With diversity, inclusion and equity high on business and social agendas, ACCA Africa will be hosting pan-African engagements to mark International Women’s Day on 8 and 9 March 2022.
Open to all, the online engagement is themed ‘Equal opportunities for a better world’ and is co-ordinated by the ACCA Nigeria team, bringing together ACCA’s Africa markets led by women – including Ethiopia, Malawi, Mauritius, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. ACCA’s president Orla Collins will also be speaking.
Jamil Ampomah, director – ACCA Africa will address the audience, and comments: ‘The United Nations has themed this year’s International Women’s Day as “Imagine a gender equal world”, one that is free of bias, embracing diversity and inclusion. And this is just what we’ll be exploring across our society, in business and in the field of accountancy and finance.’
Lucia Real-Martin, ACCA’s executive director – markets, and one of the speakers adds: ‘With six ACCA markets led by women, they’ll be collaborating across Africa to create this pan-African experience for our members where we’ll be focusing on ACCA’s commitment to the UN SDGs on inclusion and diversity, which we made commitments to in December 2020.
‘Our engagements will be structured to explore from a very diverse lens the concept of bias in our world, the existing and emerging opportunities to break them by leveraging technology, advocacy, and collaboration - among others.’
ACCA’s report Leading Inclusion speaks to these themes, and explains what diversity, inclusion and equity mean in the modern world. Across Africa, results show that 83% of respondents said the profession was open to all compared to 78% globally. And 81% believe the profession is inclusive, compared with 67% in Western Europe, 67% in the Caribbean and 69% in Central and Eastern Europe.
However, there is no room for complacency as the report also reveals that 42% said the accountancy profession has a diversity issue that needs to be addressed. And when asked if they understand the steps that could be taken in the workplace to promote diversity and inclusion, 44% said ‘yes’ and 39% said ‘partially’.
Tom Isibor, Head of ACCA Nigeria concludes: ‘Ensuring that accountancy is a profession that’s open to everyone and that it enables us all to play a full and valuable role in society is fundamental to the reason for ACCA’s existence. Equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion are issues for everyone. It’s important that we know what our organisations should be doing and the personal steps that we should be taking to ensure that we are furthering the agenda. It is not a corporate agenda, nor an HR agenda, this is an agenda for everybody. Being an advocate, sharing our stories and enlightening others is an important step and our IWD celebrations will do just that. We hope you can join us!’
The event registration details are here:
Day 1: Tuesday, 8th March 2022 - Breaking the Bias in Society and Business
10.00am – 11.30am GMT
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sc-CuqzkiGNToff-0x1nfdjlrG5g81Szg
Day 2: Wednesday, 9th March 2022 - Breaking the Bias in Accountancy and Finance
10.00am – 11.30am GMT
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpcOCvqjgsH9JlMg2g2oxHDy-HSp2F9NN2
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Evelyn Isioye, ACCA Nigeria
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ACCA Newsroom
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Notes to Editors
About ACCA: ACCA is the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. We’re a thriving global community of 233,000 members and 536,000 future members based in 178 countries and regions that upholds the highest professional and ethical values.
We believe that accountancy is a cornerstone profession of society that supports both public and private sectors. That’s why we’re committed to the development of a strong global accountancy profession and the many benefits that this brings to society and individuals.
Since 1904 being a force for public good has been embedded in our purpose. And because we’re a not-for-profit organisation, we build a sustainable global profession by re-investing our surplus to deliver member value and develop the profession for the next generation.
Through our world leading ACCA Qualification, we offer everyone everywhere the opportunity to experience a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management. And using our respected research, we lead the profession by answering today’s questions and preparing us for tomorrow.
ACCA and CA ANZ have formed a strategic alliance for the benefit of members and to help shape the future of the profession. Find out more about us at accaglobal.com