Equality Matters: OPET and UN Women join forces to fuel gender equality and accelerate women’s empowerment
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UN Women Türkiye and the leading brand in the fuel distribution sector OPET, have initiated the "Equality Matters" Project. The project aims to accelerate the effective implementation of the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs). OPET will develop a Gender Equality Action Plan as part of the project and provide gender equality trainings to approximately 16,000 employees and stakeholders at fuel stations.
The project, a first in Türkiye's fuel distribution sector, was launched at a signing ceremony on November 9, in Istanbul at the Rahmi M. Koç Museum, with the participation of UN Women Türkiye Country Director Asya Varbanova, OPET General Manager Özgür Kahramanzade, and OPET Board Member Filiz Öztürk.
At the press conference, UN Women Türkiye Country Director Asya Varbanova thanked OPET for its commitment to effectively and thoroughly implementing the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs). She said, “I hope that the insights that OPET will gain in this process will not only help OPET, but also guide other companies that want to make a difference in gender equality but are not sure where to start. We believe that by following the WEPs framework, companies can transform their corporate structures and institutionally implement the gender equality dimensions of the Sustainable Development Goals. We hope that the "Equality Matters" Project will be a proof of this statement.”
OPET General Manager Özgür Kahramanzade shared his excitement about the project with UN Women Türkiye, stating that the project would last 24 months. He outlined the main goal as applying the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) effectively to develop gender-responsive corporate policies and practices in the sector and society. The project will advocate for gender equality under the umbrella of women's empowerment and apply inclusive, gender-responsive communication tools through UN Women's Unstereotype Alliance (UA) membership. The first step will be "education," aiming to provide "basic gender equality training" to the nearly 16,000 employees at their fuel stations. All steps will be conducted under the WEPs framework. Kahramanzade aims to create change in the fuel distribution sector and inspire the entire business world in collaboration with UN Women, fulfilling measurable commitments from their WEPs signature, increasing women's visibility and participation in work life, and changing societal stereotypes about "gendered professions."
At the meeting, Filiz Öztürk, OPET Board Member and Women's Power Project Leader, expressed her joy in launching the "Equality Matters" Project with UN Women, highlighting the significance of announcing such a project during the 100th anniversary of the Republic. She noted that the employment rate of women in the fuel distribution sector is below 10%. In 2018, OPET took a significant step with its "Women's Power" Project to establish the belief that "profession has no gender" within society. Today, not only in OPET dealerships but across the fuel distribution sector, there's a growing acceptance that profession has no gender, and employment rates are rising.