03/09/2026 12:54
Zagreb, 9 March 2026 - This year again, for the ninth time, the Zagreb Stock Exchange joined more than 100 stock exchanges worldwide where the start of trading was symbolically marked by the ringing of the bell in celebration of International Women’s Day. The event was organized in cooperation with the Global Compact Network Croatia and the Italian-Croatian Chamber of Commerce. The global theme of this year’s event is “Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL women and girls”.
On this occasion, the stock exchange bell was rung by Ivana Gažić, President of the Management Board of the Zagreb Stock Exchange; Ana Pašiček, Executive Director of the Global Compact Network Croatia; and Andrea Perkov, Director of the Italian-Croatian Chamber of Commerce, in the presence of female presidents and members of management boards as well as other participants representing organizations and institutions from the financial market.
They were joined by participants of the panel discussion “Towards Equality: Creating Equal Opportunities”, which brought together leading representatives of the financial and business sectors. Alongside Ivana Gažić and moderator Andrea Perkov, the panel included Alessandro Masotti (Zagrebačka banka - UniCredit Group, Head of International), Nataša Mlakar (Director of the ESG Competence Center for Business Entities, PBZ d.d. - Intesa Sanpaolo), Stjepan Orešković (Founder and Majority Shareholder, BOSQAR) and Magdalena Soljakova (Senior Country Officer for Croatia, Slovenia and North Macedonia, International Finance Corporation).
Through the exchange of experiences and examples of good practice, the panelists discussed how strategic management, responsible investment and inclusive policies can encourage sustainable growth, increase competitiveness and contribute to long-term social and economic value.
Statistics still do not favor women: although women more frequently complete higher education programs (for example, in the EU 60% of university graduates are women), they account for only 28.1% of top management positions globally and remain most represented in lower-paid sectors such as healthcare and education. Research also shows that women are more likely (55%) to experience career interruptions, most often due to family care responsibilities, which further affects their advancement to the highest management positions.
A new report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) estimates that, at the current pace, women will not achieve equality with men for another 132 years. At the same time, research shows that companies with higher levels of diversity at the executive level perform better in terms of profitability and long-term value creation.
Data for listed companies in Croatia, according to the latest Corporate Governance Report by the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency, show steady but still slow progress. The share of women on management boards increased from 15% to 21%, while the share on supervisory boards increased from 21% to 23%. However, more than half of companies (54%) still have no women on their management boards.
The main challenge remains ensuring continuous development and advancement of women to the highest management levels. The gender gap is not only a social issue but also an important economic challenge. Greater participation of women in the labor market and in leadership structures can stimulate productivity, innovation and economic resilience, while the underutilized potential of female talent represents a loss for global economic growth, said Ivana Gažić, President of the Management Board of the Zagreb Stock Exchange.
This year’s global theme, “Rights. Justice. Action.”, sends a clear message: it is time to move from declarative support to measurable results. Although the figure of 21% of women on the management boards of Croatian companies shows progress, the fact that more than half of listed companies still have no women on their management boards is a clear signal that systemic changes are necessary.
Through the UN Global Compact, we advocate gender equality not only as a moral imperative but also as a key factor of corporate sustainability and ESG criteria. The World Economic Forum’s estimate that it will take 132 years to reach parity is a reminder that, as an economy, we cannot afford such a waste of talent. Therefore, within the Global Compact Network Croatia we encourage companies to implement the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) - because equality does not happen by chance; it is the result of strategic management and the conscious actions of leaders. The sound of this bell today is a call to the business community to take responsibility and ensure that every woman, based on her competencies, has equal access to the highest levels of decision-making, emphasized Ana Pašiček, Executive Director of the Global Compact Network Croatia.
Gender equality is one of the fundamental values of the EU, and a major milestone is the adoption of the Directive on Women on Boards, which aims to improve gender balance on the boards of the largest publicly listed companies in the EU. The Directive requires Member States to increase, by mid-2026, the proportion of the underrepresented sex so that they hold at least 40% of non-executive director positions or at least 33% of all director positions, including both executive and non-executive directors.
Gender equality is also strongly supported by the OECD: economies are more resilient, productive and inclusive when they reduce gender inequalities and actively support equal participation of women in all spheres of life. For this reason, the OECD promotes gender equality as one of the issues that should represent a strategic interest for member countries.
UN Member States have agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved by 2030, and Goal 5.5 is specifically related to gender equality: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
Ring the Bell for Gender Equality is a global event held for the past twelve years at numerous stock exchanges around the world to highlight the important role of the business sector in advancing gender equality, with the aim of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and raising awareness of the Women’s Empowerment Principles. The global event is organized by the UN Global Compact together with UN Women, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (UN SSE), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).
The Zagreb Stock Exchange is a member of the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (UN SSE) and as such is committed to the global Sustainable Development Goals within the capital markets services sector.
(Photos: Niko Goga)
