UNITED NATIONS 

DeFacto, a leading Turkish ready-to-wear brand, has introduced a social responsibility project to promote the empowerment of women at a panel discussion during the 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) in New York.

DeFacto's project "Dreams Made of Fabric" follows a similar social responsibility undertaking carried out in 2015 themed "the Happy Women Movement".

Also in 2015, DeFacto became a signatory to the United Nations Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) in 2015.

Speaking at the panel on gender equality, empowerment of women and girls, and social protection methods, DeFacto Chief Financial Officer Onder Senol said that the way a country can achieve "sustainable development" is through women having a stronger position in economic and social fields.

"If women are strong, then families are strong, the country is strong," Senol said. "For this reason, equal opportunities for women and men, protection of women's human rights must be protected, and violence and abuse against women must be eliminated."

Reminding that DeFacto operates more than 500 stores in 30 countries with 13,500 employees, he said: "We believe that gender equality should be established and maintained in business and social life for sustainable growth."

"This is an urgent matter especially for developing countries," he added.

Senol said the company launched the Happy Women Movement in 2015, which introduced practices for its women employees that went beyond positive discrimination and provides extra opportunities.

"The same year, we signed the UN Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs) to ensure that we will continue to support women in business," he said.

Stating that DeFacto is in cooperation with The Hope Foundation for Children with Cancer in order to support children who are receiving cancer treatment in Turkey, Senol emphasized that by the age of 14, one of 700 children in the world is at risk of cancer.

Senol stated that within the scope of the Dreams Made of Fabric project, DeFacto sent production surplus fabric and accessories from DeFacto factories to vocational high schools, for female students to design their own products and help them learning how to be successful in work life.

He added that the company’s aim is to roll out the project all over Turkey and to reach 81 cities at the end of 2019.