More and Better Jobs for Women: Women’s Empowerment through Decent Work in Turkey

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to women’s empowerment in Turkey by providing decent work opportunities through capacity development of relevant institutions, active labour market policies (ALMP) interventions and enhancing awareness on gender equality, women’s human rights and rights at work.

Studies show that there is a strong mismatch between the labour demand of the employers and the qualifications of the unemployed. In addition, employment by itself is not sufficient to reduce poverty and vulnerabilities particularly of women. It is decent, formal and paid employment that empowers people. Therefore, the project aims to make a change in the employability of women through improved capacity and outreach of Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) and Provincial Employment and Vocational Training Boards (PEVTBs) as well as through preparation of a National Action Plan on Women’s Employment and Gender Equality. İŞKUR will then utilize its capacity to tailor their services to the emerging needs of the labour market for women.

The project will also help in integrating gender sensitive approaches into active labour market policies and in identifying those occupations where there are more decent employment opportunities for women to be employed in the project provinces. The project is expected to serve as a model for other provinces in advancing gender equality in employment and providing decent employment opportunities for women.

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