The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and UN Women published the ASEAN Political Action Report: Advancing gender and business insights to apply the Women’s Economic Principles (WEP) as part of a COVID-19 inclusive economic recovery at the ASEAN Women Leaders Summit, held today.
In his opening speech, ASEAN Secretary General Dato Lim Jock Hoi highlighted the transformative role of women as agents of inclusive economic growth. “More than a moral imperative, bridging the gender gap makes economic sense,” he stressed.
The political action report notes that, although the ASEAN region has made progress in reducing gender gaps, “women have disproportionately borne the negative effects of the pandemic in terms of unemployment, loss of income, business failure , increased risk of domestic violence and increased domestic and unpaid care responsibilities. Therefore, the inclusive economic recovery is delayed.
ASEAN is committed to promoting and protecting the rights of women and children
ASEAN and its member states have an opportunity to catalyze women’s economic participation and empowerment by developing public policies that advance women’s equal participation and leadership in business, as well as by encouraging companies in the private sector to report on progress on gender-specific indicators.
The equal participation of women in business is key to their economic empowerment and, by extension, to all economic and social development. Governments across ASEAN have made international and national commitments to support private sector efforts in this direction.
Women’s Empowerment Principles
“We recognize the strong commitment of companies to adopt and implement the Women’s Empowerment Principles, as well as ASEAN’s commitment to promoting the economic empowerment of women. The combination of these efforts can provide a key pathway to recovery from COVID-19,” said Sarah Knibbs, Regional Director of the UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
The action report urges ASEAN and its member states to take three priority actions to empower women business leaders and workers:
First, affirm high-level commitments from governments and private sector companies in the ASEAN region to adopt national policy frameworks and strategies that promote gender-responsive business practices, including women’s leadership business.
The equal participation of women in business is key to their economic empowerment and, by extension, to all economic and social development
Second, to promote gender quality in the workplace and in the market by promoting and/or adopting policies for equal treatment in the workplace, supporting companies run by women, creating inclusive supply chains and gender-responsive business practices. ASEAN can do this by promoting data availability and providing policy guidance and analysis on private sector engagement to promote women’s participation and economic empowerment, as well as regional knowledge sharing to identify challenges and solutions.
Third, accelerate private sector reporting on gender equality progress, including setting targets and indicators, reporting, analysis, and the use of sex-disaggregated data to track gender equality. developments, for example, the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) Transparency and Accountability Framework.
The report also cites promising practices in the region that can be replicated. For example, the number of women in leadership positions has recently increased in Malaysia after its leaders launched a series of targets for women in leadership positions. Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore require listed companies to produce annual sustainability reports that include gender-related indicators.
