TACSO Turkey 5. Local Advisory Group (LAG) Meeting Ankara, CSDC (STGM) Office

Transcription

1 Participants: Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları için TACSO Turkey 5. Local Advisory Group (LAG) Meeting Ankara, CSDC (STGM) Office LAG Members Secretariat General for European Union Affairs Gürhan Demirel Arı Movement - Elif Aydıntuğ Arı Delegation of the European Union to Turkey - Lise Pate Doğa Association Bilgecan Şen Helsinki Citizens Assembly Ebru Kanbur Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Interior, Directorate of Associations - Şaban Acar TÜSEV and KA-DER - Zeynep Meydanoğlu Civil Society Development Centre (STGM)- Suade Arançlı, Sezin Öney, Mert Altıntaş ContortiumPartner Human Resource Development Foundation (İKGV)-Berna Eren TACSO Project Team: Ayça Haykır, Neslihan Özgüneş, Ayça Beştepe Absent LAG member: Community Volunteers (TOG) Documents handed out during the meeting: 1. Meeting agenda, 2. Regional Needs Assesment Report (Turkish translation), 3. TACSO brochure published in Braille format, 4. Information note on Civil participation ve process of developing the new constitution Meeting Agenda: 1. TACSO 2 Local Advisory Groups Meeting 2. TACSO 2 Planning 3. Civil society Government Dialogue Workshop 4. Creating awareness on Civil Constitution- Media approach

2 Meeting Notes Ayca Haykır, gave brief information on the topics below that was discussed in the meeting in Montenegro, held with the participation of LAG representatives of project countries. - İdeas and suggestions on TACSO 2, - Concerning the remaining period of TACSO 1; * A needs assesment was conducted with the aim to identify activities and priorities of TACSO 1, some of the important results of the assesment was as follows; the requirement to change the regulation, improve the capacities of CSOs, public perception of civil society etc. * Mainly Capacity building activities was conducted within the scope of the project, * TACSO is a non-rigid project that focuses on defining the primary needs of CSOs in each project country, * Some activities were conducted on the ares of CSO-media and CSO-Public relations, however the CSO-private sector relations has been the loose end, * Support provided to platforms and networks has not been at the aspired level, and merely in line with demand, *Help desk is often active during the open calls for grant proposals, this component should further be improved. Additional information, recommendations and comments about TACSO 1; - Neslihan Özgüneş, stated that all TACSO countries are in general conducting capacity building activities within the context of the project. Added that, Croatia as an exception, has been planning partnership events through open calls and providing support to networks. She added that similar activities might be conducted as TACSO Turkey in the upcoming period. She also underlined the importance of conducting regulatory studies, differently from other capacity building organisations. - Zeynep Meydanoğlu indicated that there are too many project objectives and it would be more beneficial to stay more focused during the course of TACSO 2. Meydanoğlu, who had also participated in the LAG meeting in Montenegro, stated that TACSOs priority should be planning the next phase of TACSO. She added that CSOs in all project countries are facing similar problems such as financing, deficiencies in CSO-public relationship etc.

3 Topics from discussions about TACSO 2; - Updating the needs assesment by means of a new method ( for instance, based on case studies) - What kind of an institutional structure shall be developed when TACSO project terminates?, which is an issue particularly considered important by the EU. Some of the options are as follows; open call, supporting the existing structures, different organisations; which are already members of LAG, taking over the activities etc.. - The importance of defining target groups for porject activities, - The missing point of TACSO has been support to networks, - Suggestions such as providing support to CSOs that are working on the field of policy determination, - In Turkeys case, it would be beneficial to give priority to advocacy, lobbying issues, - In addition to capacity building trainings, different methods like mentoring ( big CSOs teaching the smaller ones ) for organisations and Job Shadowing ( Learning by watching another collegue at work) for individuals were suggested. TACSO Turkey however finds it more useful to conduct more comprehensive studies that would directly effect the person/organisation, - Regarding the planning of LAG in the next period;it was stated that continuation of current members would be very useful, together with new participations from different CSOs, media and private sector representatives. Questions/ comments from LAG members: - Provided that it is requested with a strong justification, TACSO 2 might focus on a single topic, - Regarding the mentoring application, the risk of big CSOs domination should be kept in mind, - Arı Movement would provide the other LAG members with the information about the CSO council, which they are involved in, established by the government, - Coordination among LAG members should be improved by exchanging information on the projects implemented, studies conducted etc., - CSOs in Turkey and Western Balkans have similar needs and requirements, therefore it would be beneficial to focus on partnership events that would provide an opportunity for them to meet each other and develop regional networks. (Bilgecan Şen from Doğa Association, informed us about their valuable joint activities with CSOs in western Balkans) - It would also be helpful to use best practices from EU member countries during TACSO activities, - Although each member was selected, Local Advisory Group is not representative of CSOs from all working fields, new CSOs might be included for the next period, - The level of relations established with media and private sector in TACSO 1 was insufficient,

