Magnifier to the address 2011 project report by Gençlik Çalışmaları Birimi

Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Adrese BĂźyĂźteĂ§, is an advocacy action for monitoring public institutions that provide services and representation opportunities for the youth, through participatory monitoring.

33 Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework Project Monitoring and Evaluation Report, Project Conceptual Framework, Documentation Process

125 Situation Of Public Institutions Providing Youth Representation and Services in Turkey Youth Councils, EU Offices, The Dorms of the Institution of Student Loans and Dormitories, GSGM Youth Centres, Health Culture Sports Departments –Freedom to Organize in Universities, MEDICO-Health Services in Universities

Contents

191

Acknowledgements, Project Team, Introductions

General Suggestions

197

Introduction Why Advocacy, Participation in DecisionMaking and Policy-Making Processes, Adrese Büyüteç and Participatory Monitoring, Evaluating Participatory Monitoring, Project History

Annexes Adrese Büyüteç Project Training Sessions, Study Visits, The Lobbying Marathon

Acknowledgements

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book, The Final Report of the Adrese Büyüteç (Magnifier To the Address) Project, is the first report of the monitoring activities launched by the Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG) in the area of youth in partnership with the Youth Studies Unit and NGO Research and Training Centre of the Istanbul Bilgi University. The execution of this project, which was spread over a long period, is the product of more than just one project team. Therefore, the project owes its thanks to lots of people. We would like to extend our thanks to all who contributed to the project, including: • Young Community Volunteers who conducted the monitoring, reporting and advocacy activities of the project at the grassroots level, • Project Experts Evren Sener Ünal, Laden Yurttagüler, Volkan Akkuş and Yörük Kurtaran who, despite their busy schedules, dedicated their valuable time to contribute to the content and technical aspects of the project, putting in great efforts from the start till the end of the project, • Our Monitoring and Evaluation Expert Betül Selcen Özer, who

observed us throughout the project, standing quietly in the back rows in all project activities, and showed us what we have achieved in terms of the project objectives while we were too busy to see for ourselves. • Neslihan Öztürk, who shot, watched, cropped and eventually produced the visual archive of the whole project with 58 video cassettes of around 1200 minutes of recorded activity, with her chips and coke which she never did without during the shootings, • Project Assistants Özlem Çolak and Özge Konuralp, thanks to whom we have managed to surmount all the challenges we have encountered throughout the project, • The Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, and the National Endowment for Democracy, who allocated resources for the project and provided us with financial support, • Istanbul Bilgi University NGO Research and Training Centre and Youth Studies Unit for their contributions as institutional partners,

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

• Gözde Durmuş from the Child Studies Unit of the of the Istanbul Bilgi University, who gave us an appointment and her time despite her busy schedule during the study visits, • Derya Engin from the Association for Nature, • Batuhan Aydagül and Işık Tüzün from the Education Reform Initiative • Şehnaz Kıymaz Bahçeci from the Women for Women’s Human Rights- New Ways Association

Foundation of Turkey, • Cennet Özcömert from Amnesty International, • All the agencies and institutions giving us appointments before the lobby marathon, and listening with interest to our findings, asking us questions and giving us their support throughout the marathon, And all others, whose names are not included here but who engaged in the project and supported us.

• Bekir Ağırdır from KONDA Research Company,

This report is the final output of a process of three and a half years starting in 2008, throughout which we learned by trial and error. In the report, you will see the efforts and contributions of many people, whose names may or may not be listed here.

• Levent Şensever from the Association for Social Change,

We hope that this report will inspire more projects in this area.

• Hale Akay from the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation,

On behalf of the Project Team Gökdağ Göktepe-Özlem Ezgin

• Nurhan Yentürk from the Public Expenditures Monitoring Platform,

• Mustafa Durna from the Association of Committees for Monitoring Parliamentarians and Elected Officials • Zeynep Meydanoğlu and Başak Ersen from the Third Sector

Project Team

PROJECT COORDINATION TEAM Gökdağ Göktepe Project Coordinator He was born in 1984 in Afyon and completed his primary education in Istanbul and secondary education in Balıkesir-Gönen. In 2009, he got his bachelor’s degree from the Ege University, Faculty of Letters, Department of Sociology. During his university studies, he met the Community Volunteers Foundation and assumed various responsibilities and duties on a volunteer basis at the foundation. Peer education through non-formal techniques was one of the projects in which he undertook the project responsibility. In addition, he participated in various trainings of the Council of Europe and the Istanbul Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit. Right after his graduation, he started working as communication specialist at the Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Performing Arts. Since October 2009, he has been working as youth studies coordinator at the Community Volunteers Foundation, Department of Youth Studies and Social Relations. He also has an MA from the European Youth Studies Project of the Council of Europe. His areas of interest are youth studies, human rights, advocacy and democracy.

