CST adopts UN Women’s Empowerment Principles

The Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) has adopted the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) as part of its commitment to promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women in the workplace, market and in the community.

The WEPs are a set of principles offering guidance to businesses on how to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. Set up by the United Nations Global Compact and UN Women, the WEPs are informed by international labor and human rights standards and grounded in the recognition that business has a stake in and responsibility for equal opportunity. gender and women’s empowerment. WEPs are a primary vehicle for companies to implement the gender equality dimensions of the 2030 Agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

CSE Chief Executive Officer Rajeeva Bandaranaike said, “Creating an empowering and inclusive environment for women to realize their potential both in the workplace and in the community has always been a priority for CSE. Over the years, CSE has remained strongly focused on creating an empowering culture for working women within the organization by ensuring that workplace-related policies are gender sensitive and equal.

“We have good representation of women in our workforce and, more importantly, we are seeing this representation translate into a strong presence of women in our leadership. The CSE also works with local and international organizations to advocate for greater participation of women in the Sri Lankan workforce, in business leadership and in entrepreneurship. The WEPs will provide a platform for CSE to further strengthen our women’s empowerment initiatives internally and in the community,” he said.

The seven WEPs revolve around building high-level corporate leadership for gender equality, fair treatment of all women and men at work, respect and support for human rights and non-discrimination, guaranteeing the health, safety and well-being of all workers, women and men, promoting the education, training and professional development of women, promoting equality through community initiatives and advocacy, implement business development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women, and measure and publicly report on progress towards achieving gender equality. gender equality.

CSE Human Resources Manager Anoja Senanayake said, “CSE has already embarked on a number of initiatives related to empowering women covered by the WEPs and this decision will further strengthen our efforts to ensure that we promote a truly inclusive, progressive and safe environment and a productive workplace for all of our employees.As a signatory, the CSE will have access to a number of tools and resources as well as valuable information on the international best practices in gender equality and women’s empowerment.