🔔 'Ring the Bell for Gender Equality' on Zagreb Stock Exchange🔔
The Zagreb Stock Exchange, for the eighth consecutive year, is among over 100 global stock exchanges where the symbolic ringing of the bell marked the start of trading in honor of International Women's Day.
Ring the Bell for Gender Equality is a global event held at many stock exchanges worldwide to raise awareness of the important role the business sector plays in improving gender equality, with the aim of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and promoting the empowerment of women. The event is organized by the United Nations Global Compact in collaboration with UN Women, the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (UN SSE), the IFC - International Finance Corporation, and the The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE).
The global theme of this year’s event is “Ring the Bell for ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.”
The bell was rung by Ivana Gažić, President of the Management Board of the Zagreb Stock Exchange; Tereza Rogić Lugarić, State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance; and Ana Pašiček, Executive Director of Global Compact Network Croatia, in the presence of the presidents and members of management, as well as other participants representing organizations and institutions from the capital markets.
Statistics are still not in favor of women: globally, women hold only 23% of board seats, 12% hold CFO positions, and only 5% hold CEO positions in G20 countries. Meanwhile, studies show that companies with higher diversity at the executive level perform better in terms of profitability and long-term value creation.
'Investors are increasingly sensitive to ESG elements in investments, and gender equality is an important issue in this context. Unfortunately, 70% of companies on the Zagreb Stock Exchange have no female board members, even though the Zagreb Stock Exchange and HANFA Code require issuers to set targets for the percentage of women in management and supervisory boards to be achieved within the next five years. Each target must be disclosed in the annual report, along with an explanation of why it was chosen and a plan to achieve it. The good news is that 89% of companies have set a target percentage of female board members, but only 34% have achieved it, indicating room for progress' said Ivana Gažić.
#RingTheBellForGenderEquality and #WomenLeadership
#ForAllWomenAndGirls #IWD2025 #WEPs