Özlem Çolak Project Assistant She was born in 1983 in Istanbul. After graduating from the Istanbul University Department of Psychology, she received her master’s degree from the Istanbul University, Institute of Forensics, where she is currently continuing her doctorate studies. Since 2006, she has been working in volunteer and professional projects in rights-based organizations

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Özge Konuralp Project Assistant She was born in 1982 in Istanbul. After graduating from the Middle East Technical University, Department of Sociology, she is continuing her graduate programme at the Middle East Technical University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Social Politics. She has worked in various projects by non-governmental organizations, the World Bank Youth Programme, the Social Assistance and Solidarity Fund and Southeastern Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration as associate, research assistant and social development specialist. In 2006, she started working as “Ankara Coordination Centre and Field Officer” at the Community Volunteers Foundation, where, in 2007-2011, she also worked on establishment and sustainability of youth organizations in universities as the “Field Coordinator” of the Istanbul HQ. Since February 2011, she has been working as project assistant in the “Adrese Büyüteç” (Magnifier to the Address) project. She currently lives in Ankara.

Özlem Ezgin Community Volunteers Foundation, Youth Studies Department, Manager She was born in 1982 in Mardin. She got her bachelor’s degree from Marmara University, Department of Political Sciences and International Relations, after which she finished her doctorate programme at the Bilgi University Department of Human Rights Law. Her dissertation was on Alevi youth and organizing. Since 2005, she has been working at the Community Volunteers Foundation in various positions.

Project Team

PROJECT EXPERT TEAM Betül Selcen Özer Monitoring & Evaluation Expert Betül Selcen Özer graduated from the Middle East Technical University, Department of Sociology. She received her master’s degree from Hacettepe University, Institute of Population Studies, Department of Economic and Social Demography. Since 2000, she has been working in various NGOs on reproductive health, family planning, environment, corporate social responsibility and youth. She continues to work in the civil sector.

Evren Sener Ünal Project Expert Born in 1978, Sener got his bachelor’s degree from METU Department of Aerospace Engineering. He worked on voluntary basis with Genç Anlayış ve Değişim Derneği and YEU International, particularly in international youth projects. Still continuing to work as free trainer, which he first started in 2000, Sener assumed the responsibility of running the Ankara Coordination Centre of the Community Volunteers Foundation in 2004. He describes his two attempts at a postgraduate degree, which never came to fruition, as “an experimental learning process”, and strives to increase his experiences in non-formal learning with a focus on voluntary works. Sener currently coordinates TOG Training and Field Department.

Laden Yurttagüler Project Expert Laden Yurttagüler has been working at Bilgi NGO since 2005. Her work areas can be listed as human rights training, social rights, civil society and participation, non-formal education, voluntarism, body politics and the feminist theory. She has publications on voluntarism, civil society, human rights training, advocacy and similar subjects. She is currently working on her doctorate at the Boğaziçi University, Institute of Ataturk Principles and Revolutions History. 10

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Neslihan Öztürk Documentation Manager Born in 1980, Neslihan worked between 2002 and 2006 at the Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG) as Field Coordinator. In 2006, she worked in Latvia under the European Voluntary Service. After 2007, she worked as coordinator in various projects at Youth Studies Unit (GÇB) and as a youth worker at Kısa Dalga Youth Centre, which focuses on grassroots youth projects. Currently, she works in the same organization as coordinator of the Video Activism in Youth Works Project.

Volkan Akkuş Project Expert Volkan Akkuş has been working as project coordinator, trainer and consultant in various NGOs on voluntary basis for the last 10 years. His main work areas include human rights and discrimination, democracy, organization management, cooperation with volunteers and disadvantaged groups. He is currently a student at the Ege University, Department of Turkish Language & Literature. He lives with his dog, “Toprak”.

Yörük Kurtaran Project Expert Born in 1974, Kurtaran got his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Bilkent University, Department of Political Science and Public Administration. Since 1997, he has worked with various NGOs, including TESEV, Willows Foundation and TÜSİAD. In 2003 he started to work at the Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG), and in 2006 at the Youth Studies Unit. Currently, he is the Director General of the Community Volunteers Foundation. Kurtaran has publications on youth studies, youth and social rights, and youth policies. 11

