A COMMUNICATIONS GUIDE
Engage in gender-inclusive sourcing
for the benefit of companies and society
As a third and essential part of its Toolkit for Inclusive sourcing, the Women’s Forum has launched a Communication Guide to communicate about the why, what and how to achieve supplier diversity and implement a gender-inclusive sourcing program.
Why are we talking about Inclusive Sourcing?
A gender-equal economy is a question of social justice and an economic imperative. According to our G20 Barometer 2021, 78% of G20 citizens think that there would be positive consequences on economic growth if women had the same opportunities as men in their professional life. Companies are key actors to make gender equality become a reality. The purchasing power of big companies in their supply chain is one of the biggest – but still untapped – opportunities for women’s economic empowerment.
One large company with a diverse supply chain can make all the difference in the lives of countless women-owned businesses. Thus, companies should implement gender strategies that tackle the root causes of inequality in their supply chain.
The procurement market often makes up 10 to 15 percent of the GDP of developed countries[1]. Government procurement is an important dimension of international trade, but only 1% of public procurement annual expenditure is addressed to women-owned businesses[2].
Therefore private and public companies must engage in gender-inclusive sourcing for the benefit of the economy and of society as a whole.
The first part of the Women’s Forum Toolkit for Action, the Inclusive Sourcing Journey, offers companies the means to assess the maturity, reach and impact of their supplier diversity and provides recommendations to act.
However, organisations must be fully engaged to achieve real action on inclusive sourcing. And communicating about gender-inclusive procurement, starting with the definition itself, is a complex task.
This is why the Women’s Forum has created this Communication Guide: to help you persuade your colleagues, your suppliers and external stakeholders to act on inclusive sourcing.
This Guide will help you to:
-Define the terms of gender-inclusive sourcing,
-Engage all stakeholders,
-Have convincing talking points,
-Implement successful practices, exemplified by a set of case studies,
-Enrich your knowledge through a range of other external tools and resources.
The Women4Business Daring Circle is led by P&G, in collaboration with BNP Paribas, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oréal and Publicis Groupe. The Circle is supported by Knowledge Partner Kearney, Insight Partner Clifford Chance, and Institutional Partners WEConnect International and UN Women, and HEC as Academic Partner, along with a diverse network of experts and corporate champions.
[1] Kirton, R.M. 2013. Gender, Trade and Public Procurement Policy: Kenya, India, Australia, Jamaica.
[2] The World Bank. 2021. Gender and Equality in Public Procurement.