Ringing Bell for Gender Equality Stock Exchange Conference
On March12, 2018 Amman Stock Exchange(ASE), hosted the fourth Annual Celebration of the Gender Equality Initiative in Jordan "2018 Ringing Bell for Gender Equality Initiative" which was organized by the ASE in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), throughout ringing the bell for starting the trading session at the ASE coincide with the celebration of Women's International Day in the presence of H.E. Dr. Jawad Al-Anani ASE chairman of the board, the CEO of the ASE Mr. Nader Azar, Ms. Dalia Wahba, IFC Country Manager - World Bank Group, Mr. Ziad Sheikh, UN Women Representative to Jordan and a number of Business Women and the public figures interested in SSE Principles and Gender equality , and representatives of brokerage firms , Public Shareholding Companies and capital market institutions.
Dr. Al- Anani in his opening remark declared that more than 58 stock exchanges rang the bell this year hosting on the occasion of International Women's Day, this celebration comes in the belief of raising awareness in gender equality in sustainable development and economic activity. This Initiative also aims at raising awareness of the importance of promoting gender equality in the private sector as well as encouraging business leaders around the world to make serious steps to empower women in the work place and society.
Also stressed on the ASE interest in empowering women in carrying a leading duties in the Jordanian capital market, where the ASE believes of the important role of women in promoting economic activity and participation in labor market and in its ability to development and creativity.
"Gender equality is clearly important at the social level, helping to address poverty and human rights for all. And Companies cannot continue to ignore the talents of half of the population if they want to achieve growth and prosperity" said Ms. Dalia Wehba, IFC country manager for Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Iraq
"Study after study shows the positive impact women have on workplaces - they give companies a larger talent pool to recruit from, this diversity brings creativity, creativity brings clients, clients bring profits, and profits bring prosperity." Mr. Ziad Sheikh, UN Women Jordan Representative.
On the sidelines of the celebration, two discussion sessions were held on the role of women in supporting the economy and the determinants of women's participation and the importance of enabling them to participate actively in economic activities.
The first session entitled "What Does Gender Inequality Cost Us Economically?" was attended by H.E H.E. Mrs. Suhair Al- Ali , Executive Chairman of Social Security Investment Fund, H.E. Mrs. Nadia Al Saeed, General Manager and CEO, Bank al EtihadH.E. Mrs. Taghreed Hikmat , Jordanian Senatorm H.E. Mrs. Haifa Alnajjar, Jordanian Senator and Dr. Thogan Obaidat and the session was moderated by Dr. Jawad Al Anani, Chairman of the ASE.
The second panel discussion was about "The Impact Of Sustainability Diversity On Companies Performance" was attended by Mr. Yahya Al Husseini, Corporate Governance Officer IFC Member of the World Bank Group and Dr. Samer Al-Mifleh, Director of Strategic Planning and Institutional Performance Development at the General Organization for Social Security, Mr. Tareq Al Haj Hassan, Senior Vice President - Program Manager, Arab Bank, and Expert Farat Jabr from Sustenblity Excellence. The second session was moderated by Mr. Nader Azar, CEO of the ASE.
It is worth mentioning, that this initiative is an important international event adopted by a group of global parties in the field of financial markets, namely:
UN Global Compact, UN women, Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, World Federation of Exchanges, Women in ETFs, and it is launch in various countries around the world to celebrate International Women's Day.
