‘Civil Society Dialogue for Empowering Youth Works in Local’ Project, implemented to strengthen the capacities of young people and youth workers on social policy and employment issues, established a strong dialogue between CSOs working in youth work in Türkiye and the Netherlands through a series of activities and an extensive research.

 

Opportunities for employment, improving working conditions, providing equal opportunities for men and women in working life are some of today’s social issues defining young people’s expectations and anxieties. These topics are also covered by Chapter 19 of the EU Acquis titled “Social Policy and Employment”.

“Civil Society Dialogue for Empowering Youth Works in Local”, one of Civil Society Dialogue’s Sixth Phase projects, focused on these issues and worked toward raising awareness on Chapter 19 and the topics it covered, through the cooperation they established between Türkiye and the Netherlands. Seda Şahin from Pi Youth Association, the main beneficiary of the project, summed up the objective of the project as “to strengthen the dialogue between civil society organisations working in the area of youth work in Türkiye and the Netherlands within the scope of Chapter 19 of the EU Acquis.”

The project was implemented by the Local Youth Associations Network, a civil society network consisting of 40 youth CSOs in Türkiye established to learn together and learn from each other, with the partnership of Pi Youth Association and Blom Foundation in the Netherlands, and with the participation of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality.

 

Youth dialogue bolstered with events

Face-to-face and online activities formed the backbone of the dialogue developed within the framework of the project. In the Dutch leg of the project, an online conference was held on 23 June 2022, organised by the project partner Blom Foundation, with the participation of Pi Youth Association representatives and more than 20 youth workers operating in different parts of the Netherlands. “Youth Rights and Issues”, “Youth Participation”, “Raising Awareness on Volunteering Among Young People” and “Strengthening Youth Work” were some of the topics discussed at the conference. Following the conference, more than 20 youth workers attended the local trainings themed “Anti-Discrimination”, held in Den Haag on 4-7 July 2022.

 

In the Türkiye leg of the project, more than 40 youth workers working in different cities throughout Türkiye came together in Ankara on 28-30 June as part of the “Social Policy and Employment Conference for Youth Workers”. Directorate for EU Affairs Expert Dr Begüm Güler, EU Delegation to Türkiye Programme Manager Mehmet Caner Demir and Blom Foundation Founders Nathalie Feitsma and Jorinevan Egmond were among the guests of the conference. The results of the research “Perception of Social Policy and Employment of Youth Workers” were shared at the conference, organised to provide new information on social policy and employment, to establish networks and to develop cooperation.

 

Seda Şahin said that the topics of the trainings held in İzmir, Ankara and Gaziantep were decided in line with the results of the research and that the results would be available on the project’s website very soon. The project, that began its journey with the motto “From local to national”, has, in the end, added an international dimension through the youth dialogue developed between Türkiye and the Netherlands.

 

About the Local Youth Associations Network

Local Youth Associations Network is a civil society network created by youth associations in Türkiye to strengthen mutual learning experiences. Pi Youth Association, operating in the field of youth rights, took the first step towards the establishment of the Network with the gathering of 40 youth organisations from Türkiye on 1 January 2020. Activities such as training, meetings, conferences, and field studies were carried out under the roof of the Network to strengthen youth associations in their rights-based activities, to ensure that they are more inclusive and to increase cooperation among these associations.

The website of the Local Youth Associations Network, designed to make the work of youth associations operating in different cities of Türkiye more visible and more accessible for young people, can be visited at https://genclikderneleri.org/ .

To listen to how the Network was established from Pi Youth Association President Begüm İntepeler and Project Coordinator Seda Şahin (in Turkish): https://youtu.be/oTLoWoxVB34