A technical study visit was organized to Bursa Metropolitan Municipality and Bursa Nilüfer Municipality with the aim of analysing different municipality practices on planning Municipality services with specific focus on women at neighbourhood level. This workshop was organised in order to serve for the preparation of a Sustainability Strategy of the Neighbourhood Mobilization Component of the Women Friendly Cities 2 Project. The visit aimed at analysing operation systems of Municipalities, City Councils and Neighbourhood Committees, exchanging opinions and carrying out research on how Nilüfer Municipality ensures participation of the neighbourhood committees to strategic planning.

Within the scope of Women Friendly Cities 2 Project, 3-day training seminar on “Provision of Gender Sensitive Local Services” for the members of Equality Commissions of the Local Assemblies in Programme cities was organized following the Local Elections in March 2014.

İlknur Üstün, Dr. Deniz Altay Baykan and Dr. Özgün Akduran participated as trainers in these training seminars on Gender Equality and Gender Equality in terms of Local Policies and Practices, Gender Sensitive Budgeting and Egalitarian Urban Planning.

Within the scope of the Neighbourhood Mobilization Activities Component of Women Friendly Cities 2 Project, a 2-day training on “Strategic Planning, Participation and Governance” was delivered in Nevşehir (12-13 May 2014), Şanlıurfa (14-15 May 2014), İzmir (29-30 May 2014), Trabzon (2-3 June 2014) and Kars (5-6 June 2014). In total, 115 individuals consisting of top management from municipalities and provincial directorates, managers of the related units, council members and muhtars (head of villages) from each city participated these events. During these training events, participants were informed on the processes to be managed, work to be done, documents to be produced while preparing their strategic plans in their institutions. Also covered in these seminars how to use the participatory processes in the strategic planning process and the benefits of collaboration they can develop at neighbourhood level. During the training, the current situation of the cities in terms of governance criteria was evaluated through a collective exercise. These trainings were delivered by Neighbourhood Mobilization Activities Component Expert Sezin Üskent.

Some of the programme provinces led the way for a more enabling legislative environment for gender equality at local level by issuing “directives” that aim at sustaining the institutional structures established under Local Equality Mechanisms beyond the Women Friendly Cities Programme via incorporating these structures into their inner structures.

This implementation, initiated with the “Governorship Equality Unit Directive”, which describes the work load of the Unit as well as the duties, qualifications and responsibilities of the staff to be employed in this Unit. This directorate enacted by the Samsun Governorship continued with Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Equality Unit Directive, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Equality Unit Directive, Gaziantep Municipality Equality Unit Directive, and Trabzon Governorship Equality Unit Circular. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality up-scaled the Equality Unit into Branch Office for Women and enacted “İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Branch Office for Women Regulation”.

In order to make Women Friendly Cities model more sustainable beyond the lifespan of the Project, we carried out a work for scanning the current legislative framework and the international best practices. At the end of this desk review, we drafted a recommendation paper for possible legislative changes that would ensure a more enabling legal framework for gender equality at local level and shared this recommendation paper with related stakeholders including Ministry of Interior, Turkey Grand National Assembly (TBMM) Commission on Equal Opportunities of Men and Women, General Directorate of the Status of Women of Ministry of Family and Social Policies. A workshop with the high level representatives of these institutions was organized in December 2013. You can access the recommendation paper from the link below. (Linked document content is in Turkish)

Legal Study Report on the Legislation regarding Local Administrations in Turkey and Obstacles on the way of Ensuring Women-Men Equality