Catalysing changes in corporations for more women in supply chains and STEM

Oracle Bangladesh Country Managing Director Rubaba Dowla

Robi Axiata MD and CEO Mahtab Uddin Ahmed

Aitken Spence Director and Aitken Spence Hotel Managements Chairperson Stasshani Jayawardena

IWMI Director General Dr. Mark Smith

LSE Group Sri Lanka Manager – Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing Bani Chandrasena

Epyllion Group Chairman Reaz Uddin al-Mamoon

Unilever Sri Lanka Supply Chain Director and Head of CCBT – Food and Refreshments Gerard Irudayaraj

Centre for Policy Dialogue Executive Director Dr. Fahmida Khatun

Bangladesh Skills Development Institute Executive Director K.M. Hasan Ripon

Cargills Ceylon Deputy General Manager – Pharmaceuticals Dilmini Udugampola

The United Nations Global Compact is the largest corporate sustainability initiative and consists of several local networks. The UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka together with the UN Global Compact Network Bangladesh will host a Local Action Dialogue titled ‘Women in STEM and Supply Chains: Reshaping the World of Work’ on 31 March, from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. (IST) or 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (BST) via Zoom. 

This Local Action Dialogue will consist of two sessions. The first session is titled ‘Women in the Supply Chain: Closing the Gender Gap’ and the second session is titled ‘The STEM Gap: Empowering Women & Girls in Science, Technology and Engineering and Math (STEM)’.

The objectives of this Local Action Dialogue will assist participants and members to understand the importance of creating more opportunities to accommodate women in STEM roles and creating more links in Supply Chain functions to increase the participation of women. Furthermore, these sessions will provide corporations meaningful solutions to retain women in STEM roles and in the Supply Chain. 

The speakers will include experts from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as well as international experts for both sessions. 

The session on ‘Women in the Supply Chain: Closing the Gender Gap’ will feature Dr. Fahmida Khatun (Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue), Reaz Uddin al-Mamoon (Chairman, Epyllion Group), Gerard Irudayaraj (Supply Chain Director and Head of Country Category Business Team (CCBT) – Food and Refreshments, Unilever Sri Lanka) and Dilmini Udugampola (Deputy General Manager – Pharmaceuticals, Cargills Ceylon PLC) This session will be moderated by K.M. Hasan Ripon (Executive Director, Bangladesh Skills Development Institute). 

The session on ‘The STEM Gap: Empowering Women & Girls in Science, Technology and Engineering and Math (STEM)’ will feature Dr. Mark Smith (Director General, International Water Management Institute (IWMI)), Stasshani Jayawardena (Director, Aitken Spence PLC and Chairperson, Aitken Spence Hotel Managements Ltd.), Mahtab Uddin Ahmed (Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Robi Axiata Ltd.) and Rubaba Dowla (Country Managing Director, Oracle Bangladesh). This session will be moderated by Bani Chandrasena (Manager – Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing, London Stock Exchange Group Sri Lanka).

The public is welcome to register by visiting any of the UN Global Compact Network Sri Lanka social media pages and completing the registration form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe--H2TDBp19Ef4lrTDcaDjt1xMbgYZJbLJhp4BqDzEbCoVxA/viewform.