UN Women Celebrates 24 Awardees of the 2024 Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles Awards
Date:
[Press release]
[For immediate release]
Bangkok, Thailand — UN Women celebrated outstanding business initiatives that champion gender equality across the value chain 24 winners of the 2024 Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards today. Building on the success of previous years, the 2024 WEPs Awards received 600 applications from 21 countries, marking the highest number ever received and demonstrating the private sector’s substantial commitment to implementing the WEPs across the region.
Initiated in 2020, the Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards are a flagship biennial programme, now under the new WEPs initiative, UN Women Gender Action Lab: Innovation and Impact for Gender Equality in the Asia-Pacific, supported by the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Under the Gender Action Lab (GAL), the WEPs Awards provide a powerful platform to highlight the private sector’s crucial role in advancing gender equality. The Awards will be complemented by the biennial Asia-Pacific WEPs Forum, which will convene WEPs Awardees, WEPs champions, and other private-sector actors for knowledge sharing and capacity building to strengthen WEPs implementation and impacts.
“These awards showcase how the WEPs can support businesses to be powerful forces for change in advancing gender equality,” says Christine Arab, Regional Director, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. “The best cases shown today demonstrate the responsibility and opportunity for the private sector to advance gender equality. By recognizing practices leading the way, we hope to inspire others to create a more inclusive and equitable world for all.”
“The WEPs Awards represent a unique opportunity to showcase the myriad ways the private sector in our region is advancing gender equality,” says Sally-Anne Henfry, Assistant Secretary, Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion Branch, DFAT. “In our continued partnership with UN Women to drive private-sector transformation through the Gender Action Lab, we look forward to seeing even more companies taking such bold actions and leveraging innovation for impact. Together, we can fulfil our aspiration of inclusive economic growth and equality for women and girls in all their diversity.”
Awardees are determined each year through a meticulous process that involves a review of internal policies and WEPs-aligned practices, scoring, verification and assessment by an expert panel. While the final scores take into account overall company practices, each Award is granted for the specific actions detailed in the application. Given the volume of applications received and the exceptionally high quality of entries, the 2024 WEPs Awards will recognize the actions of 24 awardees, with three more awardees compared to the last editions.
The 2024 Asia-pacific WEPs Awardees are recognized for their actions as follows:
Leadership Commitment
- Winner: Telenor Pakistan, Mr. Khurrum Ashfaque, CEO
- 1st runner-up: Schneider Electric Philippines, Ireen Catane, Country President
- 2nd runner-up: SEED Ventures, Shaista Ayesha, CEO
- Youth Leadership Commitment: PEERS New Zealand, Nat Young and Amber Jones, Co-Founders
Gender-Inclusive Workplace
- Winner: Hansoll Textile Ltd.
- 1st runner-up: PwC in Malaysia
- 2nd runner-up: PT Pertamina (Persero)
- Special mention: NMB BANK LTD
Gender-Responsive Marketplace
- Winner: L'Oréal (Thailand) Limited
- 1st runner-up: Cyntax Health Projects PVT LTD
- 2nd runner-up: Wipro Limited
Community Engagement and Partnerships
- Winner: Zomato Ltd.
- 1st runner-up: PT Schneider Indonesia
- 2nd runner-up: Manila Water Company, Inc.
Transparency & Reporting
- Winner: CP Axtra Public Company Limited
- 1st runner-up: Shui On Land
- 2nd runner-up: Sino Land Company Limited
Innovative Financing
- Winner: Kinara Capital (India)
- 1st runner-up: Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam JSC (BIDV)
- 2nd runner-up: LOLC Myanmar Micro Finance Company Limited
- Special Mention: MYSC (Merry Year Social Company)
SME Championship
- Winner – Leadership Commitment:
Thiri Aung, CEO, Women Transforming Myanmar (WTM) - 1st runner-up – Gender-responsive Marketplace:
Pinkcollar Employment Agency - 2nd runner-up – Leadership Commitment:
Khim Bun, General Manager, Agile Development Group Leadership
For more information
Roberta Camera
Communications, Advocacy, and Partnerships Officer,
Women’s Economic Empowerment,
UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific | e: [ Click to reveal ]
About UN Women
UN Women is the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. As a global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress in meeting their needs worldwide.
About the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
The Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is responsible for foreign policy, trade and development assistance. DFAT is committed to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment globally.
About the Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards
The UN Women Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards is the first regional awards initiative that recognizes companies that are taking action to advance gender equality in the region, aligned with the Women’s Empowerment Principles. The ultimate objective is to increase the visibility of good practices and encourage more businesses to take action by joining the WEPs.