In 2009, the School of Government and Leadership with the presence of Nimet Cubukcu – the Minister of Turkey and Prof. Dr. Deniz Ulke Aribogan – former Rector and Faculty Member of Bahcesehir University, launched the “Woman and Politics Project”.
The aim of this project is to research and analyze women’s participation and effectiveness in politics, identify the obstacles of access to politics that women face, and create possible solutions strategies increasing women’s participation in the Turkish political life and the decision making process.
Round table meetings on the subject are an integral part of the “Woman and Politics Project”. These are discussions that take place with participation of 15-20 participants elaborate on the topics related to women and politics. The outcomes of these discussions is later published as reports. The participants of round table meetings have deep understanding of the struggle that women encounter in the social and political life. Among the participants we can find: academicians, politicians, journalists, NGOs’ representatives, political parties’ representatives, experts on human rights, lawyers, and many other social and political experts. These discussions and activities provide the researchers with a broader perspective on the process of identifying effective solutions to the problem.
Academic structure of the project will lay on determining women’s social roles and their influence on access to decision making process and to the political life. Therefore, the “Woman and Politics Project” will aim bridging the theoretical information on the topic with practical actions undertaken in cooperation with NGOs.
Another main step of the project is presenting the information gathered during the conferences and round table meetings. The data will be posted on the website of School of Government and Leadership. Also, all the reports from the related round table meetings and the research articles will be published in the center’s quarterly bulletin. The research papers and reports will be prepared with contribution of both the School of Government and Leadership Advisory Board composed of academicians, politicians, business people and other experts; and the people who wish to improve their knowledge on the topic and join the research project.
According to the identified goals, and with your contribution, the “Woman and Politics Project” aims to be a long-term undertaking, a unique venture, different from other same kind of projects through presenting real solutions to women’s low participation in politics.
TR
