While the number of the companies, which has joined the UN Global Compact (GC) started to increase recently, a Global Compact Steering Committee was created in June in order to establish the governance mechanism of the national GC network in Turkey.

As of June 2006, 73 Turkish companies have joined GC. Thus, the creation of a local network in Turkey, which would act as a platform whereby the members would get to communicate with each other and contribute to the proper functioning of the Compact, became inevitable.

The members of the Committee were chosen among the committed members and supporters of the Global Compact from the private sector, NGOs, trade union confederations, related State Organs, and UN Agencies. The first meeting was realized with the participation of Koç Holding, Aviva Insurance, Coca-Cola Turkey, Corporate Social Responsibility Association, Turkish Society for Quality (KAL-DER), Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TİSK), the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TÜRK-İŞ), UNIDO and UNDP. It was chaired by Kalman Mizsei, Assistant Administrator of UN Secretary General and UNDP Regional Director for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

At the Committee meeting, many suggestions and ideas were produced concerning the activities of the national Global Compact Network in Turkey. The main outcome of the meeting was the formation of a consensus among the Committee Members for an oversight mechanism for the GC Network in Turkey, which should be provided by the members of the network. It was also decided that the Steering Committee will assign a technical level task force for the Global Compact, which will prioritize the strategic intervention areas. The task force will also be responsible for the development of a strategy for the sustainability of the GC network activities in Turkey .

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