TÜKD ÜNIVERSITELI KADINLAR DERNEGI

TURKISH ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY WOMEN

Turkish Association of University Women ( TÜKD ) was founded in 1949 and became a member of IFUW (International Federation of University Women) in 1955. It is a non-profit voluntary organization of university women graduates. It has over 1000 members and 10 branches throughout Turkey. The Headquarters is in Istanbul at the following address:

TÜKD Genel Merkezi Elmadag Caddesi 12/1 Sisli 80230, Istanbul Tel/Fax : (+90 212) 231 8024 E-mail: tukd@ttnet.net.tr

The branches are in the following cities: Adana, Ankara, Antalya, Bursa, Eskisehir, Gaziantep, Ìzmir, Kastamonu, Konya, Samsun.

OBJECTIVES:
Considering that women were accepted to universities only after the Turkish Republic was founded by Kemal Atatürk in 1923, TÜKD's first and foremost objective is the protection of the hard-won women's rights and other Atatürk's reforms such as secularism.

TÜKD's mission includes:

• Protection and improvement of women's rights
• Improvement of educational levels of women and girls throughout Turkey
• Improvement of economic and social status of women
• Improving participation of women in decision making and politics
• Promoting friendship, exchange of ideas and understanding among university women of the world
• Representing university women in national and international organizations

ACTIVITIES:

National and Local:

• Organizes seminars and conferences to promote its objectives
• Provides financial support to university women students
• Organizes in and out of country trips to exchange ideas among its members and members of other affiliates
• Cooperates with other women societies dedicated to similar goals
• Runs projects to increase education level and social awareness of women and girls
• Lobbies the government on issues related to its objectives especially concerning legal rights and equality

Through IFUW:

• TÜKD members are eligible for international scholarships and fellowships
• TÜKD members are eligible to participate, through election, in IFUW international management and committee work
• TÜKD members are eligible to participate in IFUW Conferences and Council
• Meetings

ON-GOING PROJECT: Adult education
All TÜKD branches are participating in this project which aims at having no illiterate women in Turkey by the year 2000. Official reading and writing courses for adult women are run in cooperation with the Ministry of Education of Turkey. The graduates are presented with accredited certificates and are offered by our members additional social, cultural and skills education to further their social and economic status.

MEMBERSHIP : Any women graduate with a university degree of 4 years of education or higher is eligible.