Makati City, Philippines / Zurich, Switzerland, 4 December, 2018 –
The Philippine Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment (PBCWE), announced that it has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Economic Dividends for Gender Equality (EDGE) for the delivery of EDGE Certification in the Philippines. EDGE is the world’s leading business certification standard for workplace gender equality, applicable across all industries and geographies, with a network of over. 200 organizations in 50 countries and 23 industries.
PBCWE is the inaugural project of the Philippine Women’s Economic Network (PhilWEN) in partnership with Investing in Women (IW), an initiative of the Australian Government. The Coalition advocates for stronger programs and policies, which aim to address the gender gap, eliminate barriers for women to rise to senior leadership, and communicate the benefits of having gender-neutral policies in the workplace. PBCWE’s founding members: Accenture, Ayala, Convergys (now Concentrix), Magsaysay Group of Companies, Natasha, SGV & Co., and SSI Group, have all been awarded EDGE certification, and represent leading employers in the Philippines, spanning multiple industries and with a collective workforce of .130,000 women and men.
“We are excited to be the first and sole EDGE licensee in the Philippines to support companies in advancing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment throughout the country. We are confident that as the globally recognized standard for workplace gender equality, EDGE Certification is a powerful tool for developing a more competitive and inclusive business sector.” says Ms. Aurora “Boots” D. Geotina-Garcia, PhilWEN Chairperson and PBCWE Co-Chairperson.
By becoming EDGE certified, PBCWE member companies join a global community of industry leaders committed to accelerating and scaling up efforts to close the gender pay gap, to increasing the participation of women in the workforce at every level, and to institutionalizing gender equality policies in their respective sectors. The evidence-based tool uses a business rather than a theoretical approach that incorporates benchmarking, metrics and accountability into the process. Companies are assessed according to the four globally recognized EDGE pillars of workplace gender equality: building a strong gender balance at all levels of the organization; ensuring there is no statistically significant gender pay gap; having a solid framework of effective policies and practices to ensure equitable career flows for both women and men; and creating an inclusive culture.
Gender equality in the workplace is assessed and accorded one of three certification levels. “EDGE ASSESS” recognizes an organization’s commitment to gender equality. “EDGE MOVE” showcases the progress of organizations, which reach certain gender-equality benchmarks. “EDGE LEAD” celebrates the success of organizations, which demonstrate exemplary gender equality.“EDGE Certification brings to workplace gender equality the same rigor and discipline that organizations apply to business-critical goals. Measuring both quantitative and qualitative data against the global
EDGE Certification standard empowers companies to define their strategic direction based on evidence. We look forward to our partnership with PBCWE accelerating the efforts to close the corporate gender gap in the Philippines, as PBCWE brings EDGE’s leading global assessment methodology and certification standard to more companies.” says Aniela Unguresan, Co-Founder, EDGE Certified Foundation.
PBCWE will also continue to work with leading organizations in the country through strategic partnerships across the academic, government, and business sectors, in its commitment to foster stronger areas of cooperation in pursuing women’s economic empowerment and gender equality in the Philippines.
###
