yes please do share @Aarti if you have a link to post even better!
@DanSeymour it is great to see companies like Unilever unstereotyping their advertising. We need more balanced role models across all media
The other area I wanted to raise that is often not mentioned but is key to gender equaltiy and male engagement is looking at unnpaid care and domestic work in the home. One of the major barriers to gender equality in the workplace is the fact that all over the world, women still do between three and 10 times more unpaid care and domestic work in the home. There is increasing interest in this topic â for example, a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target on unpaid care, the UNâs High Level Panel on Womenâs Economic Empowerment, which makes a strong argument for equality in unpaid care, the International Labor Organization and the OECD, and increasingly, the private sector are among those taking it seriously as a major barrier to gender equality and womenâs equal participation in the workforce.
*Oxfam has had a partnership with Unilever - Surf in six countries called WeCare, that seeks to recognise, reduce, and redistribute the amount of unpaid care and domestic work that women do by involving the community, including men, changing policies, and building a body of research. https://www.unilever.com/news/news-and-features/Feature-article/2017/surf-launches-partnership-with-oxfam.html
It has also written a business briefing on unpaid care and domestic work https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/620764/bp-unpaid-care-domestic-work-business-040619-en.pdf?sequence=3
Promundo has partnered with Unileverâs Dove Men+Care to research and support menâs active involvement in fatherhood and to produce the State of the Worldâs Fathers report. https://stateoftheworldsfathers.org/
1 Like
Katie, also interested in the sessions. They sound like the group education (or reflective workshops) that many NGOs have used for years, such as Promundo and CARE. And it is always amazing to see men go through this process of reflecting about gender (especially given men do not have that space very often).
1 Like
Thereâs so many great examples here!
One example of where AB InBev has taken action is in our workforce. We recognize that people are our greatest strength and we want to support our colleagues through key life events, particularly when they become parents as it is a time when people require more flexibility and time away from work. In 2018, we launched a gender neutral Global Parental Leave Standard for fully paid leave in all 50+ countries where we operate that is inclusive of all types of families to supports our colleagues as they become mothers or fathers, whether welcomed by birth or through adoption or surrogacy. Itâs the right thing to do for our people and for our business.
https://www.ab-inbev.com/news-media/news-stories/parental-leave-policy.html
4 Likes
Absolutely @Nikkivdg and do all watch out for a new Business Fights Poverty Toolkit to help companies tackle GBV and prepare for the Convention - due out next week!
2 Likes
Hi all! Iâm a Senior Impact Analyst with Root Capitalâs Women and Agriculture Initiative. I wanted to add that in our work as a lender and financial advisory service provider to small- and medium-agricultural businesses in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa, we find substantial need for the codification of gender-inclusive policies. Many businesses take part in gender inclusive practices (related to hiring, family leave, training of female staff, etc), but these practices may be tied to the interests of specific members of the leadership team. Without formally established policies related to gender or D&I, inclusive practices may disappear during leadership transitions or other business fluctuations.
3 Likes
@RobBaker these three really align with what we have found as well. We also found it was valuable to be able to provide anonymised and consolidated themes to our senior leadership and they then led the feedback discussions with men who had participated in the groups. This gave them deeper insights into what people were concerned about and the participants really valued senior leaders taking the time to share their own thoughts on those concerns.
1 Like
The ILO convention was a key breakthrough and CARE was very involved.
1 Like
Thanks @Fabio and @katie im also interested in how you keep men engaged once they have been through the trainings - any experiences of how to do this effectively that you can share?
@Aarti - I think youâre absolutely right. And I think one implication is that we need intentional multi-stakeholder partnerships to achieve genuine change in what is such a deeply rooted and ubiquitous issue. Business has a role, but as you imply, itâs working out how that role connects to the roles of government and civil society actors will be key to unlocking transformation. Ultimately we canât look at each sector in a silo.
2 Likes
@FabioVerani agree, and the feedback was that the participants really valued having the space (even if some had been skeptical originally). Also important that it doesnt just stop at one conversation, and that there are tangible actions for them to take as many of you have noted
2 Likes
For the development work we do we often connect the group sessions with men (with are more private and personal) to community engagement work and activism. The idea is to help them move from reflection to action.
Sounds good @KatieFergusson - also we found what was very powerful was getting the voice of the women into the sessions with men, so we recorded a video which we showed in the meeting of women recounting some of the experiences they had faced of âmicroagressionsâ etc and also stating what kids of support they wanted to see from the men eg setting meeting times with regard to being family friendly
4 Likes
To add to that, there are a lot of experiences recently of work with men and women together (which some call gender synchronized work). The reason is that there is only so far that we can go in gender segregated spaces for reflection. Men and women live in the same world and for heterosexual couples inhabit the same relationships or homes.
Another example is through our brands, we recognize the significant opportunity for marketing campaigns and programs to influence social norms and individual behaviors. In 2018, our Carling Black Label brand launched a #NoExcuse campaign in South Africa working in partnership with others to raise awareness of gender-based violence and to invite South African men to take a stand against violence. The campaign includes advertising, high profile activations and a powerful on-the-ground program promoting positive masculinity. It is a long-term commitment of the brand that has reached 45 million people through social media and traditional advertising.
1 Like
Working with men and women together allows them to hear the challenges from each perspective.
@AliceAllan yes this is absolutely key - one way was to offera longer male ally / advocate training session afterwards which many signed up to and support creation of that peer network across the business while providing the flexibility for them to be creative in how they are visible ambassadors this topic in their own context and part of the business. We have also found working with local organisations on this really helps to maintain the momentum - working in partnership with other sectors and expert voices on this really supports capacity building internally
1 Like
This includes some references: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322306943_New_Directions_in_Diversity_and_Inclusion_A_Dialogue_on_What_Truly_Works
Additionally, this is probably a view that I resonate with closely (not just because I used to work for Catalyst!) - there are many studies showing links with positive outcomes and gender diversityâŚbut from a scientific perspective, sometimes itâs hard to prove causation. https://www.catalyst.org/research/why-diversity-and-inclusion-matter/