The Interactive Advertising Bureau MENA (IAB MENA) organized a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) workshop by UN Women in Dubai on January 11.  

The workshop aimed to provide IAB MENA members with a methodology for designing a roadmap and action plan to advance gender equality in their organizations and drive transformative action.

Ian Manning, Executive Director of IAB MENA, said, “We are here to discuss a very important topic, which is how to ensure women’s representation, participation, and leadership in business at all levels. We are happy to be holding today’s session, which is in line with our vision of accelerating knowledge and sharing and establishing accountability standards that cultivate trust and credibility to grow the MENA digital advertising economy.”

Detailing the IAB’s DEI strategy, Racha Makarem, Chair of the IAB’s People Development Committee and CEO of Starcom MENA, said, “IAB believes in positively influencing corporate leaders and policy makers to value diversity & inclusion as a key currency for growth. IAB aims to promote this concept through awareness initiatives like this workshop and by enabling thought-starting conversations between IAB members and partners.”

Noha Hefny, Senior Consultant, and Maya Rmeity, Consultant at UN Women, took the stage to introduce the Women Empowerment Principles, a framework and roadmap for business to advance gender equality and the Gender Gap Analysis Tool, an assessment that helps organizations evaluate their progress on gender equality.

Dr. Mouza Al Shehhi, Director at UN Women UAE Liaison for the GCC, said, “As part of our role, as the global United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, we aim to increase awareness about the UN’s Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs) to strengthen the role of businesses and the private sector at large in advancing gender equality in the workplace, community, and marketplace. We hope that this session will drive fast-forward progress for women’s representation, participation, and leadership in business at all levels, while taking into consideration the cultural context that is specific to the UAE and Middle East. By encouraging the adoption of gender-responsive practices such as gender-responsive procurement, this would additionally drive transformative change for women-led businesses."