Ringing Bell for Gender Equality Stock Exchange Conference
On March 9, 2017, Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), hosted the Third Annual Celebration of the Gender Equality Initiative in Jordan "2017 Ringing Bell for Gender Equality Stock Exchange Initiative" which was organized by the ASE in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Jordan Institute of Directors (JIoD).
The event started by ringing the bell to start the trading session at the ASE on the day on which it coincided with the celebration of Women's International Day. This took place in the presence of the: CEO of the ASE, Mr. Nader Azar; Corporate Governance Officer International Finance Corporation in Jordan (IFC), Dr. Yehia El Husseiny; UN Women representative, Mr. Ziad Al- Shaikh Representative; and Chief Operations Officer Jordan Institute of Directors (JIoD), Ms. Oraib Qabbaj. Almost 100 business professionals, both men and women, participated , composed of individuals interested in Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Principles, Gender equality, and representing brokerage firms, Public Shareholding Companies and capital market institutions.
Mr. Azar declared that hosting this celebration comes from the belief of the importance of raising awareness on gender equality for sustainable development and economic activity. This initiative also aims at raising awareness on the importance of promoting gender equality in the private sector as well as encouraging business leaders around the world to make serious steps to empower women in the work place and society.
It was stressed that the ASE is committed to empowering women to hold leading roles in the Jordanian capital market because it believes in the important role of women in promoting economic activity, increasing the participation in the labor market and in their ability to work in development and creativity. Accordingly, the percentage of women's contribution in ASE’s workforce has increased from 15% since its establishment in 1999 to reach more than 48% recently. Also, women occupy more than 28% of the leadership positions in the executive management of ASE.
During the ceremony, two important panels were held on the importance of empowering women to participate in economic activities and the obstacles they face. The two panels were moderated by Ms. Oraib Qubbaj and Dr. Yehia El Husseiny. In addition, there was a presentation prepared by the ASE entitled "Developments at the ASE - Opportunities and Challenges”, where they reviewed the legislative, quantities and the technical developments witnessed by the ASE in recent years and the challenges facing the securities industry and the role of capital market institutions to prepare an attractive environment for investment, especially in light of the national economy's openness to foreign investment.
It is worth mentioning, that this initiative is an important international event adopted by a group of global parties involved in financial markets, namely: UN Global Compact, UN Women, Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, World Federation of Exchanges, Women in ETFs, Government of Canada.
It is launched in various countries around the world to celebrate International Women's Day.
