Indonesian companies pledge to advance gender equality in businesses at the 2021 Women’s Empowerment Principles Awards

Date: Friday, 22 October 2021

[Press release]

Jakarta, Indonesia – Six Indonesian companies have received Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards in recognition of their contribution to the advancement of gender equality and women’s empowerment.

The winners of the 2021 Indonesia WEPs Awards were announced by UN Women on Friday. The awards are organized by the WeEmpowerAsia programme of UN Women with support from the European Union.

This year’s WEPs Awards received 228 applications from 138 companies, nearly quadruple last year’s number. Among the applicants are state-owned enterprises along with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across different sectors.

In line with the WEPs Principles, I Gusti Ayu Bintang Darmawati, Minister of Women Empowerment and Child Protection of the Republic of Indonesia, expressed her support for women’s empowerment in her closing remarks. “Eliminating all discrimination against women and closing the gap in gender inequality is a priority for the Government of Indonesia. That being said, we strongly support the WEPs Awards today, which appreciates companies that contribute to women’s empowerment and gender equality.”

Jamshed M. Kazi, UN Women Indonesia Representative and Liaison to ASEAN, emphasized the importance of well-orchestrated efforts to realize a gender-responsive business practice in Indonesia. “The WEPs Awards provides us with momentum to celebrate leaders and companies’ good practices and impacts of implementing WEPs in their business. UN Women greatly appreciates and honours the work of business leaders in their efforts to remove all obstacles that prevent women to live up to their potential. However, this is just an initial step and long road ahead remains to achieve the gender equality in the business sector.” Observing the interest from State-Owned Enterprises today, start-ups and social enterprises that participated, Kazi further mentioned that “UN Women see this year’s awards as the proof of collaborative efforts of government, community, and private sectors to cement the foundation of gender equality and social inclusion, that ensures equal access, equal pay, and equal opportunity where women and men can work in a safe and fair environment.”

The winners for the National WEPs Awards announced were:

For Leadership Commitment: Nicke Widyawati, CEO PT Pertamina (Persero)
For Gender-Inclusive Workplace: L’Oréal Indonesia
For Gender-Responsive Marketplace: PT Amaan Indonesia Sejahtera
For Community Engagement and Partnership: The Body Shop® Indonesia
For Transparency and Reporting : Gojek
For Youth Leadership Commitment: Tamara Dewi Gondo Soerijo, CEO Liberty Society

Vincent Piket, Ambassador of the European Union to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, gave high appreciation to the National WEPs Awards winners for their contribution in taking active roles for advancing gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community. “Investing in women, business drives growth, productivity and innovation. There is a hard business case for this, besides a moral and human rights objective. Therefore, the European Union is proud to be recognising Indonesian leaders and companies who champion gender equality in the business world,” stated Ambassador Piket.

Shinta Kamdani, board member of the Indonesia Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment, stated her agreement with tackling the gender inequality as a critical social and economic issue. “Investing in women’s leadership and entrepreneurship is fundamental in promoting gender equality and inclusive economic growth in order to build an equitable society. Being here, we all are winners today for contributing in closing the gender gap at work and business practice.”

The National WEPs Awards Winners will proceed to the next phase of the awards and compete with other companies across Asia-Pacific to be selected as the regional winners, with results to be announced on November 18, 2021.

Media Contact:

Chiquita Carolyne
Programme and Communication Support
Women’s Economic Empowerment
Email: Chiquita.carolyne@unwomen.org
Giasinta Livia
Communication Support Specialist
Women's Economic Empowerment
Email: livia@unwomen.org

About UN Women

UN Women is the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, the organization was established in 2010 to accelerate progress on women’s rights worldwide. UN Women’s efforts are based on the fundamental belief that every woman has the right to live a life free from violence, poverty, and discrimination, and that gender equality is a prerequisite to achieving global development.

About the European Union

The European Union is the economic and political union of 27 Member States. Together, the European Union has built a zone of stability, democracy and sustainable development while maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance and individual freedom. In 2012, the European Union was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the goals of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. The European Union is the world's largest trading bloc, and the world's largest source and destination of foreign direct investment. Collectively, the European Union and its member countries are the largest donors of official development assistance (ODA), providing more than half of ODA globally.

The 27 Member States of the European Union (in alphabetical order) are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

WINNER LIST

THE UN WOMEN INDONESIA 2021 WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT PRINCIPLES (WEPs) AWARDS

Leadership Commitment category

This category recognizes leaders in corporations who have been instrumental in setting strong corporate commitments inclusive of progressive policies, regulations or practices that aim to promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and/or community.

Winner: Nicke Widyawati, CEO PT. Pertamina (Persero)
First Runner-up: Aria Widyanto, Chief Risk and Sustainability Officer PT Amartha Mikro Fintek
Second Runner-up: Neneng Goenadi, CEO Grab Indonesia
SME Champion: Aparna Bhatnagar Saxena, CEO TORAJAMELO

Gender-Inclusive Workplace category

This award recognizes achievements that corporations have demonstrated in adopting all relevant measures in the workplace, including innovative approaches to equal recruitment, support to provide flexible work arrangements, and decreasing the gender pay gap.

Winner: L’Oréal Indonesia
First Runner-up: The Body Shop® Indonesia
Second Runner-up: Procter & Gamble Home Products Indonesia
Honorable Mention: PT. Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk

Gender-Responsive Marketplace category

This category recognizes corporations for championing supplier diversity and gender responsive marketing and advertising.

Winner: Amaan Indonesia Sejahtera
First Runner-up: BTPN Syariah
Second Runner-up: PT Karya Dua Anyam
Honorable Mention: PT. Bank OCBC NISP Tbk

Community Engagement and Partnerships category

This category recognizes corporate champions that promote gender equality through community engagement, including integrating gender equality into their corporate social responsibility programmes, as well as supporting non-governmental organizations and international organizations committed to promoting gender equality.

Winner: The Body Shop® Indonesia
First Runner-up: PT Amartha Mikro Fintek
Second Runner-up: Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk
SME Champion: Rubysh

Transparency and Reporting category

This category recognizes commitment of transparency and reporting of gender data that goes beyond minimum requirement and seeks to measure, analyze, and report on performance of their gender policies and practices across the value chain.

Winner: Gojek
First Runner-up: Telkomtelstra (now Digiserve)
Second Runner-up: PT. PP (Persero) Tbk.
Honorable Mention: Warung Pintar Group

Youth Leadership Commitment category

This category recognizes young people (under the age of 35) who have made significant contributions to promoting gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and/or community.

First: Tamara Dewi Gondo Soerijo, CEO Liberty Society
First Runner-up: Samira Shihab, CEO Stellar Women
Second Runner-up: Encep Amir, CEO Rubysh
SME Champion: Carys Mihardja, CEO Carys Care