HeForShe

UN Women Türkiye works to mobilize men and boys as equal partners for gender equality and women’s empowerment and challenge patriarchal beliefs, practices, and structures. UN Women coordinates the global solidarity movement HeForShe, an advocacy and partnership platform that engages men and boys to stand in solidary with women.

HeForShe Movement was initiated in 2015 in Türkiye with Koç Group, a former Impact Champion of HeForShe between 2015-2021 and recently one of the Action Coalition leaders on Technology and Innovation at the Generation Equality Forum. With the support of the private sector, civil society, universities, youth, and public figures such as celebrity role models, UN Women has been working to engage men and boys in gender equality as change agents for gender equality since 2015.

HeForShe Türkiye announced Kerem Bürsin as the first HeForShe Advocate in December 2021. Together with HeForShe, Kerem Bürsin raises awareness about gender roles, gender-based stereotypes, and harmful masculinities.

Recognizing the power of sports to propel gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment, UN Women Türkiye is collaborating with sports organizations to tear down gender barriers and discrimination. In 2018, Fenerbahçe Sports Club, one of the prominent multi-sports clubs in Türkiye, joined forces with UN Women under the HeForShe movement, with the support of Tüpraş, one of the companies of Koç Holding and a WEPs signatory, to become an inclusive sports club to advance gender equality and empower women and girls in sports. The multi-stakeholder partnership represents a first and unique undertaking that aims to advance gender equality in and through sports, eliminate gender stereotypes and transform harmful social norms in the sports ecosystem, create an inclusive and safe environment for women and girls in sports, and to encourage men and boys to become active allies in advancing gender equality by supporting UN Women’s HeForShe Movement. Due to this partnership, HeForShe’s male engagement pathway, UN Women Turkiye, was able to engage and influence the sports ecosystem, traditionally dominated by men, to advance gender equality in and through sports.

One of the principal achievements of the partnership is the development of a blueprint for the sports ecosystem, including sports clubs, federations, and local amateur sports organizations, Guidelines for Gender-responsive Sports Organizations, to contribute to the operationalization of the UN Women’s Sports for Generation Equality principles.