Apara has just made a step forward with its commitment to continually expand women participation in all levels of the agrifood system: we are signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), an UN Global Compact and UN Women platform with recommendations for advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment in business practices.

By joining WEPs, we are reassured that our goals and activities are in accordance with our desire to foster gender equality in our company, in the families of our community and in the value chain we participate in. Apará gives visibility to women in coffee and wants to engage our industry in promoting equal pay for work of equal value, gender-responsive supply chain practices and zero tolerance agains sexual harassment in the workplace.

WEPs offer guidance for corporate delivery on gender equality dimensions of the 2030 agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It guides its signatories through a journey to implement seven Principles: High-level Corporate Leadership; Treat all Women and Men Fairly at Work without Discrimination; Employee Health, Well-Being and Safety; Education and training for career advancement; Enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices; Community initiatives and advocacy; and Measurement and Reporting.

Miriam Aguiar, our CEO and current president of the Brazilian Chapter for the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) has been featured by UN Women Brazil as a leadership that supports the WEPs agenda
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We are very honored to join this collaborative network and actively participate in the dialogue on how to advance towards the full participation of women in the economy.

Read more about WEPs and why Equality Means Business here.