"Gender Equality is Smart Economics"- SAI & UN Women to Develop UN Gender Equality Seal 

This new partnership will establish a strategy and implementation plan for the UN Gender Equality Seal (GES) as an auditable standard

September 2011

In September 2011, SAI and UN Women established a partnership to develop a global implementation plan for the UN Gender Equality Seal. This new auditable standard and certification system will focus on gender equality in a company and its supply chain.  

After completing a pilot project earlier this year, UN Women decided to work with SAI to gain knowledge on establishing and managing a certification program. In addition, UN Women seeks to benefit from SAI's extensive experience in management systems for social performance and in working with companies to measure and improve their capacity.  

Craig Moss, Director of Corporate Programs & Training, offered his perspective on the project: "We are excited to be working with UN Women on this critical issue. The current trend in the field of international labor and environmental standards/codes is towards broader standards that cover a wider and wider range of corporate social responsibility. Against that backdrop, UN Women has developed a very deep, but specialized program that focuses on gender equality. The challenge is to develop an implementation plan so the Gender Equality Seal is welcomed as an essential addition to existing broader standards and codes."

Maya Morsy, UN Women Country Coordinator in Egypt noted, "it is essential to ensure that the Gender Equity Seal is not only a certification that companies would aim to get, but it is a belief and a process that they would aim to implement. Partnering with SAI is essential to ensure that we are working in partnership with other certification process and we are adding a benchmark." 

Gender equality is a human right and a business imperative. As highlighted in the GES pilot final report, 'gender equality is smart economics.' Look for more information on this exciting project in the coming months.

About UN Women: In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.  

For more information, contact SAI Communications Manager, Joleen Ong at JOng@sa-intl.org