As part of the “Fostering Social Inclusion in Multicultural Regions – SINC Cooperation for Social Inclusion Project” which is supported within the scope of the Civil Society Dialogue VI Program implemented by the Directorate for European Union Affairs of the Republic of Turkey with the financial support of the European Union” Project, Civil Society-Local Government Cooperation in Social Participation: Good Practices from Europe and Turkey Panel was held on Tuesday, April 26. A total of 119 people, including representatives from 29 different non-governmental organizations, participated in the panel, which was held both face-to-face and online.
The first session of the panel on “Social Inclusion and Efficient Cooperation Models in the European Union Accession Process” started with the speech of Dr. Begüm Şeren Güler from the Department of Economic, Financial and Social Policies, Directorate for EU Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prof. Dr. Begüm Şeren Güler shared valuable information about Chapter 19 on Social Policy and Employment within the framework of accession negotiations to the European Union and the rights of candidate countries wishing to become a member of the European Union and the minimum standards set forth in relation to these rights. The second speaker of the first session, Prof. Dr. Serkan Çelik, Lecturer at Hacettepe University, Department of Fundamental Education, made a presentation on the presentation document prepared within the scope of the SINC Project and the good practice examples on social inclusion during the study visits.
The second session of the Civil Society-Local Government Cooperation in Social Participation: Good Practices from Europe and Turkey Panel was dedicated to “Experience Sharing from the Perspective of Local Government and Civil Society”. In the first part of the second session, Yılmaz Erdem Vardar, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Yuva Association and Project Coordinator of Cooperation for Social Inclusion, presented both the Migration Awareness Trainings organized by YUVA Association within the scope of the SINC project and the good examples of social inclusion observed during the Stuttgart Study Visit. The second speaker of the second session, Şişli Municipality Social Support Services Manager Öznur Sarıahmetoğlu gave information about the Neighborhood Kitchen Project carried out by Şişli Municipality in cooperation with the Neighborhood Solidarity Food and Business Cooperative. The last speaker of the second session, Anıl Karahan, Public Relations Coordinator of Avcılar Municipality, made a presentation about Gülten Nakipoğlu Life Center for the Disabled, implemented by Avcılar Municipality. On the one hand, the Center provides services for all kinds of social needs of people with disabilities, from art to sports, education to entertainment, and on the other hand, it also provides a space for non-governmental organizations working for people with disabilities to continue their work free of charge. The “Civil Society-Local Government Cooperation in Social Participation: Best Practices from Europe and Turkey” Panel was concluded after the section dedicated to the questions of the participants.