Community Volunteers Foundation

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS FOUNDATION When the Community Volunteers Foundation set off on this road in 2002, many thought that it was taking a very risky step. The owners of this comment were not wrong in having such a prejudice, considering the environment in which they had grown up. Our target group, which consists of individuals in the 18-29 age range, have always been seen and portrayed as difficult individuals that need to be under constant control and as potential troublemakers, by public officials and by the older segments of our society. The founding philosophy of TOG never agreed with this prejudice found in the society. From the very first day of its founding, TOG always chose to trust in the youth when choosing its activities, determining its scholarship eligibility criteria, formulating its organizational structure and forming its board of directors. With only a few months to its 10th birthday, TOG’s experience so far shows that young people respond to this trust way better than everybody expects. Focusing on youth empowerment in its initial years, our Foundation followed up on the problems of young people through its own volunteers, most

of whom were university students. In 2009, it decided to support the anecdotes collected to that date, with a research based on scientific methods. The “Survey on the Needs of the University Youth”, carried out in 59 universities in 43 provinces with the participation of 1886 young people, was released in December 2009. In the survey, problem areas ranging from health to accommodation, social life and nutrition were compiled under 12 headings, and it was determined that the needs in all these areas had two common causes. The last paragraph of the “Problems” section of the study gives a good description of these two reasons: “The opportunities youth have are not sufficient, yet this is not the only problem; the problem is that these opportunities are used with irrational practices; the source of these irrational approaches is the practice that never consults to young people and never takes into consideration the specific circumstances and characteristics of the youth in any of the phases, from design to consumption; not including the youth in the formula leaves them on their own with their undeveloped

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

characteristics; the youth is well aware that they are lagging behind, and are left behind on their own, although they may not voice it loudly. After establishing these facts, the Adrese Büyüteç Project was designed with a focus on the needs most frequently voiced by the youth, and the authorities responsible for meeting these needs. In the initial phase, five institutions were monitored: Youth Assemblies; Youth Centres of the DG Youth & Sports; EU External Relations Offices of Universities; Health, Culture & Sports Departments and Medicos at universities; and the Dorms of the Institution of Student Loans and Dorms (KYK). “With a method that has only newly started to be implemented in our country, these institutions were inspected by those who are the recipients of their services. The results were then shared with the institutions that were the real owners of the work. Suggestions on how to eliminate or alleviate the problems were communicated to these institutions.

As TOG, we will continue to do similar studies. While monitoring the developments taking place in the above-mentioned institutions, we will continue to watch other institutions and produce solutions. We will encourage the institutions that are responsible for producing and delivering services for the youth to work with the youth, to hear them and consult to their opinions so that they can develop more rational, more youthfriendly practices. In the last decade, we have developed the tools and methods which the decision-makers in the area of youth will need when working together with the segment to which they are responsible to deliver services. And we are ready to share the problem areas we have identified, along with our suggestions for solutions, with officials who are interested in putting these experiences to good use. I congratulate everyone who has contributed to this study, and most of all, our volunteers. Head of the Board of Directors Kerim PAKER

İstanbul Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit

ISTANBUL BİLGİ UNIVERSITY YOUTH STUDIES UNIT Istanbul Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit (GÇB) was founded in 2006 within the Istanbul Bilgi University with the support of the Community Volunteers Foundation, with the purpose of promoting the development of democratic youth policies in Turkey. The unit continues its activities under 4 programmes. Under its Networking Programme, the Unit carries out activities to bring together youth organizations and people working with the youth. Under its Research Programme, the Unit carries out and supports studies oriented to reduce the research gap especially in the area of youth and youth studies in Turkey. With its Modelling Programme, it builds partnerships to bring to life innovative activities in the area of youth studies. Under the scope of its CapacityBuilding Programme, the Unit provides supports to youth organizations to help them better execute their activities.

GÇB initially piloted the Adrese Büyüteç project under its Modelling Programme. Afterwards, it expanded the implementation to a wider geography together with its civil partners, and thereby supported the development of a model that could set an example not only for the area of youth but also for the other areas of the civil society. In the implementation phase, the Unit delegated the direct implementation responsibility to TOG and focused mainly on the reporting and videorecording of the implementation and the dissemination of the project in the electronic media through websites. It also provided content support to help the execution of the project as a whole. Although the study took 16 months, our acquaintance with Adrese Büyüteç has a longer history. Although a lot of young people contributed to realizing this phase of the study, we might not have progressed so easily if we had not

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

had the experiences of those earlier days. Thus, we owe our thanks to all our friends who contributed to the piloting phase of Adrese Büyüteç. If not for the dedication of our friends who participated in the piloting and implementation phase, we would not have all these data and books today. Thank God you were there with us. One of our biggest dreams for the period ahead is that this study is adopted by the various stakeholders in the civil sector and adapted according to their own requirements. In addition, we are continuing to exchange ideas on how we can transfer this study to an electronic medium and make it accessible to more young people in consideration of the changing needs and the rhythm of life itself. And this possibility excites us immensely.

