UN Global Compact joins partners to ring the bell for gender equality at 99 stock exchanges

/EIN News/ -- New York, NY, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UNITED NATIONS, New York, 2 March 2021 — For the seventh consecutive year, the UN Global Compact will participate in Ring the Bell for Gender Equality — a collaboration of stock exchanges around the world ringing opening or closing bells to celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March and promote the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs). 

The initiative is a partnership between the UN Global Compact, IFC, Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, UN Women, the World Federation of Exchanges and Women in ETFs to draw attention to women’s economic empowerment, and the opportunities for the private sector to advance gender equality and sustainable development.

Stock exchanges around the world are working with investors and businesses to take practical action to advance gender equality through listing requirements, voluntary guidance documents, investment products, internal policies and training and awareness raising. In March 2020, 77 exchanges rang their bells for gender equality. This year 99 stock exchanges are participating in the initiative and local partners are hosting virtual events around the world where in-person ringings are not safe due to the ongoing pandemic.

Ring the Bell for Gender Equality events around the world encourage participants to scale-up efforts to achieve gender equality in their markets, industries and organizations by adopting and implementing the Women's Empowerment Principles. A joint initiative of the UN Global Compact and UN Women, the WEPs provide a holistic roadmap to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. Private sector, civil society, Governments and the UN are working together to achieve gender equality targets and the other Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

Commenting on the initiative, Sanda Ojiambo, CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact said: “The Covid-19 pandemic risks reversing progress towards greater gender equality. I hope this year’s Ring the Bell for Gender Equality reminds business leaders that gender equality is a key driver of financial success and must be central to our efforts to build back better from this difficult time.”

This year, UN Women’s theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Women's full and effective participation and decision-making in public life, as well as the elimination of violence, for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls’. This theme directly aligns with the work of the UN Global Compact on gender including the WEPs , which more than 4,500 CEOs have signed, as well as a successful first year of the Target Gender Equality accelerator programme. 

For more information, contact media@unglobalcompact.org

Here is a list of participating exchanges:

Exchange/Organisation	Country	Date of Event
Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos (BYMA)	Argentina	11-Mar
Armenia Securities Exchange	Armenia	TBD
Australian Securities Exchange	Australia	08-Mar
Sydney Stock Exchange	Australia	04-Mar
Wiener Börse	Austria	08-Mar
Baku Stock Exchange	Azerbaijan	09-Mar
Bahrain Bourse	Bahrain	08-Mar
Dhaka Stock Exchange Ltd	Bangladesh	14-Mar
Belarusian Currency and Stock Exchange	Belarus	05-Mar
Euronext Brussels	Belgium	08-Mar
Banja Luka Stock Exchange	Bosnia and Herzegovina	TBD
Botswana Stock Exchange	Botswana	08-Mar
B3 - Brasil Bolsa Balcão	Brazil	08-Mar
Bulgarian Stock Exchange	Bulgaria	08-Mar
NEO Exchange	Canada	08-Mar
Toronto Stock Exchange	Canada	12-Mar
Bolsa de Comercio de Santiago	Chile	09-Mar
Shanghai Stock Exchange	China	08-Mar
Shenzhen Stock Exchange	China	05-Mar
Taipei Exchange	Chinese Taipei	TBD
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp.	Chinese Taipei	TBD
Bolsa de Valores de Colombia	Colombia	09-Mar
Bolsa Nacional de Valores	Costa Rica	11-Mar
Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières S.A.	Cote d'Ivoire	08-Mar
Zagreb Stock Exchange	Croatia	08-Mar
Nasdaq Copenhagen	Denmark	08-Mar
Bolsa de Valores de Quito	Ecuador	09-Mar
The Egyptian Exchange	Egypt	09-Mar
Nasdaq Helsinki	Finland	08-Mar
Georgian Stock Exchange	Georgia	10-Mar
Deutsche Börse AG	Germany	08-Mar
Ghana Stock Exchange	Ghana	10-Mar
Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX)	Greece	08-Mar
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing	Hong Kong	8 March ?
Nasdaq Iceland	Iceland	08-Mar
Bombay Stock Exchange	India	08-Mar
National Stock Exchange of India Limited	India	08-Mar
Indonesia Stock Exchange	Indonesia	09-Mar
Tehran Stock Exchange	Iran	Last 2 days
Euronext Dublin	Ireland	08-Mar
Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange	Israel	08-Mar
Borsa Italiana	Italy	08-Mar
Jamaica stock Exchange	Jamaica	08-Mar
Japan Exchange Group, Inc.	Japan	08-Mar
Amman Stock Exchange	Jordan	TBD
Kazakhstan Stock Exchange	Kazakhstan	05-Mar
Nairobi Securities Exchange	Kenya	11-Mar
Boursa Kuwait	Kuwait	08-Mar
Kyrgyz Stock Exchange CJSC	Kyrgyzstan	10-Mar
Beirut Stock Exchange	Lebanon	08-Mar
Luxembourg Stock Exchange	Luxembourg	08-Mar
Macedonian Stock Exchange	Macedonia	08-Mar
Bursa Malaysia	Malaysia	08-Mar
Malta Stock Exchange	Malta	08-Mar
BIVA (Bolsa Institucional de Valores)	Mexico	08-Mar
Bolsa Mexicana de Valores	Mexico	09-Mar
Bourse de Casablanca	Morocco	TBD
Namibian Stock Exchange	Namibia	TBD
Nepal Stock Exchange Limited	Nepal	TBD
Euronext Amsterdam	Netherlands	08-Mar
NZX Limited	New Zealand	08-Mar
FMDQ Securities Exchange PLC	Nigeria	08-Mar
Nigerian Stock Exchange	Nigeria	08-Mar
Oslo Børs	Norway	08-Mar
Pakistan Stock Exchange	Pakistan	TBD
Palestine Exchange	Palestine	10-Mar
Bolsa de Valores de Panama S.A.	Panama	10-Mar
Bolsa de Valores de Lima	Peru	TBD
The Philippine Stock Exchange, Inc.	Philippines	08-Mar
Warsaw Stock Exchange	Poland	08-Mar
Euronext Lisbon	Portugal	08-Mar
Qatar Stock Exchange	Qatar	08-Mar
Bucharest Stock Exchange	Romania	08-Mar
Moscow Exchange	Russia	9-10 March
Rwanda Stock Exchange	Rwanda	TBD
Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul)	Saudi Arabia	08-Mar
Belgrade Stock Exchange	Serbia	11-Mar
Singapore Exchange	Singapore	08-Mar
Johannesburg Stock Exchange	South Africa	08-Mar
BME - Bolsas y Mercados Españoles	Spain	08-Mar
Colombo Stock Exchange	Sri Lanka	08-Mar
Nasdaq Stockholm	Sweden	08-Mar
SIX Swiss Exchange	Switzerland	08-Mar
Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange	Tanzania	08-Mar
Stock Exchange of Thailand	Thailand	08-Mar
Tunis Stock Exchange	Tunisia	08-Mar
Uganda Securities Exchange	Uganda	TBD
Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange	United Arab Emirates	TBD
Dubai Financial Market	United Arab Emirates	08-Mar
Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange	United Arab Emirates	08-Mar
Aquis Exchange PLC	United Kingdom	08-Mar
London Stock Exchange Group	United Kingdom	08-Mar
Bolsa de Valores de Montevideo	Uruguay	05-Mar
Cboe Global Markets	USA	08-Mar
Intercontinental Exchange | NYSE	USA	04-Mar
Nasdaq - US	USA	01-Mar
The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC)	USA	08-Mar
Hochiminh Stock Exchange	Vietnam	08-Mar
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange	Zimbabwe	08-Mar

