United Nations Global Compact Network India Hosts Fourth Gender Equality Summit

United Nations Global Compact Network India (UNGC-NI), hosted the fourth edition of the Gender Equality Summit (GES), virtually, on March 9-10, 2021. The Theme of this Gender Equality Summit is ‘Covid and New Gender Equations: Adversity to Opportunity’ aligned with the theme of International Women Day-2021 ‘Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID 19 world’.

Carrying forward the momentum built on three previous Gender Equality Summits held in 2018, 2019 and 2020, UNGCNI’s Fourth Gender Equality Summit 2021 focuses on collective responsibility and exploring the pathways towards gender inclusive outcomes in the society, especially the workforce. A galaxy of eminent speakers comprising MDs, CEOs and Heads from the PSUs, Corporates, Academia, Civil Society Organizations, UN Agencies and Leaders from the diverse sectors shared their insights and best practices on why gender equality is essential and how women leadership can impact the world. Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Women & Child Development and Ministry of Textile, Government of India delivered the Inaugural Address at the Summit.

"Empowering women is the basic principle of Gender Equality; and corporate sector can play a crucial role in strengthening women leadership. We must increasingly debate about what specifics we can do to break down the gender barriers by respecting and supporting women’s representation and leadership across the sectors and businesses at all levels," Shashi Shanker, President UN GCNI & Chairman, ONGC Group of Companies said.

Shabnam Siddiqui, Executive Director, UN Global Compact Network India, added, "As we embark on a global reset, it is time to challenge and call out gender bias and stereotypes. We need a world that goes beyond the gender binary and strives for equal rights and representation in all spheres. Adopting Target Gender Equality will facilitate and accelerate empowerment of different genders and their participation in the corporate space. There is a business case for gender diversity and effective leadership will help us build back better. We now need Collective Action for the creation of an inclusive world."