Gender equality at JSE

It was a celebration of women across the globe as markets around the world rang the bell for gender equality.

Having just celebrated International Women’s Day on 8 March, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in Sandton joined in on the noisy festivities.

The director of marketing and corporate affairs at JSE, Zanele Morrison said she was excited to see these strides taking place.

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“All the exchanges around the world when they opened their markets on 9 March, they all rang the bell for gender equality. As the head of corporate affairs and a woman executive, it has become so apparent to me the importance of raising awareness about this subject,” she said.

She added that women needed to look for some of the red flags within the corporate space and take control of the environment.

“We need to make sure that we are looking out for the elements that make women underrepresented, we need to look out for inequality in pay, in opportunity. We need to look out for the things that are intrinsic in the system that allows women not to participate equally and get an equal share of the economy, even though they put in the same amount of energy, if not more time, than what men do.”

More than 75 stock exchanges worldwide took part in this initiative which will help shine a light on opportunities for women in the private sector to advance gender equality and sustainable development. It also seeks to raise awareness about the business case for women’s economic empowerment.

An annual event, this year the Ring the Bell for Gender Equality collaborated with a number of organisations namely, The United Nations Global Compact South Africa Network, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality, the Empowerment of Women (known as UN Women), the International Finance Corporation, the World Federation of Exchanges and the Women in Exchange Traded Funds.

Morrison said it was indeed a global issue, hence all these collaborations.

“Gender equality is not an issue that only women should fight for, it is one that society as a whole needs to work together to achieve. This includes both the public and private sectors, as well as civil society, including men.”

With this, the JSE is at the forefront in their commitment to contribute towards closing the gaps.

Related articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/233710/jse-empowers-women-to-invest-in-their-future/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/221123/jse-rings-the-bell-to-celebrate-international-womens-day/