Asia-Pacific 2025 Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Forum

DATES: November 18-19, 2025
LOCATION: Hilton Petaling Jaya and virtual (select sessions only)

The 2025 Asia-Pacific WEPs Forum will bring together 150 participants from WEPs signatories, SMEs, corporates, regulators, stock exchanges, policymakers, industry associations, investors, government agencies and development partners, to shift from commitments to concrete collaboration and accelerated action for gender equality.

BACKGROUND

Today, Asia-Pacific stands at a critical turning point, undergoing megatrends like demographic shifts, digital transformations, and climate change, all of which impact women’s ability to participate equally and fully in the labor market.^[1] These transitions can either exacerbate existing inequalities or, if harnessed strategically, be turned into opportunities for women and girls, businesses, and societies to build more resilient and inclusive economies.

In this context, more than ever, the private sector has a critical role to play, not only as an economic engine, but in a larger sense, as a driver towards inclusive and resilient economies. UN Women, guided by the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), engages businesses and key ecosystem players to demonstrate how the private sector’s transformative, often untapped potential for innovation and collaboration can contribute to accelerated progress on gender equality.

Launched in 2010 by UN Women and UN Global Compact, the WEPs are a set of 7 principles guiding private sector action for gender equality across the value chain, beginning with leadership and providing guidance for the workplace, marketplace and community, underpinned by a strong emphasis on accountability and transparent reporting of progress. To date, more than 11,000 companies have signed the WEPs globally, of which over 3,000 are in Asia-Pacific.

While the region has seen an increase in commitments from key public and private stakeholders to advance gender-responsive business conduct, an ‘action gap’ exists between commitments and tangible steps to implementation. Accelerating action requires rethinking existing models and building new partnerships to deepen impact, scale innovation, and foster systemic change. Following the inaugural Asia-Pacific WEPs Forum in 2023, the 2025 Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Forum: Business. Innovation. Impact. will build on growing momentum, bringing together businesses, regulators, stock exchanges, thought leaders, innovators, and others to shift from commitments to concrete collaboration and action across the region.

The Forum is organized as part of The UN Women Gender Action Lab: Innovation and Impact for Gender Equality in Asia-Pacific, launched in 2024, in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The Gender Action Lab (GAL) is a multipurpose platform, which leverages the WEPs to accelerate action towards gender-responsive business conduct, by fostering innovative solutions to gender equality in the private sector, across the value chain, and subsequently contributes to the growth of more inclusive economies across Asia-Pacific.

The Forum is also supported by UN Women’s program WE RISE Together (WRT) – Advancing gender-responsive procurement in the Mekong subregion. Funded through the Australian Government’s Mekong–Australia Partnership, WRT provides a complementary and reinforcing framework by promoting Gender-Responsive Procurement (GRP) and strengthening the capacity of Women-Owned Businesses (WOBs) and Gender-Responsive Enterprises (GREs) in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

Additional supporters of the 2025 Asia-Pacific WEPs Forum include:

• Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp). TalentCorp is a Ministry of Human Resources (KESUMA) agency that drives Malaysia’s talent strategy towards becoming a dynamic talent hub. To support the growth and well-being of all Malaysians, TalentCorp partners with the public and private sectors on initiatives that attract, nurture, and retain the right expertise needed to meet current and future talent demands. 
• The International Finance Corporation (IFC). A member of the World Bank Group — is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2025, IFC committed a record $71 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging private sector solutions and mobilizing private capital to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. For more information, visit www.ifc.org. 

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• Concept note
• Agenda

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[1] UN Women. (2024). Caring Societies, Inclusive and Green Economies in Asia and the Pacific.  Unveiling data to advance women’s economic empowerment beyond GDP.