UN Women Türkiye is working to ensure that women have access to equal rights opportunities and services in politics

UN Women Türkiye conducted Knowledge Sharing Meeting on Improving Structures to Increase Women’s Participation into Politics and Decision Making in collaboration with the members of the Committe on Equal Opportunity for Women and Men of Grand National Assembly of Türkiye

Conducted between November 26-27, 2022 in Sapanca, western part of Türkiye, the meeting was attended by UN Women Türkiye Country Director Asya Varbanova, the Ambassador of Sweden to Türkiye Staffan Herrström, TGNA-EOC Chairperson Fatma Aksal and Chairperson of The Women Entrepreneurs Association of Türkiye (KAGIDER) Emine Erdem.

In the meeting, Terra Development Cooperative member Associate Professor Dr. İlknur Yüksel Kaptanoğlu introduced the Violence Against Women in Politics Summary Report which was prepared under “Advancing Gender Equality and Women's Leadership in Political and Business Life” project funded by Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and implemented by UN Women Türkiye. At the meeting discussions on the importance of gender equality for the empowerment of women in not just in politics but in all areas of life and policies targeting combating violence against women were held.

In her opening remarks, Chairperson of TGNA-EOC Fatma Aksal expressed: Addressing violence against women, it is simply essential to eliminate violence against women in politics as one of the obstacles to women's active participation in this area. In this context, it is necessary to adopt special measures. Defining “violence against women in the area of politics” as a separate title is incredibly important to ensure having effective coping strategies against this type of violence.”

UN Women Türkiye Country Director Asya Varbanova said in her opening speech: “As we approach the general elections of 2023, we trust and hope that in the new Parliament of Türkiye there will be a significant increase in the number of women Parliamentarians. When women are empowered, it doesn’t only contribute the advancement of women’s rights but also benefit country’s economic growth, foster inclusive business approaches and eradicate poverty. A world where women are free from violence and have access to equal rights and opportunities in politics and in all areas of life is essential for sustainable development.”

The Ambassador of Sweden to Türkiye Staffan Herrström explained: “Today we got together thanks to the efforts of UN Women which is a UN agency that specifically works to advance the position of women in our society and to support us all as member states of the UN to progress towards achieving gender equality. Our shared Agenda 2030 and SDG number 5 concerns gender equality. We notice that UN Women inspires diverse partnerships with a wide range of actors in Turkish society for the advancement of women’s human rights, empowerment, and gender equality and creates an enabling platform for these partnerships to take place. We are proud of being one of the main donors for UN Women both globally and also here in Türkiye.”

The presentation of the Final Observations on the Eighth Periodic Report of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Türkiye was made by Nicole Ameline, a member of the CEDAW committee. Violence Against Women in Politics, Good Practice Session continued with the online participation of Senator Virginia Velasco, former Minister of Justice and Institutional Transparency of Bolivia.

Emine Erdem, Chairman of the Board of KAGIDER, attended the Improvement Session for Women Entrepreneurs in Public Procurement and mentioned about the projects they are carrying out: “As KAGIDER, we have implemented our "Women in Business Network" project to increasing the share of women entrepreneurs in public procurement, alongside with other projects. The main objective of our project is to create a communication and solidarity network between women entrepreneurs and organizations on women entrepreneurs to ensure that women in the business world have access to the information and markets they need, to gather women entrepreneurs and suppliers in Türkiye on a platform and to make this platform a resource that the public and private sectors can benefit in the procurement of goods and services.”

The meeting is expected to be instrumental in the implementation of the legal and administrative measures to be taken to ensure that women have access to equal rights, opportunities and services in politics and in all areas of life, and that women take leading roles in the parliament and other decision-making mechanisms. The outputs of the meeting will be benefitted when creating a roadmap.