On 2 March, “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” event on Women’s Empowerment Principles took place at the Alexander Hotel, organized by UNDP in Armenia in partnership with the Armenia Securities Exchange (AMX).

Stock Exchanges around the world host a bell-ringing ceremony to raise awareness of the pivotal role the private sector can play in advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goal #5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

UNDP  Deputy Resident Representative in Armenia Konstantin Sokulskiy, UN Women Programme Specialist Dion Battersby, AMX General Manager Hayk Yeganyan, and senior executives of Armenian and Georgian banking sectors welcomed the event participants.

“Economic empowerment of women is a big deal. UNDP, together with partners, devote special attention to advancing Women Empowerment Principles and we hope that the signatory companies will become champions in applying WEPs across their activities, prioritizing gender-sensitive practices” said UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Konstantin Sokulskiy.

During the event 14 private Armenian companies signed a joint statement on the Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs). WEPs signatory companies are IMR LLC, AREGAK UCO CJSC, MELANTE (Satenkar LLC), AraratBank OJSC, Holiday Inn Hotel (SGI-Invest), Contour Global Hydro Cascade CJSC, Converse Bank CJSC, ACBA Bank CJSC, The Alexander Luxury Collection Hotel, Voskeni Wines (Vansevan LLC), PWC LLC, Grand Thoronton LLC, Fast Bank and American University of Armenia.

The event also provided an opportunity for Armenian and Georgian entrepreneurs to exchange experiences during the panel discussion.

Started in 2010 as a joint initiative of UN Women and UN Global Compact, the WEPs initiative aims to promote the empowerment of women and girls in the community, business, and the workplace by implementing seven key principles:

Principle 1. Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality;

Principle 2. Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support  human rights and nondiscrimination;

Principle 3. Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers;

Principle 4. Promote education, training and professional development for women;

Principle 5. Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women;

Principle 6. Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy;

Principle 7. Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.

The event is organized within the framework of the “Women Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus” project, which is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Austrian Development Agency, and implemented by UN Women and UNDP.