Deliver Your News to the World

Diageo Signs UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (UNWEP)


WEBWIRE

Diageo signs UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (UNWEP)

-Diageo is the first beverage alcohol company to sign the UNWEP
-Target of 30% of Diageo’s global leadership to be women by 2015
-Part of Plan W, Diageo’s regional initiative to empower two million women in Asia Pacific

Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks company, today signed the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles, sealing its commitment to being a global leader for empowering women.

At a ceremony in Singapore, the headquarters of Diageo Asia Pacific, Chief Executive Paul Walsh signed the Principles on behalf of Diageo. The signing is part of Plan W, the company’s US$10 million strategy to empower two million women in 17 countries in Asia Pacific by 2017.

Paul Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, Diageo said: “The signing of the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles is a significant milestone for Plan W. I am very keen for Diageo to improve opportunities and provide choices for the thousands of women we employ around the world, as well as act as a catalyst for change in our industry and the communities in which we operate. The Principles will help us continue to drive improvements in this crucial area.”

The UNWEP is a partnership initiative between UN Women and UN Global Compact. It provides a set of considerations to help the private sector focus on key elements integral to promoting gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community. It covers three key areas :

1.Advocacy and leadership
2.Workplace practices
3.Transparency and disclosure

Gilbert Ghostine, Asia Pacific President, Diageo said: “I believe that embedding Persity into the workplace builds stronger teams to run a stronger business. I am confident that our commitment to empower women at Diageo, as well as the work we are doing across the region through Plan W, will help us to achieve just this.”

In addition to Plan W, Diageo already has a number of initiatives and policies in place to drive gender equality in the business, including:

-A target for 30% of our leadership to be women by 2015 (26% in 2012)
-4/11 (≈ 40%) of our Non-Executive Board Members are women, the highest in the FTSE 100
-All shortlists for leadership positions must include internal female candidates
-A target for 50% of our graduate/MBA intake to be women
-Strong policies on Persity and programmes in many markets for health, safety, well-being and education for our female employees

The UNWEP will provide Diageo with an external framework to realise further improvements across multiple geographies: from Persity, employee engagement, talent retention and recruitment to overall business performance.

Trina Liang, President of UN Women Singapore, said: “We are delighted that a company of Diageo’s global stature is signing up to the Principles. One billion women will enter the global workforce in the next decade and businesses have a key role to play in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment around the world. Today’s signing builds further momentum. Our thanks go to Paul and the whole Diageo team.”

Thomas Thomas, Executive Director of UN Compact Singapore, said: “Gender equality is essential for business to be sustainable. Diageo is taking a lead, which many Singapore businesses should follow by signing these Principles. We look forward to further progress in the years ahead.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Diageo
Diageo is the world’s leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, beer and wine categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Buchanan’s, Windsor and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Jose Cuervo, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, with its products sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people and its brands, visit www.diageo.com. For Diageo’s global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit www.DRINKiQ.com.

Celebrating life, every day, everywhere.

Diageo has recently published its 2012 Sustainability and Responsibility Report which can be downloaded at http://www.diageo.com/en-ie/CSR/pages/resource.aspx?resourceid=1342

About Plan W
Plan W is Diageo’s community investment strategy in Asia Pacific. The aim of Plan W is to empower women through learning and our target is to empower two million women in 17 Asia Pacific countries by 2017. There are four pillars of activity in Plan W:

1.Our Company – Further strengthen our policies and practices as part of our on-going commitment to workplace Persity.
2.Our Industry – Increase women’s knowledge and employability by delivering skills training in the hospitality sector.
3.Our Communities – Working with partners to train women and men in marginalised communities to better their prospects, and supporting social entrepreneurs.
4.Our Consumers – Leveraging our brands to raise awareness of women’s issues amongst consumers.

Launched in December 2012, Plan W already has a wide range of initiatives in place, including:

-Supporting women-focussed social enterprises in Singapore, India, Malaysia and Indonesia, in partnership with the British Council
-Skills training in Sri Lanka and Nepal, in partnership with CARE International
-A community project in Cambodia empowering women, through training and microloans, to set up microbusinesses to sell sanitation infrastructure and improve community health, in partnership with WaterSHED
-Gender Equity and Persity training for employees and members of the value chain, including self-defence classes for female employees in Asia Pacific teams

About the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles
There are seven Women Empowerment Principles, namely:

1.Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality
2.Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and non-discrimination
3.Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers
4.Promote education, training and professional development for women
5.Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women
6.Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy
7.Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality



WebWireID171859





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.