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IFC partners with DSE, UN Women, SECO to ‘Ring the Bell for Gender Equality’


Published : 14 Mar 2023 08:07 PM | Updated : 14 Mar 2023 08:07 PM

Celebrating International Women’s Day, IFC partnered with the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), UN Women, United Nations Global Compact and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) to ‘Ring the Bell for Gender Equality.’

The annual global initiative with nearly 120 stock exchanges around world highlights the importance of gender equality for economic development and growth—an issue of even more importance given the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global economic downturn.

The commemoration event came as new figures showed a slight increase in the percentage of women on boards of listed companies on the Dhaka Stock Exchange from 18 percent in 2022 to 19 percent in 2023, with the percentage of women who are independent directors remaining at 6 percent compared to last year. Speaking at the event, Corinne Henchoz Pignani, Deputy Head of Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh said “Excluding women from the digital world has shaved $1 trillion from the gross domestic product of low- and middle-income countries in the last decade. Without action, this loss will grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025. Ringing the bell with all of you this morning is the symbol of our joint commitment to keep reducing the gender gap in the financial, business and digital sectors.”

Chief Guest at the event Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Chairman Professor Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam said “Our economy cannot move forward by keeping half the population at home. If you want your economy to grow, you have to activate the entire population.” He added, “At present, the participation of women in the SME sector is also gradually increasing.”

The theme for International Women’s Day 2023 was “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality,” which recognizes and celebrates the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education.

The event included a panel discussion on this year’s theme with Sylvana Quader Sinha, Founder, Chair, & CEO, Praava Health, Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, Director and Group COO, Agile Minds Group, Maliha Qadir, Founder & CEO, Shohoz, and Adnan Imtiaz Halim, CEO, Sheba.xyz and Priyanka Rani Sur, Entrepreneur, Co-Founder of Barno IT. The discussion was moderated by Ashani Chanuka Alles, Senior Operations Officer, IFC.