UN Women Launches Private Sector Leadership Advisory Council
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The launch of UN Women's Private Sector Leadership Advisory Council, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 2 June 2014. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown
UN Women has launched a new Private Sector Leadership Advisory Council with leading businesses to advance women’s rights and empowerment.
At a special event at United Nations Headquarters, the 10 founding corporate leaders were welcomed by the Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
Under the Executive Director’s leadership, the influential Council will offer advice on three specific areas: accelerating women’s economic empowerment, ending violence against women and helping to close the funding gap for UN Women.
“This Council’s focus is to accelerate economic and social progress for women and girls worldwide by combining our expertise, reach and resources for greater results,” said Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka. “The Council is being launched at just the right time, as UN Women mobilizes for the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Women’s Conference under the theme: Empowering Women, Empowering Humanity.”
The invitation-only Council is comprised of prominent private sector leaders, whose companies have a global footprint and identify as corporate citizens that already demonstrate a strong commitment to supporting women and girls.
“Given our mandate in advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women, we hope that the Council will provide the foundation necessary to further expand diversified representation in terms of company size, region, and increased female membership,” said Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka.
“Empowering women is one of the most important ways we can accelerate growth across the global economy,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Coca-Cola Company and first Chair of the UN Women Private Sector Leadership Advisory Council. “By bringing together corporations, government and civil society through Golden Triangle partnerships, we can positively impact women, their families and their communities. I’m honoured to chair this new council and confident that we can make meaningful progress engaging with the private sector on this important work.”
The UN Women Private Sector Leadership Advisory Council will meet twice a year to review progress and provide strategic input to guide advocacy and resource mobilization efforts.
The 10 founding members are (in alphabetical order):
1. Mr. Jean-Paul Agon: Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, L’Oréal
2. Mr. Dominic Barton: Chief Executive Officer, McKinsey & Company
3. Mr. Lloyd C. Blankfein: Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
4. Ms. Maureen Chiquet: Global Chief Executive Officer, Chanel
5. Mr. Mark Cutifani: Chief Executive Officer, Anglo American plc
6. Mr. Rick Goings: Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Tupperware Brands Corporation
7. Mr. Christopher Graves: Global Chief Executive Officer, Ogilvy Public Relations
8. Ms. Sally Kennedy: Chief Executive Officer, Publicis Dallas
9. Mr. Muhtar Kent: Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
10. Mr. Paul Polman: Chief Executive Officer, Unilever
Pictured in photo above from left to right, first row: Mr. Christopher Graves, Global CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations; Mr. Michael Goltzman, Vice-President of International Government Relations & Public Affairs, The Coca-Cola Company; Ms. Marcela Manubens, Global Vice-President for Social Impact, Unilever; Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women; Ms. Khanyisile Kweyama, Executive Director & CEO, Anglo American South Africa; Ms. Dina Habib Powell, President, Goldman Sachs Foundation and Global Head of Corporate Engagement; Mr. Andrew Bruce, North America CEO, Publicis. Second row: Ms. Sarah François-Poncet, Chief Legal Council & Secretary General, Chanel Foundation; Mr. Dominic Barton, Managing Director, CEO, McKinsey & Company; Mr. Emmanuel Lulin, Senior VP & Chief Ethics Officer, L’Oréal; and Mr. Rick Goings, Chairman & CEO, Tupperware Brands Corporation.