UN Women, TÜRKONFED and Türkiye İş Bankası Partner to Develop Global Gender‑Responsive Procurement Handbook

UN Women Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (UN Women ECARO), Turkish Business Confederation (TÜRKONFED) and Türkiye İş Bankası partner to develop a "Global Gender-Responsive Procurement Handbook". The handbook aims to serve as a guide and training manual for both companies and women entrepreneurs and will be available in Turkish and English free of charge on all platforms of all three organizations later this year.

In 2023, UN Women ECARO, TÜRKONFED, and Türkiye İş Bankası published a handbook to facilitate women-owned businesses' participation in public and private sector tender and procurement processes under the "WeLead the Entrepreneurship" initiative. The three organizations are now partnering to restructure this handbook in accordance with international standards. At the ceremony held at the İş Bankası Painting and Sculpture Museum for the "Global Gender-Responsive Procurement Handbook" planned for publication this year, the partnership agreement was signed by TÜRKONFED Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors and Chairperson of the Women in Business Commission (İDK) Prof. Dr. Yasemin Açık, Türkiye İş Bankası Head of SME Banking Marketing Özge Küllah Kurtuluş, and UN Women ECARO Women's Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program Specialist Ana Pashalishvili.

Elisa Fernandez Saenz: "Diverse suppliers can contribute to a more inclusive economy"

UN Women ECARO Deputy Regional Director Elisa Fernandez Saenz highlighted: "Gender-responsive procurement is not just a tool for equality — it is a catalyst for economic growth. By opening their value chains to women entrepreneurs, the private sector can diversify suppliers, create opportunities for women to scale their businesses, and contribute to a thriving, more inclusive economy. We are proud of our partnership with TÜRKONFED and Türkiye İş Bankası, which will enable UN Women ECARO to expand this important work and build the capacity of more companies and women entrepreneurs to integrate gender-responsive procurement."

Prof. Dr. Yasemin Açık: "We aim to create an equitable business ecosystem"

Emphasizing that access to supply chains plays a critical role in empowering women entrepreneurs in economic life, TÜRKONFED Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors and İDK Chairperson Prof. Dr. Yasemin Açık stated, "Through this initiative, we aim to contribute to the development of an ecosystem where women suppliers can submit bids in the international arena, participate in processes, and gain visibility. Adopting a gender-responsive lens in procurement processes is of great importance not only for women entrepreneurs but for an inclusive business ecosystem. Furthermore, as TÜRKONFED, as TÜRKONFED, we are able to produce concrete results in the field as a result of our local-to-national structure and the work we carry out with the women's associations within our organization. We believe that the upcoming handbook will be an important step toward creating an equitable business ecosystem by further deepening this experience."

Özge Küllah Kurtuluş: "Supply chains must be more inclusive for a sustainable economy"

Emphasizing that increasing the role of women entrepreneurs in national and international supply chains is essential for a sustainable economy, Türkiye İş Bankası Head of SME Banking Marketing Özge Küllah Kurtuluş stated, "We continue our efforts to make supply chains more inclusive and facilitate women's integration into the system. In the first version of our handbook, we provided guidance on how women can participate in tenders and the challenges they may encounter. The positive feedback received on this guide created strong motivation for expanding the work on a global scale. We will continue to act not merely as an institution that provides financing, but as a companion that stands by women entrepreneurs at every stage."

International standards will inform the gender-responsive handbook

Published in 2023, the handbook will be restructured in line with international standards. Informed by UN Women's gender-responsive procurement criteria and featuring global best practices, the handbook will consist of four sections: GRP Guide for Companies, GRP Guide for Women Entrepreneurs, Training Manual for Companies, and Training Manual for Women Entrepreneurs. The book will be published in Turkish and English and will be available free of charge on the platforms of the three organizations.

Media Contact

For media inquiries: erman.fermanci@unwomen.org