General Mills today reaffirmed its commitment to promote equal opportunity for women by signing the CEO Statement of Support for the United Nation’s Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP). The WEPs are the result of collaboration between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Global Compact and offer guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community.
The signing coincides with International Women’s Day and underscores the company’s mission of Nourishing Lives through diversity and inclusion in the workplace and building strong communities around the world.
“Diversity and inclusion is core to our business strategy. We are committed to creating an inclusive work environment, in which we respect all dimensions of diversity, including gender. Our company leadership reflects this,” said Ken Powell, chairman and chief executive officer at General Mills. “We know that when women thrive, communities thrive. And when communities thrive, we all do better. Signing onto the Women’s Empowerment Principles reflects our belief that advancing women is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do. For everyone.”
The WEPs bring together a range of existing programs at General Mills and company resources around the world that focus on building a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, delivering remarkable and measureable philanthropy, and creating shared value across our supply chain.
“Principles such as those outlined by the UN’s WEPs have been part of our values and our success at General Mills for decades,” said Kim Nelson, executive vice president of External Relations at General Mills and president of the General Mills Foundation. “We are very proud of our ongoing efforts to empower women and girls, and we will continue to support innovative programs that positively impact and engage women across the globe.”
The principles:
Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality.
Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and nondiscrimination.
Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers.
Promote education, training and professional development for women.
Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women.
Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy.
Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.
We broadly support what these principles stand for – empowerment of women – while retaining flexibility where necessary to refine, or more specifically define, what they mean to us or how they apply to our businesses globally.
For example, we view equity in pay as equal pay for equal work and have concerns with the potential negative implications of any regulatory mandates to the contrary.
About General Mills
General Mills is one of the world’s leading food companies, operating in more than 100 countries around the world. Its brands include Cheerios, Fiber One, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., USA, General Mills had fiscal 2014 worldwide sales of US $17.9 billion.
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