The Peninsula
The Peninsula
Doha: Vodafone Qatar is marking International Women’s Day, which fell yesterday, with week-long activities bringing together its female workforce to celebrate social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women worldwide.
The day also highlights a call for action for gender parity, the overall theme for the occasion this year.
Vodafone Qatar held two Power Hour sessions with top female managers who shared their inspirational career stories and how their journey at Vodafone and prior to that helped shape their leadership skills and career objectives.
Dana Haidan, Head, CSR & Sustainability, addressed an audience at KPMG’s International Women’s Day where she talked about how Vodafone champions diversity in the workplace and its importance to the individual and organisation.
She also talked about her career journey and experience of working at the second largest telecom operator in the world. She shared thoughts on what organisations can do more on diversity to encourage further development in this space.
Anita Tomany, Head, Human Resources Operations, Vodafone Qatar, said: “We value diversity in Vodafone. We work hard to attract and retain talented men and women and support their progression so we are investing lots of energy in this space. “Last year, Vodafone became one of the first organisations in the world to introduce a mandatory minimum global maternity policy.
“Women were offered at least 16 weeks fully paid maternity leave and full pay for a 30-hour week for the first six months after return to work. Other than the United Nations, very few global organisations — and fewer multinational corporations — have adopted minimum maternity policies of this kind.
“Over the last 12 months, we have invested heavily in the development of our Qatari women, including the Springboard Empowerment training and locally developed programmes to develop business and soft skills internationally accredited by Institute of Leadership and Management. These are a few highlights of how committed Vodafone Qatar is to supporting and growing female staff in line with its belief in the importance of diversity and the critical role women play within and outside the workplace.”
Vodafone Foundation is pioneering a new toll-free emergency line — alongside NGO partners, Pathfinder International and Touch Foundation and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in response to hundreds of high-risk pregnant women in an area of Tanzania around the size of Belgium who are not surviving pregnancy or losing babies as there is no means of getting them to hospital.
