Declarations announced at P&G and UN Women #WeSeeEqual
Gender Equality summit that saw participation from global equality
advocates Indra Nooyi and Bonang Matheba.
SINGAPORE, Feb. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Procter &
Gamble (NYSE:PG) today announced new declarations aimed to propel
gender equality across Asia
Pacific, the Middle East
and Africa, at its third annual
#WeSeeEqual summit for the region. Hosted virtually for the first
time, the event saw distinguished advocates and personalities from
private and public sectors come together to address the challenges
of gender and women's equality, which have been severely impacted
by the pandemic.
Built on the theme '#Unsaid and #Undone', the summit
brought together leading voices on Gender Equality to challenge the
current discourse and commit to the actions needed for progress.
P&G President for Asia
Pacific, Middle East and
Africa, Magesvaran
Suranjan, announced the following declarations:
- P&G will educate more than 30 million adolescent girls
on puberty and hygiene across Asia
Pacific, the Middle East
and Africa,
through its Always and Whisper 'Keeping Girls in School'
program over the next three years.
- P&G is committed to spending a cumulative total of
$200 million US dollars by
deliberately working with women-owned businesses across
the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa region, by 2025.
- P&G is introducing 'Share the
Care', a new parental leave policy in the Asia
Pacific, Middle East &
Africa region. Under its
new 'Share the Care' program, all new parents will be entitled to a
minimum of 8 weeks' fully paid leave, with an additional 6
weeks' recovery leave for birth mothers.
- P&G is committed to achieve a 50-50 gender balance
across its management workforce in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa by the end of calendar year 2022.
Magesvaran Suranjan said: "We have made great
progress on gender equality and we can't allow it to be eroded. We
need to act now to ensure that while we continue responding to the
health and economic crisis, we find ways to progress women's
economic empowerment and equality, in education, in the home
and in the workplace. At P&G, we will keep using
the voice of our company in forums such as #WeSeeEqual to drive
discussion and action on the issues that matter."
Held in partnership with UN Women, the third annual regional
#WeSeeEqual Summit engaged business leaders, government
officials and celebrity influencers in candid
conversations around gender equality - the focus of UN
Sustainable Development Goal #5 - as well as discussions around
strategic actions moving forward to address gender inequality.
In addition to global and regional P&G leaders, the Summit
also saw participation of influential personalities and global
leaders, including:
- Anita Bhatia, UN Women
Deputy Executive Director
- Indra Nooyi, former Chief Executive Officer &
Chairman of PepsiCo
- Bonang Matheba, South African Media Personality,
Entrepreneur and Philanthropist
UN Women Deputy Executive Director Ms. Anita Bhatia said, "Progress made over
the last few decades in gender equality is at risk of being rolled
back due to the impact of COVID-19. But the pandemic has also
forced us all to think differently and given us the opportunity to
re-build better – without the power imbalances and gender
discrimination of the past. For that to happen we need to work
together with partners, including corporates, governments and civil
society. Today's #WeSeeEqual Summit and other
multi-stakeholder initiatives like the Action Coalitions of the
upcoming Generation Equality Forum are crucial opportunities for
change and progress towards achieving gender equality once and for
all."
The acknowledgement of societal and family challenges, the
importance of equality-based policies, the recognition of
stereotypical expectations of men, and the role of advertising and
media in changing bias were some of the key topics discussed across
the various panels throughout the summit. To inspire corporates and
society alike, the summit also hosted P&G Chief Brand Officer, Marc
Pritchard and South African Media Personality,
Entrepreneur and Philanthropist, Bonang Matheba, to share their
experiences and insights on leveraging their voice in advertising
and media to reach millions of people, challenge rigid gender roles
and empower both men and women.
In addition to the declarations, the 2021 Summit also
saw the establishment of the P&G Young Leaders
Council which serves to advise the company on gender equality
matters internally and externally.
The #WeSeeEqual program demonstrates P&G's continued
commitment to create a more equal world, and was recently
recognized with the U.S. Secretary of State's Award for Corporate
Excellence for Women's Empowerment. P&G is
advancing gender equality through various initiatives
region-wide as part of its ongoing commitment to equality and
inclusion and is part of the Company's efforts to deliver 2,021
Acts of Good in 2021. As one of the world's largest
advertisers, P&G and its brands will also continue to leverage
their influential voice in media and advertising to drive further
awareness, tackle gender bias, spark conversations and motivate
change.
About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the
strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands,
including Always®, Ambi Pur®,
Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®,
Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®,
Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®,
Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®,
Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®,
Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®,
Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community
includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please
visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and
information about P&G and its brands.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1438387/PG.jpg