LAW ON THE ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONS OF THE DIRECTORATE GENERAL ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

Law No. 5251                                                          Date of Acceptance: 27.10.2004

SECTION ONE
Objective, Definitions, and Functions

Objective

ARTICLE 1. – The objective of this Law is to regularize the rudiments regarding the establishment of the Directorate General on the Status of Women affiliated to the Prime Ministry for the purposes of conducting studies on the protection and advancement of women’s human rights, empowerment of the status of women in social, economic, cultural and political life, and ensuring equal enjoyment of rights, opportunities and means; and its organization, objective, and authorities.

The Prime Minister may, if necessary, use his/her authorities regarding the management of the Directorate General by means of a minister.

Definitions

ARTICLE 2. – In this Law text the following definitions shall be used;

a) Minister                        : The Minister to whom Directorate General on the   Status of Women is affiliated

b) Directorate General        : Directorate General on the Status of Women

c) Director General            : Director General on the Status of Women

d) The Board                    : The Advisory Board on the Status of Women

Functions

ARTICLE 3. – The functions of the Directorate General are as follows:

1. Provides support to all types of activities that aim to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women, advance women’s human rights, empower women in economic, social and cultural areas, and raise the education level of women; and develops strategies, formulates plans and programs and contributes to the determination of fundamental policies on these issues.
2.  Monitors the relevant legislation and administrative regulation in the framework of its sphere of duties for the purpose of working on ensuring women’s access to equal rights and opportunities.
3. Works on elimination of all forms of violence, harassment, and abuse against women; and braces the solution of problems of women caused by family and social life.
4. Informs the public opinion in order to ensure full and equal enjoyment of legal rights by women, and perception of gender equality as a social developmental problem.
5. Works on warranting women’s advancement in every area; primarily health, education, culture, labor and social security, and increased participation by women to decision-making mechanisms.
6. Sets up information systems, library and/or documentation center regarding the topics within its sphere of duties, and in this respect works on the following: compilation of statistics, prepares or gets visual and printed publications, organization of training activities, and domestic and international activities such as congress, seminar or meetings.
7. Cooperates with public institutions and entities, universities, local administrations, non-governmental organizations, and private sector on topics within its sphere of duties; and ensures related coordination.
8. Contributes to the improvement of the services of institutions, and development of service models by means of conveying the information gathered from different analysis, research and international initiatives in order to assist in the formulation of public policies.
9. In the framework of Law No: 1173 bearing the date of 5.5.1969; affiliates with institutions and organizations related with its sphere of duties, participates in all types of studies and activities to be realized, conducts activities in accordance with the obligations assumed from the international conventions and decisions, prepares reports on these activities, and works on ensuring the making of legal arrangements.
10. Monitors the activities carried out by international institutions that work in the framework of its sphere of duties, and communicate the decisions taken by those to relevant institutions.
11. Makes or gets domestic and international scientific research on subjects within its sphere of duties, develops and supports projects, ensures their implementation, and conducts joint projects with international organizations.

SECTION TWO
The Organization of the Directorate General

Organization

ARTICLE 4. – The organization of the Directorate General consists of main service units, and advisory and support service units.

The organizational chart of the Directorate General is given in annex (1).

Director General and Deputy Director General

ARTICLE 5. – The Director General is the highest rank superior of the Directorate General; and regulates and executes the services of the Directorate General in accordance with the provisions of the legislation, objectives and policies of the Directorate General, the strategic plan, performance criteria and service quality standards.

The Director General is responsible to the Prime Minister or the Minister regarding the execution of the services defined in this Law.

One Deputy Director General may be appointed in order to ensure the coordination between the main service units and the advisory and support service units, and to help the Director General in the auditing of these units. The Deputy Director General shall observe the duties assigned by the Director General and he/she is responsible to the Director General.

