De Beers will further its commitment with UN Women by extending its global partnership for a further five years and joining the newly-formed HeForShe Alliance.

Driven by its dedication to shaping tomorrow, De Beers has committed to increasing the representation of women in technical and leadership roles within its business, as it works towards achieving gender parity across its workforce by 2030 as part of its Building Forever sustainability goals.

As part of the deepened partnership, De Beers will invest an additional US$3 million to extend the AWOME (Accelerating Women-Owned Micro-Enterprises) programme in southern Africa, building on the US$3 million in programmes that support women and girls in our partner communities when we first partnered with UN Women in 2017.

Since then the programme, created in partnership with UN Women and local government, has provided tailored business training and mentorship to more than 1,000 women entrepreneurs in Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, as well as qualifying over 50 local trainers to ensure the programme’s sustainable future. The additional funding will expand the programme and enable De Beers’ journey towards achieving its Building Forever goals, of supporting 10,000 women micro-entrepreneurs by 2030.

Find out more about the partnership, UN Women and HeForShe