The United Nations body for gender equality and women’s empowerment, UN Women, has launched the Australian chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance.
This is just one section of a global coalition to tackle harmful stereotypes in advertising and media.
Some 21 businesses in the advertising and media community are leading the Australian National Chapter with the objective of securing actionable commitments from across the industry.
Founding members and allies include: Accenture, Bayer Australia, Coles, Diageo Australia, Facebook Australia, Google Australia, IKEA, IPG, Ipsos Australia, Mars Australia, Mastercard Australia, Omnicom, Optus, Publicis Groupe, Salesforce, Snap Inc., Suncorp, Unilever ANZ, WPP AUNZ, Westpac and the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA).
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women, Ms. Sima Bahous said: “The Australia national chapter is the 10th chapter of the Unstereotype Alliance and this launch marks a significant milestone in the journey of the Alliance.”
“I am pleased to see this growing footprint as I firmly believe in the need for on-the-ground work to drive impact.
“I congratulate and welcome all the founding members of the Australia national chapter for taking the bold step of embracing the mission and using advertising as a force for good to eliminate harmful stereotypes in all media and content.”
The Alliance aims to tackle ingrained inequalities that surfaced due to COVID-19’s impact on Australian advertising. They plan to use advertising as a force for good by showing progressive depictions of diversity across media and advertising content.
CEO of UN Women Australia, Simone Clarke said: “Representation of our community in advertising and media content is critical to creating an equal and open society.”
“One of the best ways to ensure that is to have representation across the advertising, marketing, tech, and media industry. This group of leaders is coming together to enact real, meaningful change that will impact Australia for the better.”
The Unstereotype Alliance operates on a global scale to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5 for gender equality. Each National Chapter operates on a local level to respond to culturally driven stereotypes, social norms, and attitudes within their own country.
