UN Women announces BNP Paribas as new HeForShe Thematic Champion to accelerate progress towards gender equality

UN Women announces Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, CEO of BNP Paribas, as new HeForShe Thematic Champion to accelerate progress towards gender equality

New York, NY, April 11, 2018 – In the wake of Equal Pay Day, UN Women announces Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas, as the latest HeForShe Thematic Champion joining current Thematic Champions: H.E. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada; Dr. Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group; Emmanuel Faber, Global CEO of Danone; Giles York QPM, Chief Constable of Sussex Police and Nick Ephgrave QPM, Chief Constable of Surrey Police; Lord Tony Hall, Director General, BBC; Bruce Cleaver, CEO, DeBeers Group of Companies; and Christopher M. Crane, CEO, Exelon.

“I salute BNP Paribas for their holistic view of the workplace that will support restoration of gender balance, whether it is a lack of women in a certain field, or of men. It is the strength that comes from balance, inclusion and diversity that is key.”

– Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women

Gender equality is at the heart of BNP Paribas’ company engagement strategy. As HeForShe Thematic Champion, BNP Paribas has set forth an ambitious commitment to increase the gender mix in traditionally male or female-dominated professions within the banking industry: Human Resources and Global Markets. Additionally, the company will serve as title partner in support of the HeForShe movement’s advocacy and programmatic work until 2020. BNP Paribas will also leverage the HeForShe initiative to reach women entrepreneurs working to develop renewable energies all over the world.

“Creating a respectful environment that favours equal opportunities for all employees is a fundamental prerequisite for any successful organisation. Women represent more than half of the world's population, and companies need to go further collectively to ensure the right conditions for all women to leverage their skills, talent and creativity. This is an essential condition to accelerate economic development for all, and to contribute to a better future.”, declared BNP Paribas CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé.

HeForShe Thematic Champions, representing both the public and private sectors, have committed to implement game-changing policies and concrete actions towards gender parity. The HeForShe Thematic Champion initiative builds on the HeForShe IMPACT 10x10x10 initiative, a 50:50 by 2020 transformative initiative launched during the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2015. IMPACT 10x10x10 likewise partners with leaders from various sectors, engaging with 10 Heads of State, 10 Global CEOs, and 10 Presidents of Universities in making three concrete gender equality commitments over a 5-year period. Both Thematic and IMPACT Champions agree to annual monitoring of their commitments, and commit to generating proven and scalable solutions to close the gender gap – through the initiative’s HeForShe IMPACT Lab, an innovative platform for incubating, pilot-testing and the dissemination of gender equality solutions. 

ABOUT UN WOMEN

UN Women is the UN 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. For more information, visit www.unwomen.org. UN Women, 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017, New York. Tel: +1 646 781-4400. Fax: +1 646 781-4496.

ABOUT HeForShe

Created by UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, the HeForShe solidarity movement for gender equality provides a systematic approach and targeted platform where a global audience can engage and become change agents for the achievement of gender equality in our lifetime. HeForShe invites people around the world to stand together as equal partners to craft a shared vision of a gender equal world and implement specific, locally relevant solutions for the good of all of humanity. For more information, visit http://www.HeForShe.org/en.

http://www.HeForShe.org/en/thematic

http://www.HeForShe.org/IMPACT

Media contact:

Charlotte Hallqvist

charlotte[at]unops[dot]org