Gender Equality as Smart Economics: Solving the Turkish Dilemma

By Asli Gurkan

Robert B. Zoellick, the president of the World Bank, was in Turkey last week. During his four-day visit on July 19-22, Zoellick praised Turkey’s economic progress with caution. On top of his agenda was the need to increase female participation in the Turkish workforce. It wasn't a coincidence that Zoellick commended Turkey's remarkable economic performance and spoke of the growing gender-gap in Turkey concurrently. The Turkish case presents a dilemma: Despite Turkey's successes in macroeconomic stability and poverty-reduction; the participation of women in economic life is abysmal. Turkey was among the lowest scoring countries in the 2010 World Economic Forum Gender Equality Gap Report and scored 126th out of 134th in the UNDP Gender Inequality Index. What is more worrisome is that women's economic participation rates have been declining in the last decade. The latest figures stand at 25 percent, significantly lower than the OECD average.

Female workforce Participation Rates- Turkey vs. Organizations for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

Source: "Turkey's Greatest Untapped Potential: Women": Turkish State Planning Organization and World Bank Presentation, 2009.

Why is women's labor force participation so low and declining? Two recent studies supported by the World Bank, “Turkey's Greatest Untapped Potential: Women” (2009) and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK)’s “Women Employment in Turkey" (2010), give us helpful clues.

According to these studies, urbanization is a key contributor. Women, many of whom are unpaid agricultural laborers in rural areas stay home when they move into urban areas, citing reasons such as family pressures, security reasons, harsh working conditions, and low-wages. This is particularly the case for those with little or no education. While young men, even in the rural areas, are transitioning from agricultural jobs into better-paid jobs in the manufacturing and services sectors, women are staying home. A top reason cited by women is the lack of affordable childcare. According to the TUBITAK study women in Istanbul have to pay “between 500 and 600 Turkish Lira per month (about $350-400) just for childcare if they decided to work and more for other extra costs of additional household help."

Among other contributing reasons to staying home, women list "harassment" and "gossiping." In the interviews, they said "men often make sexual gestures towards women employees and that women do not know how to protect themselves against sexual harassment." Rumors are also considered a concern even for educated women. TUBITAK study quotes a female engineer who, despite being extremely qualified for a particular job, was not hired. Apparently, the employer said: "I am looking for someone who can have business trips with me. But how could I go with a female worker? It can lead to rumors."

The new initiative, Women Gender Equality Certificate, that Zoellick announced jointly with Turkey's prominent women's organization, KAGIDER, is a highly encouraging step to overcome some of these challenges. The initiative attempts to bring new rules and regulations to fight against gender discrimination on promotion, training, and working conditions. There are other notable initiatives such as subsidizing employers’ social security contributions for newly hired women for up to five years. Yet, women's stories indicate that focusing solely on employers and structural reforms is only half of the problem. Their voices point to deeper socio-cultural issues of a society that is still struggling to balance conservative values with realities of a global era and internalize men-women co-existence in the workforce.

Whatever one's beliefs and values may be when it comes to equality in the workforce, Turkey cannot afford excluding the women. The reason is simple. As Diego Angel-Urdinola, the lead author of the World Bank study so succinctly explains: “In the same way that you wouldn’t play football without a full team, countries can’t compete globally if they don’t use the full potential of all their citizens.”

Asli Gurkan is a Social Development Specialist at the World Bank based in Washington-DC.

Turkish Athletes’ Special Revolution through the Sports

By Pelin Cebi

Don’t we all want to live in a society where equal opportunities are based on tolerance, social inclusion and acceptance regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, and abilities? I know that I do. I want to live in a community where each person’s uniqueness is appreciated and nurtured. That’s why I paid attention to the 13^th Special Olympics World Summer Games which took place between June 25-July 4 in Athens. World Games are one the most influential events that promote social inclusion and acceptance for people with intellectual disabilities.

This year’s games celebrated the lives of more than 7,000 special athletes from nearly 180 countries. Turkey was one of the 180 countries and participated with 105 athletes. Team Turkey competed in seven different disciplines. The enthusiasm of these brave athletes captured the hearts and minds of the many and sent a powerful message to the world, “everybody can win”. There are just over 14,000 athletes in Special Olympics in Turkey receiving training on Alpine Skiing, Aquatics, Basketball, Football, Gymnastics, Powerlifting, Table Tennis and Volleyball.

