The Technical Assistance Project for Strengthening the Capacity of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies for Public-NGO Cooperation was launched in Istanbul.

The Ministry of Family and Social Policies has taken another pioneering step in its engagement with civil society organizations (CSOs) by launching the “Technical Assistance Project for Strengthening the Capacity of the Ministry of Family and Social Policies for Public–CSO Cooperation.”

The launch event of the project was held in Istanbul with the participation of Minister of Family and Social Policies Dr. Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, Head of the EU Delegation to Turkey Ambassador Christian Berger, President of the Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU) Mr. Mehmet Selim Uslu, Undersecretary of the Ministry for EU Affairs Ambassador Selim Yenel, Governor of Istanbul Mr. Vasip Şahin, and several civil society representatives.

The second part of the opening event featured a Public–CSO Cooperation Panel moderated by Prof. Dr. Selda Güneş Peschke, Chair of the Department of Comparative Law at Yıldırım Beyazıt University. The panel included Vice President of the Turkish Red Crescent İbrahim Hakkı Turunç, President of the Foundation for the Support of Women’s Work Şengül Akçar, and Dr. Ali Ercan Özgür from the Corporate Social Responsibility Association of Turkey as speakers.

The project has been initiated under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) 2014–2020 programming period, within the “Democracy and Governance” sector. Through this initiative, the Ministry of Family and Social Policies aims to strengthen cooperation between public institutions and CSOs active in the field of social policy, and to promote joint policymaking processes between public authorities and civil society actors.

Focusing on capacity building and the enhancement of Public–CSO collaboration, the project was launched on 14 May 2018 and will be implemented over a two-year period across 10 pilot provinces and their respective 10 neighboring provinces.