I congratulate with my warmest wishes the International Women’s Day of all
women. I hope that this special day constitutes an opportunity for women to
claim their well-deserved position in all areas of life, for achieving
equality between women and men and for ending violence against women.
The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN)
defined the theme for the International Women’s Day 2019 as “Think Equal,
Build Smart and Innovate for Change.” This approach underlines that we must
attach priority to women’s needs while developing innovative policies in
order to achieve a genuine change in our societies. Indeed, within the
framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we need to act with a
rapid, effective and innovative perspective in order to achieve gender
equality and to eradicate all forms of discrimination and violence against
women by 2030.
Empowering women in all areas of society, eliminating all forms of violence
against women and girls and achieving equal opportunities between women and
men are among our country’s main objectives. To this end, efforts have been
accelerated to carry the amendments in our legislation into practice.
Turkey also makes significant contributions to the efforts in the
international fora in the field of women’s rights. Our country has been
actively contributing to the work of GREVIO, the monitoring mechanism of
the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence
against women and domestic violence, also referred to as the Istanbul
Convention. Its contributions of over $ 7 million to UN WOMEN, whose
Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia is hosted in İstanbul, is
another concrete example of the support given by Turkey to international
efforts on women’s rights.
Our Ministry plays a key role in Turkey’s endeavours for enhancing women’s
rights on international platforms. Furthermore, it takes a leading role in
the adoption of resolutions on women's rights within the UN, the OSCE, the
Council of Europe and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Our Ministry
reinforces its efficiency in this field through the efforts of its women
employees who work devotedly and represent abroad in the best possible
manner the role of women in the Turkish society. It is a source of pride
for our country and a great example for the world that today, 63 women
Ambassadors and 14 women Consul Generals are shaping the work of our
Ministry.
With these feelings, I commemorate our female martyrs with mercy and
gratitude, and congratulate the 8 March International Women's Day of all
women around the world.