MANILA, PHILIPPINES – On the 10th anniversary of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), UN Women announces the call for nominations to the 2020 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards honoring exemplary business practice for gender equality.
With support from the European Union, the Awards offers Filipino business leaders and companies an opportunity to be recognized within the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific region and make their efforts to advance gender equality visible amongst their customers, employees and partners. It also allows these advocates of gender parity to inspire others with their work to take action for wider impact.
“With the WEPs Awards, we want to underscore the value of investing in gender mainstreaming in the workplace and the culture of empowerment it builds for both men and women. The best way to mark the momentous WEPs anniversary is to celebrate and recognize the Filipino gender equality and inclusion champions who paved the way for the success of women in business and workplace and introduce them as trailblazers to neighboring countries with similar goals,” says UN Women Philippines Programme Manager Ma Rosalyn Mesina.
She also added that “The COVID-19 pandemic has also amplified economic inequality since women now face extra work at home to take care of their family while juggling their jobs. The Awards is timely because it will also become a platform to highlight and share business policies that alleviate the disproportionate impact of the crisis on women.”
Established by UN Women and United Nations Global Compact, the WEPs are a set of 7 principles guiding businesses to become more gender-responsive across their value chain. Support for the seven Principles has gathered global momentum – thousands of companies worldwide regardless of size and sector are now WEPs champions – and therefore also contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.
The call for applications is now open to all Asia-Pacific countries until September 25th (Bangkok time). The Awards will recognize initiatives in the following categories: Leadership, Youth Leadership (for leaders until 30 years of age), Gender-Inclusive Workplace, Gender-Responsive Marketplace, Community and Industry Engagement, and COVID-19 Action.
Applicants from China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam will have the chance to be recognized in the National WEPs Awards in November as part of the wider initiative by the EU-funded project WeEmpowerAsia of UN Women.
All applicants, including National WEPs Awards Winners, will have the opportunity to be selected as Asia-Pacific regional winners and celebrate in the larger Regional Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards on December 10, 2020.\
Interested companies and individuals are invited to attend the information session on September 8, which will be held online and facilitated by the WeEmpowerAsia Philippines Team with Amy Baum from UN Women WeEmpowerAsia Regional Office.
For more details about the Awards or to start your application process, please visit www.asiapacificwepsawards.org.
