GBTI 1st bank to endorse UN WEPs initiative

Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry on Wednesday endorsed the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs) at its Corporate Office in Kingston, Georgetown.
Chief Executive Officer, James Foster reiterated the bank’s commitment to advancing gender equality in the workplace, marketplace, and community.
“Domestic violence against women is not new; it’s an age-old occurrence. Women have for too long been considered weak, vulnerable and in a position to be exploited. Violence against them has been tolerated. Cultural norms, religious practices, economic and political conditions may set the precedence for initiating and perpetuating domestic violence, but ultimately committing an act of violence is a choice that an individual makes out of a range of options,” the CEO said.
He added that all too often, the victims suffer in silence because they either cannot speak for themselves, or because of social, political, and justice systems that choose not to hear, or do not know how to hear and respond to the victim’s plea for help. “Getting victims to come forward is challenging because of the shame they feel, or because they feel they are at fault.”
“Thanks to courageous victims who in the face of scrutiny, opposition, and potential rejection that accompanies speaking out, for telling their stories. Because of their courage, the social, political, and judicial awareness about the reality and impact of violence is growing. New laws are being passed and old laws updated, attitudes and responses from support services and communities at large are more in-tune with victim’s needs. We therefore must not sit idly by,” the CEO is quoted as saying in a release from the bank.
Following engagements with Imani Duncan- Price and the UN Women’s representative, GBTI endorse the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles and support the 16 Days of Activism for Violence Against Women and Girls.
“While we signed on electronically, it is important to host this physical event to bring increased awareness to this important initiative and to inspire our local and global partners to share our position. At GBTI, we embrace inclusivity and commit to improving the growth of all team members; this initiative is only one such way of cementing this commitment.”
Therefore, we welcome the provisions of the Women’s Empowerment Principles – Equality Means Business, produced and disseminated by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Global Compact.
The principles of the Women’s Empowerment Principles present seven steps that business and other sectors can take to advance and empower women.
According to the CEO, the equal treatment of women and men is not just the right thing to do – it is also good for business. “The full participation of women in our enterprises and in the larger community makes sound business sense now and in the future. A broad concept of sustainability and corporate responsibility that embraces women’s empowerment as a key goal will benefit us all. The seven steps of the Women’s Empowerment Principles will help us realize these opportunities.”
He also encouraged business leaders to join GBTI and use the principles as guidance for actions that can be taken by all take in the workplace, marketplace, and community to empower women and benefit our companies and societies. “We will strive to use sex-disaggregated data in our sustainability reporting to communicate our progress to our own stakeholders. That being said, GBTI now makes its formal submission to the initiative.”
GBTI is the first commercial bank and the largest organization in Guyana, to date, to sign on to this initiative.
Attending the GBTI endorsement event were in the presence of Ambassador Rene van Nes, EU Delegation to Guyana, UN Resident Coordinator, Yeşim Oruçkaya and Arianna Beharry of the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and GBTI Leadership Team.
Ambassador van Nes congratulated the bank on its gender equity focus and commended the advancement being taken.
Meanwhile, the UN Resident Coordinator shared her excitement to have an organisation of this caliber endorse the WEPs.
Wednesday’s event stemmed from our International Women’s Day awareness observance at the famous I love Guyana sign, in March this year.