Bringing women to the table: European Union funding for women's empowerment projects in Turkey

SynopsisThe literature is quite sparse in regard to the European Union (EU) and its gender mainstreaming projects, though gender mainstreaming is part of a vast and dynamic body of literature on women's development. This article focuses on this neglected area, exploring the effectiveness of three EU-funded women's empowerment projects in Turkey. It is argued that these projects, which focus on increasing the percentage of women in the workforce and training women as entrepreneurs, are most successful when they are evaluated, monitored, and sustainable, when women enter nontraditional sectors, when the project includes self-confidence building components, and when they educate both men and women on gender equality. For entrepreneurship projects women must have a business plan, access to finance, a mentor, and monitoring for at least one year but ideally up to three years. In addition, every project that seeks to empower women must be supported by policies of the national government, as women in Turkey still face considerable social and structural challenges.