IKEA India (Ingka Group), a leading home furnishing company, has won UN Women’s top prize in the Gender-Inclusive Workplace category at the inaugural Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards ceremony on December 15 in Bangkok.

According to Peter Betzel, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Sustainability Officer, “Equality, diversity, and inclusion is at the heart of IKEA’s business. IKEA is an equal opportunity employer. Equality is a fundamental human right. To reach true equality, we focus both on the diversity of our workforce and on fostering a culture of inclusion in our work environment. Our goal is to create an inclusive culture where everyone is valued for their unique contribution, and where they can be themselves.”

Betzel reiterated at the virtual ceremony that attracting and retaining the right competence and talent was essential for the company to reach its business growth ambitions and IKEA believed its co-workers were its biggest asset.

“Over the past years, addressing gender equality has been a priority. We have to have more women in the workforce in India for a more equal society. It is non-negotiable for us to have 50/50 gender balance across all levels. Today, more than 60 per cent of our senior leaders and close to 46 per cent of our co-workers across all units are women. We have a unique 6 months parental policy in IKEA India for both men and women to encourage more women to join back work after childbirth. India is a long-term commitment for IKEA and being successful in India will help us be successful globally,” he said.

This first edition of the Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards was presented by UN Women through the WeEmpowerAsia project, for which the European Union is a partner and donor. The awards recognize innovations in the private sector that promote gender equality in six categories, as well as support women leaders, make working conditions fairer, ensure equal parenting and caregiving roles, and improve access to finance for women entrepreneurs.

The WEPs is a joint initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact aimed at empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors and outlines seven steps for businesses to achieve that in the workplace, marketplace and community. To date, more than 3,800 companies around the world are signatories to the WEPs. The Asia-Pacific alone has a total of over 900 signatories registered, including 171 companies from India.