I congratulate with my warmest wishes the International Women’s Day of all women. I hope that this special day constitutes an opportunity for women to claim their well-deserved position in all areas of life, for achieving equality between women and men and for ending violence against women.

The UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN) defined the theme for the International Women’s Day 2019 as “Think Equal, Build Smart and Innovate for Change.” This approach underlines that we must attach priority to women’s needs while developing innovative policies in order to achieve a genuine change in our societies. Indeed, within the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we need to act with a rapid, effective and innovative perspective in order to achieve gender equality and to eradicate all forms of discrimination and violence against women by 2030.

Empowering women in all areas of society, eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls and achieving equal opportunities between women and men are among our country’s main objectives. To this end, efforts have been accelerated to carry the amendments in our legislation into practice.

Turkey also makes significant contributions to the efforts in the international fora in the field of women’s rights. Our country has been actively contributing to the work of GREVIO, the monitoring mechanism of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, also referred to as the Istanbul Convention. Its contributions of over $ 7 million to UN WOMEN, whose Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia is hosted in İstanbul, is another concrete example of the support given by Turkey to international efforts on women’s rights.

Our Ministry plays a key role in Turkey’s endeavours for enhancing women’s rights on international platforms. Furthermore, it takes a leading role in the adoption of resolutions on women's rights within the UN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Our Ministry reinforces its efficiency in this field through the efforts of its women employees who work devotedly and represent abroad in the best possible manner the role of women in the Turkish society. It is a source of pride for our country and a great example for the world that today, 63 women Ambassadors and 14 women Consul Generals are shaping the work of our Ministry.

With these feelings, I commemorate our female martyrs with mercy and gratitude, and congratulate the 8 March International Women's Day of all women around the world.