HCL Technologies, a leading global IT services company today announced that its CEO, Anant Gupta, received the 2014 Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Leadership Award – 7 Principles. This Award salutes CEOs for their exceptional championship of gender equality and support of the WEPs, in particular Principle One, which urges companies to establish high-level corporate leadership for gender equality.

Gupta was one amongst only five global business leaders recognized at the 6th Annual Women's Empowerment Principles Event: Gender Equality and the Global Jobs Challenge at United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

The Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), a joint initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact, emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women's empowerment.

“A commitment to diversity and inclusion has been woven through the fabric of HCL Technologies’s culture since its very inception. As a company we are particularly focused on advancing gender diversity in the company’s management and executive ranks and to empower women to maximize their potential and aspirations,” said Anant Gupta, CEO, HCL Technologies. “This award validates our efforts to create a sensitive organization where employees can flourish and grow in their careers with a holistic approach towards performance and work irrespective of their backgrounds, experience and perspectives.”

“Meeting the global jobs challenge with approaches that ensure fairness for women and men is central to the business, gender equality and post-2015 development agendas. Indeed, success is interdependent,” said Georg Kell, UN Global Compact Executive Director. “We’re very pleased that so many companies are embracing the WEPs and helping to expand opportunities for women in the global job market and eliminate gender job discrimination.”

HCL Technologies’s championship of the seven Women Empowerment Principles earned it rich praise from the jury. The seven WEPs on which it was evaluated on included: Establishing high-level corporate leadership for gender equality, treating all women and men fairly at work – respect and support human rights and non-discrimination, ensuring the health, safety and well-being of all women and men workers, promoting education, training and professional development for women, implementing enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women, promoting equality through community initiatives and advocacy and measuring and publicly reporting on progress to achieve gender equality.