A\nUnited Nations-backed network has launched a gender equality programme in\nNairobi to quicken the growth of women representation in businesses and\nleadership amid a widening economic gender gap estimated to take 257 years to\nclose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Global\nCompact Network Kenya on Wednesday launched the target gender equality<\/em> \u2013 a campaign to mobilize and support local\ncompanies in their drive towards gender parity and inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe economic gender\ngap is widening and will now take 257 years to close. Business must\nhelp reverse this trend and take bold action to advance gender equality. This\nis the moment to ensure that targets on women’s participation are\nincluded as part of balanced scorecards and corporate strategies in all companies.\u201d\nsaid Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact during\nlaunch in Nairobi. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Women have long grappled with gender pay gaps alongside lower\nrepresentation on boards and management positions. But the tide has in recent\nyears been turning in their favour, albeit slowly amid calls by international\norganisations for parity as a socioeconomic development tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In corporate Kenya,\nfemale executives account for only 22 percent of leadership positions. And out\nof the 62 companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), only four\nare headed by women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The target\ngender equality <\/em>is open to all member firms of the Global Compact\nNetwork Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through the accelerator programme, firms in Kenya will benefit through facilitated performance analysis, capacity building workshops, peer-to-peer learning and opportunities to engage in multi-stakeholder dialogue at the country-level. Global Compact Network Kenya (GCNK) is the local network of the United Nations Global Compact, mandated to spearhead and catalyze actions aimed at promoting good business practices in Kenya. This is through building capacity and raising awareness of ethics, integrity, and responsible business in furtherance of the 10 principles of the United Nations Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nThe launch comes barely a month after Oxfam\nInternational released a report revealing that the 22 richest men in the world hold more wealth than all the women combined\nin Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It builds on the United Nations Global Compact’s mission to promote women’s empowerment principles by helping companies set concrete targets around advancing women\u2019s leadership in their organisations, starting with board and executive management levels.\u00a0
This initiative will be rolled\u00a0out in twenty countries in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n