“Special Olympics Turkey relies mostly on private philanthropic funding” explains Maureen Rabbitt, the Director of Communications at Special Olympics who is responsible for the Europe and Eurasia regions. Since its inception, Dilek Sabanci, an outspoken supporter and an inspiration to people with intellectual disabilities in Turkey, has been at the heart of the movement. 30 percent of Special Olympics Turkey’s funding comes from commercial sponsors.

Melih Gurel, the National Director of Special Olympics in Turkey, describes the most prevailing challenge in Turkey to be the lack of awareness and understanding from parents on the potential of training for their children. “Special Olympics Turkey finds it difficult to encourage athletes to leave their homes or schools to train due to resistance by their parents. This is an educational and public awareness matter that Special Olympics Turkey is working to address.”

Wilfried Lemke, the United Nations Special Advisor on Sport for Development and Peace, spoke at this year’s opening ceremonies and also made a point on

awareness. “Special Olympics transforms communities from closed to open ones, from intolerant to accepting ones and by using sport to accomplish this, has come to represent the good, the power and the true spirit of sport.” True, the challenge is due to the indifference and prejudiced attitude towards the intellectually disabled. Living standards of people with disabilities and quality of services offered are also important indicators of a country’s health, education and economic development.

In recent years, Turkey has made progress in acceptance and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities thanks to a few organizations like Special Olympics Turkey, the Human Rights in Mental Health Initiative (RUSIHAK), and one of TPF’s grantees, Tohum Autism Foundation and many more. Efforts of such organizations reflect a growing movement towards the inclusion of the intellectually disabled into society. There are many ways in which you can help to promote the advancement of people with intellectual disabilities. You can volunteer as a coach or run events, and write and share stories of your experiences.

"The Key is Opportunity," as Special Olympics so simply puts it. These and other organizations provide the keys for change to athletes and supporters alike. Will you take the opportunity to make a difference?

Pelin Cebi is a former Associate Director for Development for the New York City Region of Special Olympics. Ms. Cebi currently lives in San Francisco and works as a training program specialist in a leading financial institution.

PHOTOS
From Top:
Turkish Athletes during the opening ceremony;
Muhtar Kent, Chairman of The Coca-Cola Company, marched with Special Olympics Turkey in the Parade of Athletes
Credit: Will Schermerhorn

UN Report Praises Turkey’s Women Movement

Posted by Ayca Ariyoruk

Despite remarkable legal advances women made around the world in their quest to attain equal opportunities – there is a wide gap in implementation and delivery of justice matters. This is the message of Progress of the World’s Women 2011-2011; In Pursuit of Justice, the first global report on women released yesterday by UN Women. The new supra-departmental agency UN Women was founded in 2010 with the merger of four separate UN entities working on the advancement of women.

“Justice is the foundation of gender equality” said Michelle Bachelet, the undersecretary-general of UN Women and formerly Chile’s first female president, at a press conference yesterday. That why the UN Women has chosen legal rights as the theme for the inaugural report.

According to the report, 125 countries have outlawed domestic violence. Turkey is one of them. Turkey changed penal and civil codes in 2004 and 2005 to increase sentences for honor killers. The problem remains in implementation and the delivery of justice. “Two thirds of countries have laws against domestic violence but legislation is only the first step…In Muslim countries, you have the laws but there is a gap in implementation” argues Bachelet.

The report puts forward proven and achievable recommendations that work. For instance, placing women in front line of law enforcement helps. The study observed increased reporting on sexual violence in countries where more women serve in the police.

Bachelet praises women activists who made it clear that “culture and religion cannot be used as an excuse to justify gender discrimination and injustice. Injustice is not inevitable or natural. It is not a basis for any culture or religion and we have the power to change it.”

In a case study on Turkey, UN Women recognizes Turkey’s women movement that launched “a bold campaign” and “culminated in a new penal code in 2004, which included the criminalization of marital rape and sexual harassment in the workplace, the revision of all articles discriminating between single and married women and the strengthening of provisions on sexual abuse of children.”

