Background

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Economic uncertainty, demographic shifts, rapid digitization and the intersecting impacts of climate change and protracted conflicts are among the myriad factors reshaping labor markets, flow of capital, and both government and private sector priorities in the Asia-Pacific. These trends disproportionately affect women and girls and impact their ability to equally and fully participate in the economic sphere. In this context, the private sector’s role is pivotal—not only to meet obligations under international standards, but to unlock growth by ensuring women’s full inclusion and by scaling business models that leave no one behind. Advancing gender-responsive business conduct requires an ecosystem approach, incorporating actors from MNCs to MSMEs, from regulators, capital markets and financial institutions to governments, development partners and CSOs. At a moment when retrenchment on gender and human rights commitments is being observed in parts of the Global North, Asia has an opportunity to lead. By driving innovation and advancing inclusive models of business, companies in the region can both safeguard rights and accelerate transformation. This session will explore how business innovation and cross-sectoral action can foster inclusion, resilience, and transformation to advance gender equality—demonstrating that equality is not only a human rights imperative but also a pathway to sustainable growth.

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Key Objectives

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• Raise awareness of the responsibility and opportunity for government, businesses, and capital market players to take action to advance gender-responsive business conduct.

• Showcase how frameworks like the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) can be leveraged to support both public and private sector in enshrining gender equality to deliver on their Business and Human Rights actions.

• Share examples of upstream and downstream innovation and best practices to advance business action for gender equality

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Guiding Questions

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• What are the priority areas, challenges and key entry points for government, businesses, and capital markets to advance inclusion and gender equality across business value chains?

• How can we foster innovation to accelerate action and create impact at scale for a business and private sector ecosystem that upholds human rights and accelerates progress toward gender equality?

• What role do regulators and stock exchanges play in creating an enabling environment and incentives to increase private sector reporting and sustainable finance to advance gender equality?

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Format

• Panel

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Session Partners