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1 Mar 2022

Stanbic Bank continue to champion women empowerment initiatives

Stanbic Bank Kenya has today officially signed the Women Empowerment Principles (WEPS), highlighting the banks unwavering support towards women. The WEPs, established by the UN Global Compact and UN Women, are a set of standards that provide businesses with guidance on how to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Stanbic Bank Kenya Chief Executive, Mr. Charles Mudiwa said, “Our commitment to women is reinforced by our It Can Be brand promise which drives us to empower and invest in individuals and help reach their potential. As a bank, we are keen on providing continuous support to women, through financial and non-financial solutions that help them not only grow as individuals, but also spread this growth to their communities. We are committed in our efforts because we understand that women are the pillars of our society, and when women are empowered, the community is empowered.”

The bank has agreed to adopt five of the seven principles which include Principle 1 – High-level Corporate Leadership, Principle 2 – Treat all Women and Men Fairly at Work without Discrimination, Principle 5 - Enterprise Development, Supply Chain and Marketing Practices, Principle 6 – Community Initiatives and Advocacy, and Principle 7- Measurement and Reporting. 

The bank has already made strides in achieving milestones under these principles by ensuring that there is a higher representation of women in managerial positions and bridging the gender pay gap. The bank has also rolled out a women proposition, DADA which has successfully signed up over 29,000 women and offered capacity building and training in entrepreneurial skills to over 10,000 women.       On the bank’s supply chain, Stanbic Bank joined the Sourcing2Equal Kenya (S2E) private sector two-year peer learning platform to increase women’s participation in corporate procurement opportunities. The bank is committed to closing gender gaps in sourcing which is good for business, local communities and economies.

Speaking on the adopted principles, Head of Women Banking Proposition, Dr. Silpah Owich said, “As a society, we need to ensure that we are creating enabling environments to help us achieve gender equality and contribute to realizing the Global Sustainable Goals (SDGs).”

The signing of the principles mark Stanbic Bank as the 50th organization to sign the Women Empowerment Principles allowing the bank to join a global network of over 5,000 companies, including 49 companies in Kenya, that are committed to achieving gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community.

Speaking during the event, UN Women Kenya Country Representative, Anna Mutavati said, “Our objective is to deepen, broaden and strengthen our private sector engagement to help shift behaviors for gender-responsive business conduct. For individual organisations to take bold and meaningful action to ensure that the talents, skills, and perspectives of women are valued all the way up to boardroom level is the smart thing to do. We are excited to see Stanbic’s concrete actions transform into tangible gains for women in business.”

Speaking during the event, Executive Director, Global Compact Network Kenya, Judy Njino said, “We commend Stanbic Bank for continuing to provide holistic financial benefits through financial literacy and education with the aim of boosting economic development and competitiveness in the financial sector. We believe the bank will fully harness the power of women’s potential in order to build a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable future for the generations to come.”

 

Under this partnership with the UN, the bank will be contributing to the social and economic pillars because of a solid understanding of the impact that women have and the importance of creating opportunities and healthy environments for them to thrive and reach their potential. By accelerating economic growth, human development and contributing to making a better life for communities, the banks objective is to create shared value – giving bank to the community while also achieving targeted financial returns.

The bank has been on a journey over the years forging strategic partnerships that have made a significant impact on the Social, Economic and Environmental pillars of the country. Focusing on seven Social Economic and Environmental (SEE) impact areas, the bank committed to several voluntary global standards regarding responsible business practice, including the UN Principles for Responsible

Banking, the Equator Principles, the UN Women He4She initiative, the Sourcing2Equal Kenya (S2E), the United Nations Sustainable Goals (UNSDGs), the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and now UN Women Empowerment Principles.

Stanbic bank ensures to participate in local and global business and industry forums and engage with civil society organizations with a focus on understanding the social, economic and environmental impacts as well as stakeholder concerns and expectations.

 

ENDS

 

For more information please contact:

Catherine Njoroge, External Affairs, Reputation & Communications, Senior Manager

Tel: +254 (722) 664 992 | Fax: +254 (20) 310601 | Email: [email protected] |

For further information go to www.stanbicbank.co.ke

 

Luke Horswell, Communications Specialist,

Tel: +254 783 161616 – Email: [email protected]

Issued by Africa Practice
On behalf of: Stanbic Bank Kenya

Notes to Editors:

About Stanbic Bank Kenya

Stanbic Bank Kenya is a member of the Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank by assets.

Standard Bank Group’s largest shareholder is Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the world’s largest bank, with a 20.1% shareholding. Standard Bank Group has direct, on-the-ground representation in 20 African countries.

Stanbic Bank Kenya provides the full spectrum of financial services. Its Corporate and Investment Banking division serves a wide range of requirements for banking, finance, trading, investment, risk management, and advisory services. Corporate and Investment Banking delivers this comprehensive range of products and services relating to investment banking; global markets; and global transactional products and services.

Stanbic Bank’s Corporate and Investment banking expertise is focused on industry sectors that are most relevant to emerging markets. It has strong offerings in oil, gas, and renewables; power and infrastructure, and agriculture.

With regard to personal and business banking, Stanbic Bank Kenya offers banking and other financial services to individuals and small-to-medium enterprises. This unit serves the increasing need among Africa’s small business and individual customers for banking products that can meet their shifting expectations and growing wealth.

Stanbic Bank also offers wealth services and product offerings, including insurance, investment, fiduciary, bespoke banking, and multi-generational wealth preservation solutions to high net worth individuals, retail, business, commercial, and corporate clients across the bank’s footprint.

 

About UN Women

UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. As a global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. It 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 and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It works globally to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality for women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on four strategic priorities:

  • Women lead, participate in and benefit equally from governance systems
  • Women have income security, decent work and economic autonomy
  • All women and girls live a life free from all forms of violence
  • Women and girls contribute to and have greater influence in building sustainable peace and resilience, and benefit equally from the prevention of natural disasters and conflicts and humanitarian action.

 

About Global Compact Network Kenya

Global Compact Network Kenya is the Local Network of the United Nations Global Compact that is working to accelerate and scale the collective impact of businesses in Kenya by upholding the Ten Principles on Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-corruption and delivering the SDGs through accountable companies and ecosystems that enable change. For more information, follow @GlobalCompactKE on social media and visit our website at www.globalcompactkenya.org