1. EEe E EEvery individual has certain rights to live equally and freely Budapest Meeting TtTevfik İleri Anadolu Lisesi Rize / Turkey GENDER Equality in Turkey School Factory of Initiatives - Equal Citizenship

2. TURKEY &Gender Equality  Gender equality has a long history in Turkey and especially in recent years the legislative framework has expanded. Numerous arrangements have been made;  in the Constitution, the Criminal Code, the Civil Code and the Labour Act, the Prime Ministry Circular No. 2006/17 on combating violence against women have been important steps forward and created commitment at the highest level.

3. Turkey Statistics on Gender Life Expectancy (at Birth)Total71.3 Women73.8 Men68.9 School Life Expactancy[2]Total11 Women10 Men12 Adult Economic Activity Rate[3]Total52 Women28 Men76 Unemployment rateTotal9.9 Women10.3 Men9.8 Labor force participation rateTotal47.8 Women24.8 Men71.3 Labor participation rate among Youth (aged b/w 15-24) Total 19.6 Women20 Men19.4 Adult Literacy RatioTotal88.1 Women80.4 Men96.0

4. Non-agricultural unemloyment rateTotal12.6 Women17.4 Men 11.4 Ratio of literate women to men (15-24 age group) 95.2 Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sectors 19.9 Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament 9.1 Women in Local Politics[4] Women mayors Women members of provincial councils Women members of municipal councils 0.56 1.81 2.42 Gender Related Development Index (GDI)[5] Value Rank 0.763 79th out of 157 Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)[6] Value Rank 0.298 90th out of 93

5. Women in the EU and Turkey  Women employment in EU is 57,2 and in Turkey it is 24.6  Price gap between the genders in EU is 15 and in Turkey it is 22  The women professor ratio in EU is 15 and in Turkey it is 27  Women ratio in the fields of science and engineering in EU is 29 and in Turkey the ratio of women graduates of technical departments between the years of 2006 and 2007 is 24.8  The ratio of women senior managers of companies in EU is 33 and in Turkey it is 6  Representation of women in EU; in the EU parliament it is 30.3; in member countries’ national parliaments it is 23 and in Turkey the women representation in the parliament is 9.1.

6. Women & Politics

7. Suggestions to the floor  The education of women, especially in rural areas, is essential to improve their possibilities to participate in the labour market and to take part in local administrations as well as local initiatives.  We need for a comprehensive women's employment policy in Turkey and the elaboration of a National Employment Strategy based on cooperation with the social partners and other relevant civil society organisations,  The media have a great outreach and can affect great masses within a short period of time. Media have a big influence on society’s behavioural patterns, values and norms.

8. Concluding Remarks  Turkish accession to the EU would prove our ability to overcome divisions of any kind and build a political and economic union based on diversity and on common values such as peace, democracy, social justice, gender equality and respect for human rights.   This is the reason why we must constantly rethink together policies where women's roles are often neglected and also further develop policies to address the problems. I am sure that Turkish women and NGOs can decisively contribute to this endeavour.

9. Together we will overcome all the challenges. Thank you :) Tevfik İleri Anadolu Lisesi Rize / Turkey