TEPAV EU Institute Director Eralp: "Turkey with its rising economy falls back with respect to women's emloyment" Delivering a speech at the inauguration meeting of the 'Project for Promoting Women's Employment in Amasya (KADES)' Nilgün Arısan Eralp said that economic improvement  not contributed by women through participation into the active labor force does not qualify as development.

27/10/2010 - Viewed 2337 times AMASYA - Inauguration meeting of the ‘Project for Promoting Women’s Employment in Amasya (KADES)’, launched by TEPAV to ease the barriers to women’s labor force participation, was held in Amasya on October 26, 2010.

Delivering an opening speech, Project Coordinator and TEPAV European Union (EU) Institute Director Nilgün Arısan Eralp stated that despite the ongoing surge in the economy, Turkey failed to ensure an improvement in terms of participation of the women to the labor force. Underlining that in Turkey, the 17^th biggest economy of the world, female labor force participation rate dropped from 36.2 percent in the 1989-2008 period to 24 percent, Eralp maintained economic improvement not contributed by women though participation into the active labor force does not secure development. Eralp went on saying that in this context, TEPAV makes effort towards provinces that fall behind in terms of women’s employment.

Bad in equality, good in terms of women CEOs...

Eralp stressed that lack of access to education is one of the main impediments to women’s employment. Referring to World Economic Forum’s 2010 Global Gender Gap Report, Eralp underlined that out of 134 countries Turkey ranks 126^th with respect to gender equality and 131^st with respect to economic participation and equality of opportunities. Highlighting that the same outlook does not prevail for women with long educational attainment, Eralp continued: "The same research also suggests that ratio of women CEO’s stands at 5 percent across the world and 12 percent in Turkey. There are both economic and social factors underlying this.”

Stating that participation of women in Amasya in labor force is quite low in line with the overall trend in Turkey, Eralp maintained that the Project for Promoting Women’s Employment in Amasya seeks to contribute to the alteration of this outlook. Eralp went on saying that efforts will be made to match the demand for female labor force and the skills supplied by women though training programs. Eralp added that it is planned to expand the project to other provinces after Amasya.

Talking about TEPAV in her speech, Eralp said that TEPAV was founded by a group of businesspeople, bureaucrat and academics who believed that even the slightest piece of information and each idea relying on that information contributes to the future of Turkey. Eralp underlined that TEPAV is a foundation which shows interest in social problems and seeks to contribute to the solution of these via research.

Government officials in Amasya and women participating to trainings in the context of the project attended the inauguration meeting.

We need a determined spirit

Delivering a speech at the meeting, Amasya Governor Halil İbrahim Daşöz stated that at the heart of development of advanced countries lie high female labor force participation rates. Daşöz added that employment meant 'labor' and 'pursuing a life with dignity.' Drawing attention to the traditional gender role of women, Daşöz said that while training a man is for the sake of that single man, training a woman implied 'rescuing' the household as a whole. Highlighting Amasya's high employment potential particularly in the tourism sector, Daşöz argued that the province can compete with regions including Safranbolu, Beypazarı and Edirne, which have more developed tourism sectors. Daşöz underlined that the only missing element in Amasya is entrepreneurship and continued: ''In Amasya, we need a determined spirit capable of taking this step."

Also delivering a speech, Amasya Mayor Cafer Özdemir stressed that the governorate as well as the municipality makes efforts to create employment opportunities for women and that one thousand women participated in the training courses carried out by the municipality and the governorate and awarded certificates.

EU grants €320 thousand for the project

Talking about the details of the project process TEPAV Social Policy Analyst Ülker Şener said that 300 women will benefit from 'empowerment trainings', at minimum 200 women will participate in vocational training programs and entrepreneurial capacity of 50 women who carry out small scale business will be developed via trainings on product development, marketing and sale. Şener maintained that at the end of the first year, it is targeted to generate employment for 50% of the women participated in vocational trainings. Şener added that the project which will last for 12 months will be financed by the €320 thousand grant funded by the EU.

After the speeches, women who participate to the trainings took the floor. Participant women, maintaining that they now feel more equipped and valuable, said they want to have an income of their own.