SAI & UN Women Partner to Develop the Gender Equity Seal (GES)
The GES will measure the degree of inclusion of women in a company's workplace and supply chain
(3BL Media) December 15, 2011 - SAI, in partnership with UN Women, is developing a new auditable and certifiable standard, the Gender Equity Seal (GES), to measure the degree of inclusion of women in a company’s workplace and supply chain.
Despite a commitment to gender equity on the corporate agenda, progress has not matched aspirations. Gender disparities prevent women from contributing their diverse skill and talents to the national pool of human resources and cause businesses to risk functioning at a suboptimal level of productivity and return rate.
It is hoped that GES will provide a ‘gender lens’- a specialized standard - that will target these inequities. The certification of GES could be relatively easily integrated into or be part of a company’s standard audit. GES is to be applied, like SA8000, as a management-based standard, allowing for ongoing monitoring and review of respective gender equity policies implemented under the standard.
It is anticipated that GES will primarily be on a business to business level with the potential for expansion to a consumer label.
GES has, as its foundations, the relevant ILO Conventions and international human rights instruments. It includes criteria on equal pay and equal treatment in relation to recruitment, employment and termination of contracts as well as provision of a safe working environment with an effective sexual harassment policy, and flexible and nondiscriminatory work practices.
