UAE Gender Balance Council Honours Organisations at Inaugural SDG 5 Pledge Awards

The UAE Gender Balance Council honoured four organisations at the inaugural SDG 5 Pledge Awards held at One&Only One Za'abeel in Dubai, according to Gulf News. Standard Chartered UAE received the Champions of Gender Balance in Policies Award, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) won the Pioneer of Women's Leadership Representation Award, Schneider Electric was awarded the Exemplary Initiative Advancing Gender Balance Award, and Deloitte Middle East received the Family-Focused Employer of the Year Award.

The event was attended by Sana bint Mohammed Suhail, Minister of Family; Mona Ghanem Al Marri, Vice President of the UAE Gender Balance Council; and Mouza Mohammed Al Ghuwais Al Suwaidi, Secretary-General of the council. Led by the UAE Gender Balance Council, the SDG 5 Pledge seeks to accelerate progress towards the fifth UN Sustainable Development Goal by promoting women's equal opportunities and participation in private-sector leadership and middle-to-senior management.

Eight new organisations formally signed the SDG 5 Pledge during the ceremony, including Veolia, Publicis Groupe Middle East, WPP, Epson, Havas, Stephenson Harwood, Augustus Media, and Advertising Business Group. Under the initiative, ADNOC reported having at least one woman on the board of each of its entities and highlighted its target to achieve 30 percent women in leadership positions by 2028.