Project launched to build capacity of refugee NGOs in Turkey

The Capacity Building of Refugee Community NGOs in Turkey Project will visit cities that host large numbers of refugees such as Gaziantep and Istanbul; establish a database; organize workshops and training seminars; visit potential donors; organize meetings and bring potential donors and refugee NGOs together.
The project will last for nine months.

The beneficiaries of the project include the Sosyal Suriye Topluluğu (Syrian Social Gathering), AfganDer (Afghan Association) and the İzmir Suriyeli Mülteciler ile Dayanışma Derneği (Association of Syrians in İzmir).
İGAM is currently involved in a number of projects, including the integration of refugees, supporting Afghan refugees in Turkey, establishing a Turkish Refugee Council, research on Yezidi refugees from Iraq and research on Syrian refugees with disabilities in Turkey.


Detailed road map

During the launch meeting held on Aug. 10, both Metin Çorabatır, the head of İGAM and a former spokesman for the UNHCR in Turkey, and Dan Parkes, representative of the British Embassy, delivered opening speeches.

Team leader and project coordinator Esra Yurt also made a presentation about the project team, the project’s content, its goals, its methodology and the expected beneficiaries. The presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session.

During the session, Şirin Türkay of the British Embassy; Zakira Hekmat of AfganDer; Cengiz Çiftçi of the Sivil Düşün EU Program – which was launched by the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey toward the end of 2012 to support civil society – Ayşe Sargın of the International Medical Corps; Serhan Alemdar of Mercy Corps; Doctor Doğuş Şimşek, a member of both İGAM and the Migration Research Center at Koç University (MiReKoc); and Yasemin Sıralı, FIBA’s social investment projects director, contributed to the project team with their questions and suggestions. 

This session was followed by a brainstorming session among the project team and project partners in the name of outlining a detailed road map concerning the operation of the project.