Main Service Units

ARTICLE 6. – The main service units of the Directorate General are as follows:

1. Strengthening Women’s Economic Status Department
2. Improving Women’s Social Status Department
3. Foreign Relations Department
4. Communication, Documentation and Publication Department

Strengthening Women’s Economic Status Department

ARTICLE 7. – The functions of Strengthening Women’s Economic Status Department are as follows:

1. Follows and assesses the sustainable development policy, plan and programs in the framework of the functions of the Directorate General.
2. Works on improving employment and economic capacity building for women as well as strengthening their commercial activities, and encouraging women’s entrepreneurship.
3. Works on activities that shall ensure women’s access to resources, active involvement in the development process and working life, equal enjoyment of opportunities and means of development, and strengthening of women from an economic perspective.
4. Works on realizing the economic potential of women.
5. Fulfills similar duties assigned by the Director General.

Improving Women’s Social Status Department

ARTICLE 8. -  The functions of Improving Women’s Social Status Department are as follows:

• Works on eliminating negative cultural attitudes and practices against women and girls, and making them stronger in the family and society.
• Works on ensuring women’s and girls’ participation to every level of formal and mass-education, provides support to such actions, and contributes or participates to the preparation of education curriculum enabling equality of opportunity.
• Contributes to the efficient execution of services regarding women’s health, and maternity and child health.
• Works on preventing and eliminating all forms of violence, harassment and abuse against women; and provides support to the formulation and strengthening of the necessary social support systems.
• Works on ensuring equal involvement of women in the decision making processes.
• Fulfills similar duties assigned by the Director General.

Foreign Relations Department

ARTICLE 9. – The functions of the Foreign Relations Department are as follows:

1. Follows-up the documentation and publications produced by the international organizations that work in the framework of the sphere of duties of the Directorate General, and communicates the related decisions to the units of the Directorate General and other relevant institutions.
2. Organizes international meetings on subjects that fall into the sphere of duties of the Directorate General.
3. Ensures coordination with other entities regarding the works of the Directorate General in relation to the European Union.
4. Fulfills similar duties assigned by the Director General.

 

Communication, Documentation and Publication Department

ARTICLE 10. -  The Functions of the Communication, Documentation and Publication Department are as follows:

1. Makes or gets printed and visual publications in order to increase social awareness and raise the consciousness level regarding the subjects that fall into the sphere of duties of the Directorate General.
2. Works on issues related with the way women take place in the media.
3. Participates and provides support to activities that shall strengthen the status of women in the media and new communication channels.
4. Sets up library and documentation center, compiles statistics, and forms a system for the purposes of making publications and materials available to the relevant public, private and non governmental institutions.
5. Fulfills similar duties assigned by the Director General.

 

Advisory and Support Service Units

ARTICLE 11. – The advisory units of the Directorate General are Strategy Development Department and the Legal Counseling; and the support services unit is the Human Resources and Support Services Department.

Strategy Development Department

ARTICLE 12. – The functions of the Strategy Development Department are as follows:

• Determines the mid and long run strategy and policies of the Directorate General within the framework of National development strategy and policies, annual program and the government program; and works on constituting the relevant objectives.
• Develops performance and quality criteria on subjects that fall into the sphere of duties of the Directorate General.
• Prepares the Directorate General’s budget in accordance with the strategic plan and annual targets; and monitors and assesses the compliance of its activities with the plan and the targets.
• Collects, analyzes, and interprets information and data on the management of the Directorate General, development of services and performance; and prepares activity reports.
• Makes the necessary preparations for improving the effectiveness and productivity of the internal auditing function of senior management.
• Examines the external factors that might affect the services in areas within the sphere of duties of the Directorate General, conducts intrainstitutional capacity research, analyzes the effectiveness and satisfaction level regarding the services, and conducts general research.
• Fulfills the services regarding the management information systems.
• Provides secretarial services to the Board.
• Fulfills similar duties assigned by the Directorate General.

