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Motivation Letter
We, as humanity, are standing on very thin glass and we have very few choices other than to outgrow. This essentially hasn’t changed much since the emergence of homo sapiens where we had to build bridges, reach mountaintops and cross oceans. We always had to push ourselves forward, come up with novel ideas every morning and compete with the wilderness we were afraid of. Now on the brink of a mass extinction, political meltdown and a possible catastrophe of humankind, we must not outgrow, but outperform our growth.
And me: half Turkish, half Abzekh, someone that has experienced and observed multiple ‘sections’ of the ‘intersectional’ discrimination; survived, developed and standing tall. My name is Berkehan Erkılıç and I am honoured to share with you my motivation for being the next SCORP Capacity Building Development Assistant, in the term 2019-2020. An organization is like a giant sand castle where thousands of kids are putting handfuls of sand to keep the backbone up. Some build bridges and others are tall enough to reach the top to reshape the towers. This castle will stay as ‘’The Castle’’ growing bigger every year and everyone that has ever helped it become the castle it is, is now grown-ups admiring the castle from afar. This castle is IFMSA: we build it, we reshape it and as us the capacity builders call it, we get the backbone straight. To keep this castle called IFMSA up I am planning a lot of things: -from taller towers; to plan the future of IFMSA on a larger scale, -to stronger walls; that ensure we have reliable documents to endure high turnover of members and guide them along the way, -and a bigger drawbridge; for greater exchange of information with the external world and of course for bigger number of members to be engaged. The 2020 SCORP I am aiming for is a structuralized and systematic as much as innovative and flexible SCORP, which wields every tool for sustainable internal work and progressive external work. I am ready to put my capabilities forth to ensure a better SCORP. I am a dreamer and I am aware of the fact that the smallest of a change requires meaningful mental work and this is specifically why I am so fond of the perfection of the work we do in IFMSA. Nevertheless, along with all the trainers, program coordinators, international team and more importantly -our strength- members; no horizon is out of reach. Lastly, this dreamer guy is asking to be heard once more in IFMSA, heard not because of a louder voice, but for his projects and his passion for an equitable, diverse and well-structured IFMSA today, and the world tomorrow.
Let’s build this castle together! Berkehan Erkılıç Enthusiast, Advocate
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Plan of Action Pillars: Development: Global Priorities: Striving for an ideal world brings along a whole set of ambitious goals which may present hardships when tried to be tackled altogether. We hopefully have global priorities that guides all of the standing committees by setting clear goals, internally and externally, to achieve the desired results. The focus point here is the ‘’alignment’’, requiring all of the instruments existing in IFMSA to work, within their scope of interest, towards shared goals. The CB development assistant will hold a crucial role in; integrating the sub-goals within the GP as tangible themes/content/campaigns in SCORP CB, tracking GP implementation with a seperate SCORP CB Report dedicated to the fulfillment of goals, creating our AWP by an additional GP Tracking section upon consultation with SCORP-D, pursuing opportunities for cross-communication with SCs through respective DA’s for developing concerted effort, helping the GA in achieving the already CB focused SP and seek collaboration with the rest of the IT for implementation.
Regulations, Guidelines, Toolkits We have documents to regulate our activity, refer to when needed and act as a static entity in the flow of the years and high member turnover. Though the huge importance, it has always been a challenge to actually utilize them as a go-to material. Accessibility and optimization of the materials will translate into fluent conduct and internal capacitation of members. For the mobilization of these I will make sure:
to draft a baseline assessment concerning the SCORP related workshops (HRMP, ITDM, HCiD) upon thorough feedback obtained from past experiences and needs of trainers which will help as a guide for workshop regulations’ evaluation/revision, a comprehensive ‘’SCORP CB Regulations’’ is drafted that includes all the workshop specific details (to be annexed seperately), general principles, responsibilities of parties (OC, IT, trainers etc.), submission process, conduct information and follow up that is related to SCORP workshops relevant materials are attached to the calls, e-mails and relevant posts to indicate their usability, various SWGs are formed, with the approval of the SCORP-D, for the creation of needed documents and update existing ones at hand as a means of creating new opportunities for members to get involved and to establish foundations for our standing committee thorough feedback is obtained periodically from SCORP-related workshop trainers and is used for expanding the reach of the aforementioned SCORP CB Regulations, all of these to be aligned with the new CB IOGs.
