28 th Meeting of the EU-Turkey Joint Consultative Committee Edinburgh, Scotland September 2010 Gülseren Onanç President, KAGIDER

Women Employment Campaign, WE WANT A JOB ! - To government and politicians: “WHAT HAVE YOU PLANNED FOR 8 MILLION OF US” -To private Companies “DON’T JUST TELL US WHAT TO CONSUME” -To Society and Women “KIDS.THAT’S NOT WHAT WE CAN ONLY PRODUCE ” Active participation with policy proposals and lobbying during the preparation of the “National Employment Strategy 2010” of the Turkish Government Advocacy activities for the preparation of the Prime Minister’s Circular on “Increasing Female Employment and Providing Equal Opportunities”. What Did KAGIDER Do?

What Did Turkey Do?  In May 2010, the Turkish Prime Minister issued a Circular on “Increasing Female Employment and Providing Equal Opportunities”. Priority Areas and Initiatives of the Circular are defined as;  Mainstreaming gender equality in employment procedures in public institutions  Equal pay for equal work  Collecting gender statistics  Consultancy for women searching for a job  Training on women’s human rights  Establishing “National Steering and Monitoring Committee on Female Employment”. KAGIDER will be a part of this Committee together with representatives of the related ministries, NGOs, employer and trade union confederations and universities.  Currently, Turkish Government and the Ministry of Employment and Social Security is working on the National Employment Strategy. Main Policy Areas of the Strategy and the Goals are;  Strenghtening the relation between education and employment, -Forming National Qualifications Framework in line with European Qualifications Framework by Raising National Employment Institution’s human resources to by the year  Increasing the flexibility of labor market -Increasing the employment indexes to OECD standards -Increasing the rate of part time employment within total employment to the EU average  Increasing employment rates of women, youth and the disadvantaged -Raising the Female Labor Force Participation Rate to 35 % by 2023  Strenghtening the relation between employment and social protection -Increasing the beneficiaries of the Unemployment Compensation -Shortening the duration of coming back to work for the Unemployment Compensation Beneficiaries..

Positive BUT NOT Enough! In light of our EU commitment the Circular and the National Employment Strategy are positive developments to be pursued, implemented and further developed. We need political commitment of the Turkish government We need integration of all social partners, especially women’s NGO’s in the follow up and monitoring process We need close coordination and synergy between social and political partners We need sincere political will and support to internalize the EU criteria and to implement them without abusing the issues for vested interests in politics.

Employment and Social Policy Chapter is not opened yet The Opening Criteria are set as; a.) Harmonizing Union Rights with EU standards and ILO Conventions b.) Presentation of an action plan on the gradual integration, implementation and execution of the related EU acquis to the domestic law Currently, the Turkish Government is finalising the Action Plan, and Union Rights and related issues are partly integrated to the proposed amendment of the Turkish Constitution which was voted in the referandum, yesterday. There is still opposition and discussion raised by diverse unions and confederations whether the amendments are satisfactory to extend and secure these rights. Progress in EU Negotiations is Needed!

According to the Action Plan of the Turkish Government, required regulations and changes in the law under the chapter Employment and Social Policy are stated as; 1) Change in Labor Law and Law on State Officials, Parental Leave for both males and females should be integrated to the Turkish Labor Law. The issue is still on the agenda of the general assembly of the Turkish Parliament 2) Change in the Law nr 4688 on the Public Official’s Unions, The Law shall be redefined to extend the union rights of the public officials. Ministry of Labor and Social Security and State Personnel Presidency are responsible from the preparation of the regulation. 3) Change in law nr 2821 on Unions and in Law nr 2822 on Collective Bargaining, Strike and Lockout, The laws should be harmonized with ILO Conventions and EU Social Condition toextend the union rights. The proposed amendment in the Turkish Constitution provides area for extention and redefinition of these rights. 4) Issuing a Law on Job Safety and Security, there is a need to define and secure the area with a law instead of regulation. Currently Ministry of Labor and Social Security is working on the draft law. 5) Drafting a Law on Social Services, A new draft law shall be prepared in light of European Inclusion Strategy in order to define the main model of social services for individuals and groups which need protection, support and help. Prime Ministry’s Social Services and Child Welfare Institution is responsible from the preparation of the regulation. Children’s rights are also integrated to the proposed amendment of the Turkish Constitution. Our Legal Homework

Our Policy Proposals Boosting female employment and providing better conditions for the labor force are main the goals to be met. These goals are also the building blocks of the National Employment Strategy of Turkey. KAGIDER proposes certain policy areas and tools to meet these goals; 1) Harmonizing private and professional life -A new Child Care Scheme, Child care services in Turkey should be reformed by certain tax exemption and subsidy mechanisms without putting the burden on employers. -Part time job scheme with social security framework -Forming and extending the parental leave for both males and females. 2) Support to first job seeker women, National Employment Institution (ISKUR) can build a new program for creating employment opportunities for women who seek job for the first time. 3) Support to entrepreneurship, Special support to entrepreneur candidates in child care sector via Small and Medium Size Enterprises Development and Support Institution (KOSGEB) 4) Gender Certification, Awareness raising on women friendly working environments. A certification mechanism can be established to objectively assess the corporate policies and practices of the private companies based on certain gender equality criteria.