Legal Counseling

ARTICLE 13. – The functions of the legal counseling are as follows:

1. Delivers opinions on the draft bills, by-laws and legislation; and other legal issues sent by the Prime Ministry, ministries, other public institutions and entities, and the Directorate General.
2. Takes timely legal measures in a manner that safeguards the benefits of the Directorate General and prevents conflicts, and assists in the preparation of agreements and contracts in accordance with these principles.
3. In accordance with the provisions of Law No: 4353 bearing the date of 8.1.1943; prepares the necessary information for judicial and administrative court cases, represents the Directorate General in the administrative court cases, or follows and coordinates court cases; where the Directorate General is represented by means of  outsourcing.
4. Prepares the necessary legal proposals to the attention of the Director General for ensuring better realization of the objectives of the Directorate General, and compliance with legislation, plan and programs.
5. Fulfills similar duties assigned by the Director General.

 

Human Resources and Support Services Department

ARTICLE 14. -  The functions of the Human Resources and Support Services Department are as follows:

1. Works on the human resources policy and planning of the Directorate General, and makes relevant proposals.
2. Executes transactions regarding the personnel rights of the employees of the Directorate General such as appointments, transfers, register, promotion, salary, and retirement.
3. Prepares, implements and assesses the training plan of the Directorate General.
4. Executes all forms of administrative and financial services for the Directorate General such as construction, procurement, leasing, maintenance and repairs, archive, and health.
5. Keeps the registry of movable and immovable goods.
6. Plans and executes the civil defense and mobilization services of the Directorate General.
7. Fulfills similar duties assigned by the Director General.

  
SECTION 3
The Advisory Board on the Status of Women

The Advisory Board on the Status of Women

ARTICLE 15. – The Advisory Board on the Status of Women, under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister or the Minister, shall consist of the following members: undersecretaries of the Ministries of Justice, Interior Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, National Education, Health, Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Labor and Social Security, Industry and Trade, Culture and Tourism; Undersecretary of the State Planning Organization; General Secretary of the Secretariat General for EU Affairs; Head of the State Institute of Statistics; Head of the State Personnel Presidency; Head of the Radio and Television Supreme Council; Director General of Turkish Radio and Television Institution; Director General of Social Services and Child Protection Department; Director General of Turkish Employment Agency; Head of the Prime Ministry Administration for Disabled People; Director General of Family and Social Research; Head of the Prime Ministry Human Rights High Committee or someone to act on their behalf; at least four university members to be named by the Higher Education Board from the Women Studies Disciplines and Women Research and Application centers; Director General; Deputy Director General and department heads from the main service units; and five representatives from NGOs working in the field of women rights.

The NGO representatives shall be selected for three years in the framework of the procedures and principles determined by the Directorate General, and these representatives shall be selected again

The Board shall convene at least once a year.

The Directorate General shall provide the secretarial services to the Board.

The Board members shall be remunerated in accordance with the Law No: 6245 on Per-Diems.

The formation of the Board and the working procedures and principles shall be defined by a by-law.

The Functions of the Advisory Board on the Status of Women

ARTICLE 16. -  The functions of the Advisory Board on the Status of Women are as follows:

1. Assists in the formulation of general policies by means of studying the problems associated with the status of women in the framework of economic, social, cultural and women policies of the State, and delivers opinions on the enforcement of plans and programs.
2. Identifies developer measures for the functions of the Directorate General, and makes recommendations according to the plan and annual programs in the framework of economic, social, cultural and women policies of the State.
3. Studies and evaluates subjects, and forms relevant opinions and makes recommendations, on the status of women proposed by the Director General or the Board members in accordance with the request of the Prime Minister or another Minister nominated by him/her.

 

SECTION FOUR
Responsibilities and Authorities

The Responsibilities of the Managers

ARTICLE 17. – The managers of the Directorate General at every level are responsible to their superior regarding the fulfillment of their compulsory services and functions in accordance with the orders and directives of the Director General; and in compliance with the provisions of the legislation, the objectives, strategic plan, performance criteria and service quality standards of the Directorate General.

