Thailand and the UN empower women at work
- Shawn Liew
While Asia-Pacific has made noticeable progress in reducing extreme poverty, with women playing key role to power growth, the United Nations (UN) warned that fully closing the gender equality gap in the region could take another century.
There are encouraging signs however, with 110 Thai companies signing up to a new set of UN principles on women’s economic empowerment. These pledge to improve gender equality in the boardroom, equal pay for equal work, as well as safer and more inclusive workplaces.
The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), established by UN Women and the UN Global Compact, offer guidance to businesses, regardless of their size or sector.
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In Thailand, 24% of CEOs and managing directors are women, compared to an Asia-Pacific average of 13%, and global figure of 20%.
As the region’s economies continue to feel the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, they can create opportunities for full recovery by building on the trend towards full equality, said Mohammad Naciri, regional director for Asia and the Pacific at UN Women.
He called for “nothing less than bold, decisive actions to secure a generation of equality in business, as well as women’s full and equal participation across all sectors.”
