UN Women and Uber embark on a partnership to work together globally to take forward a shared vision. Both look to invest in long-term local community programmes. Uber is committed to creating 1,000,000 jobs for women drivers globally on the Uber platform by 2020. This means at least 5 pct of all jobs to be created globally will be offered in India.
Measures encourage public involvement to strengthen UN Women’s mission of economic empowerment. The idea of a gender neutral future can be attained when all women have direct access to safe and equitable earning opportunities. The partnership will see UN Women and Uber drive more access to women drivers opportunities globally.
Back in 1995, world leaders responded to United Nations and gathered in Beijing to put forward an unprecedented plan for gender equality advancement, and women empowerment everywhere. This year, marked the 20th anniversary of Beijing Declaration. UN Women takes pride in sharing with the Uber community that the new global partnership intends to accelerate economic opportunity for women. Development will see Uber create 1,000,000 jobs for women as drivers on the Uber platform within the next six years.
Uber and UN Women will begin working in countries where both have a presence. With America being a major market for Uber, the number of women drivers serving the nation is below 15 pct. Uber has drawn plenty of flak in recent months with the ride-sharing company being portrayed as unfriendly to women, whether at managerial levels in a quest to dig up dirt on women journalists not in Favour of Uber, or it be reported cases of molestation and assault on women passengers. There’s also been spiked pricing attributed to peak hour demand.
Uber operations in Delhi were temporarily stalled after a rape incident at the end of 2014. App users were not affected in other parts of the country. Uber India has had to introduce changes in operations here in terms of how it operates and in aligning with taxi cab laws. This apart a panic-button feature has been added in cabs here. Uber looks to create 50,000 jobs for women in India by 2020, and has embarked on a pilot partnership with iCare Life to train, certify hundreds of women drivers in India on the Uber platform in 2015 itself.
Committed to bringing economic opportunities to women across all communities, the partnership with iCare Life empowers women with the skill set to be employable in an industry traditionally dominated by male drivers. Training content will be made available in 6 Indian languages. Various assessment levels lead to final certification.
Revathi Roy, Sr. Associate Vice President of iCare believes in creating sustainable economic and employment opportunities for women from resource-poor communities in India to make them financially independent. An Oxfam report from July 2014 points to women’s wages accounting to only 65 pct of male wages in India. Earning potential of an Uber driver is known to be rewarding. Driver-training, and vehicle financing programme helps encourage car-owning entrepreneurs who double up as women drivers.
