Equal Participation of Women and Men in Power and Decision-Making Roles
1. Leading Empowerment – Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs): By using its footprint that expands across over 98 countries, BPW International through its affiliates is a lead NGO committed to raising awareness of the WEPs. Having made the WEPs an organizational priority, BPW International has played an active role in contributing to WEPs consultations and events organized by the WEPs team since 2009. Toolkits and Resource Sheets have been developed to ensure consistency of messaging and communications amongst its affiliates.
2. Leading Equality – Equal Pay Day: The fact remains that across the world, in countries at all stages of economic development and prosperity, women are still paid less to do the same work as a man. Regardless of a nation’s history, economic position or its efforts to address other areas of gender inequality…there is no country in the world where women receive equal pay for equal work. BPW affiliates join the Equal Pay Day Campaign to highlight this issue. They also lobby governments, UN institutions and other relevant bodies to develop and implement gender sensitive policies and programs aimed at promoting women’s economic empowerment including enhancing access to full and productive employment, decent work for all and equal pay for equal work or work for equal value.
3. Leading Entrepreneurship – Encouraging Private and Public/Sector Sourcing from Women’s Businesses: BPW International identified over its 85 year history that one of the barriers to empowerment of women is the lack of access to finance, property and markets, In 2010, BPW International partnered with the ITC forming the Global Platform for Action on Sourcing from Women Vendors and established the World forWomen Vendor Exhibition and Forum (WVEF)–the world trade fair for women vendors in LDCs. As well as encouraging the public and private sector business to include women owned businesses in their procurement policies.