Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality and the Youth Organisations Forum (GoFor) have launched the project “Youth for Equality: Building Civil Spaces Based on Gender Equality”.

The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Government of Norway are implementing a new project in Diyarbakır, Antalya and İzmir. The project aims to strengthen young people’s active participation in local decision-making processes on gender equality, to carry the voices of young women into decision-making mechanisms and to help make cities fairer, safer and more equal.

Project introduced

The project, carried out in cooperation with the Department of Youth and Sports Services, the Department of Women and Family Services and the Youth Organisations Forum (GoFor), was introduced at the Çand Amed Culture and Congress Centre.

Over two days and four sessions, GoFor Gender Equality and Advocacy Coordinator Berfin Atlı presented the content of the project.

The programme, attended by youth and women’s organisations, local public representatives, civil society organisations, academics and university representatives, addressed struggles for gender equality, men’s contribution to this process, and the problems faced by working and young women in urban life.

Raising awareness

Presenting the project, Atlı stated that it aims both to empower young women in relation to gender equality and to raise awareness among young men.

Referring also to the project’s contribution to municipalities, Atlı noted that it would enable local authorities to engage directly with young people who experience the city, that inclusive and equality-based policy tools would be developed, that the capacity to integrate a gender equality perspective into urban policies would be strengthened, and that the experiences of young people in relation to safety, access and participation would be used as a resource.