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Interior Minister Aksu:
“Our goal is Happy Individual, Serene Society”
 For this issue we interviewed Interior Minister Abdülkadir Aksu about the United Nations Joint Programme to Protect and Promote the Human Rights of Women and Girls (UNJP). UNJP is implemented jointly by the United Nations and Ministry of Interior and was chosen by UNFPA as one of the two best case studies for Human Rights Based Approach Programming.
Newsletter: Mr. Minister, the Ministry of Interior carries out a very important role in the Joint Programme implemented jointly with the United Nations. What does UNJP mean for your Ministry?
Minister Aksu: First of all I would like to thank you for the interview.
UNJP is one of the important steps in line with the Ministry of Interior’s policy “Happy Individual, Serene Society”.
The Ministry of Interior implements several projects jointly with the United Nations and European Union to find solutions to the problems of women and girls, who comprise half of the Turkish population.
Our main goal is to achieve contemporary rights and freedoms and enable our citizens to live peacefully and without fear.
In this respect, progress of the Women Rights Project is very important. It is important to improve the quality of daily life for women and girls, to make urban life more women friendly, and include greater numbers of women in decision making. UNJP will facilitate our success in these issues.
Newsletter: Can you explain the Ministry of Interior’s stance regarding women’s rights?
Minister Aksu: Mainly Mr. Prime Minister and the Ministry of Interior caringly work on and give due attention to women’s rights.
Recently, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan released a circular on the “Fight against Violence against Women and Children and Crimes in the Name of Honour and Customs”.
In addition, the Ministry of Interior released a circular on “Rights of Women and Girls” requesting local governments to improve education opportunities for women, fight against domestic violence, protect children who are victims of neglect and abuse, enhance social services for children, women at all ages and handicapped women; and outlining the duties of City Councils.
Newsletter: How will inclusion of women in greater numbers and a gender sensitive approach into decision making effect local government service capacity and efficiency?
Minister Aksu: An urban setting inclusive of women and encouraging women to freely express themselves should be created according to the specific needs of women.
The Ministry of Interior has completed several projects to promote citizen and especially women’s participation in local decision making. These activities are based on a “Citizens First” approach.
Thanks to the Law on Provincial Administrative Councils and the Law on Municipalities prepared by the Ministry of Interior and legislated by Parliament recently, voluntary participation of citizens in local services such as health, education, social services, and services for elderly, women, children, handicapped, poor and the needy is made possible.
In line with this, a circular on “Voluntary participation in Local Services” was released in October 2005.
A circular on “City Councils”, which is designed for greater inclusion of citizens in local decision making, was released in October 2006.
All of these improvements in the legal framework show that women, who are the main customers of local services, are not invisible. They are the defining members of the community.
Newsletter: Recent legal reforms encourage women’s participation in local decision making. How do you think the Joint Programme will contribute to the implementation of these reforms?
Minister Aksu: Article 10 of the Constitution, Laws on Municipalities, Metropolitan Muni-cipalities and Provincial Administrative Councils and many other legal reforms are designed to make women more active and influential in local decision making and make them benefit from local services across a broader spectrum. Our efforts are to implement these reforms in the shortest time and in the most effective way to make them lasting.
Joint Programme, which we conduct jointly with the UN, is initially executed in six cities. Thanks to all of the efforts mentioned above, Turkey will be among the leading countries in women’s rights.
These endeavours will provide better opportunities for women to participate in local governments and local decision making in greater numbers.
I consider UNJP an important step forward towards eliminating the obstacles women face while participating in national and local decision making processes.
Newsletter: Mr. Minister, what is the next step to enhance women’s and girls’ human rights in Turkey?
Minister Aksu: Gender equality is a universal value that is essential for strengthening society. Education of girls, especially completing high school, is a critical requirement to combat poverty and achieve development. Gender equality is a prerequisite for democracy, development and social peace.
Hundreds of thousands of girls enrolled in school as a result of the “Let’s go to school, Girls” campaign, which will continue until every girl at school age is enrolled in a school.
