Online Phase-2 trainings under the third phase of the Women-Friendly Cities Programme (KDK III), coordinated by Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality, are continuing.

The training sessions, delivered as part of the programme coordinated locally by the Department of Women’s Policies, were streamed online from the Çand Amed Culture and Congress Centre. Managers and staff from 15 municipal departments participated in the trainings held on 24 February and 3 March. Representatives from the Women-Friendly Cities Civil Society Organisations Group also attended, including the Association of Social Work Specialists (SHUDER), KAMER Foundation, First Children Association, Rosa Women’s Association, Children for Justice Association, and the Women’s Culture, Arts and Literature Association (KASED).

Equality-focused data addressed

As part of the trainings, presentations were delivered on “Equality-Focused Data and Analysis” and “Gender-Responsive Budgeting”, in order to provide technical support to the programme’s implementation processes.

The presentations underlined that Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is a strategy in which all stages of the budgeting process are designed and assessed by taking into account the needs and rights of women and men. It was emphasised that GRB does not mean drafting separate budgets for women and men; rather, the aim is not to increase public spending, but to re-plan existing resources through a gender equality lens.

The sessions also highlighted inequalities in access to and control over social resources, noting that local authorities play a crucial role in identifying such inequalities and developing policies to address and eliminate them.

The Phase-2 trainings will conclude on 24 March with a session titled “Resource Mobilisation”.

These trainings are organised within the Women-Friendly Cities Programme implemented in partnership by the Union of Municipalities of Türkiye (TBB) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), with the aim of providing technical support for the development of Local Equality Action Plans (YEEP). The programme is coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Directorate for EU Affairs and financed under the EU IPA III Programme.