UN takes stock of CEDAW recommendations to Turkey
UN in Turkey emphasizes importance of international community and civil society to achieve gender equality; recommendations touch on women’s political participation, child marriage and implementing UNSCR 1325, among othersDate:
The United Nations in Turkey renewed its commitment to scaling-up work on gender equality in Turkey and shared results of recommendations to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) at a meeting held last month in Ankara. The Inter-agency UN Results Group on Gender, chaired by UN Women, brought together 40 representatives from bilateral and international organizations as part of its efforts to carry out and monitor gender-related activities within the UN Development and Cooperation Strategy 2016-2020.
Turkey has ratified CEDAW and the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention). These international conventions together with the stand-alone sustainable development goal on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls (SDG5) are meant to galvanize the government to eliminate discriminatory practices and traditions against women and girls and to ensure equal participation and opportunities in all spheres of life.
Zeliha Unaldi, a Gender Specialist in the Resident Coordinator’s Office in Ankara, discussed the work of UN Turkey on gender equality and women’s empowerment, and presented a summary of more than 60 CEDAW recommendations under 25 subtopics to Turkey while emphasizing the need to work together for results: “The international community’s support to the Turkish government and civil society organizations’ roles are important in achieving implementation of the UN’s CEDAW recommendations.”
Among others, the CEDAW Committee recommended that Turkey:
- Adopt measures to achieve equal and full participation of women in political life at local and national level.
- Establish a clear timeframe to finalize and adopt the draft National Action Plan to implement UN Security Council Resolution No. 1325 (2000) on women, peace and security;
- Implement the prohibition of child marriage and strengthen sensitization efforts on the harmful effects of child marriage on a girl’s health and development;
- Implement temporary special measures to accelerate substantive equality of women and men in all areas where women are underrepresented or disadvantaged, particularly in education, labour market, political and public life;
Made up of staff from a wide range of UN agencies, the UN Results Group on Gender supports the achievement of equality between women and men in Turkey. Its third international community coordination meeting on gender equality included embassy representatives from Australia, Norway, USA, Britain, Ireland, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Canada, Italy and Finland, and major donors like the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and the European Union delegation in Turkey, along with representatives from the Council of Europe, which works closely with the UN to implement the Istanbul Convention.
Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, UN Women Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia and Representative to Turkey, said in her opening remarks that the UN in Turkey is willing and committed to scaling up its work on gender equality. “The United Nations has a dual approach on gender, aiming to achieve not only gender-specific outcomes, but also gender mainstreaming,” she said.
In 2014 the Government of Turkey submitted its 7th Periodic National Report to the CEDAW Committee. The Committee published its concluding observations in July 2016 after dialogue with the official delegation of Turkey. CEDAW Committee recommendations outline the steps that are needed to efficiently implement CEDAW over the next four years until the succeeding reporting period.
The Ankara meeting provided an opportunity for the international community to hear recommendations of the CEDAW Committee. An important highlight included the need for continued international support to the Turkish Government to achieve gender equality.
Representatives at the meeting expressed appreciation to the UN for its work and noted that the recommendations and guidelines would inform their work on women’s rights and gender. A representative in the EU delegation in Turkey said: “Coordinated efforts in gender equality in Turkey are essential. We are now working on our Gender Strategy. Contributions from the international community are welcomed.”
The UN Results Group on Gender is responsible for facilitating joint programming among the UN agencies on priority gender equality issues in Turkey. It also organizes UN-joint advocacy initiatives like Girl Child Day, International Women’s Day and 16 Days of Activism to end violence against women.