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GLOBEWOMEN
ENEWSLETTER
NO. LXI, June 29,
2007
2007 GLOBAL
THIS ISSUE’S
HIGHLIGHTS:
I.
RECORD TURNOUT MARKS
II.
WOMEN MINISTERS EXPLORE PUBLIC/PRIVATE SECTOR
PARTNERNERSHIPS
III.
WOMEN DIRECTORS IN THE 200 LARGEST COMPANIES
WORLDWIDE
IV.
GLOBAL CONSORTIUM TO END CERVICAL CANCER
LAUNCHED
I.
RECORD TURNOUT MARKS
At no time in its 17 year history has the Global Summit of Women seen such a wide representation as it did in Berlin on June 14-16th, when 1000 women from 95 countries converged on Germany’s capital for three days of strategy-sharing, networking, and simply empowering experiences that kept the participants energized, enthusiastic and engaged throughout. From the rousing opening by Germany’s Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth Ursula von der Leyen to the Closing Ceremony when Vietnam’s Vice President Truong My Hoa announced Vietnam as the 2008 Host Country, the 2007 Summit was marked by a spirit of ‘can-do’ in its continuing focus on accelerating women’s economic progress worldwide through exchanges of best practices.
The Summit’s theme
of the 21st
Century Marketplace: Challenges and Opportunities was
epitomized at the outset by emerging leadership such as Ruth de Golia, a
25-year-old social entrepreneur who co-founded Mercado Global, a U.S. business
that provides a market for Guatemalan crafts that is now approaching US$1
million in gross revenues. Following the renowned Girls’ Choir of Hanover,
de Golia opened the
A major 21st century reality of an increasingly diverse workforce characterizing a global economy was seen by a panel of experts as an ‘opportunity’, which must be tapped in order to remain competitive. Pfizer President for European Operations Pedro Lichtinger, Deutsche Telekom SVP and Chief Diversity Officer Maud Pagel and Microsoft VP Ali Furamawy conveyed the complexity of defining ‘diversity’ within different regions of the world.
Another
21st century marketplace issue – how to deal with chronic global
problems of environmental challenges, poverty and healthcare –
was tackled at a session on Corporate Social Responsibility. Office Depot
VP Sabine Zwinscher, Digene Inc. CEO Daryl Faulkner, GE France President Clara
Gaymard and Deutsche Poste WorldNet MD for Social Responsibility Monika
Wulf-Mathies provided examples of how corporations are addressing these
issues by integrating them into their companies’ business strategies
as opposed to viewing them through the narrow lens of
charity. This theme was echoed at a session in which women government
ministers shared best practices of public/private sector partnerships business
collaborated with government agencies on projects advancing women. Whether
from corporate or political leaders, all agreed that such
collaborations are necessary to create lasting economic change for women and
girls.
Since the
II.
WOMEN GOVERNMENT MINISTERS EXPLORE
PUBLIC/PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS
Fifty women government ministers of varied portfolios ranging from finance to trade to environmental affairs met in a pre-Summit Roundtable for day long exchanges of Public/Private Sector Partnerships Advancing Women’s Economic Opportunities. Corporate and government leaders led the day with examples of successful collaborations in diverse areas affecting women and girls’ welfare.
The ministers then
chose three best practices which merited special recognition at the
III.
WOMEN DIRECTORS IN THE 200 LARGEST
COMPANIES WORLDWIDE
Corporate Women Directors International – an off-shoot of the Global Summit of
Women -- released its 11th report in ten
years on women serving on the boards of the 200 largest companies in the world
(as ranked by Fortune magazine in
2006 based on gross revenues) at the Berlin Summit. What the report found
is that glass ceiling in corporate board appointments in the largest global
companies remains in place. Only 11.2% of board seats in the
Fortune Global 200 Companies are held by women. The good
news, however, is that a larger number of these companies now have at least one
woman on their boards – 77.5%, an increase of 4% since
2004.
Two European companies lead the Top Ten List of Companies with the Highest Percentage of Women Directors. A Dutch company, Royal Ahold has a female dominated board with four of its seven-member board being female. Coming in second place is a Norwegian energy company, Statoil, which has an equally divided board that is 50% female and 50% male.
Overall, the largest U.S. companies on the Fortune Global 200 listing did best in appointing women to board seats, with 17.6% female representation as directors. At the other end of the spectrum, Japan, the second largest economy in the world, only has five women directors, one each in five companies out of its 27 largest or 1.3%. “These numbers clearly do not reflect the important role that women have as stakeholders in many companies as workers, consumers, entrepreneurs and investors who can impact on these companies’ future profitability,” states CWDI Co-Chair Irene Natividad.
IV.
GLOBAL CONSORTIUM TO END CERVICAL
CANCER LAUNCHED
For the first time in its history, the Global Summit of Women launched a major
initiative at the close of the 2007 global gathering –
the Global Consortium to End Cervical Cancer. “This may seem an unusual
commitment from a business
Joining the