I am Generation Equality: Mete Belovacıklı, advocate for gender equality in media
Billions of people around the world stand on the right side of history every day. They speak up, take a stand, mobilize, and take big and small actions to advance women’s rights. This is Generation Equality.Date:
Originally published on UN Women's regional website for Europe and Central Asia
I am Generation Equality because…
Three actions you can take to promote gender equality in media
- Challenge gender stereotypes in media through showcasing empowered women.
- Say "NO" to violence and social and economic discrimination against women and girls.
- Organize comprehensive and multi-stakeholder advocacy campaigns to empower women and girls.
“With my trust in media's role and responsibility in society's transformation, I believe we can make a difference in the economic and social life of women and girls through their empowerment and ensuring equal rights.
Being the Editor-in-Chief of Milliyet, Turkey's prominent and trusted newspaper, I witness how inequalities hinder realization of gender justice and women’s human rights. We have the means to shape the public opinion via media. That is why Milliyet, founded in 1950, has always prioritized social projects covering issues of women, workers, students and disadvantaged groups.
Commitments to empowerment and equality
Today, women and girls still cannot realize their full potential in economic and social life and continue facing violence and oppression. Media needs to take actions as part of their ‘corporate social responsibility’ role towards building an equal future, driving social norms change and challenging toxic masculinity. Therefore, at the Generation Equality Forum, we made a commitment to run projects empowering women, bringing voice to women business leaders, supporting girls and young women in finding role models and building their careers.
Media leadership and collaboration
“Media needs to act towards building an equal future, driving social norms change and challenging toxic masculinity.”
At Milliyet, we are working on creating a local media network that will work on empowering women journalists all around Turkey and find men allies in the local media. I believe that we need to fight for women’s empowerment and preventing violence against women on all fronts. We can succeed only if women and men act side by side.
Media is the voice of society and also plays a critical role in its transformation. With that responsibility on our shoulders, we have become the first Turkish newspaper joining UN Women’s Global Media Compact. At the Generation Equality Forum in Paris, we made firm commitments focusing on economic justice and rights of women with the slogan ‘Now is our turn.’ While delivering those commitments, we will make a difference and put our hearts into our work as Milliyet family.”
Mete Belovacıklı, 59, is Editor-in-Chief of one of Turkey's oldest newspapers, Milliyet. As a strong defender of gender equality, he has led Milliyet in becoming a partner of UN Women’s Global Media Compact. Milliyet is the only media organisation that became a commitment maker at the Generation Equality Forum with five-year commitments on economic justice and rights.