Coordination and Cooperation

ARTICLE 18. – The Directorate General is responsible for ensuring cooperation and coordination with public institutions and entities, universities, local administrations, non-governmental organizations and private sector on subjects within their sphere of duties and main services.

Devolution of Authority

ARTICLE 19. – The Director General and the managers of the Directorate General at every level may devolve a part of their authorities to their juniors on the condition of having clearly written limitations. The devolution of authority shall then be communicated to the relevant officials with appropriate tools.

SECTION FIVE
Miscellaneous Provisions

Appointment

ARTICLE 20. – The Department heads and the Legal Counselor, who are excluded from the provisions of Law No: 2451 bearing the date of 23.4.1981 shall be appointed upon the proposal by the Director General, and the consent of the Prime Minister or Minister. Other such personnel excluded from the above-mentioned provisions shall be appointed by the consent of the Director General.

Cadre

ARTICLE 21. -  The identification of the cadre; its establishment, utilization and cancellation as well as other cadre related issues are regulated in accordance with the Decree Law No: 190 on General Cadre and Procedures.

Experts on the Status of Women and Assistant Experts on the Status of Women

ARTICLE 22. -  The Directorate General shall employ Experts on the Status of Women, and Assistant Experts on the Status of Women in the fulfillment of the functions determined by this Law. In order to be appointed to the position of Assistant Experts on the Status of Women; in addition to the conditions set forth in article 48 of Law No: 657 on Civil Servants, the following conditions are sought:

1. Graduation from the higher education institutions of at least four years of instruction such as statistics, sociology, philosophy and psychology departments; economic and administrative sciences, political science; faculties of communication, law, economics and business administration; school of household economics and social services; or from other domestic and international higher education institutions approved by the Higher Education Board.
2. Passing the competitive examination and the proficiency test.
3. To be below the age limit of 30 on the first day of January; the exam date.
4. Scoring at least (C) at the language exam for the civil servants.

 

The individuals, who are appointed as Assistant Experts on the Status of Women, shall acquire the right to take the proficiency exam on the condition of working for three years, having a positive register, and preparing a dissertation. The ones that pass the exam shall assume the title of Experts on the Status of Women. The ones that fail in the proficiency exam shall be subject to the same exam for a second time within the following year. The ones that fail again shall be appointed to the civil servant positions at the Directorate General.

The recruitment, training, competitive examination, preparation of dissertation and the proficiency test regarding the experts and assistant experts on the Status of Women are regulated through the medium of a by-law.

Personnel Regime

ARTICLE 23. – In the Directorate General; on the condition of corresponding to a relevant cadre; the Director General, Deputy Director General, Department Head, Legal Counselor, Experts on the Status of Women and Assistant Experts  on the Status of Women may be employed on a contractual basis without being subject to Law No: 657 on Civil Servants, and provisions of other laws on contractual personnel. The contractual procedures and principles regarding these cadres, and the base and ceiling rate of pays by title and all forms of payments shall be determined by the Council of Ministers. These contractual personnel employed in the Directorate General shall benefit from the wage rises applied to their peers in the central administration of the Prime Ministry. These personnel, in proportion to the number of days they work (including sick and annual leaves), shall be given bonus pays on January, April, July and October on the order of one month worth contract fee. The personnel, who are identified to perform eclats in comparison to their peers, may be paid merit bonuses on June and December on the order of one month worth contract fee based on the proposal of the Director General, and the consent of the Minister, and approval of the Prime Minister. The contractual personnel that shall be employed in the framework of a cadre may be pertained to the Pension Fund, on the ground of their demands.

The civil servants, who work in the cadres of the Directorate General, shall also benefit from the over-time pays applied to the Prime Ministry personnel, on the same procedures and principles.

Outsourcing research, survey and project works

ARTICLE 24. -  The Directorate General may outsource works within its sphere of duties such as domestic and international scientific research, surveys, film and projects to members of universities, and local and international natural and legal persons.

