ISS A/S : signs UN Women's Empowerment Principles

ISS, a leading workplace experience and facility management company, is pleased to announce that today we have signed the CEO statement for the UN Women's Empowerment Principles. This supports ISS's ongoing commitment to people and society and our dedicated target of at least 40 percent gender balance at corporate leadership level by 2025.

By signing the Women's Empowerment Principles, ISS reinforces its commitment to advancing gender equality in the workplace, market and community.

Jacob Aarup-Andersen, Group CEO of ISS World Services A/S, said:
'I am very pleased to endorse this important initiative. Gender inequality is one of the largest human rights issues facing the world today, with huge economic and social consequences for all of society. As a company with almost 400,000 employees around the world, ISS has a responsibility to ensure that all genders are treated equally and fairly. We are not there yet - women make up 50 percent of our frontline placemakers, however, they only represent 25 percent of our senior leaders in both the Executive Group Management and country leadership teams.

We are strongly committed to changing that, and I am happy to see that we are moving in the right direction on this agenda: Over the last 12 months we have moved from 3 percent of our revenue being managed by female country managers to now 35 percent. I am convinced that the advancement of women in every function and at every level of our organisation will also lead to greater innovation, improved organisational performance, and better service to our customers.'

ISS is committed to launch specific initiatives to empower women, for instance job grading-systems to ensure equal pay for equal job, diversity and inclusion-focused mentoring programmes and initiatives to influence gender equality in the supply chain.

The Women's Empowerment Principles:

1. Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality.
2. Treat all women and men fairly at work - respect and support human rights and non-discrimination.
3. Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers.
4. Promote education, training and professional development for women.
5. Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women.
6. Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy.
7. Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.

ABOUT THE WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT PRINCIPLES:
The Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of Principles offering guidance to businesses on how to promote gender equality and empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. Jointly established by UN Women and UN Global Compact, the WEPs are informed by international labour and human rights standards and grounded in the recognition that businesses have a stake in, and a responsibility for, gender equality and women's empowerment.

The WEPs serve as the umbrella framework for multi-stakeholder networks to work together to foster implementation and awareness of the internationally agreed standards for business practices that empower women and advance gender equality. The Principles are also the primary vehicle for corporate delivery on gender equality and women's empowerment dimensions of the 2030 agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.


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Image: Jacob Aarup-Andersen, CEO of ISS World Services A/S, signs the CEO statement for the Women's Empowerment Principles with Liz Benison, Member of the Executive Group Management and Country Manager of ISS UK and Ireland.