On this International Women's Day, UNFPA Türkiye highlights the urgent need to address the challenges facing women in Türkiye, including issues in health, safety, empowerment, and productivity. Overcoming these challenges is key to achieving rights, equality and empowerment and also essential for demographic resilience, and a just and sustainable development.

Ankara, Türkiye - On this year’s Women’s Day, the United Nations calls for action that can unlock equal rights and opportunities for all and an equal future where no one is left behind. Central to this vision is empowering the next generation—youth, particularly young women and adolescent girls—as catalysts for lasting change.

For strong and resilient societies, we need healthy, safe, empowered and productive women who make choices about their bodies, lives, and futures because gender equality and reproductive rights are the foundation of demographic resilience and sustainable development. On this 8 March, International Women’s Day, United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA Türkiye is calling on everyone to #ActNow to advance rights, promote gender equality, foster empowerment and unleash the untapped potential for ALL Women and Girls.

This vision requires ensuring the health, safety, empowerment and productivity of women. Let’s have a closer look together at the obstacles that women are facing in Türkiye and the UNFPA’s perspective and offer to overcome these issues:

HEALTH:

• Half of the women aged 15-49 in Türkiye, cannot make their own decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care.
• Amongst the poorest and least educated, almost 1 in 5 women are not able to plan their families and face the risk of unintended pregnancies. 
• In Türkiye, life expectancy of women is 80 which is approximately 5 years more than men. However, the healthy life years of females is about 56 years. So the majority of the elderly population are women, yet, they have poor quality of long life years.

Possible solutions and UNFPA’s offer:

• Women's health and well-being depend on access to quality reproductive healthcare and informed choices.
• The right to bodily autonomy ensures women can make decisions about their reproductive health without coercion.
• Addressing maternal health disparities saves lives and strengthens communities.

UNFPA works for a world where women and girls have the information and services and freedom to say #Bodyright and #MyBodyisMyOwn, make their own informed choices and live healthy lives. UNFPA also supports governments in analyzing their demographic data, planning for population change and developing tailored policies including fertility  to address demographic transitions by strengthening health-care systems, promoting active and healthy aging, and supporting their adaptation to climate change. 

PROTECTION:

• Globally, one woman or girl is killed every 10 minutes by their intimate partner or family member.
• Before the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action in 1995, only 12 countries had legal sanctions against domestic violence. Today, in 193 countries, including 354 targeting domestic violence specifically. Yet, still, about 1 in 3 women have been subjected to either physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.
• In parallel, despite the legal sanctions, 4 in 10 women are exposed to physical and/or sexual violence in Türkiye at least once in a lifetime. 1 in 4 women married off as children. Almost one third of women, who got married at child age, also became mothers before 18.
• According to the latest TURKSTAT data, one third of women feel insecure when they walk alone at night in their own neighbourhood.

Possible solutions and UNFPA’s offer:

• Ending gender-based violence and harmful practices like child marriage is non-negotiable for a just society.
• Women and girls must be safe at home, in the workplace, on the streets, and online, in all spaces.
• Legal frameworks must be strengthened to eliminate violence against women and ensure justice for survivors.

UNFPA supports strengthening legal frameworks to eliminate violence against women and ensure justice for survivors while delivering prevention programmes against child, early and forced marriages with the government and civil society partners. UNFPA advocates for safe and women friendly cities, ensuring women and girls can move freely and confidently everywhere. UNFPA recognizes that men's engagement is key to achieving gender equality, and therefore works to involve men and boys in programs, activities, and initiatives.

EDUCATION/EMPOWERMENT:

• Türkiye has a youthful population, but 26% of them (aged 15-29) are not in education and not in employment (NEET) in 2023, significantly higher than the OECD average (13%).
• The NEET rate for young women is 36% (OECD average 15%), highlighting challenges faced by young women in accessing education, training opportunities, and employment.
• In Turkiye, one in five young people are unaware of their reproductive organs; half of the youth are not aware of sexually transmitted infections, and 55% have never heard of HIV. 

Possible solutions and UNFPA’s offer:

• Quality education is a fundamental right and a key driver of women's empowerment and economic participation so every girl should access equal education opportunities.
• Women’s leadership and decision-making roles must be promoted at all levels.
• Women need access to lifelong learning, vocational training, and leadership development programs to thrive. 

UNFPA is committed to improving girls and young people's empowerment and increasing their access to education and information, including adolescent health, empowering them to make informed decisions about their future while conducting awareness-raising activities through campaigns (#Bodyright) and tools (#AMBER). UNFPA also works for women empowerment to ensure their equal participation in social and economic development. 

EMPLOYMENT

• In Türkiye, women’s participation in the labor force is almost half of men’s ( 71% vs 35%).
• Approximately %35 of working women are in informal employment.
• In Turkiye, women hold just 20% of management positions in the workplace. 
• Women in Türkiye perform up to 9 times more care work compared to men.

Possible solutions and UNFPA’s offer:

• Bridging the gender gap in labor force participation boosts economic growth and social equity.
• Promoting formal employment with registered jobs, fair wages, and social security protections is crucial.
• Developing women- and family-friendly policies helps balance professional work and care responsibilities.

UNFPA is promoting female labor force participation and working to ensure caregiving responsibilities are shared equally. UNFPA also supports businesses that prioritize women's health and rights with women and family friendly policies that balance work and family life because economic and social growth must be inclusive.

On this International Women's Day, UNFPA Türkiye invites everyone to #ActNow and support every woman and girl to have the opportunity to thrive for a sustainable future. Gender equality can be achieved by addressing the critical challenges in health, protection, empowerment, and employment, and through targeted programs. The path forward requires a collective effort, demanding that we all stand together to advocate the rights, dignity, and potential of women and girls across Türkiye, ensuring a just and equitable future for all.