7th "Our Strength Is Our Equality" Summit Held

The 7th Strength Our Equality Summit organised by the UN Global Compact Turkey Women's Empowerment Bursa Platform was held with great interest at Villa Verde's meeting hall in Bursa on Thursday, 12 September.                                                                                                          

The 7th Strength Our Equality Summit of the Women's Empowerment Bursa Platform, established in 2016 under UN Global Compact Turkey with the coordination of BUİKAD, BUSİAD and Yeşim Grup and support from KalDer, focused this year on the topics of "Women's Leadership and Equal Pay for Equal Work". 

The Strength Our Equality Summit was opened with welcome remarks by Dilek Cesur, Corporate Communications Director at Yeşim Grup; Şeyda Şençayır, Chair of BUİKAD Board of Directors; Buğra Küçükkayalar, Chair of BUSİAD Board of Directors; and Serkan Ürkmez, Chair of KalDer Bursa Branch Board of Directors. Following this, Ahmet Dördüncü, Chair of the UN Global Compact Turkey Board of Directors, delivered the opening speech. 

In his speech, Ahmet Dördüncü emphasised that progress on gender equality has not been achieved at the global and Turkey level, and in fact, there has been regression in some areas. He said: "The need to raise awareness about gender equality in business is not diminishing, but efforts have not yet been reflected in the data. Women's participation in the workforce and representation in leadership positions remain low; we must move quickly. As UN Global Compact Turkey, we continue to support our companies in setting gender equality targets, monitoring them and achieving these targets." 

The summit took place in two separate panel sessions. Under the headings "Women's Leadership: Equal Representation and Inclusion at All Levels" and "Equal Pay for Equal Work: Corporate Responsibilities and Best Practices", speakers conveyed to participants examples of practices in their organisations on gender equality, providing equal opportunities in working life for all women and men, women's empowerment and supporting development opportunities.

In the panel titled "Women's Leadership: Equal Representation and Inclusion at All Levels", moderated by Şeyda Şençayır, Chair of BUİKAD Board of Directors, speakers included Melis Sökmen, Human Resources and Corporate Communications Director at Turkey's Industrial and Development Bank; Sezer Sungur Saral, Founding Partner at Reeder; and Tolga Görgülü, Human Resources Director at Oyak Renault. 

In the panel titled "Equal Pay for Equal Work: Corporate Responsibilities and Best Practices", moderated by Gaye Sarıoğlu, Deputy Secretary General of UN Global Compact Turkey, speakers included Ayşegül Örs Bingöl, Human Resources Director at Coca Cola Beverage; Umut Önen, Talent Management and Employer Branding Director at Kibar Holding; and Havva Köroğlu, Vice Chair of the Board at Smart Güneş Teknolojileri.  

To the speakers for their contributions and to Villa Verde as the event sponsor, certificates of donation made to the "Contemporary Education Cooperative Let Rural Flowers Learn" campaign in their names were presented. 

About the Women's Empowerment Bursa Platform:

The Women's Empowerment Bursa Platform was established in 2016 under the coordination of BUİKAD, BUSİAD and Yeşim, with support from KalDer, to bring work on gender equality and women's empowerment in Turkey to Bursa and to position Bursa as a model province on this issue in the business world.

Working under the UN Global Compact Turkey Gender Equality Working Group, the Bursa Platform includes 39 WEPs (Women's Empowerment Principles) signatory companies from different sectors.

The platform carries out activities to bring stakeholders together on women's empowerment and gender equality, support inter-company learning processes, ensure nationwide dissemination of women's empowerment principles, develop a common policy against domestic violence as a business community and thereby increase impact.