Sabancı Holding Chairman Güler Sabancı Participated in the Private Sector Forum on Africa held by the United Nations in New York. The forum gathered under the presidency of Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon.
At the forum, the participants discussed in groups the topics of women, employment and growth, innovative and sustainable finance, and education in Africa. Güler Sabancı was at the desk hosted by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. Among the other participants of the forum were 300 distinguished individuals from state, private sector and civil society circles including the United Kingdom's former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake, and Unilever CEO Paul Polman.
Held since 2008, United Nations Private Sector Forums aim to give voice to the private sector in various topics. The main topic of the forum this year has been designated to be Africa. This year, the forum has been held as part of The Global Compact Leaders Summit.
-GÜLER SABANCI HAD ALSO PARTICIPATED IN THE UNITED NATIONS THE GLOBAL COMPACT LEADERS SUMMIT-
Sabancı Holding Chairman Güler Sabancı had, the previous day, joined the opening panel of the "Leaders Summit" held by United Nations the Global Compact and given a speech. Meeting the Secretary-General of United Nations Ban Ki-moon and Belgian Queen Mathilde on the same table, Sabancı attracted attention with her enjoyable conversation.
Held at the Ballroom of Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York, under presidency of the Secretary-General of the United States Ban Ki-moon, the summit took place with participation by more than 1200 esteemed individuals from state, private sector and civil society circles including the United Kingdom's former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Nobel-winning economist Muhammad Yunus, Nigeria President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi. At the panel, Güler Sabancı made her remarks on sustainability, women employment and Sabancı Group's efforts in these topics.
At the opening panel of the summit held by United Nations the Global Compact, of which she is a Board Member, Güler Sabancı said in her speech:
"One-thirds of our employees at Sabancı Group are female, but this is not sufficient. The percentage of females working at the management level is only 21%. 22% in 2012, the promotion rates for women have increased to 34% as of the first month of 2013. Compared to a single female General Manager in the group last year, we now have three female General Managers. Again, compared to 26% in 2012, the percentage of females among the newly recruited employees in the Group has reached 35% in the first quarter of 2013. Our aim at Sabancı Foundation is to improve human rights for women in Turkey. As part of the "Joint Program to Protect and Promote the Human Rights of Women and Girls"; all United Nations institutions, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sabancı Foundation and Sabancı University make a collaborated effort.
Turkey has all the required laws on women's rights. What we do is to enable women to know and utilize their own rights. Besides, we try to make the society understand and accept these rights."
On the topic of sustainability, Sabancı remarked: "My perception of sustainability is that while fulfilling our needs, we must avoid sacrificing the future generations' ability to fulfill their own needs. In order to recreate trust and reputation in the market environment, creating sustainable value in the long term should be a priority.
Sustainability makes a substantial impact on companies. The more the perception of corporate sustainability is embraced, the more opportunities will emerge. There are various steps to put these into practice."