EUROPE: Fatma Sahin to be Turkey's First Female Politician to Attend World Economic Forum

Family and Social Policy Minister Fatma Şahin will join leaders across the globe as Turkey's first female minister and politician to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Cihan news agency reported on Monday.

Şahin has been invited to address this year's World Economic Conference, which will be held on Jan. 25-29 in Davos, Switzerland. The minister's invitation to participate as a speaker during the gender equality and social policies sessions will be a first for Turkey.

The gender equality session, which is scheduled for Jan. 27, is considered one of the most important at the forum. The panel, organized by the Global Gender Parity Group, will aim to develop a collective vision and systematic approach for achieving gender equality in the economic sphere.

Along with Şahin, prominent figures like WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab, United Nations Women (UN Women) Executive Director Michelle Bachelet, Alcatel-Lucent CEO Ben Verwaayen, Coca-Cola President and CEO Muhtar Kent, Sabancı Holding Board of Directors Chairman and Managing Director Güler Sabancı and Wal-Mart Executive Vice President Leslie A. Dach will attend the gender equality session.

Global female leaders like Ernst & Young Global Vice Chair of Public Policy Beth A. Brooke, Women Peace and Security Network-Africa (WIPSEN-Africa) Executive Director Leymah Gbowee and European Commission Vice President Viviane Reding will participate in Doğuş Group's women's leadership session and dinner.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland and leaders of various international NGOs will join a different discussion on the challenges of globalization.