Removal of Barriers to Women's Economic Empowerment

Today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon asked the international community to worker harder to get rid of barriers that prevent the full participation of women in the economy. He referred to the lack of access to jobs, markets, credit and property as a few of the obstacles.

Alongside two hundred business leaders, governments, and the UN, Mr.Ban participated in the second annual Equality Means Business initiative. This initiative is a joint effort of UN Women and the UN Global Compact which has produced the UN Women's Empowerment Principles(WEPs).

Over 400 chief executives have announced their efforts to implement the WEPs within the past two years. The WEPs provide companies with guidelines on how to increase the status of women. By implementing these principles, Mr.Ban has said that all the initiatives that focus on sustainable development simultaneously ensure gender equality. Stating the main point of the conference, Mr.Ban told attendees that, "We (cannot) achieve sustainability-at a corporate or a global level-without empowering the world's women."

-Akshika Patel

SOURCE:UN News Centre