International Women’s Day was celebrated on the 8th of March with the Bell Ring of 104 stock exchanges. Gender equality is the target of Sustainable Development Goal 5, but it remains elusive: 49 countries still don’t have laws protecting women from domestic violence. Close to 60% of women are working in the informal sector, and their jobs were 1.8 times more vulnerable than those of men in 2020 according to McKinsey, while only 23% of the measures taken by 85 countries against the pandemic sought to enhance the economic security of women according to the UNDP. The United Nations also note that only 25% of parliamentarians are women, and only 22 countries and 7.4% of Fortune 500 companies are led by women.
The philanthropist Dona Bertarelli recently declared that “there is gender inequality with regards to jobs and salaries, and the contribution of women is undervalued. They don’t have an equal access to opportunities, financing, training or technology. Making progress on SDG 5 means making progress on SDGs related to poverty, hunger, education, health and climate change”. The Swiss association of women in sustainable finance WISF underlines Switzerland lacks a differentiated service and product offering for women with capital, while Dr. Stephania Bonilla-Feret of UNCTAD suggests that “the promotion and mainstreaming of SDG 5 is essential for a financial hub and international center like Switzerland.”
Phenix Capital underscores the success of the gender lens approach in the global financial industry, with a growth of 25% per year since 2015. This segment currently numbers 198 funds managing EUR 16.7 billion. Companies with a gender-balanced leadership have better odds of being more profitable according to McKinsey, and are more capable of innovation according to the OECD. This is leading Swiss managers like UniGestion or UBS to increase the share of women in their leadership teams to 30%. UBS has in fact been certified by the Equal Salary Foundation in Switzerland and abroad, and raised USD 552 million since December 2017 with its Global Gender Equality ETF based on an Equileap index.
Launch of the Gender Lens Initiative for Switzerland
On the 8th of March 2021, Sustainable Finance Geneva launched the Gender Lens Initiative for Switzerland (GLIS), to enhance Switzerland’s contribution to SDG 5 by 2030 through research, industry standards, financial innovation and partnerships. The GLIS enjoys the support of leading institutions like the GIIN, the GSG, SSF, the Swiss Banking Association, UBS, the SDC, and Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, and will hold its first webinars on the 21st and 29th of April at 3pm CET.
* A chronicle of the Building Bridges Community prepared with the support of Sustainable Finance Geneva and AlphaMundi Group.