The "Children's Rights" training, organized within the scope of the Technical Assistance Project for Empowerment of the Role of the Ombudsman in the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, was held in Ankara on 3-5 October 2022. In the training tailored for the relevant experts of the Ombudsman Institution, several topics were covered such as the national and international framework on children's rights, the basic principles in handling applications related to children, the protection of children's rights in the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and positive obligations, and interview techniques with children.

Within the scope of the ROMSID Project, the second of the Study Visits, which are carried out in order to learn the public policies implemented in the host countries to support the social inclusion of Roma citizens and to examine the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of these policies, was held to Hungary and Slovakia on 26-30 September 2022.

Information Days were held in Ankara on September 27 and in İstanbul on September 29 for the Technical Assistance for Jean Monnet Scholarship Programme.

The first of the Study Visits to be held in Germany and the Netherlands within the scope of the Open Innovation Autonomous Vehicle Development and Testing Platform Project (OPINA) was held in Munich on 26 September 2022. Through the workshop held at the CARISSMA, Centre of Automotive Research on Integrated Safety Systems and Measurement Area, at Technischen Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI), information on the ongoing projects at CARISSMA was obtained. The visit was supported by Bavaria's innovation agency, Bayern Innovativ GmbH. 

The "International Human Rights Protection Mechanisms to which Turkey is a Party" training, organized within the scope of the Technical Assistance Project for Empowerment of the Role of the Ombudsman in the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, was held in Ankara on 14-16 September 2022. In the training organized for the relevant experts of the Ombudsman Institution, sessions were held on topics such as the United Nations Human Rights System, individual application opportunities to the European Court of Justice, Constitutional Court individual application system, the European Court of Human Rights application system, the rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights and human rights protection mechanisms in the domestic legal system.

A study visit is being held in Brussels, Belgium, on 6-9 September 2022 within the scope of Technical Assistance for Empowerment of the Role of Ombudsman in the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights.
In the study visit programme chaired by the Chief Ombudsman, Honourable Şeref Malkoç, meetings are being held with the Permanent Delegation of Türkiye to the European Union, the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers of the EU Commission, the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs of the EU Commission, the European Parliament, and the Turkish Embassy in Brussels on 6 September 2022.

A pilot monitoring visit was conducted in Bursa between 31 August and 2 September 2022 in order to discuss the Monitoring and Evaluation system to be established within the scope of the ROMSID Project. The delegation consisting of representatives of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, the members of the Working Group from the relevant Ministries, and the Technical Assistance Team held meetings to learn about the experiences and practices of the institutions/organisations and to inform them about monitoring and evaluation.

“Immigration and Immigrant Rights in National and International Law Training”, organised within the scope of the Technical Assistance for Empowerment of the Role of Ombudsman in the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights, was held on 23-25 August 2022 in Ankara. Training topics consisted of main principles, human rights law, international protection laws and protection procedures, administrative detention, appeal procedures and case studies specially designed for the relevant experts of the Ombudsman Institution. The training took place with the honoured presence of the Chief Ombudsman Mr. Şeref Malkoç and the Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Türkiye, Mr. Philippe Leclerc, and it was concluded with delivering certificates to the participants.

The 4^th Local Stakeholder Meeting of the Empowering Women through Cooperatives Project was held on 23 August 2022 in Isparta. Opening speeches of the meeting were given by the Head of Department of Training and Publication of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Mr. Sürur KIR, Director General on Status of Women of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, Ms. Gülser USTAOĞLU and the Governor of Isparta, Mr. Aydın BARUŞ.

 

Within the scope of the Technical Assistance for Increasing the Policy Making Capacity of Directorate General of International Labour Force in the Field of Labour Migration Project (Migration4Work), the 3rd Working Group Meeting on "Brain Drain and Diaspora" was held in İstanbul on 4-5 August 2022 with the participation of relevant public institutions, universities and NGOs.