Capacity Building: Capacity building is more than just trainings and manuals. Capacity building is constructing an organization, block by block, to a more vocal and proactive tomorrow. By doing so, it is vital to weigh our impact and doing quality check by wellrounded documents and with systematic feedback processes. I also plan to put immense focus on SCORP related workshops this year and make sure they are accessible and running.. The ideal SCORP Capacity Building lies in sustainable SCORP Workshops, structuralized trainer recruitment and accessibility for all. For these I am planning to: work with the CB IT to align our various capacity building regulations and workshop content according to the new IOGs and add them as annexes to the ‘’SCORP CB Regulations’’, assist SRT Coordinators/responsible party in the process of meeting SRT criteria to hold region-specific SCORP workshops and review the proposals’ compatibility with SCORP regulations and IOGs, adapt ‘’Mini Facilitation and Development’’ for TNHRTs and create space for members to attend it without necessarily being a trainer (plus rendering them as online workshops in a pursuit for making workshops accessible for all of our members), create SCORP’s ‘’Trainer Specialization Criteria’’ procedures for trainer recognition and orderly application of TNHRT trainers to the newly formed Trainers Pool in collaboration with the CB IT and TPAB, encourage and help out TNHRT trainers/candidates in their application to the Trainers Pool, bring ‘’scientific accountability’’ to SCORP workshops and encourage the content design to shift to a more evidence-based foundation and form SWGs accordingly, mobilize the data collected in ‘’Intersectional IFMSA’’ to carry out informative webinars and suggest outcomes to be voiced in various online youth newsletters,
do regional/national needs assessment to identify and address logistical/capacity building shortcomings with direct consultation with the respective RAs, address NMO-specific CB needs in consultation with the respective RAs and encourage NMOs to hold national versions of SCORP workshops, actualize member-wise awareness on GPs, Programs and various tools we have by integrating them to capacity building events, webinars and online platforms in collaboration with PRCA.
Coordination: As much as diversity is the key to all of the work we do in SCORP, the ways of which we conduct them are as diverse as the members we have. In order to execute all of them and attaining a satisfactory level of synergism between them, we need ample coordination.
Pre-GAs/preRMs, GA SC Sessions, SCORP Camp, GoSCORP PreGAs and PreRMs are the various capacity building events we hold as SCORP along with SCORP Camp, GoSCORP and GA SC sessions and they are momentous opportunities because of the platforms provided for human rights advocates to get together to build capacity, share and grow. I am planning to render these process as smooth and sustainable as possible with some focus points. Concerning our GAs and PreGA/PreRM Workshops, I plan to: ensure that we hold SCORP workshops by assisting the SCORP-D and the LRP in drafting the proposals and if possible seek ways to include GPs as themes, act as a supervisor and an advisor for the ST for ‘’impactful and new content’’ and ‘’meaningful multivocality’’ with the SCORP-D, work on creating a ‘’GA SCORP Sessions Design’’ guideline together with the SCORP-D and the GA to be annexed to the SCORP CB Regulations, recognize SCORP-related PCs as meaningful collaborators in the Sessions’ Team of GAs/RMs and other relevant CB events. For the SCORP Camp and GoSCORP (along with the GA) I aim to; improve promotion and regional representation by evaluating the capacity building needs before the call by regional surveys which will help us fight ‘’quantity over quality’’, be accountable and be primarily responsible for the content and proposal work and leave the logistics to the OC for smart delegation of tasks (planned to be covered in the SCORP CB Regulations).
Programs: Programs simply function as a means of data collection and categorization tool for strengthening our external work and institutional memory by developing a reporting system on the impact and outcome model by activities done worldwide. Program Coordinators are the specialists and are meaningful contributors to our capacity building. To mobilize Programs in SCORP I plan to: encourage members to refer to relevant PCs when in need rather than the SCORP-D to lessen the unnecessary workload, contact with SCORP related PCs about the utilization of data obtained from baseline assessments done (if any) or encourage them to form one according to the needs, promote programs in the various events we hold and help programs gain recognition among members, create social media platforms to communicate in real time for collaborating more often for possible joint campaigns.
Maintenance: While a DA is not able to do everything hands-on, they are nevertheless responsible for most of the work to run smoothly. Maintenance means keeping the currently functioning system as our predecessors built them, along with the improvements brought anew. My plans regarding this pillar are: making sure that the regulations are being abided by and to report any activity breaching them to the SCORP-D, periodic application of pre-evaluation and post-evaluation on the objectives and learning outcomes, collaboration with the RAs and the GA for SCORP Fairs to be more GP-oriented, creation of an essentially accessible database concerning external collaboration for the organization and opportunities for members together with the GA and LRP, forming a ‘’Human Rights Trainers Network’’ to ensure meaningful cooperation, managing TNHRT resources folder and updating them according to the news/papers/documents at that time to ensure dynamism, evaluation/optimization/follow up of the SCORP-related workshops’ certification processes, helping out our trainers and being a contributor for the training agendas of SRTs (joining their OLMs, giving input).
