CSOs from Türkiye, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary took critical steps towards protection of consumers in Türkiye, establishing a Policy Monitoring Network, through the dialogue and cooperation they have maintained in ‘Increasing the Capacity of CSOs for Consumer Protection’ Project, supported in the Third Phase of the Civil Society Support Programme.

 

The 15-month project that kicked off in April 2021 was carried out under the coordination of the Consumer Protection and Solidarity Association (TUKOBIR). The co-beneficiaries of the project were InfoCons (Consumer Protection Association) from Romania, General Directorate of Consumer Protection and Market Surveillance, National Association of Active Citizens of Bulgaria and Consumer Defence and Environment Society from Italy.

The project was implemented to strengthen civil society for consumer protection in Türkiye. The objectives were to develop organisational capacities of relevant CSOs, to enhance their advocacy and lobbying skills, and assist in solving policy problems related to consumer protection through sharing best practices with the established international CSO network.

 

Activities carried out in the project

A series of trainings were organised, primarily to improve the organisational capacity of consumer CSOs, under the topics of public communication strategies, advocacy, lobbying, project cycle management, human resources management, and financial management capacity development. A total of 120 CSO representatives participated in these trainings.

Many of the project activities were carried out towards establishment of a “Policy Monitoring Network”. To this end, study visits were made to various policy-making institutions, particularly the Ministry of Trade, coordination meetings were held with relevant authorities and a workshop was organised. Subsequently, the methodology, outputs, and results of the project were shared in a dissemination meeting with CSOs.

 

Policy Monitoring Network

A “Policy Monitoring Network” was established with the participation of CSOs from Türkiye, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary as the imperative achievement of the project. The network’s objectives are monitoring the activities, practices, and laws regarding the protection of consumer rights in Türkiye, developing policy recommendations and preparing an annual monitoring report. The network currently has 18 members.

Consumer CSOs interested in becoming a member of the network can visit the website for further details: https://tuketici.eu/forum/pia/ .