Yes She Can! TPF Joins Public-Private Partnership

By Ayca Ariyoruk

Can you imagine, at the age of 17, packing a back-pack for your wedding instead of your math class? That is not too far from reality for hundreds and thousands of girls, who are out of school in Turkey. Despite joining the Group of 20, the exclusive club of most powerful economies, Turkey ranks at 126, out of 134 on gender gap according to the World Economic Forum Report. Turkey is behind Iran (123) and Bangladesh (82). The vast majority of the worst-scoring countries are Muslim.

In order to help change this little-known unfortunate reality, Turkish Philanthropy Funds (TPF) joined forces with a group of public and private partners that have answered a call from President Obama for a new beginning between the United States and Muslim communities. Following President Obama’s call famous Cairo Speech on June of 2009, notable organizations and companies such as Morgan Stanley, Cisco, Exxon Mobile, Intel, The Coca-Cola Company, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Case Foundation and Brown University have volunteered resources of money and talent to spearhead a new initiative properly entitled Partners for a New Beginning. So did TPF.

TPF’ s “Yes She Can!” will work with two local partners, Turkcell, the Turkish telecommunications giant and Cagdas Yasami Destekleme Dernegi (Association for the Support of the Contemporary Living), a not-for-profit dedicated to increasing the schooling of girls in Turkey. Together they will launch a mentorship program that will connect Turkish girls between the ages of 12-21 to professional women in the United States. The immediate purpose is to increase college enrollment that will in the long-term result with more women in the workforce, gradually improving gender equality in Turkey. Turkcell and TPF will also fund scholarships.

Yes She Can will engage at least 100 girls in its first year, and increase that number by 10 percent in the each following year, eventually reducing the number of girls not attending primary school down to half million by 2020, and to 300,000 by 2025.

Yes She Can is not the only public and private partnership in Turkey. For instance, Cisco’s SPARK for Women will provide economic opportunities to women In Turkey through information technology education and training. 120 women in six cities will become trainers and will each train additional 20 women, impacting 2,400 women in total. IBM will invest in $1.2 million and send its highest performer business and IT consultants to provide free consulting to local clients in Istanbul, Jakarta and Cairo.

Such public and private ventures are gaining popularity over traditional forms of foreign-aid. Simply increasing aid to the poor can do more harm than good, by creating dependency, feeding corruption and poor governance. The poor do not need charity but sound investments that spur economic growth and opportunities, create jobs and raise standard of living. That’s why the US is increasingly turning towards strategic partnerships with the private and public sector.

If you are one of the many Americans wondering why you should be concerned about the poor elsewhere in face of such economic hardship at home, think about the countless benefits to the increasingly connected global-economy. The women who will benefit from PNB’s education and training programs will in the long run help improve economic standards in Turkey. So by participating, you are not only being a do-gooder, but also making an investment for your own future in some little way.

Share with us your thoughts on public-private partnerships at ayca@tpfund.org. Would you like to mentor a girl in Turkey? For more information on how you can participate in Yes She Can, contact us at yesshecan@tpfund.org.

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Hillary’s Smart Power and a "Golden Age for Philanthropy in Turkey"

By Ayca Ariyoruk

Hillary Clinton wants to put diversity into work. That’s why in May, she brought together hundreds of first, second-generation Americans or Americans-to-be at the Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum in Washington DC. If you are, like me, thinking, “We don’t want anything to do with the place we come from. They will never resolve their differences, and it is a waste of our time. We can’t possibly make any contribution,” as Clinton put in her own words, read on because Madame Secretary respectfully disagrees with you. She may convince you otherwise. She convinced me.

Currently, more than 60 million Americans are first or second generation Diasporas in America. America ranks first among countries with the largest number of international migrants, not a surprising fact given almost all Americans have immigrant roots further back. 60 million is a lot of people, makes up a population comparable to that of a mid-size country. A “potential” as Secretary Clinton calls it and a key tool in America’s national strategy of employing smart-power. Harvard Professor Joseph Nye defines smart power as the strategic use and choice of hard power –military, economic means or soft power –culture, values, policies and institutions, for a winning strategy. In other words knowing which power to employ and when.

“Using people-to-people exchange is the core of smart power” Clinton says, the Peace Corps, US Agency for International Development, Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the State Department “all rolled into one.”

