Training for Empowerment in Turkish Women's NGOs: Processes and Impact

Abstract

This article attempts to study the concept of empowerment in the Turkish context based on the case studies of women's organisations implementing empowerment training programs. The study brings together the evaluations of the participants, co-ordinators and trainers on the impact of these programs in order to show how the feeling of power and personal change manifests itself in private and public life experiences of women and the complexity of the processes of empowerment. The role of the organisation and the trainer are handled as the two critical factors affecting the results of these programs.In the concluding section, various issues influencing the impact of these rograms are brought to attention such as the role of the social and political culture, lack of well-defined criteria for evaluation as well as further expectations from empowerment training.