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De Beers Pledges to Empower Women

Sep 24, 2017 9:17 AM   By Rapaport News
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De Beers has partnered with the United Nations to support the advancement of women in the company and across areas of life its operations affect.

As a UN Women partner, De Beers has pledged to invest $3 million in empowering women in diamond-producing countries, the miner said last week. This will include accelerating the growth of female-owned micro-enterprises in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. In Canada, De Beers and UN Women will fund studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics for young women and girls from underprivileged communities.

De Beers also plans to double the rate of women appointed into senior leadership roles in its organization, achieving parity in the appointment of women and men into top positions by 2020. The company is also focusing on attracting and developing women at earlier stages of their careers across the diamond trade. It has set up a gender-diversity steering group, which reports to the group executive committee.

Since earlier this year, De Beers has carried out an evaluation of how it attracts and develops staff, held unconscious-bias training, launched a mentoring program and reviewed its policies and recruitment guidelines.

The company’s consumer brands, Forevermark and De Beers Diamond Jewellers, will launch marketing campaigns that reflect women’s diverse roles in society, the company added.

“Diamonds hold a unique place in marking the most precious moments in the lives of millions of women around the world,” said De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver, who has been named a “UN Women ‘HeForShe’ Thematic Champion.”

“At De Beers we believe it is our responsibility and privilege to stand with women, to lead in the pursuit of equality and to give even deeper meaning to the diamonds they are proud to wear and pass on to [the] next generations,” Cleaver added.
Tags: Botswana, Bruce Cleaver, Canada, De Beers, De Beers Diamond Jewellers, Forevermark, gender equality, marketing, mining, Namibia, Rapaport News, South Africa, un, UN Women, women
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