At the initiative of the French President and the State Secretary for Gender Equality, LVMH joins the Davos World Economic Forum gender equality Task Force.
At the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron, and on a proposal from French State Secretary for Gender Equality Marlène Schiappa, Antoine Arnault, a member of the Board of Directors of LVMH, this morning confirmed that the world leader in luxury would join the Task Force on gender equality established by the Davos World Economic Forum.
Following the Global Gender Gap Report that it publishes each year, the Davos World Economic Forum has for the past five years encouraged countries to voluntarily form public/private partnerships to define three-year plans with concrete objectives, serving as a platform to share and promote best practices in gender equality, spanning compensation, support for entrepreneurs and career development. In January 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would be the first European country to join this initiative.
To confirm this decision and mark International Women’s Day, four private sector companies – LVMH, Gecina, Schneider Electric and Sodexo – along with public establishments Caisse des Dépôts and Banque Publique d’Investissement, met today to sign the letter confirming their commitment. The first signing took place at the headquarters of Gecina during a visit by the French President, followed by a meeting at the French Ministry for Gender Equality attended by Marlène Schiappa, Labor Minister Muriel Penicaud and Bruno Le Maire, Minister for the Economy and Finance. Following this initial meeting, a Work Group will rapidly bring together other companies and hold regular meetings to establish concrete proposals to be submitted to the government.
After the meeting Antoine Arnault stated: “LVMH views gender equality as both natural and essential, a social objective and at the same time an asset that enhances competitiveness. We owe it to our 145,000 employees – of whom 73% are women – to make a strong commitment to driving progress. I am delighted that our Group, which through our EllesVMH program has already introduced many initiatives to promote gender equality, is taking the lead alongside our five partners in deploying this important international effort in France. I believe this initiative is especially consistent with the actions we have recently taken regarding working relations with fashion models and their well-being.”
Chantal Gaemperle, LVMH Executive Vice-President Human Resources & Synergies, underlined: “LVMH’s decision to join the Task Force on gender equality at businesses reflects the Group’s longstanding commitment, a commitment that is stronger than ever today.”
Following the signature in 2013 of the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles, this is the second international commitment made by LVMH in support of gender equality, which the French President has designated as a top priority for his five-year mandate.