CII launches Centre for Women Leadership in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Smt Smriti Irani, Minister for Women and Child Development, Minority Affairs, Government of India, launched the CII Centre for Women Leadership at the CII National Council Meeting, held at Vanijya Bhawan, New Delhi.  CII partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to create this Centre to drive the transformation towards women’s leadership within the economy.

;Speaking at the occasion, Smt Smriti Irani said that Industry leadership needs to support legislative efforts. She revealed that the Government will be launching 5000 creches in city centres by next week. She also urged companies to offer competitive opportunities that make economic sense for girls and women to leave their homes and take up employment away from their hometowns.

Today, India is home to approximately 663 million women, with about 450 million falling within the working age group of 15 to 64 years. With better education, the aspirations of women have grown and according to a CII Survey of 700 working women, more than 40% of the respondents aspired to rise to the top of their companies.  Also, it is estimated that 90% of women are engaged in the informal sector, adding a different dimension to the challenges of breaking barriers to the entry and growth of women in the economy.

While the Government has undertaken several steps to promote the participation of women in the economy through policies such as Equal Pay for Equal Work, the National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) and the industry also plays a critical role in creating employment opportunities for women, there is a pressing need to create a multi-stakeholder platform that tackles the multi-dimensional challenges comprehensively.

The CII Centre for Women Leadership creates that multi-stakeholder platform which aims to inspire leadership in thought and action to drive transformation and break barriers to the entry, retention, and growth of women as leaders in the economy, both within the formal and informal sectors. It will co-create ecosystems to enable women to achieve their full economic potential with the following as focus areas of work:

•         Knowledge creation through research to inform policy and industry

•         Capacity building/training to upskill women and conduct gender audits for organisations/private sector

•         Promoting best practices through gender parity awards

•         Building alliances to promote inclusion of women in the economy

This Centre for Women Leadership is a step forward in CII’s efforts to engage with industry on women empowerment.

Speaking on the occasion, CII Director General Mr Chandrajit Banerjee emphasised that the centre would propel CII efforts towards women empowerment by serving as a permanent and committed secretariat striving towards driving entry, retention, and growth of women as leaders within the economy.

CII has been driving the inclusion agenda through the CII Women Empowerment Committee in 2000 and launched the Indian Women Network (IWN) in 2013 with the vision of it being the largest network of career women. Through its 27 chapters across India, IWN has been providing various services to women and industry to drive inclusion.

19 October 2023

New Delhi