Program for entrepreneurs in the earthquake zone inspires the UN
Hanzade Doğan, founder and chairwoman of the board of directors of Hepsiburada, stated that they promised “10 billion lira of trade volume for 10,000 traders” in the program they started for the earthquake zone, saying, “Women entrepreneurs have a place special for us. here. We will continue with our program until we reach 5,000 women entrepreneurs”. saying.
Doğan attended the 67th annual meeting (CSW67) organized by the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Status of Women.
Doğan, who met with senior executives from major global and regional companies at the roundtable entitled “A future of work based on gender equality in the digital age” organized by the UN Global Compact, said his company was In this context, at the Global Compact event, of which Hepsiburada is a signatory, he described his work.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) regarding his contacts at the UN, Doğan noted that gender equality is one of the most important UN Sustainable Development Goals, saying: “What steps should we take to close inequality? at the UN headquarters? Nations?” We had meetings with a group of UN representatives. ” He said.
Stating that this year’s theme is how to accelerate gender equality with digital technologies and how digitization can be beneficial in this regard, Doğan said:
“The reason we were invited under this theme is that our Technology Power for Entrepreneurial Women program, which we have been running since 2017, overlaps exactly with the CSW67 theme. For this reason, we have transmitted the work that we have done here and we have shown companies and non-governmental organizations that operate in other countries how they can carry out and implement similar studies”.
‘OUR INSPIRED PROGRAM’
Stating that it is also a source of pride to represent Turkey as the only female leader to attend the meetings from Turkey, Doğan said, “The work we have done in Turkey has set an example and inspired other countries, companies and non-governmental organizations. . . However, if these good examples are taken into account, I believe we can spread the solutions and make a difference.” saying.
Noting that 38,000 women entrepreneurs have grown their businesses and created jobs through the Technology Power for Entrepreneurial Women programme, Doğan said: “When we started this programme, only 6% of all our salespeople were women, but today 27% of sellers on our platform are women. He really inspired everyone. Because with determination, we were able to change a trend and benefit women.” he said.
Pointing out that digitization has both risks and opportunities regarding gender equality, Doğan continued as follows:
“We are going through such a big change and transformation that technologies like artificial intelligence and augmented reality will eliminate many lines of business. Occupations with women may be proportionally more affected by this situation. Furthermore, technologies such as artificial intelligence exacerbate established biases. Therefore, prejudices against women may increase in the business world. So this is a danger, but also a great opportunity. Because new professions are emerging. If we can educate girls and women in these areas, we can accelerate closing gender inequality with digitization. We need to make sure that the opportunities and benefits of digitization are accessible to women.”
Hanzade Dogan
‘A LONG-TERM EFFORT IS NEEDED’
Hanzade Doğan, referring to the work carried out by Hepsiburada in the earthquake zone, noted that support was provided with a large mobilization in this context, but improvement efforts must be made in the long term.
Stating that they pledged 10 billion lira of trading volume to 10,000 traders in the program that started as a Hepsiburada group, Doğan made the following assessments:
“Our teams have been in the area since day one. Currently, we provide logistical, marketing and technological support to all types of merchants under this program. We are establishing 3 large e-commerce hubs. If there is no warehouse, they can come and get our warehouse service, if there is no accounting software, we provide accounting software. We will take the hands of the merchants of the region. Women entrepreneurs here have a special place for us. We will continue with our program until we reach 5,000 women entrepreneurs”.
Stating that everyone suffered great pain in the earthquake, Doğan said that gender inequality deepened after natural disasters such as the Kovid-19 epidemic, and that women and girls were more vulnerable to emerging problems, and that their education would not be interrupted, and Economic freedom and opportunity were created. He said that every opportunity should be seized.
WOMEN ARE A PRIORITY FOR US
Stating that Hepsiburada prioritizes providing benefits to society, Doğan emphasized that gender equality is one of the important steps in the development of society.
Noting that Hepsiburada is one of the rare companies founded and run by a woman, Doğan said, “30 percent of our engineering staff is made up of women. This is a significant rate above the world average. 34 percent of our executive cadres are women, although this figure is good by world standards, our goal is to get to 50 percent. Last year, 46 percent of our promotions were women. So it’s a very high priority for us.” he said. (AA)