-ENDS-

 

About the Partner Organisations:

United Nations Global Compact

As a special initiative of the UN Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our ambition is to accelerate and scale the global collective impact of business by upholding the Ten Principles and delivering the Sustainable Development Goals through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. With more than 12,000 companies and 3,000 non-business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 69 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative — one Global Compact uniting business for a better world.

For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org.

 

Women in ETFs (WE)

Women in ETFs is the first women’s group for the ETF industry. Founded in January 2014, WE is a non-profit organization that brings together over 5,600 members, including women and men, in chapters in major financial centers across the United States, Canada, EMEA and Asia Pacific to: 1) CONNECT: Create opportunities for professional advancement of women by expanding connections among women and men in the ETF industry; 2) SUPPORT: Offer guidance for the current and next generation of women in ETFs and 3) INSPIRE: WE achieves this by organizing events at our chapters globally that support our goals of education, networking, philanthropy and idea sharing across the industry and beyond. 

For more information, visit: www.womeninetfs.com to learn more, join, or sponsor. Follow us on Twitter: @WomeninETFs and on Linkedin: Women in ETFs

 

About IFC

IFC – a sister organization of the World Bank and member of the World Bank Group – is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2020, we invested more than $22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.

The Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative

The SSE initiative is a peer-to-peer learning platform for exploring how exchanges, in collaboration with investors, regulators, and companies, can enhance corporate transparency - and ultimately performance - on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) issues and encourage sustainable investment. The SSE initiative is convened by four organizations - the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the UN Global Compact, the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), and the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI).  To learn more about becoming a Partner Stock Exchange or participating as a regulator or investor, visit sseinitiative.org Follow us on Twitter: @sseinitiative

 

United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women)

UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It works globally to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on four strategic priorities: Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems; Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy; All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence; Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality. Learn more at: http://www.unwomen.org and https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/weps/about. Follow us on Twitter @UN_Women @Empower_Women and on LinkedIn: UN Women

 

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE):

Established in 1961, the WFE is the global industry association for exchanges and clearing houses. Headquartered in London, it represents over 250 market infrastructure providers, including standalone CCPs that are not part of exchange groups. Of our members, 37% are in Asia-Pacific, 43% in EMEA and 20% in the Americas. WFE’s 57 member CCPs collectively ensure that risk takers post some $800bn (equivalent) of resources to back their positions, in the form of initial margin and default fund requirements. WFE exchanges, meanwhile, are home to nearly 48,000 listed companies, and the market capitalisation of these entities is over $74.4 trillion (at end 2018); around $95 trillion (EOB) in trading annually passes through the infrastructures WFE members safeguard (at end 2018). The WFE is the definitive source for exchange-traded statistics, and publishes over 350 market data indicators.  Its free statistics database stretches back more than 40 years, and provides information and insight into developments on global exchanges. The WFE works with standard-setters, policy makers, regulators and government organisations around the world to support and promote the development of fair, transparent, stable and efficient markets. The WFE shares regulatory authorities’ goals of ensuring the safety and soundness of the global financial system. With extensive experience of developing and enforcing high standards of conduct, the WFE and its members support an orderly, secure, fair and transparent environment for investors; for companies that raise capital; and for all who deal with financial risk. We seek outcomes that maximise the common good, consumer confidence and economic growth. And we engage with policy makers and regulators in an open, collaborative way, reflecting the central, public role that exchanges and CCPs play in a globally integrated financial system. Follow us on Twitter @TheWFE and LinkedIn: The World Federation of Exchanges.

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Dan Thomas
                    United Nations Global Compact
                    (212) 907-1301
                    media@unglobalcompact.org