Introduction

Building a good future begins with early childhood. Children develop most rapidly in their earliest years and supportive environment is crucial in this period. AÇEV— Mother Child Education Foundation aims to support children in these most formative years to give them a right start to life.

Since its establishment in 1993, AÇEV’s mission has been to make a lasting contribution to society by supporting the development of children and their environments through education starting from early years.

Spanning early childhood, parenting, and adult literacy, AÇEV’s training programs target all stages of human development and all members of the family from early childhood to parenthood.

Father Support Program (FSP)

The Father Support Program (FSP) aims to contribute to children’s development through addressing the parenting skills and attitudes of fathers, and increasing community awareness and action on the role of men. The program employs participatory to create behavior change in fathers so that they build a healthier communication with their children and support their development. FSP is a primary prevention strategy targeting men with the specific aim of combating traditional gender norms and decreasing the prevalence and acceptance of violence in the home, while empowering them as active fathers.

Video (Turkish, Eng subtitles) | ACEV - Fatherhood Support Program (5:23)

AÇEV and the private sector partner for involved fatherhood

AÇEV has engaged over thirty businesses in Turkey to promote gender equality and involved fatherhood in the private sector, in collaboration with UNFPA-Turkey.

The private sector is now widely accepted around the world as a pivotal player in promoting social change and development, and businesses are more accountable than ever for their impact on communities.  In Turkey too, the importance of private sector engagement in advancing the involved fatherhood agenda and gender equality in the workplace has become ever more apparent. Socially conscious businesses practices and the degree to which companies recognize the importance of both men and women contributing equally to their child’s development, will have a huge impact on whether gender equality and shared parenting can be achieved.  We strongly believe that by raising awareness on involved fatherhood in business practices, the private sector can be a driver of progress that benefits all.

The private sector accounts for 53% of the national workforce in Turkey, equal to approximately ten million men and as such influences an incredibly wide cross section of Turkish society, in terms of jobs and norms.

AÇEV’s two decades long experience working with fathers has demonstrated the importance of involving as many stakeholders as possible in our efforts. Previously, our involvement was mostly with public institutions, NGOs, and universities—with businesses only approached for funding. Now we realize the private sector must be better informed on the structural changes that can be taken at the workplace, as well as the business practices they employ that are supporting or sometimes hindering involved fatherhood. For example, businesses can support employees in becoming more involved fathers by reorganizing work hours, increasing paternity leave days, planning chilcare services, or being more sensitive to gender issues in their marketing practices. This is a win-win situation for fathers and employers, as flexible working arrangements, for example, improve the physical and mental health of fathers, increase their commitment to their employer, and improve their motivation and performance, in addition to enabling them to be more involved parents.

AÇEV organized a meeting “Discussing Involved Fatherhood with the Private Sector”. This meeting took place on November 30, 2017 and included over 50 participants – high level directors, administrators, and HR managers, among others – from banks to multinational companies like Fibabank, Koc Holding, GAP, UPS, and Benefit Cosmetics. The meeting began with a panel discussion involving a mother blogger, a father blogger, a business representative, and an AÇEV Father Support Program alumni/advocate. The two bloggers spoke about how their readers responded to involved fatherhood and equal parenting anecdotes they shared online. The Father Support advocate discussed how his journey as a father was transformed by the program. And, the business representative shared how his company discredited prejudices against women employees by giving women complete responsibility for an entire production line, which turned out to be very successful. Following the panel, participants were asked to discuss, “What role can companies play in promoting involved fatherhood?”

The panel was followed by workshops to discuss the steps and measures that businesses could take in their own workplaces to facilitate gender equality and involved fatherhood.  A mini toolkit designed by AÇEV facilitated the discussion and provided a range of examples for the adoption of gender equal practices and information on family friendly measures. 

Contributors:

Suna Hanoz-Penny serves as Expert Consultant to the ECPC. She is International Programs Director at the Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV).

Yasemin Sirali serves on the ECPC Executive Committee. She is Director of Ozyegin Social Investments, a network of institutions including the Mother Child Education Foundation (AÇEV), Husnu Ozyegin Foundation (HMOV), Iz Child Centers, and Ozyegin University based in Turkey

Ayla Göksel serves as Advisor to the ECPC. She is CEO of Özyeğin Social Investments, a network of non-profit organizations, including AÇEV (Mother-Child Education Foundation), Hüsnü M. Özyeğin Foundation and Iz Child and has over twenty years of experience in education programs, policy and infrastructure impacting 1.5 million people across Turkey with award winning programs implemented in 14 other countries. 

AÇEV media