UN Women Türkiye conducted awareness-raising workshops with Bodrum Municipality

UN Women Türkiye conducted workshops on Gender Responsive Budgeting and Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriages for the officials of Bodrum Municipality.

Conducted between August 22-24, the workshop was attended by the Mayor Ahmet Aras, officials from various departments of the Municipality and the members of civil society. The workshop provided a platform for productive discussions on gender responsive budgeting and supporting women's empowerment in Bodrum.

The workshop was organized at the Bodrum Chamber of Maritime Commerce within the scope of “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. Gender responsive policies and how women’s different needs should be covered through budgeting were discussed at the workshop. Conducted under Municipality’s efforts on Local Equality Action Plan, participants were informed about how taken decisions and budget allocations have an impact on gender equality.

The workshop continued with a session on elimination of child, early and forced marriages. While definitions and statistics on child, early and forced marriages were conveyed in the workshop, discussions took place on Bodrum Municipality’s role and responsibility around eliminating harmful behaviors and attitudes that cause inequalities. The workshop has also provided a space to elaborate further on the health risks of child, early and forced marriages, application mechanisms, referral, reporting obligation and case studies about the topic.

Making opening remarks at the workshop, UN Women Türkiye Program Specialist Duygu Arığ said: “As UN Women Türkiye, we are working with local governments to support them in developing gender responsive plans, programmes and municipal services. We are planning our actions within the framework of sustainable development goals and international agreements. I would like to thank Bodrum Municipality for its pioneering actions. The criteria that is especially important for us is equal participation in decision-making mechanisms to ensure gender equality.”

Ahmet Aras, Mayor of Bodrum Municipality said: “Women should take active role and have equal representation in decision-making mechanisms. Women must participate equally in decisions pertaining to society. Women, who make up the society, shape the future of the society and who ultimately take important decisions must participate in the decision-making processes.”

While supporting the implementation of the Bodrum Municipality Local Equality Action Plan, the workshop aims to spread the gender responsive local government approach. Setting out a 3-year (2022-2024) plan for the municipality, the Action Plan was evaluated. In this framework, the Action Plan aims for a municipality that focuses its priorities on gender equality, ensures participation, recognizes diversity, and brings institutional arrangements with it. UN Women will continue to support Local Equality Action Plans with workshops in Bodrum and other provinces.