First company in the Pacific obtains global business certification for gender equality

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has helped Papua New Guinea’s largest catering and camp management company, NCS, become the first company in the Pacific to be awarded the leading global assessment and business certification for gender equality – EDGE, the Economic Dividends for Gender Equality.

About NCS

NCS, which is also a landowner company, now joins 12 other organisations in the East Asia Pacific region to be awarded EDGE gender certification, which evaluates companies’ workplace gender equality performance against global and industry benchmarks. The EDGE gender certification provides a competitive advantage by positioning a company or organisation as a gender equal environment to work in, invest in, and do business with. EDGE is currently working with nearly 200 organisations, in 50 countries, and 23 industries.

With its headquarters in Port Moresby, NCS employs 680 women in a workforce of 1300. Through the EDGE gender assessment process and with support from IFC, NCS has actively pursued employing, and promoting women in its workforce, through measures such as sending high-potential female staff to leadership training and setting up an inhouse mentoring programme.

The company has also systematically worked on building a culture that values women as equals.

NCS has also benefitted from implementing a policy on family and sexual violence in the workplace to help its staff, reduce absenteeism, and improve productivity.

“I could see how the EDGE gender certification and our work with IFC on gender-smart initiatives would help our female staff, especially those impacted by violence,” said former managing director of NCS and now chief executive officer of its parent company, Anitua, John Gethin-Jones.

“As a business, we gained the added bonus of benefiting from a workplace where all staff are viewed as equal so we now have a more productive, engaged, loyal, and skilled team. Gender equality is without a doubt a win-win for both our staff and business.” “NCS now stands out as an employer of choice for women. We hope more companies will discover the strength of the business case for greater gender equality in the workplace,” said Thomas Jacobs, IFC’s Country Manager for the Pacific.

“There’s no doubt that companies can deliver greater business impact and be more competitive by fostering an equitable and inclusive workplace for women and men.” IFC’s work in Papua New Guinea is supported by the Australian and New Zealand Governments under the Papua New Guinea Partnership.

Papua New Guinea Partnership

IFC’s work in Papua New Guinea is guided by the Papua New Guinea Partnership. Australia, New Zealand and IFC are working together through the Partnership to stimulate private sector investment and reduce poverty in Papua New Guinea.