4 - Participation of YASADER ( Turkish Association of Legislation) to LAG in TACSO 2 would be beneficial in regard to relations with parliament, - Directorate General of Foundations should also participate in LAG, ( TÜSEV, Directorate of Associations and HRDF will provide assistance in regard to this issue) since their contribution would be valuable ( especially since the director, Mr. Adnan Ertem appreciates the importance of civil society), - Another suggestion was to publish the help desk introduction/promotion brochures in the web pages of LAG member organisations, - The importance of follow-up and evaluation of trainings was emphasized, - LAG members could provide support with announcing the local trainings to their networks, - It was stated that national training programs will continue to be conducted at the prioritised provinces that were selected for the kick off meetings, and the programs are planned to include more than one training modules. ( introductory topics such as civil society, strategic planning followed by more advanced subjects as fundraising, communication etc. The members were briefly informed about the project activities of TACSO Turkey - Advocacy and Lobbying training for women CSOs was delivered in Van. It was stated that it would be beneficial for the CSOs that are working on the same fields to work in colloboration. Two journalists from the national media; Ms. Mutlu Tönbekici (from Vatan Gazette) and Ms. Pınar Öğünç (Radikal Gazette) were present at the training. They both interviewed the trainees and afterwards wrote an article about the training in their columns. - It was said that meetings could be organised with the aim to establish partnerships through open calls in the next phase. - LAG members were briefly informed about the platform supports that are provided by TACSO; namely: World Handicapped Foundation ( Symposium of World Handicapped Union), Association for Social Change ( Campaign work), Pink Life Association ( Trans Remembrance Meeting) and Network for Combating Commercial sexual Exploitation of Children ( STE assistance). The members were informed about the 1. CSO-Government Dialogue Workshop A workshop to bring together directors of Provincial Department of Associations and CSO representatives was planned. Main goal of this event was to ensure that the participants get to know and understand each other. 13 directors of Provincial Department of Associations and 11 CSO representatives from 10 CSOs participated in the workshop. Mainly, group works was conducted in the workshop. Ozan Ceyhun, as an ex parlamentarian from Germany Greens Party and an activist, gave a speech on CSO-Government relations, the role of civil society in the world and Turkey. Şaban Acar stated that the provincial directors was selected based on their activities and support to the associations and projects as well as a survey conducted. He added that they have received many positive feedbacks about the event. Particularly CSO representatives was satisfied with the results, despite their preconceptions, once the communication had been established. He underlined the importance of participation at the level of administrative board to such events and stated that the event had achieved its goal.

5 He briefly mentioned their meeting for governers, where the president of TUSKON and Levent Korkut from Civil Society Development Centre had made speeches. He mentioned the benefits of bringing together CSO representatives and public employees to make speeches in such events. Zeynep Meydanoğlu indicated that, different approaches and attitudes of directors of provincial association departments, has a strong influence ( either positive or negative) on CSOs in their respective cities, and in a way, determines their fate. Şaban Acar stated that they are conducting annual meetings with the participation of all directors regarding the issue above as well as delivering trainings on personal development, communication etc.he mentioned that this is unfortunately a common problem faced in many organisations. He mentioned their idea about bringing forward the condition of a graduation diploma from social sciences, however this would be technically difficult. The members were informed about the 2. CSO-Government Workshop - Workshop scheduled to take place in March will be attended by all the provincial directors of the associations, - Content of the planned meeting will be designed in accordance with the final report of the first workshop, - The 2. workshop will last for 5 days, - Identification of priority issues would be useful, - Support will be provided from TACSO, - It was decided that TACSO will prepare the content, then share it with LAG for their comments. Creating awareness about the Constitution Media approach Sezin Öney (STGM) informed LAG about the topic. Attached is the short information note that was also distributed at the meeting. Comments on the subject: - Information on studies regarding the civil constitution will be available at Civil Society Development Centers (STGM) web site, - Main and specifically important subject is considered as how the design/ model should be for civil participation. However, the debates are generally on the content, - It is important that all parties should be participating in these debates, - Eventually, the main problem is the establishment of sustainable platforms. Despite of the limited resources, partnership and sharing is crucial, - Civil Society Development Centers (STGM) has the role of a facilitator that gathers the organisations, but this role should be concretized. There are no expectations of tangible results until the end of elections, however a ground should be established. It is important to determine the role of TACSO within the ground that was established by STGM, - It is important for Turkey, which has not prepared a civil constitution before to look into international examples and to create awareness in the civil society,

6 - Society could be informed about polities, - It is important to question the view of society on the preparation process. In order to measure the the perceptions and expectations of the public, conducting an analysis would be beneficial. - In summary, there are two problems related to this issue; 1. various studies are made, but they are not visible, 2. Some CSOs could not pariticpate in the process due to lack of information, therefore awareness raising on the subject is crucial for clarification, - It is a requirement to establish a proper channel for the associations, that could not participate in the process, to submit their opininons, - Referendum process should also be thoroughly examined as a reference for these studies, - It was recommended to plan a study for the subject to be involved in the electoral statements of political parties, - Role of Civil Society Development Centers (STGM) local offices are crucial for the study, as they could put out feelers for the local associations, - Awareness raising on constitution should be a priority within the context of TACSO trainings and/or trainings delivered by other organisations, - Initially a proper information should be gathered on who is doing what, regarding the issue. Sezin Öney, who will be planning a working meeting together with LAG members within February, will inform the members about the exact date. The date of the next LAG meeting will be determined later.