The Purple Map, an interactive tool that helps municipalities in building gender-responsive services in Türkiye, expands its reach

UN Women Türkiye launched the Purple Map, a gender-responsive interactive tool, in two major cities in the country so far. The Map, which was launched in Ankara in 2021 for the first time, was launched in Eskişehir, a northwestern city in Türkiye. The Map, which is an easy-to-use guide that shows women centres, social assistance opportunities, and daycare centres, aims to make the city safer and more equal for women.

The Purple Map, which is implemented in partnership with the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation and funded by Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, was launched for the first time in the city of Ankara, the capital city of Türkiye in 2021. The Purple Map was launched in partnership with Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality at an event in 29 June 2022.

The Purple Map website is developed to respond to the the different needs and priorities of women, men, elderly and all segments of the society, and to enabling Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality to develop its gender-responsive services accordingly.

The Purple Map shows the various needs of women such as security, daycare centers and social assistance opportunities and also helps to identify the locations that need to be improved in Eskişehir. Citizens can report places and problems to the municipality in the area where they live that they do not feel safe by using Notify Risky Area tab on the map The users can also reach the locations of female mukhtars and female council members.

Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality plans to develop new gender-responsive services by using the data obtained from the Purple Map tool.

The interactive tool was introduced to the mukhtars, district municipalities and civil society organizations with an event held in the Eskişehir Culture and Art Palace Opera Hall.

“This interactive tool will not only provide us with a road map, but will also be a tool where women can report risky areas. As municipalities, we will fulfill our responsibilities in the districts where risk is reported. We will collaborate with  different to make the city more equal and safer for women,” says Nuray Akçasoy, Council Member of Eskişehir Metropolitan Municipality, during her opening remarks at the Purple Map launch event.

“The cooperation among cities in the world has been strengthened to solve the mutual problems of the cities. As TESEV, we focused on contributing to the solution of these problems and raising awareness on social issues. We acknowledge the necessity of creating a digital tool for the creation of data-based decision-making mechanisms,” says Necla Zarakol, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation.

 “Local governments play an important role in creating the foundation for an equal world and building inclusive societies. UN Women supports local authorities across the world in designing and implementing gender-responsive policies to improve access, availability, and quality of public services for women and girls. To facilitate a more inclusive and enabling environment in which all women could participate in public life, we will continue promoting the Purple Map as a global best practice,” says Duygu Arığ, Program Specialist at UN Women Türkiye

UN Women aims to continue to promote the map for other municipalities in Türkiye and support municipalities in providing gender-responsive services.