EDUCATION - Başkent University Faculty of Medicine 2017-2023 - Dr. Rıdvan Ege- Dr. Binnaz Ege High School /Nesibe Aydın Star High School 2013-2017
BERKEHAN ERKILIÇ Born : 07.01.1999 From : Ankara, Turkey
CONTACT Tel : +905321605499 Email: brkhn991@gmail.com b_thanatophor991@yahoo.com
LANGUAGES TURKISH : ENGLISH : FRENCH : GERMAN : SPANISH : SWEDISH :
Native Fluent Intermediate Intermediate Pre-intermediate Basic
EXPERIENCE Local: - Local Officer of New Technologies Support Division (2018-2019) - Assistant for Local Officer of Public Health (2017-2018) - Pre-Graduation Medical Students Committee Member (2017-)
National: - National Small Working Group Coordinator for Mental Health Rights and the Fight Against Discrimination
International:
- World Human Rights Day Small Working Group Member 2018 - NORP Weekend Amsterdam, Sessions' Team Member, 2018 - IFMSA March Meeting SCORP Sessions' Team Member, 2019 - Migrants' Health Policy Document Renewal SWG Member, 2019 - IFMSA August Meeting SCORP Love Campaign SWG Member, 2019 - SCORP Camp Turkey, TNHRT Trainer, 2019
WORKSHOPS ATTENDED SKILLS Innovation Public Speaking Management Initiative Taking Execution Analysis Quick Data Processing
- March Meeting 2018 Hurghada/ Pre-General Assembly : Refugees' Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Workshop - SRT Turkey 2018, İstanbul : TNHRT - August Meeting 2018 Quebec City/ Pre-General Assembly : PHLT on Universal Health Coverage - International SCORP Camp Czech Republic : TNT
MEETINGS ATTENDED OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE - 3 MUN Conferences Attended as a Delegate (2013-2015) - International Law and the State of Women in Turkey Conference - Y-Peer, Peer Education Theatre Project - Took part in Debate Clubs locally (2012-2015)
HOBBIES Debating Challenging The Status Quo Learning Languages Reading Science Papeprs Tel : +905321605499 Listening To Slowed Down Music Email: brkhn991@gmail.com Drinking Herbal Tea b_thanatophor991@yahoo.com
TURKISH : ENGLISH : FRENCH : SPANISH :
Native Fluent Intermediate Pre-intermediate
- More than 20 national TurkMSIC meetings 3 National Regional Meetings 3 National General Assemblies 3 IFMSA General Assemblies
NATIONAL TRAINING EXPERIENCE - National Women’s Empowerment Workshop- Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Traumatized People Session - TurkMSIC September NGA 2018 Project Management Workshop Advocacy Session - Motivation Camp- Team Dynamics Session - National LORA Training Camp- Advocacy Session - LC-Public Speaking and Body Language Session - 1st National Trainers’ Gathering - National SCORP Winter Camp- Fight Against Racism Session - National SCORP Winter Camp- Right to Privacy Session - National SCORP Winter Camp- NSWG Overview/ Promotion Session - SCORP-SCORA Regional Training Gender Based Violence Session - SCORP Regional Training- Children’s Mental Health and Rights Session - SCORP Regional Training- Time Management Session Observer Trainer - LC- Time Management, Team Building Session Observer Trainer - National SCORP Symposium- Gender Based Violence Session - TurkMSIC May NGA 2019 SCORP Sessions Team Refugees’&Migrants’ Health and Rights Session - TurkMSIC May NGA 2019 SCORP Sessions Team Mental Health Rights and Fight Against Discrimination Session - TurkMSIC Regional Meeting 2018 Crisis Management x2
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING EXPERIENCE - IFMSA GA March Meeting 2019 SCORP Sessions Team : • Extremism and Hate Speech Session • Integrative Concepts of Mental Health in Human Rights • Intercultural Understanding of Common Grounds • GP Session Simulation Facilitation - European NORP Weekend 2018 Sessions' Team : • Human Rights 101 • Extremism and Hate Speech • Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Traumatized People • On The Move Simulation Facilitation