 

The Directorate General may procure consultancy services from the universities, or specialized institutions and entities regarding subjects within its sphere of duties.

Relevant procedures and principles shall be regulated through the medium of a by-law.

Assignment

ARTICLE 25. – The employees of the public administrations affiliated to the general budget may be assigned to the tasks within the sphere of duties of the Directorate General based on the consent of themselves and their agencies. The personnel assigned to a task in such a manner shall be considered on leave from their administrations of origin and remain pertained to their real cadre. Their promotions shall be managed by their administrations of origin without any other transaction. The personnel assigned to a task in such a manner may obtain financial and social rights from their temporary administrations, on the condition of being set forth in the assignment document, or from their administrations of origin.

The number of the assigned personnel shall not exceed ten percent of the existing in house personnel.

Revised Provisions

ARTICLE 26. – The following statements have been added to the various sections of Law No: 657 on Civil Servants bearing the date of 14.7.1965;

1. In the clause no 11 of item A of the Joint Provisions section of the revised article 36; “Assistant Experts on the Status of Women” shall be added on to be second to the statement “Assistant Experts on Disabled”, and “to the position of Experts on the Status of Women” shall be added on to be second to the statement “to the position of Experts on Disabled”.
2.  In the sub item (i) of Item (A) on “Experts Service Compensation” within “II-Compensations” clause of the revised article “Raise and Compensations”; “Experts on the Status of Women” shall be added on to be second to the statement “Experts on Disabled”.
3.  In “1- General Administrative Services Class” section’s item (h) within table (1) of the annex on additional indicators; “Experts on the Status of Women” shall be added on to be second to the statement “Experts on Disabled”.

 

PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 1. – All the rights and liabilities belonging to the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women; and all the fixed assets, furniture, movable and immovable goods and vehicles used by the Directorate General shall be considered as transferred, on the date of the publication of this Law, to the Directorate General on the Status of Women that is established by this Law.

The 2004 Fiscal Year expenditures of the Directorate General shall be covered by the allocations of the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women within the Prime Ministry budget for 2004; until a new arrangement is done by the Ministry of Finance in the relevant section of 2004 Fiscal Year Budget Law.

PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 2. – The cadres within the attached list 1 have been created, and added on to the attached table 1 of Decree Law numbered 190 on General Cadre and Procedures as “The Directorate General on the Status of Women” section.

PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 3. – The civil servants appointed to the cadres of the Under-secretariat of Women and Social services in accordance with Decree Law No: 536 on the Organization and Functions of the Under-secretariat of Women and Social Services - which has later on been repealed by the Constitutional Court - who are in the cadres of the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women at the date of effectiveness of this Law; and the civil servants of the said Under-secretariat actually working in this Directorate General; whose cadres and titles remain unchanged; shall be considered as appointed to the cadres created by this Law without any other transaction. In the appointment of those with the same cadre and duty title; in the case of the created cadre number being less than the personnel number, the ones with more service time in the Directorate General shall be prioritized. 

The civil servants, whose cadre title shall change or be annulled, or who shall be considered as non-appointed in accordance with the above-mentioned clause despite having no changes in their cadres and titles; as a result of the regulations by this Law, shall be appointed to appropriate cadres within the following six months. They may be assigned to tasks needed by the Directorate General until their new appointments. These civil servants shall continue benefiting from the salaries, additional indicators, pay rise schemes, compensations and other financial rights pertaining to their previous cadres until their new appointment. If the net amount of the above-mentioned financial rights of the said personnel in their new cadres is less than the net amount of those in their previous cadres; they shall be given a compensatory payment to make up the difference.

