Minister Göktaş spoke at the International Awareness Summit: “As a ministry, we are launching the Family Guidance System.”

The Minister of Family and Social Services, Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, stated, “Palestinian women, who are subjected to unimaginable atrocities and live between life and death every day, are left with unforgettable wounds. The oppression directed by the Israeli administration towards the Palestinian people, especially women and children, is absolutely unacceptable.”

“The “IAS International Awareness Summit” was attended by Emine Erdoğan, the wife of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, political representatives, women entrepreneurs, and many guests. The program, which started with a recitation from the Quran, continued with a short film emphasizing women. Following that, the composition named “Free Palestine” was performed by artists accompanied by violin and piano, while the video was projected on the screen on stage. The main goal of the summit, held under the motto “Transformation Begins with Us”, is to appeal to all segments of society and to pave the way for the planned projects. In the summit, which was organized under the motto “It Doesn’t Matter to Us”, two panels were held. Entrepreneurs participating in the panels named ‘A Lifetime Together, Success and Trust’ and ‘The Journey from Apprenticeship to Mastery, A Journey Story’ shared their life stories with the audience. The summit discussed improving the negative situations faced by women in commercial life, ensuring sustainability in family businesses, and most importantly, how to achieve a balance between family life and work life. Various awards were also presented to the entrepreneurs and guests participating in the panel.

“A Strong Woman Means a Strong Turkey”

Minister Özdemir Göktaş stated that increasing women’s participation in the labor force and employment is among their priorities, saying, “Women who discuss their power and influence in entrepreneurship hold a say in our tomorrows. Women’s participation in working life is an extremely critical issue that affects not only the economic size of a country but also its social and cultural development. As a ministry, increasing women’s participation in the labor force and employment, and supporting women entrepreneurship and cooperatives are among our priorities. We have made significant progress in this regard with the measures we have taken, the incentives we have applied, and the policies we have implemented. With the strong steps taken, the female employment rate has risen to 32.9%, and the female labor force participation rate has increased to 37.3%. With our 12th Development Plan, we aim to raise the female labor force participation rate to 40.1% and the employment rate to 6.2% by the end of 2028. Every concrete step that will empower women means strengthening our country. A Strong Woman Means a Strong Turkey. The presence of women in the business world is of critical importance in increasing economic diversity and promoting innovation and sustainable growth,” she said.

“We have created a website named ‘kadingirisimci.gov.tr’ to reach more women”

Stating that they are conducting joint studies with the Ministry of Industry and Technology, Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş said, “According to TÜİK data, today, the female ratio among employers and self-employed people is 17.8%. As a ministry, we are conducting joint studies with our Ministry of Industry and Technology to support women’s participation in economic life and to increase women entrepreneurship. As a result, we are supporting the processes of women entrepreneurs to grow their companies in the clean technology field with a new project we have initiated. We also have a competition within the scope of this work carried out in cooperation with TÜBİTAK. With this competition, we support successful ideas in the field of clean technology with awards. To support women entrepreneurship, we have created a website named ‘kadingirisimci.gov.tr’ to gather the efforts of various institutions on a single platform to reach more women. In addition, we signed a Cooperation Protocol for the Century’s Women Employment Positive Program with our Ministry of Labor and Social Security. With this protocol, we are conducting joint efforts to increase women’s employment and ensure their active participation in working life,” she stated.

“We aim to increase women’s full, equal, and effective participation in the changing labor market”

Minister Özdemir Göktaş stated that in addition to the ministry’s entrepreneurship supports, they also support women through vocational training and awareness-raising activities, saying, “With the Women’s Empowerment Strategy Document and Action Plan, we aim to increase women’s full, equal, and effective participation in the changing labor market. In line with the target stated in our 12th Development Plan, ‘Efforts to harmonize work and family life will be accelerated,’ we are creating new service models. The service we prioritize the most is to expand the neighborhood-type nursery model covering the 0-3 age group. In this way, we aim to prevent women from having to make a choice between work and home. Through the ‘Financial Literacy and Women’s Economic Empowerment Seminars’, we are enabling women to access economic supports, incentives, and application mechanisms more easily. With the ‘Empowerment of Women through Cooperatives Project’, we encourage women’s more active participation in economic and social life,” she expressed.

“As a ministry, we are launching the Family Guide System”

In the program, Minister Göktaş spoke about a new system, saying, “With our Law No. 6284, we are strongly combating all forms of violence, especially against women and children. In line with our principle of ‘zero tolerance for violence’, we are working with great determination to prevent and eliminate violence through our action plans, awareness-raising activities, and protective services. After mapping the social risks in all our 81 provinces and 922 districts, we will be able to see social phenomena such as violence against women, child abuse, and addiction holistically. With the findings we obtain, we will be able to determine protective and preventive activities specific to each city, district, neighborhood, and even family. As a ministry, we are launching the Family Guide System. With the Family Guide System, which we aim to spread throughout Turkey, we aim to closely monitor the households that request assistance and find quick and effective solutions to their problems. With every step we take on this path, with every life we protect, and with every support we provide, we will look to the future with hope,” she said.

“The oppression directed by the Israeli administration towards women and children is absolutely unacceptable”

Highlighting the plight of Palestinian women and children fighting for the right to live, Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş said, “The number of innocent people who have lost their lives due to the genocide that has been ongoing for a full year in Israel has exceeded 40,000. Today, children from Gaza are leaving this world without ever growing up, without living their childhood, without being able to express their pain, cries, and tears to anyone. Palestinian women, who are subjected to unimaginable atrocities and live between life and death every day, are left with unforgettable wounds. The oppression directed by the Israeli administration towards the Palestinian people, especially women and children, is absolutely unacceptable. Palestinian women, who are symbols of resistance worldwide, are making superhuman efforts to keep their children alive and protect their homeland. Regardless of the circumstances, they never compromise on the struggle they wage with their courage. With this unwavering stance, they are mobilizing millions of people around the world for justice and freedom. We will continue to advocate for women and children to have a life where they will actively shape their futures. Turkey will continue to be the voice of all oppressed women in the world so that they can live in a safe and healthy environment.”