The Charter of the United Nations, signed in San Francisco in 1945, was the first international agreement to proclaim gender equality as a fundamental human right. Since then, the Organization has helped create a historic legacy of internationally agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the status of women worldwide.

Over the years, United Nations action for the advancement of women has taken four clear directions: promotion of legal measures; mobilization of public opinion and international action; training and research, including the compilation of gender desegregated statistics; and direct assistance to disadvantaged groups. Today a central organizing principle of the work of the United Nations is that no enduring solution to society's most threatening social, economic and political problems can be found without the full participation, and the full empowerment of the world's women.

The UN has dedicated the year 2006 to gender issues. Globally the number of women participating in the legislative and political decision making process has increased, including a significant surge in  the number of women serving in parliaments. Globally, 10.9 percent of the parliamentarians were composed of women in 1975. This number went up to 16.3 percent in 2006. However, in Turkey only 4.6 percent of the parliamentarians and 0.56 percent of mayors are women.

Turkey has taken important steps to improve the rights and status of women in Turkey. However, there is still a long way to go to achieve the desired results.

According to the Directorate General for Status of Women, in Turkey;

- One out of every three women is a victim of violence;
- 63 percent of women between the ages of 15 and 19 approve of violence against women;
- 19.4 percent of women are illiterate;
- According to 2003-2004 data, only 12 percent of women at university age is enrolled in a university;
- 26 percent of university professors are women and 56.9 percent of research assistants are women;
- The female participation rate in the work force is only 25.4, female unemployment rate is 9.7, and unemployment rate among young women is 18.8.
- 57.2 percent of women work in the agriculture sector and 50 percent of the the women in agriculture sector are part of family work force without pay;
- 2.500 women die during childbirth.

Data: Directorate General for Status of Women, UN web pages.