Karsan Otomotiv Sanayii ve Ticaret : TAKES ANOTHER STEP TOWARDS IMPROVING GENDER EQUALITY IN TURKEY!

Karsan Takes Another Step Towards Improving Gender Equality in Turkey!

Karsan Became a Signatory to UN Global Compact, The UN Global Compact Platform!

Karsan, the leading name in the Turkish automotive industry, is crowning its journey to promote gender equality, with new steps. Implementing the 2019 Protocol with the International Labor Organization (ILO) to improve gender equality and increase women's employment, the company recently became a signatory to the United Nations (UN) Global Compact, the United Nations (UN) Global Compact Platform. With this step, Karsan adopts the principles of the UN Global Compact, which sets out corporate responsibility in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption, and recommits to aligning its business operations with these principles. The company added to its efforts to create a better world for future generations.

Karsan, Turkey's leading brand providing high-tech mobility solutions, continues to set an example with its achievements in production and export, as well as its efforts to promote gender equality. The company, which signed a protocol in 2019 with the International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nation's (UN) specialized agency for working life, to improve gender equality and increase women's employment, took another vital step. Karsan became a signatory to UN Global Compact, the UN Global Compact Platform.

The signing ceremony took place!

Global Compact Turkey held a special signing ceremony for its new members for the period 2021-2022. Karsan Industrial Operations Deputy General Manager Alper Bulucu attended the signing ceremony. With this new step for promoting gender equality, Karsan adopts the 10 principles of the UN Global Compact, which sets out corporate responsibility in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption, and recommits to aligning its business operations and strategies willingly with these principles. The company added to its efforts to create a better world for future generations.

Milestones of Karsan's journey towards gender equality...

Half a century after its establishment, Karsan signed a protocol with the ILO in 2019 to improve gender equality and increase women's employment. With the protocol, Karsan took on the commitment that the ILO Model for the promotion of gender equality in companies would be implemented in equal measure at Karsan. In this context, Karsan signed the "Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs)", established in 2020 by the UN Global Compact and the UN Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Unit (UN Women). Karsan later issued two important policies to underline its uncompromising stance on gender equality. The company established the "Gender Equality Policy" and "Zero Tolerance for Violence Policy" within the scope of the international 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence that begins on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day.

About UN Global Compact

The UN Global Compact is the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative with over 15,000 companies and more than 5,000 external members in more than 160 countries. The UN Global Compact, launched in 2000, aims to encourage institutions to take collective action to create a sustainable, inclusive global economy that benefits the world, people, communities and markets. The aim of the UN Global Compact is to help companies around the world align their strategies and activities with the 10 principles in the areas of human rights, labor standards, the environment and anti-corruption. UN Global Compact also aims to lead the business community to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

About Karsan:

Celebrating its 55th anniversary this year in the Turkish automotive industry, Karsan has been manufacturing its own vehicles at its modern facilities as well as parts for the world's prominent brands in the commercial vehicles industry. The company has been engaged in commercial vehicle manufacturing since 1981, and its factory in Hasanağa, Bursa has the capacity to manufacture up to 19,870 vehicles a year on a single shift. The Hasanağa factory is a flexible installation that can manufacture all kinds of vehicles in the same facilities from passenger cars and heavy trucks to minivans and buses. It is located 30 km from the Bursa city center and is built on an area of 200,000 sqm, 90,000 sqm of which is closed space.

Karsan has been the only independent multi-brand vehicle manufacturer in the Turkish automotive industry for more than 50 years and the next phase for the company, powered and enabled by its business partners and licensers, is to develop derivative versions of the new and existing vehicles in order to extend its presence to all the segments of cargo and passenger transportation, in accordance with its vision of being one step ahead in the future of mobility. Working to develop "innovative products and services from conception into the market" in public transportation segment, Karsan primarily aims to strengthen its Main Manufacturer/OEM business line.

Karsan manages the entire automotive value chain, from R&D to production, marketing, sales, and after-sales activities. Karsan manufactures the Jest, Atak, and Star models under its own brand. It also manufactures and sells fully electric vehicles, the e-JEST and e-ATAK lines, in partnership with the world giant BMW, as well as the Level-4 Autonomous bus e-ATAK model and 10, 12, and 18m e-ATA buses in partnership with the technology company ADASTEC. Karsan, which will start manufacturing Megane Sedan automobiles for Renault by the end of 2022, currently manufactures 10, 12 and 18m buses for Menarinibus. Besides vehicle manufacturing, Karsan also provides a range of industrial services in its factory located in the Organized Industrial Zone.