Press release: UN Women and Procter & Gamble announce newest commitment to gender equality across the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Africa region at the #WeSeeEqual Summit
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(Mumbai, India)– P&G and UN Women today held the #WeSeeEqual Summit in Mumbai, India.
Co-hosted with UN Women, P&G’s first IMEA #WeSeeEqual Summit brought together business and government leaders, and influencers to share inspiration and surface insights around the myths that prevent us from accelerating our progress for gender equality.
The Summit brought together the leading voices to share perspectives on gender equality in its many facets including women’s economic empowerment, the role of advertising and media, the myths that are holding us back from equal representation in leadership and the workplace, and the importance of male champions as advocates.
During the day-long programme, speakers shared their perspectives with an audience of P&G leaders, business partners, media professionals, civil society leaders, and government representatives.
During the event, Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced a new commitment around a number of initiatives that will promote gender equality across the Indian subcontinent, Middle East and Africa (IMEA) region.
Over the next three years:
- P&G aims to spend USD 100 million on deliberately working with Women-Owned Businesses in India, Middle East and Africa
- P&G will educate more than 23 million adolescent girls on puberty and hygiene across India, Middle East and Africa;
- P&G and its brands will use our voice in forums like the #WeSeeEqual Summit, brand advertising like Ariel, Whisper, Always & Gillette and multi-stakeholder efforts to spark conversation and motivate change.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, said, “To get irreversible progress in gender equality takes sustained, intentional action. We need to work together on this wherever those inequalities are present—in schools and offices; in the media; in sports arenas, farms, factories and houses of parliament. We’re driving for practical changes, like supply chain agreements that bring good business to women-owned companies, at the same time as we change the narratives about the place and power of girls and women in society—so they are both seen and treated as equals.”
Marc Pritchard, Chief Brand Officer, P&G, challenged all—men and women—to work together to build a gender-inclusive world: “Brands affect nearly every person on the planet, every day, and can be agents of change—individually and collectively. We believe one of the best ways to solve the challenges facing us today is for brands to spark conversations that mobilize people to take action”.
P&G is a long-time global advocate of women empowerment and gender parity through various impact programmes and the company has helped empower and shape societal perception of women.
P&G is actively supporting multiple UN Women initiatives:
- Through partnership on the “Stimulating equal opportunities for women entrepreneurs” programme, P&G has a special focus on building an inclusive business environment for women, and supporting women entrepreneurs, especially small-scale suppliers, to access corporate value chains, including that of P&G, with programmes currently in place in Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa.
- A founding member of UN Women’s Unstereotype Alliance, P&G is helping galvanize collective action to proactively address and eliminate gender stereotypes in advertising globally. P&G has been leading the way for many years with progressive portrayals of women and girls in its brand advertising campaigns, and importantly also demonstrates the importance of men in promoting gender equality through landmark campaigns by some of the world leading brands.
- P&G is also supporting UN Women’s “Tracking study on gender equality attitudes”, which will provide urgent data on attitudes towards gender equality and help inform corrective action through policy and education.
Photos from the event are available at this link.