Global Compact Kenya supports women’s representation in business

Global Compact Network Kenya has launched Target Gender Equality, a new initiative to mobilize and support companies in setting and meeting ambitious corporate targets for women’s representation and leadership in business.

Open to all participating companies of the Global Compact Network Kenya, Target Gender Equality will drive business action in support of Sustainable Development Goal 5.5, which calls for women’s full participation and equal opportunities for leadership, including in economic life, by 2030.

The programme builds on the United Nations Global Compact’s work in developing and promoting the Women’s Empowerment Principles by helping participating companies set concrete targets and take action to advance women’s leadership in their organizations, starting with the Board and Executive Management levels.

“The economic gender gap is widening and will now take 257 years to close. Business must help reverse this trend and take bold action to advance gender equality. This is the moment to ensure that targets on women’s participation are included as part of balanced scorecards and corporate strategies in all companies,” said Lise Kingo, CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact.

In the private sector, the proportion of leadership positions held by women in Kenya stands at 22 per cent. According to statistics by the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), out of 62 publicly listed companies, only 4 women hold the most senior positions.

Participating companies in Kenya will benefit through facilitated performance analysis, capacity building workshops, peer-to-peer learning and opportunities to engage in multi-stakeholder dialogue at the country-level.

The Target Gender Equality initiative will be rolled out in twenty countries in 2020.