The Programme Consultative Committee held its first meeting on 16 December 2020 to discuss the activities ongoing and intended, and achieve sustainable and effective results under the “More and Better Jobs for Women Programme” being implemented by the ILO Office for Turkey to increase the number of women working in decent conditions in Turkey.

Meeting participants included the representatives from the cooperating entities, academicians, NGOs as well as Counsellor Ms. Malin Stawe and National Programme Manager Ms. Selin Yaşamış from the Embassy of Sweden both on behalf of the donor country Sweden, and a representative from the United Nations Women.

Delivering the opening remarks and providing information on the Programme, Mr. Numan Özcan, Director of the ILO Office for Turkey, noted that significant works were achieved in the Phase One of the Programme such as the Women's Employment Action Plan, which was Turkey’s first-ever Action Plan focusing on women’s employment through social dialogue.

He added that the project under the Phase II of the Programme that started in 2019 aimed to promote women’s access to decent work in Turkey through social dialogue and in cooperation with public entities, workers’ and employers’ organisations, and private sector.

“The pandemic has once more emphasized importance of women’s employment.”

Pointing to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic crisis, Mr. Özcan stated that the pandemic affected women further negatively across the world and further deepened the pre-pandemic existing gender inequalities to unprecedented levels.

Mr. Özcan said: “Today we want to evaluate and discuss, with the participation of valuable members of the Consultative Committee formed under this Programme, the ongoing activities of projects and what further can be done to improve women’s employment in the pandemic era.”

Mr. Özcan continued: “We all have more to do in such time so that women work in decent jobs. And we must specifically focus on ensuring that employment policies and practices at all levels contribute to women’s employment for a just and better world of work after the pandemic.”

“The Programme represents an opportunity for women to access decent jobs”

Ms. Malin Stawe, Counsellor from the Embassy of Sweden, expressed that the pandemic disproportionately affected women including particularly those working informally, exacerbated domestic violence, and women had to assume more of care and education burden for children at home.

Ms. Stawe said: “Therefore, this Programme represents an opportunity for women to access formal jobs, decent jobs, and work in violence-free environment.”

Ms. Ebru Özberk Anlı, Senior Programme Officer, ILO Office for Turkey, made a presentation on the Programme providing detailed information, and then the Committee members shared their views and recommendations that would contribute to the Programme achieving its objectives.

Participants offered recommendations

With an emphasis on ILO’s Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190) in an environment where the pandemic exacerbated instances of violence, and focus on the importance of collecting data on women’s employment, the meeting participants recommended that violence and harassment be integrated into the training modules under the Programme, cooperation be maintained with the private sector and trade unions, National Action Plans be monitored, work on childcare services be continued, and future jobs for women be accorded higher importance.

The Committee consisting of the representatives of project beneficiaries and cooperating agencies under the Programme, academicians and NGOs will meet once a year.