The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq are among 43 stock exchanges around the world this week taking part in “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” to celebrate International Women’s Day 2017 this Wednesday, March 8.
Now in its third year, the events are a partnership between Women in ETFs, UN Global Compact, UN Women, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, IFC, and the World Federation of Stock Exchanges, to raise awareness about the business case for women’s economic empowerment and the opportunities for the private sector to advance gender equality and sustainable development.
A new report published March 6 by the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative with GIZ, highlighted how exchanges and businesses can and are advancing gender equality.
It cited a number of imperative challenges:
– Women take home 1/10 of global income, while accounting for 2/3 of global working hours; and
– According to a 2016 review of 1,000 listed companies by Bloomberg, the average representation of women in the leadership was 23% in senior management, 21% on boards, 4% have a female chairperson, and 3% have a female CEO.
However, there is evidence of a business case: