Santo Domingo.- The World Bank and the National Competitiveness Council on Tuesday recognized five Dominican companies for successfully participating in the first phase of the pilot program "Certification of model companies in gender equality for competitiveness."

 The Dominican Republic Industries Association (AIRD), Acerh Dominicana, Nigua Industries, Dominican Dairy (Ladom), and the Dominican Tourism Competitiveness Consortium were recognized for having completed the first phase.

World Bank economist Javier Baez said during the last two years the initiative has sought to motivate companies to be more equitable in the workplace by not hiring on the base of someone’s gender, and for their ability and knowledge instead. "The certification model’s overall objective is to support public and private firms to promote gender equality, labor market efficiency and increase productivity, all within the context of increased competitiveness in the Dominican Republic"

 He said the initiative for gender equality and competitiveness is based on self-diagnosis, developing plans of action, activity awareness and the valuation of plans already implemented.