Dear Stakeholders,
In 2023, our country was gripped by earthquake disasters that will leave an indelible mark for years to come, their impacts reverberating through generations. We continue to endure the pain of this disaster that struck as we were gearing up to celebrate the 100th anniversary of our Republic. In times of crisis, it's crucial to prioritize support for vulnerable groups, including women, children, youth, and people with disabilities.
We drew hope from the involvement of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and from day one, we deployed volunteers to the earthquake-affected region. The unwavering dedication and solidarity shown by both the Turkish civil society and its people from the onset of the earthquake reaffirmed our identity as a community that unites and extends a helping hand to those in need during challenging times.
In the year when we experienced the biggest earthquake disaster in the history of our Republic, the Sabancı Foundation, in collaboration with Sabancı Group companies, promptly mobilized to address all essential needs of the region, with a particular focus on providing shelter and ensuring hygiene. We subsequently shifted our focus towards implementing lasting solutions. Ensuring the continuity of education stood out as one of the most critical needs in the region. As part of the Ministry of National Education’s education mobilization initiative, we committed to building three schools in Hatay, which has the highest student population, within three months. Our aim was to facilitate the return of children and teachers to a school environment and ensure the seamless continuation of education. In the first half of 2023, we delivered on our commitment by completing schools in the Reyhanlı, Dörtyol, and Arsuz districts of Hatay.Given the ongoing need for schools in the region, we will continue our efforts to increase the number of our schools in Hatay to five in 2024.
As the only foundation in Türkiye providing grants to NGOs for the last 17 years, we champion equal opportunities and advocate for the active social involvement of women, children, and people with disabilities This year, we sustained our commitment through our grant programs to assisting the initiatives of civil society organizations tackling these issues. By the end of 2023, through a total of 238 projects we supported, we reached directly 300,000 people and touched the lives of 4.6 million individuals indirectly across 81 provinces in Türkiye.
In 2023, we reached significant milestones with our Young Women Building Their Future project, dedicated to raising awareness about the critical issue of young women who are neither in education, employment, nor training (NEET) in our country. Our objective is to enhance their economic and social empowerment.
Over the course of the year, we provided empowerment and vocational skills training to nearly 1,000 young women across Adana, Diyarbakır, and Izmir, conducting more than 30 sessions. As a result of these training efforts, more than 100 NEET young women enter the workforce. As part of our project’s successful mentoring program, more than 2,000 mentor-mentee meetings took place in seven months. We also leveraged our Foundation’s expertise in grant programs for the Young Women Building Their Future project. Through the grant program of the Young Women Building Their Future project, we supported seven initiatives targeting the employment hundreds of NEET women across 20 provinces, encompassing those impacted by earthquakes.
We completed our 14th year in the Changemakers Program launched to promote the stories and efforts of extraordinary people who have helped advance social development in our country, encourage Changemakers, and inspire society. As of 2023, we have reached a total of 210 Changemakers.
At the 16th Sabancı Foundation International Philanthropy Seminar, themed Philanthropy and Youth Participation, we shared with the public the insights and recommendations of expert speakers working in the field of youth, hailing from both Türkiye and abroad. We also gave the floor to young people with diverse perspectives on kindness and philanthropy and listened to their perspectives.
We hosted the awards ceremony for the 7th Sabancı Short Film Competition, themed Young Women Not in Employment, Education, or Training, under the motto “Short Film, Long Impact.” The competition aimed to foster awareness of social issues by harnessing the creative perspective and the impactful nature of cinema. The competition, which enables us to harness the power of cinema to raise public awareness and contribute to the development of young artists by addressing a different global crisis every year. Now in its eighth edition, the theme for this year is the “Water Crisis,” a critical issue in our country and a significant threat to our planet. We kept this key issue on the agenda throughout the year with the motto “In short, we are facing a water shortage.”
Our social development and sustainability endeavors, implemented through our Short Film Competition, also garnered attention across Europe. We were honored to receive the European Sustainability Award – Prix Film4Climate at the 36th European Film Awards in Berlin, presented by the European Film Academy, one of the most prestigious cinema organizations in Europe. I am proud and happy, on behalf of our Foundation, to have been deemed worthy of this award given to encourage the film industry’s powerful influence towards directing societal, environmental, and individual impacts.
The Turkish National Youth Philharmonic Orchestra (TUGFO), of which we have been main sponsor for the past 15 years, gave a total of nine performances in 2023 with three in Türkiye and six in Italy. Exclusively organized for Sabancı Group employees, the closing performance of the Orchestra took place at the Atatürk Cultural Center on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of our Republic.
Excavations at the ancient city of Metropolis, originally backed by the Sabancı Group in the early 90s and subsequently supported by the Sabancı Foundation for two decades, are shedding light on a heritage that spans 5,000 years. At the Sabancı Foundation, we wanted to honor the memory of this precious city preserved from past to present. In tribute to our cultural heritage, we published the book “Metropolis: A City, Its People, Their Way of Life” on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of our Republic.
Our communication efforts in 2022, which reflected a true story from the Kolluca village of Sivas with the goal of empowering women and girls on the occasion of October 11, International Day of the Girl Child, were deemed worthy of 11 awards in 2023. As the foundation that established Sabancı University, we continued our support for its operational and investment expenses in 2023. Additionally, we provided funding for dormitory investments during the same period.
Once more, we granted scholarships to nearly 1,500 students, with approximately 350 new recipients joining the program. To date, we have awarded over 54,000 scholarships. We continued to recognize and support successful students and young artists, aiming to encourage achievements in education, arts, culture, and sports.
We will maintain our momentum in pursuing social development and equal opportunity with unwavering dedication. I would like to thank all members of the Board of Trustees, our donors, the general manager of our Foundation, our colleagues, and all stakeholders for their contributions and encouragement.
Güler Sabancı
Chair, Board of Trustees