THE IMPACT OF EUROPEAN UNION PROJECTS IN PROMOTING WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT: THE CASE OF THE OPERATION TO SUPPORT REGISTERED WOMEN EMPLOYMENT (WOMEN-UP)

This article explores the impact of European Union-funded projects on Türkiye's labor market policies, particularly on women's employment policies. The Support to Registered Women's Employment (Women-Up) Operation, funded with EU Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), was examined in detail as a case study to understand this impact. Two main research methods were used in the study: First, a critical literature review was conducted on aspects of EU-Türkiye financial cooperation, outputs of Women-up Operation and the dynamics of women's employment in Türkiye. The literature review revealed the impact of EU financial assistance allocated to Türkiye as a social policy instrument to increase women's employment. Secondly, a survey form was sent to 2500 women out of 3400 women who benefited from the project and the responses received from 1202 people were analyzed. With the simple sampling technique, the study examined whether the project has achieved its purpose, how the current situation of the project's beneficiaries has changed with the intervention and the project's contributions to women's employment. The results showed that the project greatly impacted both the employment of women and the incentive for them to remain in registered employment.