Borsa İstanbul’s bell rings once again for gender equality

ISTANBUL

Like the previous year, a bell-ringing ceremony was held at Turkey’s main stock exchange Borsa Istanbul on March 8 in cooperation with U.N. Global Compact, U.N. Women, World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), Women in ETFs, Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) with the aim to call businesses everywhere to take concrete action to advance women’s empowerment and gender equality.

These initiatives have been coming together since 2015 to organize opening and closing bell ceremonies at the exchanges across the globe under the title “Ring the Bell for Equality” during the first week of March, to highlight the importance of gender equality and women’s empowerment for the business world and sustainable development. This year, from Australia to Toronto, Ghana to Italy, London to Hong Kong, 34 exchanges, including Borsa Istanbul, hosted bell-ringing ceremonies.

“A better world is possible through ensuring more participation of women in companies’ boards and establishing fairer and more equal business environment for men and women,” said the Turkish president’s wife, Emine Erdoğan, at the gong ceremony, according to a follow-up press release. 

Minister of Family and Social Policies Sema Ramazanoğlu noted that any societies that offer equal opportunities to women cannot develop or grow. 

In addition to Erdoğan and Ramazanoğlu, the gong was rung by Borsa Istanbul Chair Talat Ulussever, Borsa Istanbul General Manager and CEO Tuncay Dinç, U.N. Women Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia and Representative to Turkey Ingibjörg Gísladóttir, IFC Turkey Country Manager Aisha Williams, Koç Holding CEO Levent Çakıroğlu and SUTEKS Group Chairwoman and Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Business Advocate Nur Ger.

Following the ceremony, the new signatories of WEPs were also announced.