FDM Group Signs UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (UNWEP)

London, United Kingdom, April 10, 2013 --(PR.com)-- International IT services provider and Top Ten IT Employer for Women, FDM Group, today signed the CEO Statement of Support for the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (UNWEP), cementing its commitment to promoting gender diversity in the workplace and wider business community.

Chief Executive Officer Rod Flavell signed the Statement on behalf of FDM Group at the firm’s flagship London office. The signing marks the company’s commitment to being a global leader for empowering women.

The UNWEP is a partnership initiative between UN Women and UN Global Compact and aims to empower women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors and throughout all levels of economic activity.

Flavell said, “I am very proud of the vital role women play in our organisation; they make outstanding contributions every day, without which the growth of FDM may have taken considerably longer. It is our aim to encourage more women to see IT as a rewarding career that they can excel in. The UN's Women's Empowerment Principles are a good guide for businesses, enabling more organisations to realise the benefits that women bring to the workplace.”

Since its launch in 2011, FDM’s devoted Women in IT initiative has gone from strength to strength, seeing the number of female applicants and staff significantly rise well above the industry average. Most recently, FDM has joined the UK government’s Think, Act, Report scheme, which encourages companies to share information on gender numbers within their organisations.

The Women in IT campaign is spearheaded by the Group’s COO, Sheila Flavell, who was awarded ‘Leader of the Year in a Corporate Leader of the Year at the 2012 Cisco everywoman in Technology Awards, said at the signing, “Research highlights the importance of a balanced workforce. With an increasing number of women at FDM, our Women in IT campaign is going from strength to strength and over 50% of our management team is female. We continuously support, encourage and empower women to perform at their best."

Nabila Salem, Manager of FDM’s Female Champions initiative added, “One billion women will enter the global workforce in the next decade and businesses have a key role to play in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment around the workplace. Today’s signing will build further momentum, highlighting gender equality as being essential for business to be sustainable. FDM is taking a lead and we hope many other companies will follow.”