“Davos for women” held in Istanbul

By Cigdem Budayci for Southeast European Times in Istanbul — 11/05/11

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (centre) also attended the summit for women. [Reuters]

”]The 21st Global Summit of Women, held in Istanbul last week, drew around 1,000 participants from 81 countries to share strategies for advancing the economic situation of women.

The forum, which has acquired the nickname “Davos for women”, brings together representatives of the private, public and non-profit sectors. The focus, organisers say, is on “dramatically expanding women’s economic opportunities globally through exchanges of working solutions and creative strategies forged by women leaders in different parts of the world”.

With regard to Turkey, conversations focused on the economic, social and educational opportunities and barriers women face.

“In recent years, social development has increased and women’s participation in economic and social life has been especially encouraged,” said Turkish Minister of State Selma Aliye Kavaf, who is responsible for women’s and family affairs.

She emphasised that women’s participation in business and social life is extremely important for social justice and development. Turkey has implemented many different incentives and provided support for women’s employment, she said, adding that these can help support the foundations for a powerful family.

She pointed to the increase of women in top-level executive positions in Turkey, citing a 2010 report on global gender injustice. It found that around 12% of CEOs in Turkey are women, compared to the world average of 5%.

“This increase in the number of women CEO’s in Turkey is a sign of women’s increasing performance in the business world, as the top positions require a lot of hard work, labor and dedication,” said the president of the Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey (KAGIDER) Gulden Turktan. The increase, she added, indicates that gender inequality for educated women in Turkey is on the wane.

However, according to the “2010 Global Gender Gap Report” published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Turkey occupied an unimpressive 126th place among 134 countries when it comes to equality between the sexes.

The report finds that in Turkey, women’s labour force participation rate is 26%, wages are only about a quarter of men’s, and only 10% women are in legislative, senior government, and managerial positions.

According to another survey, published last month by the Directorate General on the Status of Women (KSGM), 9.9% women and 2.2% men are illiterate in Turkey.

Although the law provides for gender equality, the KSGM found that discrimination still occurs because of the traditional division of labour and occupations, and unfairness in the distribution of work. Women, it said, tend to be dismissed more often during times of financial crisis.

Nurdan Sahin, chairwoman of Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey (TEGV), said that primary school attendance among boys and girls has increased remarkably in recent years, fluctuating around 98%.

However, she added, “more girls drop out of school in middle and higher education, and the participation of women in business life is also very low.”

Although she agreed that there is an increase in the number of women in the business world, Sahin indicated that “those who are in the secondary positions are more than the ones in the top positions.”

She added that education is an instrument for changing the situation, but not necessarily the decisive factor. Rather, she said, “it is more the socio-economic background of women and their self-esteem that makes a difference.”

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.

via “Davos for women” held in Istanbul (SETimes.com).