The views of the women representatives fromTürkiye and Algeria participating in the 2021-2027 period of Interreg NEXT MED Programme  were featured in an interview on the official page of the Programme on 8 March International Women's Day.

In the interview with Dr. Şebnem Sözer, Head of Department Cross-border Cooperation Programmes at the Directorate for EU Affairs in Türkiye and Nadia Kaassis, National Contact Point Representative from Algeria, the inclusion of women in the labour market in Türkiye and Algeria and the current situation regarding gender equality in business life in these countries were evaluated. In addition to getting to know and introducing the national authority representatives of these two countries, their experiences and expectations for increasing the capacity of women workforce in the programmes were also shared during the interviews.

Ms. Sözer stated that Türkiye has adopted various action plans for women's empowerment and emphasized that these efforts are addressed within the scope of Chapter 23 (judiciary and fundamental rights) and Chapter 19 (employment and social policy) during the accession negotiations with the EU. Sözer also said, "As for specifically women’s participation in labour market, several legislations and strategies were enforced to encourage women’s employment and entrepreneurship. The work is ongoing for National Employment Strategy 2024-2028 and Strategy for Empowerment of Women and Action Plan 2024-2028." Referring to the importance given to women's empowerment within the scope of Cross-border Cooperation Programmes carried out by the Directorate for EU Affairs as the National Authority since 2003, Sözer gave examples of projects targeting women implemented within the Bulgaria-Türkiye and Black Sea Basin Programmes.

Please click here to access the full interview