News

Ring the Bell for Gender Equality

EVENT: Ring the Bell for Gender Equality 

DATE: 8 March 2023, 9.00 am to 11.20 am 

PLACE: Quotation Room, the Warsaw Stock Exchange

STREAM: https://youtube.com/live/QD5GcV3RQJw?feature=share

SOURCE OF INFORMATION: UN Global Compact Network Poland / the Warsaw Stock Exchange

For the ninth time, stock exchanges from around the world will take part in “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” event. To mark the International Women’s Day, on 8 March at 9.00 am, the bell in the Quotation Room of the Warsaw Stock Exchange will ring to draw attention to the issue of inequality of women and men in the labour market and in society.  

During this year’s edition, the symbolic ringing of the stock exchange bell will sound throughout the entire month of March at over 100 stock exchanges around the world. In Poland, the “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” event is organized by UN Global Compact Network Poland and the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Fearless Girl

The Polish edition of Ring the Bell for Gender Equality enjoys unique setting this year. A replica of the famous Fearless Girl®sculpture in New York and sculpted by Kristen Visbal will be present during the event to represent the importance of gender diversity in corporate leadership and in the financial services industry.

Commissioned by State Street Global Advisors and created by sculptor Kristen Visbal, Fearless Girl was originally installed on Wall Street on the eve of International Women’s Day 2017, accompanied by a call on the companies in which State Street Global Advisors invests to increase the number of women on their corporate boards. She moved to her new home in 2018 in front of the New York Stock Exchange — continuing to inspire people around the world.

As part of the partnership between the Warsaw Stock Exchange and State Street Global Advisors Poland, a replica of the Fearless Girl sculpture arrived in Poland and will be presented during the Ring the Bell event.

DigitAll: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality

The leading theme of this year’s edition of Ring the Bell for Gender Equality is “DigitAll: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”. It refers to the priority theme of the sixty-seventh session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-67), to take place in New York from 6 to 17 March 2023. Innovation and technological change and good quality education in the digital age may considerably contribute to achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Such measures contribute to elimination of digital exclusion, increase mobility and opportunities on the labour market and, through appropriate policies and actions for gender gap elimination, give women a chance to develop in areas stereotypically considered to be male-dominated.

SDG 5 (gender equality) is one of UN Global Compact priority goals since the initiative was announced by UN Secretary-General, and all measures intended to eliminate the gender gap have been crucial for building sustainable future and have been enshrined in the mission and the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact.

Every year, “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” brings together representatives of international organizations, embassies and regional and national CEOs.  

Discussions and speeches during this year’s edition will address issues such as:  

• Work-life-balance directive for gender equality
• Gender equality - a global perspective
• Innovative leadership for gender equality
• Gender pay gap
• Innovative actions for gender equality
• Women for innovation

Ann Prendergast, CEO SSGA Europe Limited, will be a special guest of the event.

“Stock exchanges can have a major impact on the advancement of gender equality by promoting women’s access to financing, by creating financial products that combine sustainable development with gender equality criteria, by promoting such mechanisms and by supporting women’s leadership,” said Sanda Ojiambo, Executive Director UN Global Compact, in a special announcement about the event.

Studies clearly show the benefits of including women in management and decision-making processes – eliminating gender discrimination can increase productivity by up to 40%.

Once again, the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) joins the global group of stock exchanges which support activities for equality and diversity in business.

The global initiators of the event include: United Nations Global Compact, UN Women, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, International Finance Corporation, the World Federation of Exchanges and Women in ETFs.  

Agenda of Ring the Bell for Gender Equality 2023:

9:00 am to 9:13 am
Ceremonial ringing of the bell by the representatives of Event Organizers: WSE and UN Global Compact Network Poland

Speeches:

• Izabela Olszewska, Member of the Management Board, the Warsaw Stock Exchange
• Kamil Wyszkowski, Representative, Executive Director UN Global Compact Network Poland
• Anna Potocka-Domin, Head of Business and Human Rights Programme UN Global Compact Network Poland 

Work-life-balance directive for gender equality
9:14 am – 9:19 am

• Barbara Socha, Government Plenipotentiary for Demographic Policy, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Family and Social Policy

Gender equality - a global perspective
9.20 am – 9.36 am

• Päivi Laine, Ambassador of Finland to Poland
• Ann Prendergast, CEO SSGA Europe Limited

Discussion panel: Innovative leadership for gender equality

9.37 am – 10.17 am

• Ann Prendergast, CEO SSGA Europe Limited
• Katarzyna Byczkowska, Managing Director, BASF Polska Sp. z o. o. 
• Valéry Gaucherand, CEO, L'Oréal Poland & Baltic Hub 
• Alicja Koleśnik, President of the Management Board, DOZ S.A. 
• Ary Naim, Regional Manager, Central & Southeast Europe, International Finance Corporation 
• Karolina Radziszewska, Executive Vice President Human Resources, Skanska 
• Agnieszka Szumielewicz, Chief Executive Officer, Brand Republic 

