarq

HAKO MULIA ABADI

EMPOWER is a private sector led alliance and does not reflect the views of all G20 members.

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EMPOWER Alliance Meeting

Statement by the Private Sector Representatives of the EMPOWER Alliance

October 24, 2020

JERA Co., Inc.

KEIDANREN (Japan Business Federation）

Kirin Holdings Co., Ltd.

Lenovo

ManpowerGroup

Mars Incorporated

Nikkei Woman Empowerment

Procter & Gamble

Samba Financial Group

SAP Japan Co., Ltd.

Saudi Aramco

SOMPO Holdings Co., Ltd.

Sony Corporation

Suncorp

Tokio Marine Holdings

Women's Forum for the Economy & Society

XL Axiata

ZainKSA

21st Century Vocational Incorporated Foundation

EMPOWER is a private sector led alliance and does not reflect the views of all G20 members.

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