She is not kidding. $46 billion is the amount of remittances sent by US Diaspora in 2010, according to the State Department, almost twice the $28.7 billion US Official Development Assistant in 2009. The term ‘remittances’ generally refers to transfers in cash or kind from a migrant to household resident, in the country of origin, such as a worker’s remittance.

Yet it is not just about money and how much Diaspora sends back. The hearts and minds engaged for the good of the people in the homeland, also known as the Diaspora Philanthropy, counts more. Let’s not forget, philanthropy is different from charity. Philanthropy refers to seeking out the root causes of problems and solving them. It is transformational giving aimed at bringing about social change and influencing policy. Now-a-days, you can’t win wars only through military means, nor can you build peace-loving democracies with healthy economies solely on foreign aid. That’s where Philantrophy, or smart-charity as I would like to call it, comes in.

For instance, Turkish Philanthropy Funds (TPF) offers leadership, skills and networks to increase access to education in Turkey and to empower women in exercising economic control over their lives. TPF does that by connecting members of the Turkish-American Diaspora community to innovative causes in Turkey. More than your money (simple in-cash donations are always welcome), TPF needs your ideas and your skills. As the only speaker from the Turkish-American community at Secretary’s Diaspora forum, Ozlenen Eser Kalav, TPF’s president explains TPF’s unique model on giving: “TPF does not approach Diaspora philanthropy as a matter of quantity. We pay special attention to donors’ involvement…”

The Turkish-American community is a predominantly immigrant community. Only 25 percent of the Turkish-Americans living in the United States are US-born. Bonds to Turkey still fresh, we are conscious of our ethnic ties. Most of us came to the US from middle-income families to advance in our educations, not out of desperation. We reached a point where we can think about giving back to larger communities in Turkey, having an impact beyond the small family unit. That’s why since its inception in 2007, TPF was able to grant over $10.4 million to Turkish and US non-profits. Over 1,200 students, women, children and their families have benefited from TPF funded programs.

Turkey’s growing economy makes it a perfect place to invest in new ideas and networks, the bread and butter of philanthropy. The economy is ripe and can produce wealth and nurture entrepreneurship, innovation, paving a path for which Michael Green describes as the “golden age of philanthropy” in Turkey. He has a point. A decade of robust growth placed Turkey among the top 20 economies of the world. Yet, like many other countries, Turkey is unevenly affected by the forces of globalization which is for the most part responsible for this notable growth. While some populations in the society are moving ahead and are placed above the curve, some are falling behind considerably.

If you are now a new convert, like me, who thinks making a difference in Turkey is possible, write to us, about your ideas, your passion, and together we will find ways to be smart about it.

Ayca@tpfund.org.

Ayca Ariyoruk joined Turkish Philanthropy Funds as Director of Communications and Outreach in May of 2011. She will be a regular contributor to TPFundBlog bringing you stories on philanthropy and global development.

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TPF Founders Receive Global Citizenship Award from Turkish American Business Forum

Turkish Philanthropy Funds Founding CEO and President Ozlenen Eser Kalav and Founding Chairman Haldun Tashman were honored with the Global Citizenship Award at the 9th Annual Turkish American Business Forum Gala on May 19, 2011.

The Global Citizenship Award recognizes individuals for their global perspective, commitment and contributions to education and philanthropy. Haldun Tashman and Ozlenen Kalav were the first recipients of this special award and hope to set an example for future generation of Turkish-Americans to give back to their community.

Hamdi Ulukaya, Jan Nahum, Lawrence M. Kaye, and Cenk Uygur were also honored by the Turkish American Business Forum at the Gala this year.

TPF Honored by H.E. Ambassador Namik Tan

Turkish Philanthropy Funds was honored for its humanitarian efforts at a reception hosted by H.E. Ambassador Namik Tan, Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. and his wife at the Turkish Embassy Residence in Washington D.C. on May 16, 2011. The Ambassador and his wife hosted prominent members of the Turkish-American community, leaders from the nonprofit circle and government officials to celebrate TPF's efforts in advancing community development in Turkey.

TPF Founding Chairman, Haldun Tashman spoke briefly about TPF's journey since its inception in 2007 and stressed the importance of building a community through joint efforts.



















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