On 4 April “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” event was organized in Armenia by UNDP and the Stock Exchange in Armenia, a joint initiative of the stock exchanges globally. 

The Stock Exchanges worldwide initiate ‘Ring the Bell for Gender Equality’ to raise awareness of the primary role of the private sector in advancing UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality and women's empowerment. 

The event participants were welcomed by Klaus Kapper, Austrian Coordination Office Yerevan, Head of Office, Konstantin Sokulskiy, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Armenia, Olga Azatyan, UN Women Project Analyst, and Hayk Yeganyan, AMX CEO. 

During the event, five private companies - Green Rock Management Group, Tufenkian Hospitality, IDBank, Idram and Sunny Food - officially joined the Women Empowerment Principles. 

Established by UN Women and UN Global Compact, Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) are a set of seven principles guiding business on how to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. 

At the second half of the event, invited panelists discussed about the possibilities and necessity of advancing women in private sector and highlighted the importance of joint effort among the private and public sectors, development institutions to create equal opportunities and achieve equal results. 

"Women Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus" is implemented by UNDP Armenia in cooperation with UN Women Georgia and with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA).