UN Volunteers Name Sabanci Volunteers as "Turkey's Best-case"

ISTANBUL, July 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- UN Volunteers named Sabanci Volunteers, one of the largest corporate volunteering programs of Turkey, as the "best-case". With its strong dedication to sustainability and social development, Sabanci Holding, one of Turkey's largest conglomerates, initiated the program in 2015. Cenk Alper, CEO of Sabanci Holding, joined the GTM 2020 to share the details of the volunteering experience of the Group as well as its sustainability approach.  

Based on the UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/73/140 titled 'Volunteering for the 2030 Agenda', the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) jointly organized the GTM 2020 as a special event during the UN's High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in 2020. Sabanci Holding has been the only private company participating from its region, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Sabanci Holding has a prominent position in the region in terms of ESG, according to a ESG stock analyst. The company is also mentioned among the five preferred companies in the EEMEA region, which has the potential to attract more stock investors from its investments in ESG.

In his remarks, Alper said: "Sabancı Holding aims to create a nation-wide strategy for increasing volunteering in Turkey and contribute SDGs through its corporate volunteering program, Sabancı Volunteers. Sabanci Holding believes that social development and economic development are equally important. Today, Sabanci Foundation is one of the largest family foundations in Turkey. Sabanci Holding is fortunate to have 2000 active volunteers throughout Turkey. In the first phase of the program, Sabanci Volunteers have focused on gender inequality which directly addresses Sustainable Development Goal 5. Our focus in the second phase is youth issues but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have re-directed our short-term efforts to support health workers in Turkey. Also, corporate social responsibility is a mandatory course for all students of Sabanci University since its establishment in 1999. Until now, more than 15.000 students took this course and completed more than 1.300 projects. In one of the most turbulent times of our century, we noticed the importance of solidarity and partnerships once more and the world will re-discover the power of volunteerism in the new normal."

Alper also added: "We aim to make Sabancı Holding a pioneer in sustainability in the countries and business lines we operate. To enable sustainable development, we believe volunteerism is an important tool that can enhance capacities to facilitate and to implement the projects. Many of the Sustainable Development Goals call for long-term attitude and behavior changes. This proved us that volunteers always find a way to contribute to society if they are lead correctly and motivated. We believe 'Reimagining volunteering for the 2030 Agenda' will be a significant milestone in this context."

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