The "HeforShe" campaign wa launched at a worldwide level when the actress Emma Watson addressed the United Nations in September 2014.
The aim of the “HeForShe” campaign, led by UN Women (the United Nations entity for gender equality and the emancipation of women) is for men to speak up and commit to gender equality at the international level.
Meanwhile, the UN Women National Committee in France launched the campaign in France on 27 March 2015, by involving around 25 leading figures (in politics, the media, culture, the business world, charitable organisations, institutions, and the academic world) as ambassadors for, and signatories of, the "HeForShe” commitment.
Jean Laurent Bonnafé, BNP Paribas' Chief Executive Officer, said “I immediately agreed to be an ambassador for the HeForShe campaign”. To take the gender equality issue forward in a positive way, our world needs the commitment of men, as well as women. At BNP Paribas, we have followed a proactive gender equality policy for over 10 years. The indicators are improving every year, and we hope that for the younger generations who are joining our company now, this challenge will be part of the past”.
The key Gender Equality figures for BNP Paribas:
- BNP Paribas will be one of the first companies listed in the CAC 40 Index that has a Board of Directors equally divided between men and women as from 13 May 2015 (1)
- At the end of 2014, 25% of Senior Managers were women compared with 18.4% in 2011. 45.3% of the individuals appointed as Senior Managers in 2014 were women.
- BNP Paribas always hires slightly more women than men.
- We are seeing convergence between the average compensation paid to men and women in the 12 main types of positions at BNP Paribas.
BNP Paribas and Diversity: 10 years of commitment
BNP Paribas was one of the first banking groups to commit to a policy aimed at preventing discrimination and promoting diversity. The Bank included the risk of discrimination among its 30 major operational risks as from 2006.
BNP Paribas also ensures that all differences are respected and promoted. Its Diversity Policy is resolutely focused on promoting equality of opportunity and inclusion.
Since 2004, the Group’s Diversity Policy has been applied on a day-to-day basis via: the signing of agreements, diversity training to fight stereotypes, measures aimed at advancing professional gender equality, and at making the management team more international, a disability policy aimed at hiring and helping disabled people into jobs, partnerships with specialised voluntary organisations, and the support for “inclusion” provided by employee networks. The “Diversity” indicators are improving every year.
BNP Paribas has a presence in 75 countries with more than 185,000 employees, including 145,000 in Europe. It ranks highly in its two core activities: Retail Banking & Services (comprised of Domestic Markets and International Financial Services) and Corporate & Institutional Banking. In Europe, the Group has four domestic markets (Belgium, France, Italy and Luxembourg) and BNP Paribas Personal Finance is the leader in consumer lending. BNP Paribas is rolling out its integrated retail banking model across Mediterranean basin countries, in Turkey, in Eastern Europe and a large network in the western part of the United States. In its Corporate & Institutional Banking and International Financial Services activities, BNP Paribas also enjoys top positions in Europe, a strong presence in the Americas and solid and fast-growing businesses in Asia-Pacific.
(1) Subject to the approval of resolutions relating to the reappointment of Directors at the Annual General Meeting