Can Uber’s U.N. Partnership Fix Its Gender Problem?

In a bold move to reform its image, ride-share giant Uber has announced it will create 1 million jobs for women in the next five years.

The company — valued at $40 billion — on Tuesday announced a partnership with U.N. Women on its blog:

Today, on the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, we are proud to share with The Uber Community that we are embarking on a new global partnership with UN Women with the goal of accelerating economic opportunity for women. As part of our commitment to this goal, Uber will create 1,000,000 jobs for women as drivers on the Uber platform by 2020.

This latest news comes in the wake of a slew of misogynistic incidents that have tarnished Uber’s public profile. In a GQ profile last year, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick referred to his company as “Boob-er” for the success it has brought him with women.

Then came the threat by a company executive to dig up dirt on a female journalist.

In December, an Uber driver in New Delhi was charged with kidnapping and raping a female passenger, and the company has faced complaints of sexual assault by Uber drivers across the United States.

In their joint statement, Kalanick and U.N. Women Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said that they will “work together around the world toward a shared vision of equality and women’s empowerment.”

Details of the initiative are forthcoming, but Uber certainly has a long way to go toward being seen as a champion of gender equality.

–Posted by Roisin Davis