On March 12th, at the Turkish House, an event titled “Walking Together for Holistic Well-being: Alternative Practices from Women’s Centers” was organized by KADEM under NGO CSW/NY. During the event, the Women Support Center model, one of KADEM’s signature projects for the holistic empowerment of women was discussed, along with various women center models.

The panel, which began with an opening speech by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saliha Okur Gümrükçüoğlu, Chair of of KADEM, discussed good practice examples supporting disadvantaged women worldwide. Gümrükçüoğlu provided detailed information about the importance and operation of Women Support Centers, stating that so far, they have provided services to 2,517 women at the Women Support Center in Istanbul and nearly 6,000 women in the Women Support Centers opened in earthquake-affected areas of Turkiye within a year.

In the panel moderated by Asst. Prof. Nursem Keskin Aksay, a member of the Executive Board of KADEM, representatives from various organizations spoke to discuss women’s support centers and best practices. Lil Corcoran represented the Women’s Rights Information Center in New Jersey, Jean Fisher represented Faces of Hope, Amna Rumaisa represented the Women Welfare Organisation, Rana Abdelhamid represented Malikah, and Aslıhan Nişancı represented KADEM Women Support Center from Türkiye.

In her speech, Nursem Keskin Aksay stated, “The purpose of today’s program is to present our alternative women’s support center model and to address the complex parameters of the challenges women face in various areas of life and holistic well-being opportunities with various examples from around the world.”

The panel, which was closely followed with great interest by foreign NGO representatives and participants, was enriched by questions directed towards KADEM and the panelists.