UN Women meets with MPs to strengthen policymaking at the central level to achieve gender equality

UN Women Turkey conducted a two-day workshop with the MP members of the Turkey Grand National Assembly (TGNA) Equal Opportunities Commission between October 23-24. The workshop provided fruitful discussions on advancing women’s empowerment in Turkey through gender responsive policy, legislation, and budgeting. Joined by the MPs across political parties and the relevant staff of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, the workshop facilitated discussion on the seven reviewed legislations for its gender responsiveness and the integration of gender perspective into existing and proposed legislations.

Within the workshop, a panel on gender responsive planning was conducted with the participation of international speakers. Moderated by UN Women Turkey Programmes Manager Zeliha Ünaldı, the panel welcomed politicians with experience and good practice in gender responsive budgeting namely, Eglantina Gjermeni, Albania, Dr. Helmut Berger, Austria, Sabina Cudic, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kevin Deveaux, Canada. The panel enabled knowledge and experience exchange among MPs from the Equal Opportunities Commission, Ministry staff, and the panelists.

Organized with the financial support of the European Union and Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the workshop was carried out as part of UN Women’s projects on “Advancing gender equality and women’s leadership in political and business life” and “Implementing Gender Responsive Planning and Budgeting in Turkey”.  

Speaking at the event, Chairperson of TGNA Equal Opportunities Commission, Dr. Fatma Aksal emphasized the importance of women’s empowerment to reach the development level and welfare aimed, “ Women should be empowered and reach the positions they deserve in the economy and labor force. Increasing women’s employment and entrepreneurship will also strengthen their representation in politics and bureaucracy. Thanks to this meeting, we will evaluate existing laws, regulations, budgets, and plans from the perspective of equal opportunities for women and men and will accelerate our work accordingly.”

At her speech at the opening of the workshop UN Women Turkey Country Director Asya Varbanova pointed the importance of discussions on instrumental and key issues in advancing gender equality and women’s rights around the globe and in Turkey, “Key issues like gender responsive legislation, budgeting, and temporary special measures to increase women’s political representation are instrumental to achieve gender equality. When applied systematically and with a high level of commitment, they lead to concrete results for women and girls and more equal and just societies.”

At the workshop Counsellor/ Head of Pre-Accession & Humanitarian Assistance, Embassy of Sweden to Turkey, Malin Stawe informed about how Sweden benefitted from European standards in working towards gender equality, “As a country, Sweden, we have benefitted immensely from our engagement in and commitment to global and regional European standards and normative frameworks for our national struggles to realize these objectives, and we continue to do so.”