The ceremony has grown in importance in recent years, the UN Women Regional Director said
Stock exchanges in the Middle East region hosted bell ringing ceremonies to raise awareness on the role that the private sector can play in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Ring the Bell is a global initiative that was founded between the IFC, Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, UN Global Compact and the World Federation of Exchanges to Ring the Bell for Gender Equality on the International Women’s Day and UN Women, Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen, the Regional Director for the Arab States of UN Women told The Next Mena.
“Stock exchanges play an important part in supporting the implementation and financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 5. Studies have shown that gender equality is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do and makes ‘business sense’,” Eldhagen said.
Eldhagen highlighted a study conducted by Credit Suisse which found that companies where women held at least 15 percent of senior management roles were 50 percent more profitable than those with fewer than 10 percent of female senior managers.
“The trusted voice of stock exchanges in relaying the message and being a strong partner in women’s economic empowerment is a unique lever. Stock exchanges have played an important role in influencing the private sector when it comes to diversity in leadership and at executive level, for example the Egyptian Exchange’s listing rules, which required listed companies and non-bank financial institutions to have at least one woman on the board by the end of 2020,” she said.
Ring the Bell an “important fixture” in the Middle East
Ring the Bell events have become an important fixture in the region in recent years, Eldhagen said, adding that it provides an opportunity for each country’s stock exchange to highlight their commitment to gender equality and showcase milestones.
“Last year, despite the constraints of Covid-19, many countries still planned noteworthy events: Jordan’s Ring the Bell event honoured women leaders in the Jordanian private sector, Kuwait took the opportunity to convene a panel to discuss and promote the Women’s Empowerment Principles and the Casablanca Stock Exchange in Morocco announced that women represent 51 percent of the Casablanca stock exchange’s workforce,” she said.