We stand for gender equity

With this, we reconfirm our commitment to bring about tangible change in line with the United Nations (UN) Women HeForShe initiative, which encourages men to stand alongside women in the global quest for gender equality.

“Achieving gender equity is not only a fundamental human right but a business imperative,” says Standard Bank Group, Chief Executive Sim Tshabalala. “Women embody half the world’s talent, skill and energy - and more than half of its purchasing power. Every sensible business leader must be committed to achieving gender equity in their company and to contribute to this cause in the societies in which they operate,” says Chuma Nwokocha, Managing Director for Standard Bank Mozambique.  

Created in 2014 by UN Women, the HeForShe solidarity movement has gained momentum, driving citizens worldwide to become change agents. A unique feature of HeForShe is that it actively invites men and women across the world to stand together as equal partners in order to craft a shared vision of gender equality by enabling locally relevant solutions that empower women for the good of society.

“We can only drive Mozambique’s growth if we play our part in ensuring that the rights of women and girls receive equal treatment and attention,” says Mr Nwokocha. “In the corporate world, that also means that we must create an enabling environment, free from bias, in which women are able to advance and succeed on the basis of merit and ability.”

Standard Bank’s partnership with HeForShe was announced on 26 September 2018 at a UN Women event that ran in parallel with the UN General Assembly in New York.

As part of this partnership we set the goals of increasing the representation of women in executive positions by 2021.