Enat Bank and Ashagari Consulting Firm became Signatories to the Women Empowerment Principles

UN Women Ethiopia Country Office facilitated and joined the signing of Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs) with Enat Bank and Ashagari Consulting Firm that affirm their commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. More than forty-five participants drawn from the Government, private sector and mass media attended the event held in December 2022 in Addis Ababa.

Mr. Schadrack Dusabe, UN Women Ethiopia Deputy Representative/Head Office a.i, in his welcoming remarks highlighted that the commitment should drive activities that enhance business practices and empower women.

“Today’s signature marks a solid foundation of goodwill and commitment. But this commitment should be translated into action and play a paramount role in motivating companies and organizations to practice the GEWE agenda in workplace, in the market as well as in the community.” He also notes that WEPs have globally a positive correlation between gender responsive business environment and business performance.

Ms. Zebider Bogale, Representative of the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (MoWSA), in her opening remarks said, “The Ministry WEPs are aligned with the country’s Ten Years’ Development Plan.’’ She also expressed the Ministry’s commitment to engage and support in translating the principles into practice. 

Highlighting the firm engagement and experience in women’s economic empowerment, Ms. Mekdes Gebrewold, CEO of Ashagari Consulting Firm, said, "the initiative would motivate the entire team to deliver better by assessing our company’s policies and practices from a gender equality point of view."

In her presentation, Ms. Tigist Abate, Vice President of Enat Bank, noted that the initiative will serve as a tool to enhance women’s economic empowerment in different business settings, including in her institution.

“The seven Women Empowerment Principles have a key role in empowering women at the institutional and national levels. Enat Bank is proud of being part of this initiative, and it will strengthen its efforts of supporting women in the economic and social sectors," she said.

In addition to the signing ceremony, the event held under the theme ‘’Empowering Women in the Workplace, Market place and Community ‘’ served to discuss best practices on WEPs’ implementation such as key results, challenges and lessons learned from UN Women Kenya Office and from Gulf Africa Bank based in Kenya.

In a presentation, UN Women Ethiopia Country Office also shared the experience from WEPs signatory, Kombolcha Textile Share Company in Ethiopia, WEPs’ benefits and impact on gender equality and sustainable economic development.

At the conclusion of the event, representatives of six participating private sector companies committed to start the journey towards subscribing to WEPs for the next cohort of Signatories.

In 2010, UN Women and UN Global Compact developed a set of seven Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). The WEPs are informed by international labor and human rights standards and grounded in the recognition that businesses have a stake in and responsibility for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment (GEWE). Accordingly, UN Women Ethiopia Country Office encourages and supports the private sectors to be certain that equality means business.