International Women's Day

By prioritising investment in women, we can break down barriers, challenge gender norms, and build a more equitable society.

Invest in women, accelerate progress

This International Women’s Day, Diageo is proudly supporting the UN’s theme of "Invest in women, accelerate progress”, a theme that signals a shift towards proactive investments in women and the acceleration of progress within our business and communities. We recognise the global variations in challenges to gender equality and equity, yet our commitment remains unwavering – to foster an environment where every woman has the resources, opportunities, and support needed to thrive.

Achieving gender equality

How exactly are we investing in women and accelerating progress toward achieving gender equality for women inside and outside of work? Read more about the impact of recent initiatives below:

Sports

We’re making significant investments in leveling the playing field when it comes to women’s sport. Diageo owns Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchise that puts gender inclusivity at its core. Guinness is now the title sponsor of the Women’s Six Nations, Johnnie Walker is the lead sponsor of both Angel City and Gotham City FC, and Bundaberg Rum has even created the World's First Mixed Gender NRL Fantasy game.

The list goes on, with our brands committed to investing in women’s sport to ensure that women see themselves represented across the world.

Communities

We’re committed to the transformative power of investing in women, and beyond our employees, this commitment extends to the diverse communities in which we source.

‘Learning for Life’, Diageo’s business and hospitality skills programme, helps us create shared value for the communities where we live, work, source and sell, and last year, 59% of the 31,600 people we reached through the programme were women. Elsewhere, we have a long-standing partnership with WaterAid, developing gender inclusive design principles to ensure women in our communities have access to clean water, decent sanitation, and hygiene programmes, and we also work with smallholder farmers, aiming to enhance environmental and economic resilience and support farmers adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Suppliers

As part of our commitment to break down barriers for women in the wider society, we invest in our suppliers to advance positive, sustainable economic impact in the diverse communities where we source.

Last year, Diageo partnered on a first of its kind Sustainable Supply Chain Management training course for diverse-owned businesses to help these companies learn more about business and sustainability, with 85% of graduates so far being women. We work with a women-owned supplier in Jalisco, Mexico, to decorate bottles of Don Julio, as well as with over 500 women in Guatemala who make the handcrafted ’petate’ bands that adorn every bottle of our Zacapa 23 Rum. Our investment not only provides an income for these women, it also allows them to work from home and spend time on their other responsibilities.