We provide a level field by considering the qualifications, skills, experience and performance as the basis for the recruitment, hiring, placement, training, compensation and advancement within the organization. Our recruiting and rewards policies apply commonly for both the genders and are based on the principle of fairness and equity. While our statutory boards do not have women representation, women provide significant leadership inputs on our advisory boards.

We also examined other indicators of gender diversity within our organization and found that we have a lot of work to do to bring about a balance among men and women. Women form roughly 24 percent of our employee workforce; the general distribution of our work-force has been presented in Table 2.

Almost our entire workforce consists of full time employees, by design, since we believe in developing long term relationships. In addition to the general work-force distribution, a similar breakup by gender according to function has been shown in Figure 2.

We found positions such as those of the top executive offices, customer and commercial leadership and emerging markets to have relatively lower numbers of women employees. All these findings led us to critically examine our practices of gender diversity and inclusiveness in the organization. We initiated programs under a newly set up Diversity Council to assist our women employees overcome some of the constraints placed by society and culture in the region that currently restrict their ability to build their careers with us. These programs include DiversitySensitivity Training for the Leadership Council, Crèche Support Policy and a Flexi-time Policy.Focused training such as the Women Leadership Program, Gender Smart Workshop and Inspirational Leadership Industry Interactions, are intended to act as catalysts towards improvement of our gender diversity ratios. We will be closely monitoring these initiatives to determine their impact on gender diversity within our organization.

EKOCOOL SOLAR POWERED COOLER

The 5by20 Solar Cooler program is currently transforming the lives of women retailers in rural India. Coca-Cola India under this program is distributing solar powered refrigeration units (solar coolers) free of cost to women retailers in rural areas that are plagued by no or intermittent power supply. An environment friendly innovation developed by Coca-Cola India, the solar cooler is powered exclusively by solar energy, allowing retailers to sell chilled beverages without ice or electricity. The solar coolers also have a provision for charging mobile phones and solar lanterns. The solar lantern allows the owner to keep her store open even after the sun sets. The mobile charging port helps the women retailer stay connected for her business and personal needs and provides an additional source of revenue in rural areas as she charges the consumers for the charging service.

The 5by20 Solar Cooler program is Cola-Cola India's environment friendly way to boost beverage sales while economically empowering women at the Bottom of the Pyramid through increased opportunity to generate income.

PARIVARTAN TRAINING PROGRAM

The Business Skills Capability Program led by the Coca-Cola University for small retailers in rural India was extended to women retailers in 2011.

The training sessions take place in classrooms and customized buses (CCU on Wheels) and are led by Coca-Cola certified trainers.

PROJECT UNNATI

This project enables mango farmers to adopt Ultra High Density farming Practices (UHDP), allowing mango farmers to plant more trees in less space. Combined with a drip irrigation system, the program helps farmers significantly enhance their crop yield and also their income. Over the next few years, Project Unnati aims to reach out to 50,000 farmers, 15% - 20% of whom will be women (please refer the section on sustainable sourcing for further details on project Unnati).