Equal Pay Day
Promoting equal pay through skills and rights awareness
Pay discrimination continues to widen the gender pay gap, even when women and men perform the same work. Nuran Mısılmini, a Syrian textile worker in İstanbul, turned this challenge into an opportunity by joining the ILO’s Work-Based Learning Programme. Through the Programme, she honed her technical skills and deepened her understanding of workplace rights, including the principle of equal pay. Nuran’s journey highlights how skills development and rights awareness can empower workers and drive more equitable, inclusive workplaces.
17 September 2025
Pay discrimination, one of the most significant contributors to the gender pay gap, remains a challenge in many industries, where employees performing the same or similar work may receive different wages based on gender or other factors unrelated to job performance.
In İstanbul, Türkiye, a Syrian women Nuran Mısılmini has been working as an overlock machine operator in the textile sector for many years. In 2024, she joined the ILO’s Work-Based Learning Programme, designed to help workers enhance their technical skills while increasing their knowledge of workplace rights.
The programme supported Nuran in strengthening her competencies and raising her awareness of the principle of equal pay, empowering her and others to contribute to more equitable and inclusive workplaces.
Work-Based Learning Programme (locally known as İŞMEP) is a part of the project “Promoting Decent Work for Syrians under Temporary Protection and Turkish Citizens”, financed by the Federal Republic of Germany through the KfW Development Bank and implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO) Office for Türkiye in coordination with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.