CourtHeath ConsultingCourtHeath Consulting CourtHeath ConsultingCourtHeath Consulting
  • Home
  • Services
  • Blog
  • About us
    • Our people
    • Our story
    • Panels & Clients
  • UN Global Compact
    • UNGC Statement
  • Resources
    • Our policies
    • Reconciliation Action Plan
    • Documents
    • FAQ
  • Contact us +
    • Where to find us:

      CourtHeath Consulting
      Level 30, 35 Collins Street.
      Melbourne 3000

      Contact No: 04 21 167 746 0421167746

      Email: info@courtheath.com.au

      Tram: Elizabeth Street – Stop 8.

      Contact form:







        Your Name (required)

        Your Email (required)

        Subject

        Your Message

    07 Mar

    Empowering women through procurement

    Courtheath's blog
    By CourtHeath Consulting
    ​

    On International Women’s Day please take a moment to consider how well your social and sustainable procurement practices support gender equality.

    Government buyers who comply with the international Standard on Sustainable Procurement (ISO 20400) published in April 2017 are expected to ensure that their suppliers behave ethically, that the products and services purchased are sustainable and that such purchasing decisions help to address social, economic and environmental issues. The standard refers to ensuring gender equality in marketing, the provision of information and contracts.

    For example, are you aware of the Victorian government Major Projects Skills Guaranteewhich includes quotas and actively encourages the use of Victorian apprentices, Victorian trainees and/or engineering cadets who are generally under-represented in industry vocational training such as women, and/or individuals who face barriers to vocational training or the workforce more generally such as indigenous, people with disability, older adults, or recently retrenched employees?

    Is your organisation aware of the Women’s Empowerment Principles which are designed to assist the private sector to focus on key elements that promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community?

    With the theme for IWD 2018 being ‘Leave No Woman Behind. Together We Can Empower Women Across the Globe’, CourtHeath is proud to announce that it is now officially a supporter of the Women’s Empowerment Principles. The Principles have been developed as a joint initiative between UN Women and the UN Global Compact, to which CourtHeath is also a signatory.

    The Principles

    1. Establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality
    2. Treat all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and non-discrimination
    3. Ensure the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers
    4. Promote education, training and professional development for women
    5. Implement enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women
    6. Promote equality through community initiatives and advocacy
    7. Measure and publicly report on progress to achieve gender equality.

    CourtHeath was fortunate enough to recently attend an event hosted by Sustainability Victoria for those who have taken the Take2 pledge with guest speaker, Dr Paul Hawken. The event highlighted the value of the Women’s Empowerment Principles. 

    Described on his website as an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist and author Hawken is an impressive speaker. His presentation focussed on his most recent project and book Drawdown, which he described as "the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming". Indeed, Drawdown offers 100 practical solutions to global warming.

    Many of the solutions in Drawdown are consistent with the Principles: ranked 6th ‘Educating Girls’ and 7th ‘Family Planning’, if implemented, would collectively reduce CO2 by more than 115 Gigatons. The Drawdown website says:

    Education lays a foundation for vibrant lives for girls and women, their families, and their communities. It also is one of the most powerful levers available for avoiding emissions by curbing population growth. Women with more years of education have fewer and healthier children, and actively manage their reproductive health…

    Education also shores up resilience and equips girls and women to face the impacts of climate change. They can be more effective stewards of food, soil, trees, and water, even as nature’s cycles change. They have greater capacity to cope with shocks from natural disasters and extreme weather events. [source]

    Drawdown also suggests that if women smallholders were given equal access to productive resources, between 100 and 150 million people would no longer go hungry. [source]

    The International Day of Women is an occasion that has been part of the UN calendar since 1975 (although it is believed that its origins date back to the early 1900s in New York). On this day, the UN Women National Committee Australia provides an alarming statistic that 70% of the casualties in the 2004 Asian tsunami were women. It highlights that this shocking outcome can be directly related to gendered roles:

    Why are women and children 14 times more likely to die or be injured in the wake of a natural disaster? 

    Following the Boxing Day tsunami, a simple lesson shook us all: many girls didn’t know how to climb trees. Boys did. Climbing to safety, more boys survived than did girls. This is only one example of how gendered roles and action can mean the difference between life and death. There are many more.

    Women’s knowledge and expertise as leaders, planning for and responding to disasters and conflict can help protect and empower women and girls so that they can survive and thrive. [source]

    Both Drawdown and UN Women demonstrate the power women can have, in not only enhancing their own safety and economic prosperity, but driving change on a global level. We at CourtHeath support the Women’s Empowerment Principles and encourage others to also show their support on this important day.

    For more information and to formally show your support for the Women’s Empowerment Principles, please click here.

    * * *

    A participant in the UN Global Compact, CourtHeath seeks to raise awareness about the Sustainable Development Goals and the principles of the Global Compact with business and government organisations in Victoria.

    Image: UN Women/Samir Jung Thapa

    Written by 

    ​Dr ​
    ​Julia Cornwell McKean.

    [category courtheath's blog]

    [

    ​gender equality, procurement, international women's day

    ]

    CourtHeath Consulting

    CourtHeath Consulting provides expert procurement and probity advice to government and not for profit organisations. We provide specialist consulting services about procurement issues and organisational procurement operations – as well as management of simple and complex tender processes. Our probity audit and advisory services help clients meet government probity standards especially regarding conflict of interest, confidentiality, ethical conduct and corruption risks.

    Recent Posts

    • Celebrating World Public Service Day
    • Bridging Now to Next
    • Cultural Diversity and Dialogue
    • The UNGCNA 2024 Impact Report
    • Earth Day 2025: Our Power, Our Planet

    Archives

    • June 2025
    • May 2025
    • April 2025
    • March 2025
    • February 2025
    • January 2025
    • December 2024
    • November 2024
    • October 2024
    • September 2024
    • August 2024
    • July 2024
    • June 2024
    • May 2024
    • March 2024
    • February 2024
    • December 2023
    • November 2023
    • October 2023
    • August 2023
    • March 2023
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • May 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • June 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • March 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • Home
    • Services
    • About us
      • Our People
      • Our story
      • Panels & Clients
    CourtHeath logo
    • Blog
    • UN Global Compact
    • Resources
      • Our policies
      • Documents
      • FAQ
    Linkedin     X Social
    • CONTACT US

    CourtHeath Consulting

    Level 30, 35 Collins Street.

    Melbourne 3000

    Contact No: 0421 167 746

    Email: info@courtheath.com.au

    Tram: Spring Street - Stop no 8


    Copyright 2021 © CourtHeath Consulting · Australia. All Rights Reserved.