AGREA BAGS WEPS COVID-19 ACTION AWARD

AGREA emerged as the COVID-19 Action champion in the UN Women 2020 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards held last Wednesday, 11 November 2020 on a virtual event. AGREA was specifically recognized as a company that has made significant contributions to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the context of COVID-19.

These contributions include adopting gender-sensitive responses to COVID-19 to support female and male employees, supporting women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), supporting women and girls in the community, and raising awareness of women’s needs during the pandemic, and encouraging women’s leadership and participation in fighting COVID-19.

Here are some of the AGREA’s achievements and contributions in improving the lives of Filipinos through the challenges of the pandemic:

• Bringing Healthy Food Packs to More Than A Thousand

• 200 Cavite Families Cultivate Vegetables with Grow-At-Home Kits

• AGREA’s Zero-Waste Initiative wins SGM Food Solidarity Fund

• We are Crate-Ful: Jeepney Drivers and Garbage Collectors Receive Food Packs

AGREA Foundation distributed healthy food packs to 1,100 families last 26 August 2020 at the Project Pearls Learning Center, Barangay Batia in Bocaue, Bulacan.

The UN Women 2020 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards

The UN Women 2020 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards aim to encourage, value, and recognize the efforts of individuals and businesses that promote gender-inclusive business cultures and the achievement of gender equality in the Asia-Pacific, guided by the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs).

Launched worldwide in 2010 by UN Women and UN Global Compact, the WEPs is a holistic set of 7 principles that support business to advance gender equality in the workplace, marketplace, and community.

The Awards recognizes initiatives in the following categories: Leadership Commitment, Youth Leadership, Gender-inclusive Workplace, Gender-responsive Marketplace, Community and Industry Engagement, and COVID-19 Action.

Winners will be celebrated at the prestigious Regional WEPs Awards Ceremony on December 15, 2020.

10th Anniversary of the Women's Empowerment Principles

2020 marks the 10th anniversary of the Women’s Empowerment Principles. While there is progress to celebrate, the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare and exacerbated existing gender inequalities in our region.

It is time to act now to build back better. Business has an instrumental role and a unique opportunity to play, and we have also seen that the WEPs can be a powerful tool for accelerated COVID-19 recovery.

That’s why WEPs wants to award companies, such as AGREA, who are leading the path and inspiring others to build stronger, more resilient and inclusive businesses.

This award is a testament of the resiliency and compassion of women in the agriculture supply chain alongside men who persevered in bringing food on the table of both producers and consumers, - Cherrie Atilano, AGREA’s CEO and President shared during the virtual awards ceremony.

The 2020 Asia-Pacific WEPs Awards are sponsored by WeEmpowerAsia, a joint program by the European Union and UN Women aimed at increasing the number of women who lead and participate in the economy in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam, thereby advancing inclusive and sustainable growth along with stronger links between European and Asian markets through gender-sensitive trade chains.