P&G Korea, the local subsidiary of Procter & Gamble, has reaffirmed its commitment to gender equality, in line with its global headquarters’ continued move to propel the gender initiative, officials said.

P&G last week held its third annual #WeSeeEqual summit for the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and African regions, jointly with UN Women.

This year’s event, held under the slogan “#Unsaid and #Undone,” especially sought to address women’s equality which has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attending the event were P&G’s global and regional senior officials -- Magesvaran Suranjan, president of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Marc Pritchard, global chief brand officer.

Global opinion leaders from both public and private sectors were also present, including UN Women Deputy Executive Director Anita Bhatia and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi.

After the two-day virtual gathering, the global daily supplies manufacturer vowed to roll out a hygiene education program for some 30 million girls in the region over the next three years and to introduce a corporate program to alleviate women’s burden in childbirth and child care. It also reiterated efforts to raise the female ratio to 50 percent in its supervisor and executive groups by 2022.

P&G Korea -- which already has achieved the equal gender ratio in its senior official groups -- has come up with additional gender equality measures. The action list includes a promise to address gender bias and to promote equality through its advertisements and to raise the company’s social voice against gender injustice.

Under its “Share the Care” slogan, the company will also provide a fully-paid eight-week parental leave for husbands or partners, separate from the 104-day paid maternity leave for mothers.

Also, in an extensive gesture to promote gender equality throughout industries, P&G Korea will hold a campaign called “Women behind cameras,” making sure that their subcontractors and strategic partner firms include women in their teams.

“P&G dreams of a world in which all individuals may speak equally, be represented equally, regardless of gender,” said Balaka Niyazee, general manager of P&G Korea.

“Also, P&G Korea will work to preemptively lead the agendas that arise in the fast-changing Korean society.”

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)