The personnel, who could not be appointed in accordance with the second clause, shall be notified to the State Personnel Presidency within five days following the end of six months. These personnel shall then be transferred to other public entities and institutions by the State Personnel Presidency in the framework of the principles and procedures stated in the second, third, fourth, and fifth clauses of Article 22 of Law No: 4046 bearing the date of 24.11.1994. However; the payments envisaged to be covered by the Privatization Fund in accordance with Article 22 of Law No: 4046 shall instead be covered by the Directorate General.

PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 4. – On the condition of being non-recurring and not exceeding one fifth of the “Experts on the Status of Women” cadre title number listed in annex 1; the personnel that has been actually been working in the cadres of the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women for at least five years, and are still on duty on the date of effectiveness of this Law may be appointed to the appropriate position of Experts on the Status of Women in accordance with the fulfillment of the following terms: Bearing the education conditions set forth in item (a) of the first clause of Article 22 of this Law, making a written application within two months following the effectiveness of this Law, and preparing a dissertation on subjects within the sphere of duties of the Directorate General. This latter shall be evaluated by a commission of five members, including at least two relevant academicians, chaired by the Director General, and it is based on the achievement level of the applicants that the appointments shall be made.

The second clause of the third provisional article shall be applied for the applicants until their appointment to the position of experts , or finalization of non-appointment. The third clause of the third provisional article shall be applied for those that are not going to be appointed as experts.

PROVISIONAL ARTICLE 5. – The provisions anticipated with this Law shall be prepared and put into force within six months. The provisions of the existing legislation that are not contrary to this Law shall remain effective during this period.

The references to the Directorate General on the Status and Problems of Women in other forms of legislation shall be considered to be made to the Directorate General on the Status of Women.

Effective Date

ARTICLE 27. – This Law comes into force  as of its date of release.

Enforcement

ARTICLE 28. – The provisions of this Law shall be enforced by the Council of Ministers.


THE ORGANIZATION
OF THE DIRECTORATE GENERAL ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN

Director General	Deputy Director General	Main Service Units	Advisory Units	Support Service Unit
1-Director General	1-Deputy Director General	1-Strengthening Women’s Economic Status Department	1- Legal Counseling	1- Human Resources and Support Services Department
		2- Improving Women’s Social Status Department	2- Strategy Development Department
		3- Foreign Relations Department
		4- Communication, Documentation and Publication Department


ATTACHED LIST 1
CREATED CADRE
INSTITUTION     : THE DIRECTORATE GENERAL ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN
ORGANIZATION : CENTRAL

CLASS	TITLE	GRADE	FREE CADRE NUMBER	RESERVED CADRE NUMBER	TOTAL
GAS	Director General	1	1		1
GAS	Deputy Director General	1	1		1
GAS	Head of Department	1	6		6
GAS	Legal Counselor	1	1		1
GAS	Expert on the Status of Women	1	10	5	15
GAS	Expert on the Status of Women	5	10	5	15
GAS	Assistant Expert on the Status of Women	7	9		9
GAS	Assistant Expert on the Status of Women	9	9		9
GAS	Branch Manager	1	3		3
GAS	Interpreter	7	2		2
GAS	Librarian	5	2		2
GAS	Belongings Accountant	1	1		1
GAS	Analyst	7	1		1
GAS	Programmer	7	1		1
GAS	Computer Operator	4	1		1
GAS	Data Preparation Control Operator	3	1		1
GAS	Data Preparation Control Operator	5	1		1
GAS	Servant	5	10		10
GAS	Secretary	5	1		1
GAS	Warehouse Official	5	1		1
GAS	Telephone Operator	7	1		1
TSC	Technician	7	1		1
GAS	Driver	5	2		2
GAS	Protection and Security Official	7	2		2
GAS	Protection and Security Official	10	1		1
	TOTAL		79	10	89

* The cadre of programmer, analyst and 1 cadre of servant are changed with cadre of Data Preparation Control Operator with the decree of the Council of Ministers that is published in the repeated Official Gazette dated 19.11.2005 and numbered 25998.

GAS: General Administrative Services
TSC: Technical Services Class