L'Oréal Türkiye brings Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan Civelek's legacy to the present day

L'Oréal Turkey is bringing Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan Civelek, who 111 years ago began publishing Kadınlar Dünyası, the first women's rights magazine, to fight gender inequality, into the present day. Through her writings and the associations she established, Civelek paved the way for women to pursue higher education and work in the public sector, while pioneering the public articulation of concepts such as women's rights and equality. L'Oréal Turkey is sharing the first issue of Kadınlar Dünyası, published in 1913, with its original pages in contemporary Turkish to honour Civelek, and will also support the renovation of the public library bearing the name of Nuriye Ulviye Civelek in the Kırıkhan district of Hatay, which was completely destroyed in the 6 February earthquakes. Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan Civelek, founder of the first women's rights magazine Kadınlar Dünyası and the first women's rights society "Ottoman Women's Rights Defence Association", passionately championed progressive women's movements of the period, such as enabling women to pursue higher education and work in the public sector, contributing to the creation of social awareness on gender equality. At the age of 20, with "Kadınlar Dünyası Magazine", which she published declaring "Today's Life Needs Change", Civelek continued her work with the vision of a world in which gender equality would be achieved in Ottoman society. L'Oréal Turkey is sharing Civelek's inspiring story by combining the first issue of her magazine, which left its mark on the period, with projects that have left their mark on the sector to date, and continues to implement projects that will illuminate the path for women through science, education and employment support. With its mission "We Create the Beauty That Moves the World", L'Oréal Turkey continues to sign work that makes a difference in the sector by supporting projects that empower women in every field in which it has operated to date. For 7 consecutive years, L'Oréal Turkey has maintained its top position in the Bloomberg and Equileap Gender Equality Index and Reports, continuing to make a significant impact through strong and concrete initiatives in the sector.

'Raising awareness on gender equality is a long journey'

Gender equality awareness can only be achieved by supporting a long transformation process, according to Sinem Sandıkçı Gökçen, Country General Manager of L'Oréal Turkey. "With this copy of the first issue of Kadınlar Dünyası Magazine, published with the strong stance of Nuriye Ulviye Hanım saying 'Today's Life Needs Change', we witnessed how passionate and bold the steps she and her colleagues took to create social awareness of that period were. It is not only that this step was taken 111 years ago; despite all the difficult conditions of the period, the fact that it was carried out with passion, brought a new perspective and breath to the issue of gender equality, and served as a historical proof illuminating the starting point in the gender equality transformation journey, I find very valuable. Thanks to all the women who have contributed to this transformation so far, who have inspired and empowered us, we are moving forward today from a stronger position with great courage and hope, knowing that the road ahead is still long and difficult. Our wish has never really changed; just like Nuriye Ulviye Hanım who worked for this cause 111 years ago, with the desire and aspiration that we will not feel the need to emphasize women's empowerment, for our children to live as part of a society that strongly supports gender equality, in an equal, inclusive and equitable manner. I sincerely wish all the women who bring change to today's life a happy International Women's Day on 8 March."

At L'Oréal Turkey, gender equality begins within the company

At L'Oréal Turkey, women make up 65% of the workforce in the company with over 1,000 employees, while this ratio stands at 51% at all management levels. The L'Oréal Turkey Country Management Committee is 56% women. Within the L'Oréal Group, women make up 50% of board members, 32% of executive board members, 57% of all key positions and 61% of international brand directors. Within the L'Oréal Group, which is building new paths for women to advance and succeed at all levels of organizations, over 4,000 scientists work, and women make up 64% of this number. At the same time, 55% of patents invented under the L'Oréal Group umbrella belong to women.

Tribute project to Nuriye Ulviye Civelek, one of Turkey's first women's rights advocates

L'Oréal Turkey, which has signed powerful projects for women's empowerment through the Meaningful Brands revolution, is implementing a tribute project to Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan Civelek, who stands out as a role model in the fight against gender inequality on International Women's Day on 8 March. Besides her pioneering work on women's rights, Civelek is known for the importance she placed on education. The library bearing her name is located in the Kırıkhan district of Hatay. L'Oréal Turkey is supporting the renovation of the Kırıkhan Nuriye Ulviye Civelek District Public Library, which was completely destroyed by damage from the 6 February earthquakes. L'Oréal fights gender inequality in science through "For Women in Science" programme To prevent gender inequality in science, as in all areas of life, and to support women scientists and create new role models that will inspire future generations, L'Oréal has been running the "For Women in Science" programme globally for 25 years and in Turkey for 21 years. As part of the project conducted with UNESCO Turkey National Commission and one of Turkey's longest-running benefit projects, 120 women scientists have been supported to date. On the centennial of the Republic, in cooperation with Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG), a special mentoring and scholarship programme was implemented for young women aspiring to become scientists. Through the 'For Women in Science' programme, approximately TRY 4 million in support has been provided to women scientists in the last 10 years.

Funds implemented to support women's empowerment

As part of L'Oréal Group's "L'Oréal for the Future" programme, of the 150 million euros allocated for solving urgent problems facing the world, 50 million euros is used for projects of civil society organizations supporting disadvantaged women and aiming to empower women. KAMER Foundation and İMECE Initiative Association from Turkey are civil society organizations that received support from this fund. KAMER Foundation received a grant from the fund with its support project aimed at fighting violence against women and contributing to the social and economic empowerment of women, reaching over 33,000 disadvantaged women in 20 different provinces of Turkey. İmece Initiative Association, which received fund support through Solar Age and Back to School Programmes in Basmane, introduced 60 women to solar energy while supporting 30 women in increasing their income.