About UNJP

UN Joint Programme is specifically designed to incorporate funds not just from UN agencies but also from bilateral donors and the private sector. Bilateral donors have put significant resources into projects to improve gender equality in Turkey, particularly in light of Turkey’s prospective EU membership. UN Joint Programme provides a vehicle for combining and rationalizing bilateral aid for gender equality, creates a forum for active partnerships/dialogue between donors, the Government of Turkey, NGOs and other local stakeholders. The programme is actively promoting collaboration with other women’s rights programmes, including EU and bilateral donor funded programmes, municipal and NGO activities. This programme envisions 1/3 of financial support for the programme to come from bilateral donors. Embassies of Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom  contributed to the implementation of the programme

UN Joint Programme is also designed to incorporate the private sector in programme support. In recent years corporate social responsibility has grown in Turkey. Both multinational corporations operating in Turkey and local companies are prioritizing investment in projects that promote Turkey’s development. In preliminary discussions during programme preparation, UN agencies encountered significant support for the programme amongst private sector companies. The programme is designed to incorporate local chambers of commerce at the start of the programme, thereby engaging local level private support early on and encouraging investment in the programme. It is envisioned that the private sector will donate 1/3 of the financial support necessary to complete the programme.

While financial support for the programme is coming from the UN, bilateral donors and the private sector, the programme also relies on local government support. Specifically, local governments are providing in-kind support and will help to fund implementation of the local action plans. Capacity building activities are helping local government officials develop their resource mobilization skills as well as a strategy for fundraising to support local action plans. UN Joint Programme will demonstrate that advancement of women can be achieved through local leadership and commitment to the inclusion of women and their representatives in local planning and decision-making.

UN Joint Programme Description

The 2-year UN Joint Gender Programme is designed to address persistent gender inequalities by improving the national policy environment, building local government and NGO capacity, designing service models for women and girls and raising awareness about women and girls’ rights. UN Joint Programme is being implemented by the UN, the Ministry of the Interior and KA-DER. The Programme primarily targets national level decision makers as well as local government, NGOs and the general public in and around 6 cities: Izmir, Van, Nevşehir, Kars, Şanlıurfa and Trabzon. The cities were chosen according to municipal interest and capacity to participate in the programme and perceived needs as expressed in preliminary city visits. These cities were selected to demonstrate how participatory and coordinated cross-sectoral approaches can improve services, augment resource availability and improve the lives of girls and women in a variety of settings.

UN Joint Programme is simultaneously developing interventions for local women and girls and improves the capacity of institutions responsible for service provision. The programme is currently identifying the needs of women and girls, including the most vulnerable populations. Priority actions are being identified through a participatory planning process involving all stakeholders. These priority areas are being drawn from the following: education; employment; reproductive health; violence against women; trafficking; asylum seekers, refugees and internally displaced people. Once identified, stakeholders will work together to design 5-year local action plans (LAPs). The programme will support the start-up of LAP implementation. By the end of the programme a national scaling-up model will be in place and the 6 cities will be evaluated for certification as ‘Women First Cities’ based on commonly agreed upon criteria.