The women problem is not a result of the negativities stemming from the country and world conditions we are in.

The women problem is a problem in itself and intersects with other problem areas, but it is never a problem area that they produce. In other words, it cannot be evaluated, determined as a pure result.

Such an approach is a position that places women in the second place again, which is impossible to accept.

A comprehensive approach to the women problem is therefore essential. Developing a common knowledge sharing and strategy with all segments of society should be a top priority to address the problem on its own, to benefit from different disciplines and to maximize awareness.

The women problem, which is brought to the agenda with terrible pains every day, is a problem of right to life, a problem of equality and the ability to live freely beyond being a woman problem. The fact that the problem is so multidimensional necessitates a multidimensional approach to the solution. Within this framework, local governments have great responsibilities in every field. By using their means, local administrations can make serious contributions such as solving all kinds of problems faced by women, securing their living spaces and supporting them economically and socially.

‘Purple Flag’ practice

Based on this intellectual perspective, we have completed numerous studies. We will further expand the scope and area of our activities in the coming period.

As Çankaya Municipality, we are carrying out important activities to ensure women's rights and gender equality and we became the first municipality with Purple Flag. We are with women and children in the field of combating violence against women with the Women's Advice Center and the Shelter Office. In addition, we support the empowerment of individuals through our family counseling and individual counseling services that we provide free of charge.

We take measures to ensure gender equality in the city and provide our services accordingly. With this approach, we provide free stands in our parks, marketplaces and shopping centers before special days such as Mother's Day and New Year's Eve in order to empower women economically. In order to make women's labor visible and raise awareness in this field, we organize events such as the Mother's Day Festival and the Purple Festival, especially the Women's Labor Festival, which we held for the third time this year.

Again, in order to make women's labor visible and raise awareness in this field, we give “Purple Flag” which includes ”Equality Friendly Workplace ” phrase to the women entrepreneurs and workplaces where more than 50 percent of their employees are women.

Our biggest supporter

Since gender equality can only be achieved through cross-cutting studies, we provide every service from this perspective. For this reason, in order to raise the sensitivity of our staff on the issue, we organize awareness trainings on gender equality and women's rights.

In order to support women's rights and freedom struggles in the district, we are working on empowerment activities such as the Women's Human Rights Education Program, primarily in Çankaya Houses, and in our municipal halls. In addition, the role of men in the equality work is important to remember that the father support program in our district, starting from our staff are spreading. In addition, reminding the role of men in the equality work is important we apply father support program in our district starting from our staff, which we are spreading in our district.

In this context, we declare March as the “Equality and Awareness Month” on the occasion of International Women's Day on March 8, and we are organizing our traditional awareness activities throughout 1 month.

In order to emphasize the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, we continue our awareness activities on the issue throughout 1 month.

Within the scope of Women Writers Week, which we organized for the third time this year, we bring the writers in the women's movement to the public and distribute free books.

We also work to transform gender roles by publishing the Women's Bulletin once every three months. We reach Çankaya people on the subject with peer bullying trainings organized in schools.

Rights-based works can only be achieved if the subjects of the issue are involved at every stage of the process, so the participation of CSOs is very important for us. During the preparation process of our strategic plan and 2019-2023 Local Equality Action Plan, the experience and knowledge of non-governmental organizations has been our greatest supporter.

Organizational cooperation

We sign protocols to institutionalize our collaborations with non-governmental organizations. This is one of the protocols in Turkey on December 5 we have signed with the Federation of Women's Associations was Emergency Hotline protocol.

We are reassuring that we are always on the side of women with the protocol we have signed against the gender-based violence as well as sharing our action plan which includes our egalitarian services and commitments for the next 5 years.

We should all do something in an environment where such violence becomes commonplace, where inequality deepens and becomes accustomed. This is our fundamental human and conscientious responsibility.

ALPER TAŞDELEN

MAYOR OF ÇANKAYA