Avon CEO Jan Zijderveld and Avon general managers across the world pledged the company’s unwavering support for the United Nations (UN) Women’s Empowerment Principles.
Avon leaders have written to the UN to declare support for the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), which encourages organizations to take decisive action towards gender equality. The WEPs list steps that organizations can take to empower women and promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community, and around the world, emphasizing the need for corporate action.
Avon has been championing and supporting women for more than 130 years. Earlier this year Avon launched stand4her—its plan which aims to positively impact the lives of women around the world. It is a promise to the women who work for Avon, who work with Avon, who work in Avon’s supply chain and to customers to create a better world for women.
The business continues to champion women worldwide and this year it has launched the Avon Academy, a new, on-demand training program for Representatives. As one of the world’s biggest female training programs it will provide over 500,000 Representatives per month with online and face-to-face learning, helping them to earn more. Avon’s estimated investment in this program for 2019 is $14 million.
In November 2018, Avon announced its support for the UN Standards of Conduct for Business to tackle discrimination against lesbian, gay, bi, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people, as part of its commitment to diversity and inclusion. In March this year, Avon UK became the first beauty brand to sign up to charity Changing Faces’ pledge to feature people with visible differences in more campaigns. These are just a few examples of the many ways in which Avon is championing women today.
“Equal treatment of women and men is not just the right thing to do, it is also good for business,” said Zijderveld. “The full participation of women in our enterprises and in the larger community makes sound business sense now and in the future. A broad concept of sustainability and corporate responsibility that embraces women’s empowerment as a key goal will benefit us all. We encourage business leaders to join us and use the Principles as guidance for actions that we can all take in the workplace, marketplace and community to empower women and benefit our companies and societies.”