A study visit was organised to Bucharest, Romania, on 26-28 July 2022 within the scope of the Technical Assistance Project for Empowerment of the Role of Ombudsman in the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights.
 

The Kick-off Meeting for the Technical Assistance for the "Enhancing the Rare Earth Elements Research and Innovation Capacity of Turkey" Project was held on 27 July 2022 at the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Industry and Technology. The project will be implemented in 24 months and it will be carried out in cooperation between the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Industry and Technology Directorate of EU Financial Programmes, Directorate General of Industry, Directorate General of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA), Munzur University Rare Earth Elements Application and Research Center (MUNTEAM), and the consortium led by WYG Türkiye. 

The overall objective of the project is to support the establishment of a sustainable supply chain for rare earth elements for Türkiye's economic development.

CCT-II Project’s 15th Monthly Management Meeting was held in Ankara on 30.06.2022 with the participation of the Senior Representative of the Operation Beneficiary (SROB), the Programme Manager of the European Union Delegation to Turkey,

Steering Committee Meeting and Monthly Meetings of the Giresun Wastewater Project were held on 28-29.06.2022 in Giresun. Along with the meetings, site visits were conducted within the scope of the “Construction of Giresun Wastewater Treatment Plant (Lot-1)” and “Construction of Giresun Wastewater Collection System (Lot-2)”. The meetings and visits were attended by the European Union Delegation to Türkiye, representatives of the Ministry of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, Giresun Municipality Project Implementation Unit, Consultant and Contractors.

Within the scope of ''Technical Assistance for Empowering Women Through Cooperatives'', Awareness Raising Meeting was held in Bursa on 27 June 2022 with the opening speeches of The Mayor of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Mr. Alinur AKTAŞ, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Mr. İbrahim YUMAKLI, Deputy Minister of Family and Social Services Ms. Fatma ÖNCÜ and The Governor of Bursa Mr. Yakup CANBOLAT.

 

OPINA participated in the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) and Autonomous Vehicle Technology Fair in Stuttgart, one of Europe's most influential automotive innovation research and development centres, on June 21-23. 

Within the scope of the Development of Inclusive Education Project (BEGEP), which has been carrying out since 2019 with the co-financing of the EU and the Republic of Türkiye by the Ministry of National Education General Directorate of Special Education and Guidance Services, with the slogan "We are a whole with our differences", Inclusion in Education Summit is taking place at Ankara ATO Congresium on June 21-22. The Opening Speeches of the event, which took place with the great interest of teachers, academics and NGOs, were made by WYG Türkiye & CIS Managing Director Dr. Faruk Cengiz Tekindağ, Ministry of National Education Director General of Special Education and Guidance Services Mr. Kemal Varın NUMANOĞLU, Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Turkey Ms. Eleftheria PERTZINIDOU and Deputy Minister of National Education Mr. Nazif YILMAZ. The “Inclusion in Education Summit” will continue tomorrow with very special events such as expert speakers, workshops, “Good Practices” stands of NGOs and schools, and paper presentations.

The Central and Provincial Level 4th Round Training Programme within the scope of the Implementation of Training Programmes of the ROMSİD Project has been completed.

The Jean Monnet project team met the scholars who were entitled to receive the Jean Monnet Scholarship for the 2022-2023 Academic Year in Ankara on June 13, Monday.

The First Steering Committee Meeting of the "Technical Assistance for Advanced Prototype Station (APS) Project", supported by the EU Delegation to Türkiye and the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Industry and Technology within the framework of Competitive Sectors and hosted by Eskişehir Technical University, was held on May 25, 2022 with the participation of EU Delegation to Türkiye Sector Manager and Ministry Representatives, Eskişehir Chamber of Commerce, Eskişehir Chamber of Industry, Eskişehir Regional Directorate of Industry, Anadolu Technology Research Park Inc., BEBKA (Bursa Eskişehir Bilecik Development Agency), KOSGEB (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organisation), Rail Systems and Aviation Cluster, consortium members, and other stakeholders.