The fifth edition of the "Toque de Campana por la Igualdad de Género" was held.

In the framework of "International Women's Day", BYMA -Bolsas y Mercados Argentinos- together with IDB INVEST, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), UN Women and Global Compact; held in Argentina the fifth edition of the "Ringing the Bell for Gender Equality".

The initiative consisted of an open virtual day in which leaders of the corporate world discussed best practices in equality and initiatives with impact. Executives from companies such as Facebook, Globant, Supervielle and Central Puerto participated. Their motto was: "Today you ring the bell."

The ringing of the bell, known internationally as "Ring the Bell for Gender Equality", is carried out annually in more than 100 stock exchanges around the world and is promoted internationally by the Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative, UN Women, World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), International Finance Corporation, Women in ETF's and UN Global Compact.

Below are the main ideas of the day:

‍Maren Lau, Regional Vice President, Latin America, Facebook, commented on the "She Makes History" program, an initiative launched in 2016 to economically empower women entrepreneurs by training them on digital skills and business inspiration. The same already reached 45 thousand women in Argentina and was boosted during the pandemic.

‍Patricia Pomies, Chief People and Delivery Officer, Globant, explained that the gender gap in the technology sector is a global problem. "Joining UN Women's WEPs are part of a path of responsibility that we embarked on several years ago." And she commented that the company focuses on developing talent with a vision of diversity, on education and also on making women visible and recognizing them.

‍Alejandra Naughton, Director of Supervielle, expressed: : "In the case of the banking industry, total numbers are usually balanced in general terms, but when factors such as hierarchies, or specialties are analyzed that parity disappears". He stressed the importance of the equity network that they form in ADEBA, since sharing experiences and good practices in diversity favors the acceleration of change.

‍Jorge Rauber, CEO of Central Puerto, stated that his industry has always been traditionally male-dominated and that gender work is complex. He commented that a few years ago they began a process of incorporating women into the company and that this implied a deep work of internal awareness. Today, diversity is a factor they take into account in their job searches and in internal promotions, parity is prioritized.

‍The perspective of the organizing institutions

Ernesto Allaria, President of BYMA, expresses: "With this new edition we seek to create a space of visibility for actions that are already bridging the gap in the corporate world and generate a multiplier effect. This initiative joins different BYMA developments that seek to promote and foster gender equality. Among them are the Corporate Governance Panel, whose requirements include gender diversity in the Administrative Body, and the Sustainability Index, which analyzes diversity indicators in companies".

‍Cecilia Alemany, UN Women Representative in Argentina, maintains: ¨In the framework of International Women's Day, we make a call to action to the private sector to build an egalitarian future, advancing in parity in top management and decision-making spaces, in quotas in boards but also becoming aware of the differential impact that the COVID-19 crisis is having on women and that companies can make a difference by promoting co-responsibility and work spaces, even if they are in virtuality, free of gender violence."

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‍Flavio Fuertes, Coordinator of the Argentine Network of the United Nations Global Compact, states: "The search for corporate sustainability must ensure stakeholders respect for human rights, the adoption of a gender perspective in operations, the proactive management of negative impacts on women's well-being and a sincere exercise of periodic accountability."

‍David Tinel, IFC Southern Cone Manager, adds: "IFC actively seeks to close the gender gap in corporate leadership through numerous initiatives including training programs around the world, as well as our own appointments to the boards of the companies in which we invest."

‍Diego Flaiban, Head Financial Institutions Southern Cone for Bid Invest, said: "Investors are already looking for gender equality results. It is a reality that diversity in companies improves decision making, reputation, productivity and employee retention and satisfaction. All of this does nothing but translate into better returns."

‍A holistic commitment to bridging gaps in the financial sector

‍BYMA carries out various actions both in its role as a company and in its role as a stock exchange.

In 2018 BYMA signed the commitment with UN Women with the aim of promoting women's economic empowerment and in 2019 it received the certificate of recognition for the completion and approval of the WEPs gender equality action plan.

With regard to its Governing Body, it has a nomination policy where it is established that the Board of Directors cannot be comprised, in its entirety, of persons of the same gender.

Also, the organization seeks to promote gender diversity through its various products. Among them are: a Corporate Governance Panel where one of the requirements is gender diversity in the Administrative Body and a Sustainability Index, developed in conjunction with the IDB, which annually highlights the issuers with the best performance in environmental, social, corporate governance and sustainable development axes, some of the indicators surveyed for the index are the wage gap, percentage of women on Boards, management, policies, among others.

As a member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, the Stock Exchange has been carrying out the Gender Equality Bell Ringing for several years together with international organizers and in tune with other Stock Exchanges around the world.