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Sydney, Aus., March 8, 2017
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is joining 43 stock exchanges around the world in a global initiative to “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” -- a partnership that highlights how the private sector can spur women’s participation in the economy.
Stock exchanges from Sydney, Amman, Dhaka, to Yangon, Nairobi and New York are participating, ringing opening or closing bells to mark International Women’s Day.
“Evidence from stock exchanges around the world demonstrates that listed companies with women representation on boards outperform those without. IFC welcomes the unified and powerful voice that stock exchanges add to advocating for equal gender representation on companies’ boards as a smart business strategy,” said Ethiopis Tafara, IFC Vice President for Sustainability and Integrity Risk and General Counsel.
IFC believes that women—as consumers, employees, business leaders, and entrepreneurs—have the potential to transform the global economy, supporting job creation, raising per-capita incomes, and promoting sustainable development. IFC works with companies in developing countries to generate opportunities for women while also contributing to companies’ bottom lines, productivity, and growth.
In the Pacific IFC is working with local and international businesses to promote women’s economic empowerment as smart business. In PNG for example, IFC has established the Business Coalition for Women with 60 member businesses dedicated to realising the full potential of their high performing female staff through targeted leadership training, and other innovations such as a model policy and training program to help them retain and support staff affected by domestic violence. “The demand from companies across the Pacific for these types of services has been very strong, demonstrating a clear acknowledgement of the strong business case for investing in women” said Thomas Jacobs, IFC Country Manager for the Pacific.
About IFC
As a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our six decades of experience to create opportunity where it’s needed most. In FY16, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $19 billion, leveraging our capital, expertise and influence to help the private sector end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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