The percentage of women in national and local decision making is less than the world average. At the latest general elections only 24 of the 550 deputies were women, which makes only 4.36 percent of the parliamentarians. Local government figures are also not very encouraging. Only 18 of 3225 mayors in Turkey are women, which yields 0.5 percent of the mayors. Provincial Council membership figures also follow the above mentioned trend. At the 1935 general elections 18 of the 395 deputies were women (4.6 percent). When we compare this figure with the current number of women in the parliament, we cannot say that we have advanced in including women in politics in greater numbers.
However, the key to development is making education and health services accessible for women and girls, in addition to all types of local services; and the inclusion of women in greater numbers, combined with a gender sensitive approach, in local decision making. As I have previously stated, we are trying to achieve all of the goals mentioned above through enactment of recent legal reforms.
Newsletter: UNJP is the first programme that brings the Ministry of Interior, local governments, the private sector (VAKSA) and NGOs together. What kind of positive input would this new approach provide for similar programmes in the future?
Minister Aksu: Our government encourages advancement of NGOs for enhancement of participatory democracy, which we consider a very positive development for the progress of society and the state.
Our joint efforts with VAKSA and NGOs to advance gender equality will further strengthen our participatory democracy
Newsletter: Mr. Minister, is there anything you want to add?
Minister Aksu: I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Mahmood Ayub in his new post as the UN Resident Coordinator. I would like to thank all UN staff, Ms. Güler Sabancı and VAKSA for their invaluable contributions, for the sincere support from governors and mayors of the programme cities İzmir, Kars, Nevşehir, Şanlıurfa, Trabzon and Van, and all employees of local governments in the programme cities, as well as all of our other implementing partners.
Güler Sabancı:
Main pillar of development is gender equality
Chairperson of Sabancı Holding Board of Directors, Güler Sabancı, is also the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of leading organizations such as Sabancı University, Sabancı Museum and the Hacı Ömer Sabancı Fundation (VAKSA). She is a prominent supporter of socially benefical programmes.
Programme partner VAKSA, through its direct contributions and small grants programme, plays a significant role in reaching out to the general population and in creating a lasting outcome of the programme.
Ms. Sabancı shared VAKSA’s mission and role in human development with us. Newsletter: You make con-siderable contributions to the UN Joint Programme to Protect and Promote the Human Rights of Women and Girls, the first programme of its kind implemented in Turkey. What was thedetermining factor in your final decision?
Güler Sabancı: Hacı Ömer Sabancı Foundation’s (VAKSA) main goal is to contribute to a better future for all.
Partners of the “United Nations Joint Programme to Protect and Promote the Human Rights of Women and Girls” (UNJP) are composed of all UN Agencies, the Ministry of Interior, KA-DER Ankara. UNJP is an economic and human development project. We consider UNJP, which aims at empowering the status of women in community, political, cultural and economic life, as a major step forward for development of Turkey. Thus, we are happy and proud to be part of this important project.
Another key factor in our decision is Sabancı University’s involvement in the programme will add an academic flavour to the activities of UNJP through training programmes, conferences and seminars for various government and NGO groups.
We also want to financially support successful projects that serve the goals of UNJP and inspire future initiatives of this kind.
Newsletter: What does efforts for social development, and particularly women studies, mean for you?
Sabancı: In recent years, Turkey has enacted several important reforms to achieve gender equality and to protect and promote the human rights of women and girls. However, there is still a lot to do to fully implement these reforms.
The outcome of inequalities in community life not only have un-favourable effects on women, but also negatively impact society as a whole. Unless the rights of women, the main driving force behind the change in a society, are recognized, it is harder to achieve a “better future for all”. Thus empowerment of women positively contributes to the development of com-munities throughout Turkey.
The first thing that comes to my mind regarding women studies is education. Educated individuals are more inclined towards innovation and are more open minded. Several studies show that education of girls is directly related to elimination of poverty and success in development.
Local governments and educational institutions, to make education and participation in community life possible for women, should adopt female time management considerations (balance between home and work) in their strategic planning.
Women studies should aim to eliminate all types of discrimination against women, enhance women’s human rights, empower women’s status in economic, social and cultural aspects of life, and boost the education level of women. A second step in line with this would be developing strategies, plans and programmes, and contribute to the creation of policies.