Moderator: Katarzyna Łastowiecka  

Mini-panel: Gender pay gap
10.18 am – 10.24 am

• Agnieszka Lechman-Filipiak, Partner, DLA Piper   
• Małgorzata Kloka, Co-founder and ambassador for 30% Club Polska  
• Aleksandra Robaszkiewicz, Head of Corporate Communications and CSR, Lidl Polska 

Moderator: Katarzyna Łastowiecka 

Presentations: Gender equality in media and science
10.25 am – 10.29 am

• Katarzyna Gaweł-Brudkiewicz, Head of Internal and Engagement Communications, Ringier Axel Springer Polska, EQUAL VOICE leader

dr Magdalena Żadkowska, Assistant Professor, Institute of Sociology, University of Gdańsk 

Discussion panel: Innovative actions for gender equality
10.30 am – 11:10 am

• Paulina Babuchowska, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lead, Allegro 
• Małgorzata Golatowska, Brand & Communication Leader, DE&I Champion, East Europe Region, 3M Poland Sp. z o.o.   
• Dorota Kuprianowicz-Legutko, Member of the Management Board, Human Resources Director, T-mobile 
• Agnieszka Gutowska, Marketing Director, Communication & CSR Leader, NHOOD  
• Katarzyna Kaczmarek, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Leader, IKEA Retail  
• Bogumiła Lewik, LL.M., Senior Legal Counsel, attorney-at-law, CAPGEMINI  
• Urszula Okarma, Member of the Management Board – Strategic Transactions and Clients' Relations, KRUK 

Moderator: Katarzyna Łastowiecka 

Women for innovation
11:11 am – 11:16 am

• Dominika Bagińska-Chyłek, Head of Regulations & Technology Challenges, Łukasiewicz – ORGMASZ

End of the conference
11.17 am – 11.20 am

Contact details for the media: 

Marta Rogalska 
UN Global Compact Network Poland 
 
mobile +48 690 019 501 

Nina Vincenz-Krajewska
Warsaw Stock Exchange
nina.vincenz-krajewska@gpw.pl
mobile +48 785 869 123

Tags: #UNGCNP #GenderBell #RingTheBell #GenderEquality #IWD2023 #RówneSzansewBiznesie #TargetGenderEquality #BusinessandHumanRights #GPW_WSExchange #GPW 

Twitter: @globalcompactPL   @GPW_WSExchange 

LinkedIn: global+compact+poland+network warsaw+stock+exchange 

About the partners:  

UN Global Compact – the world’s largest initiative of business sector representatives promoting sustainable development. Since its announcement in 2000 by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, over 21,000 members from over 160 countries have joined the Initiative. www.unglobalcompact.org  

Twitter: @globalcompact  

UN Global Compact Network Poland – a national office and a local contact and information point for the Polish members of the United Nations Global Compact – the UN Secretary-General’s corporate sustainability initiative for sustainable development. It carries out its mission through activities under three umbrella programmes: Climate Positive, Business and Human Rights, Anti-corruption Programme and United Business for Ukraine.

The UN Global Compact Network Poland also coordinates cooperation with the Government of Poland, representatives of local government and other UN agendas and programmes based in Poland or operating within the territory of Poland, supporting the efforts of the UN Global Compact headquarters to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. www.ungc.org.pl Twitter: @globalcompactPL 

The WSE Group operates trading platforms for stocks, treasury and corporate bonds, derivatives, electricity, and natural gas, and provides market indices and benchmarks, including WIBID and WIBOR. In 2018, FTSE Russell rated the Polish capital market among developed markets. The markets operated by the WSE Group are the largest markets in Central and Eastern Europe. For more information, please visit www.gpw.pl  

Twitter: @GPW_WSExchange  

UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented. 
http://www.unwomen.org and https://www.empowerwomen.org/en/weps/about  

Twitter @UN_Women @Empower_Women  

Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative – The SSE initiative is a peer-to-peer learning platform for exploring how exchanges, in collaboration with investors, regulators, and companies, can enhance sustainable investment and corporate transparency. sseinitiative.org  

Twitter:    

IFC – IFC, a member of the World Bank, is the largest institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. In 2016, long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $19 billion, leveraging the capital, expertise and influence to help the private sector end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. www.ifc.org  

Twitter:    

World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) – WFE  – founded in 1961, the organization brings together the most developed stock exchanges in the world. Since 1994, the Warsaw Stock Exchange has been one of the members of the organization. WFE promotes development of fair, effective and transparent markets. It works with legislators around the world to support standards for stock exchanges and market participants.   

Women in ETFs is the first women’s group for the ETF industry. Founded in January 2014, WE is a non-profit organization that brings together over 2,500 members, including women and men, in chapters in major financial centres across the United States, Canada, EMEA and Asia Pacific to further the careers of women by leveraging collective skill and ambition. www.womeninetfs.com  

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