The largest private sector energy company in Brazil with operations in generation, transmission and commercialization of energy, transmission of natural gas and energy solutions, ENGIE has joined the Corporate Coalition for ending Violence against Women and Girls. The initiative is a coalition of major companies in a collaborative drive, combining effort and resources to raise awareness and mobilization for ending violence against women and girls with a focus on actions in the working environment.

The formal adherence to the campaign will take place at an online ceremony on March 9 at 9:00 a.m. in the presence of ENGIE Brasil’s CEO, Maurício Bähr; the company’s People and Culture director, Simone Barbieri; the executive director of the AVON Institute, Daniela Grelin; among other representatives of the Coalition.

Spearheaded by Avon, UNO Women and the Dom Cabral Foundation, the coalition is designed to mobilize several companies in Brazil behind the common purpose of transforming the lives of women and girls, victims of violence, through investments in prevention and care both inside and outside the companies. According to a survey conducted by the AVON Institute, one in every five absences from work globally is related to aggression in the domestic environment.

“Signing up to the Coalition is one more step on the part of ENGIE in the campaign for women’s rights. We are committed to participating actively to change the energy sector in the direction of promoting gender equality and minimizing the impact caused by violence in the lives of many professionals. Among other initiatives, we are assuming the global commitment of increasing the numbers of women in leadership positions by 2030 from 24% to 50% ”, explains Maurício Bähr, CEO of ENGIE Brasil.

“Traditionally dominated by men, the energy sector has been recording growth in the participation of women although equality is still a distant goal. As well as contributing to the UNO proposed Agenda 2030, ENGIE’s initiative seeks to infuse a female outlook and contribution to another major global challenge: the energy transition to a carbon neutral economy”, Simone Barbieri, People and Culture director points out.

Effective actions by ENGIE

In line with the principles to which it is committed globally, ENGIE has put into practice its own initiatives relating to the theme. For example, the company has guaranteed the inclusion of at least one woman among the finalists in the selection processes that it holds. This is in addition to other corporate efforts such as an active search for women to pursue technical careers, the offer of benefits reconciling women’s personal and professional routines and training for combatting unconscious biases that impede an impartial evaluation in relation to men.

In addition, the number of women on the Board of Directors of the listed company in the Group in Brazil, ENGIE Brasil Energia (EGIE3) has been increased. With two effective members and one alternate member, ENGIE is among companies trading on B3 with the most women sitting on its board.

In 2019, ENGIE signed up to the Women’s Empowerment Principles, an initiative of UNO’s Women and Global Compact.

In 2020, the company announced the launching of the Women of Our Neighborhood project for the benefit of women and gender equality in times of pandemic. The project consists of a network of initiatives for actions generating incomes in municipalities where the Company’s assets are located. These initiatives are designed for fostering entrepreneurship, free on-line skills, training courses, information on support networks, perception and awareness actions for combatting domestic violence and gestational health. With business in more than 100 municipalities of 13 states and investments of approximately R$ 1.2 million between 2020 and 2021, the Women of Our Neighborhood has as its target to impacting directly about 20 thousand women and indirectly, a further 60 thousand.

Since 2017, the company has also been sponsoring the women’s five-a-side soccer team, Leoas da Serra (Lionesses of the Mountains) in the city of Lages, state of Santa Catarina, currently Brazil Cup champions in the category, offering student grants and medical and dental assistance as well as sponsoring the Escola de Leoas Project, the team’s social action group for girls in situations of social vulnerability.

“In practice, overcoming gender inequality implies giving women and girls the same conditions of access to quality education, economic resources, political participation, employment, scope to exercise leadership and to take decisions. This transformation has found an echo in the labor market while for ENGIE, gender equality is a fundamental element in its diversity policies”, completes Maurício Bähr.