© Elsye Suryawan

Over 160 companies, with a combined work force that runs into the tens of thousands, have promoted gender equality in their business practices and culture through the application of the UN Global Compact and UN Women’s Women’s Empowerment Principles. That’s a more than ten-fold increase in the 14 companies that were applying the principles in 2019.

Through implementing practices to foster gender inclusivity and women’s empowerment in the world of work, signatories to the Women’s Empowerment Principles demonstrate the contribution the private sector can make towards advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. Fourteen were selected as winners of the 2022 Indonesia Women's Empowerment Principles Awards, which recognize extraordinary contributions to gender equality.

“Gender-sensitive business practices are an important human rights issue, as well as an economic one: they are good for business and for creating a just society,” said Jamshed Kazi, Country Representative of UN Women in Indonesia. “There is mounting evidence that diverse management teams and companies that care about their employees simply achieve better results for their bottom line and the wider community and environment.”

Despite the rapid increase in companies adopting Women’s Empowerment Principles, much work remains to close the gender gap and increase the economic empowerment of women.

“We’ve seen various development programmes for women, but gender gaps in workforce participation and leadership are still prevalent. Challenges particularly faced by women, such as the double burden [of working both in the job and in the household], contribute to this unlevel playing field,” said Maya Juwita, Executive Director of the Indonesia Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment. “An inclusive environment will help to level the playing field and further ensure female talents thrive.”