PSX becomes signatory of UN's Women’s Empowerment Principles

• PSX management aims at advancing gender equality in marketplace, workplace.
• WEPs provide guidelines to deliver on gender equality standards of 2030 agenda and UN SDGs.
• "We believe adopting these principles will help augment business of the exchange," PSX CEO says.

In a major move forward, Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Tuesday became a signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) — an initiative of United Nations Women and United National Global Compact.

“PSX, learning from the Women Empowerment Principles, will be focused on further strengthening our policies of gender equality, sustainability and growth,” CEO and MD Farrukh H Khan said.

WEPs are a set of principles aimed at advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace and marketplace. WEPs provide guidelines for corporates to deliver on gender equality standards of the 2030 agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The WEPs constitute seven basic principles to leverage the corporate world towards the goal of achieving a society prioritising gender equality, sustainability and growth. These seven principles are leadership, equality, health and safety, education and training, transparency, community, and markets.

Speaking on the occasion, Khan said that as a frontline regulator and listed entity, “we believe that adopting these principles will help augment the business of the exchange while caring for the community, thereby becoming a positive force for change.”

“While adhering to international best practices in terms of all our functions, we at PSX will now be able to become a role model for listed companies in this particular domain as well,” he added.

Sharmeela Rassool, UN Women Pakistan, while appreciating PSX for becoming a signatory of WEPs and said: “UN Women believes organisation like PSX’s plays a leading role in shaping attitudes, challenging discrimination, harmful practices and developing a workplace where everyone is valued — regardless of their race, gender identity and expression, religion, or disability."

It should be noted that the seven principles emphasise the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women's empowerment. These include:

• Principle 1: Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality
• Principle 2: Treat all women and men fairly at work — respect and support human rights and nondiscrimination
• Principle 3: Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers
• Principle 4: Promote education, training and professional development for women
• Principle 5: Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women
• Principle 6: Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy
• Principle 7: Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality