By Satuk B. Kutlugun & Muhammet F. Alagas
ANKARA
A total of 23 distinguished women around the world are combatting to end discrimination against women under a committee in the United Nations.
One of these women is a Turkish professor specializing in women's rights and education at Turkey's prestigious Middle East Technical University.
Feride Acar has recently been re-elected as a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women -- her fourth term in the committee.
The committee oversees the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, or CEDAW, which is an international bill of rights for women defining what constitutes discrimination against women and sets up an agenda for national action to end such discrimination.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview after her election, Acar said CEDAW is a very important body that audits the international standards concerning women's rights.
When asked about whether the committee is promoting an affirmative action towards women in society, Acar said the issue was frequently misunderstood.
"If there are a qualified man and a woman for a job, the less represented gender should be selected for it," she said. "Affirmative action is not selecting someone less qualified over a qualified person."
Acar said CEDAW's main priority was ensuring equality among men and women in every field.
"This should not be just equality in law, but in practical life as well," she added. "Equality in education, politics and work field is something, but we should implement it in social life and family life too."
Turkey is one of 187 countries party to the convention and obliged to present a report in every four years since 1986.
By accepting the Convention, governments commit themselves to undertaking a series of measures to end discrimination against women in all forms, such as the legal system inclusions, public awareness tribunals and providing an anti-discriminative work enviorenment for women.
The professor also said that her presence in the committee should be regarded as an international achievement for Turkey.
Asked about women's participation in politics in Turkey, Acar said the issue was Turkey's "bleeding wound".
"In the last local elections in Turkey we saw that there were still plenty of space to improve," said Acar. "The situation should be investigated closely by the political parties."
"Although the political inclusion of women were little, the government is putting some quality effort to raise awareness on gender equality," she added.
Professor Feride Acar was a member of the CEDAW for two consecutive terms between 1997 and 2005. She was the chairperson of the committee between 2003 and 2005. Acar has been elected to the committee for 2015-2018 term and this will be her fourth term.
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