18/03/2015
Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum Director Melsa Ararat was a panelist at the Annual Event of Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) with opening remarks by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and keynote by former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The event was held in New York on March 10 and 11, 2015.
The seventh annual event of Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) was held in New York on March 10 and 11, 2015. The main theme of the event was "Unlimited Potential: Business Partners for Gender Equality" and opening remarks were delivered by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and keynote by former US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Also speaking at the conference was Sabancı University School of Management faculty member and Corporate Governance Forum Director Melsa Ararat in the session titled "Exploring New Models for Business, Investing and Networks."
In the opening remarks, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that since its inception in 2010, WEPs has reached more than 910 signatories, becoming a truly global initiative, and spoke about the responsibilities of the private sector.
Hillary Rodham Clinton reminded the audience that 2015 was the 20th anniversary of the inaugural Beijing World Conference on Women, and said that no country was in a position to claim full gender equality despite significant advances in gender equality and enabling women and girls to enojy equal rights, freedoms and opportunities in every aspect of life.
In her presentation, Melsa Ararat discussed the "Domestic Violence against White-Collar Working Women in Turkey: A Call for Business Action" report issued by the Business against Domestic Violence Project implemented by the Sabancı University Corporate Governance Forum. Ararat said that Germany's decision to impose a 30% women quota on on executive boards was a bold step, and continued, "Preventing violence against women will only be possible if women are viewed not as objects but as equal individuals of the society. Companies may lead the change of social norms in favor of women by empowering and giving women authority, bringing them to decision-making positions, paying them the same as men, and making equality a part of the corporate culture. The shortest way to achieving this is imposing quotas for women directors to sit on company boards, as is done by many countries."
Women's Empowerment Principles is a joint initiative by the UN Global Compact and UN Women with more than 910 signatories at CEO level worldwide, and aims to provide a roadmap for businesses to empower women in businesses, markets and the society. The first Turkish signatories of the initiative were Güler Sabancı and Ümit Boyner on behalf of their respective companies in 2011, and there are currently 45 signatories.