Our goal must be to create awareness, both locally and internationally, that gender equality is a challenge that has to be overcome to achieve development and give women a chance to live in a democratic, egalitarian and peaceful society.
Newsletter: Public opinion polls show that women in Turkey mainly complain that they get less than they contribute to the national economy. How can we overcome this problem?
Sabancı: I think traditional roles cast for women and men in a society are the main sources of the problem.
Lower education levels also keep the status of women low. Girls who cannot attend school are not able to get a job, enter politics, or become artists. Women who are not allowed to work are forced to adopt the housewife role expected of them by society. As a result of this, domestic chores are imposed upon women and men claim the external responsibilities. Only 24,3 % of women at employment age in Turkey are working in a paid job, which I should emphasize is much lower than the EU average of 56 %.
One of the main problems women face is time management. Women, while fulfilling their domestic responsibilities, are deprived of fully participating in community life.
Education of women, men’s participation in domestic work, and encouragement of women to join the work force will help defeat the problems and sweep away the disparity in salaries and gender discrimination in employment.
I personally think that when we achieve the above mentioned goals, women will become more powerful, women will seek jobs in all walks of life and thus will claim the due return they make to the national economy.
Newsletter: The percentage of women in Turkey in decision making roles is far less than world avarage. What will making women more active in decision making mean in this regard?
Sabancı: I think I have answered most of that question previously.
The transformation process has to be ini-tiated and well managed to eliminate certain practices that became traditional methods.
In Turkey, only 4.6 % of parliamentarians are women. Compare this to the percentage of female parliamentarians in following countries: Sweden - 40 %; Norway - 36 &; Denmark - 34 %; France - 11 %; and Spain - 13 %. Globally this figure is around 16 %. Only 0.46 percent of the mayors, 2.4 percent of municipal councils and 1.81 percent of provincial
administrative councils are composed of women members. Globally, 10 percent of mayors and 21 percent of municipal councils are composed of women.
These figures show us that it is a must to exploit multifaceted programmes and projects to support women become more active in every field of political life and assert more influential roles in national and local decision making.
I believe that UNJP is designed to serve the above mentioned goal and if overseen successfully, it will bear significant positive developments. In this respect, I, VAKSA and Sabancı University, with our partners, are ready to fulfill our responsibilities.
I believe that UNJP, which is initially implemented in six cities, will produce successful projects that can also be applied in other cities and thus, will lead the way to change.
Newsletter: What do you recommend to women for success in professional life?
Sabancı: Qualities such as resolve, lea-dership and emotional intelligence women have are very important skills required for professional life. I think being aware of these skills and working patiently for success are the main advantages of women in professional lifeNewsletter: Can you briefly explain VAKSA activities and its goals?
Sabancı: The main goals of Vaksa are to serve people and youth, contribute to the social and cultural development of Turkey, and thus cooperate with the state in improving social services to the public.
VAKSA supports education by building schools and youth hostels, health facilities and contributing to the maintenance of the similar infrastructure already in use.
It supports scientific studies, art, cultural and social activities by establishing cultural centres, libraries and sports facilities and organizing contests and festivals.
These activities cater to hundreds of thousands of people and students play an important role in the development of society.
VAKSA, to serve the general public and to have a positive impact on the lives of individuals, has focused its activities on “a better life standard for all”. In this respect, Vaksa intends to expand its social responsibilities by focusing on poverty, distribution of income, gender equality, the environment, consumer responsibilities, human rights, and the handicapped.
VAKSA is aware of the importance of collaborating with NGOs, public and private sectors, and international organizations, creating a framework for similar close working relationships in the future. VAKSA believes that the academic experience and knowledge of Sabancı University, which is a subsidiary of VAKSA, will be an important driving force in the implementation of UNJP. The best examples of Vaksa’s activities are the ‘Nourishment Project’, conducted under the ‘7 is too Late” campaign, ‘United Nations Joint Programme’ and Sabancı University’s corporate social responsibility projects conducted in cooperation with NGOs.
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