This story is taken from the Sekem Insight Newsletter.More information on Sekem at www.sekem.com

''The project „One Business Community, Equal Opportunity“ began on 8 December 2008 and runs until June 2009. The eleven members of the steering committee now met for their general assembly to plan for the coming project phases.

The specific “Gender Equality Model Egypt” (GEME) being used by the project is founded on an initiative by the Ministry of Investments and is executed in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Manpower and Immigration. It is financed by the Worldbank and implemented by the United Nations „Fund For Women (UNIFEM)“ and the NGO ICRW.

The founding organisations acknowledge the need for the inclusion of the gender perspective and a culture of equity specifically in private organizations and based on the possibility of women and men having access, on equal terms, to the production and distribution of goods and services.

The objective of this model is to develop, promote, and encourage gender equity in private firms. the aim is to institutionalize gender equity policies and facilitate equal opportunities for men and women in access to jobs, working conditions, as well as professional development, training, and participation in decision-making processes.

GEME was defined with a management systems focus and seeks to enable ongoing improvement and self-assessment as well as the identification and reduction of gaps that may exist between men and women in the workplace through the application of measures that favour equal opportunities.

GEME strengthens the “value added” that is offered by the adoption of the Gender Equity Model including the optimization of human resources to increase efficiency and competitiveness and the promotion of good personal relationships in workplaces where men and women with different skills, perspectives, and working styles can contribute to reaching the organization’s goals and meeting their personal needs. It also underlines the benefits resulting from the creation of greater commitment and loyalty by workers, and the public being able to differentiate participating firms’ products and services as being associated with a commitment to gender equity in the workplace. This is to be achieved through the use of a “gender equity seal” available to enterprise to be used in conjunction with the marketing of their products and services.

The project is currently in development at SEKEM and SEKEM Insight will report on its progress in one of its future issues.

Samaa Shehab'