Ring the Bell for Gender Equality Kicks off in Egypt
Date:
Cairo, March 9, 2020— On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, UN Women Egypt marked this day in partnership with the Egyptian Exchange (EGX), the National Council for Women, the Egyptian Institute of Directors and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, through the annual Ring the Bell for Gender Equality event at the premises of the Egyptian Stock Exchange.
The event was attended by Dr. Hala El-Saeed, Minister of Planning and Economic Development; Ambassador Nabila Makram, Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates’ Affairs; Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environmental Affairs; Dr. Maya Morsy, President of the National Council for Women; Mr. Mohamed Farid, the Chairman of Egypt’s Stock Exchange (EGX); and Ms. Gielan El-Messiri, UN Women Egypt, Head of Office, a.i.
“EGX is fully committed to empowering women and promoting their role, particularly in listed companies. All international organizations stress that empowering women does not only help improve companies’ performance at the financial and administrative levels, but also is essential for boosting economic growth. Empowering women requires creating an enabling business environment to conform to women’s needs and to encourage greater female participation in the labor market,” stated Mr. Mohamed Farid. “In 2019, 48% of the listed companies at EGX reported having at least one woman on board versus 45% of last year, in addition to an increase of around 133% to those companies who have two women on board”, added Mr. Farid.
During the event, Dr. Hala Al-Said congratulated all the great efforts of women of Egypt, praising the continuation of this event which affirms the government’s support and dedication to economically empower the Egyptian women. In her remarks, Ambassador Nabila Makram emphasized that such events that aim at women’s empowerment have a great impact on giving a strong impetus to Egyptians abroad who play a great role in the economic growth of the Egyptian state. Additionally, Dr. Yasmin Fouad extended her congratulations to all the Egyptian women, stressing the importance to include environmental issues on the agenda of EGX and the state various institutions.
From her side, Dr. Maya Morsy started her speech by congratulating Egyptian women on the occasion of the celebration of International Women's Day, which falls on March 8 of each year, stressing that the continuation of the “Ring the Bell” event delivers a message to the world relaying that Egyptian women are essential partners in the advancement of the national economy, and that they have the full support of the political leadership and all state institutions.
Additionally, Ms. Gielan El-Messiri emphasized the importance of encouraging the private sector to promote women’s empowerment to be better positioned to attract talent and expand economic opportunities for women which would boost national productivity.
The 2020 Ring the Bell event marks the sixth year of the partnership with the Egyptian Stock Exchange. Through such events, participating exchanges and companies can promote gender equality in various ways—by signing on to the Women’s Empowerment Principles, which offer guidance to companies on ways to promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace, and community. Exchanges and companies can also support by developing female-oriented investment products, reporting to shareholders on diversity practices, or requiring listed companies to disclose gender-disaggregated data in their operations.
Read in Arabic