of youth in Turkey but also for the area of youth studies in Europe. In an environment where we have gotten used to the sameness of practices, we have gained an important experience in our quest to find something new. We hope that studies like this will clear the path for developments favouring the youth in Turkey and set an example for other studies supporting a democratic society and a democratic state. Yörük Kurtaran

Finally, Adrese Büyüteç was an innovative study not only for the area

İstanbul Bilgi University Ngo Training And Research Unit

İSTANBUL BİLGİ UNIVERSITY NGO TRAINING AND RESEARCH UNIT İstanbul Bilgi NGO was founded in 2003 within the Istanbul Bilgi University with the aim of supporting non-governmental organizations engaged in rights-based works and contributing to the democratization of Turkey. The purpose of İstanbul Bilgi NGO is to empower non-governmental organizations and increase and ensure their participation in decision-making and policy-making processes. İstanbul Bilgi NGO has been working since 2003 to strengthen the civil domain with its classroom-based training programmes, distance learning programmes, publications, interactive CDs and a variety of documents in addition to networking activities and events that bring experts and activities together. Another activity carried out by İstanbul Bilgi NGO is creating platforms where new methodologies meet the field and experiences are exchanged. Adrese Büyüteç has an important place as a project that supports the youth and that uses the participatory monitoring method. The participatory monitoring method is based on monitoring and reporting of the relevant institutions, policies, laws and services based on

the experiences of the recipients of those services. Hence, young people who are the recipients of the offered services found the area where they could report to influence the related policies and decisions. Furthermore, instead of having someone else deciding for them, they have created an opportunity where they could make their own needs visible and personally demand them. İstanbul Bilgi NGO watched and supported with enthusiasm the development of the participatory monitoring method into a model. In the future phases of the project, it aims to support the maturation and dissemination of this rarely used method. Throughout the Adrese Büyüteç process, the labour of the volunteers have been the real power that enabled this project and developed this method. We are grateful to our volunteers for the painstaking work they have put into this project and the creation of the method. Laden Yurttagüler

INTRODUCTION

Why Advocacy? Participation in Decision/Policy-Making Processes Adrese Büyüteç & Participatory Monitoring Evaluating Participatory Monitoring Project History

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

A) INTRODUCTION Laden Yurttagüler & Özlem Ezgin

The crisis of the representative democracy is one of the issues that has been the focus of debates and frequently addressed in the last decade. Both in the world and in Turkey, the constraints and problems of representative democracy have become more widely talked of as different needs started to become more identifiable and visible and as different identities started to voice their different needs. One important issue representative democracy faces is the inability of the deputies elected to represent the majority in sufficiently voicing and making visible the needs of different groups. Moreover, they may be inadequate and/or constrained in voicing the demands of the majority that have elected them, due to the myopia caused by sitting in the centre. It is altogether possible that deputies elected to represent the citizens make decisions that do not meet the needs of the citizens in their decision and policy making processes, or become deaf to the demands of citizens. In such cases, we might witness citizens organizing to make their demands or needs heard. Citizens organizing to participate in decision-making and policy-making processes and to have a say in the matters may demand structural changes to accommodate their unmet needs.1 In general, citizens 1 Aksakoğlu, Yiğit.”STK’lar İçin Savunuculuk Rehberi”, Sivil Toplum Geliştirme Merkezi, 2006.

organizing through non-governmental organizations may choose various ways ranging from campaigns to reporting in order to voice their demands and make them visible. This section will first attempt to briefly define the methods used to participate in decisionmaking and policy-making processes, with examples from Turkey. Then, the relationship between advocacy and citizenship will be discussed. The third part of the section will focus on Adrese Büyüteç and the method used. The last part will include the evaluations of volunteers who brought Adrese Büyüteç to life on the method.

PARTICIPATING IN DECISIONMAKING AND POLICY-MAKING PROCESSES Participation of citizens in decisionmaking and policy-making processes has started to be discussed increasingly, especially in the last two decades. While the number of NGOs is increasing in Turkey and all around the world, the number of service-focused organizations is 2-3 times more than advocacy-focused organizations. Although there may not be many organizations focusing on advocacy, their sphere of influence have widened. And in the course of this process, various mechanisms and ways have emerged to increase the active participation of citizens. These mechanisms vary from awarenessraising to campaign organization. Awareness-raising is an important way of increasing participation. Awarenessraising aims to increase the knowledge,

Introduction

experience and/or information of citizens on a specific subject. Awareness-raising may be on a specific theme, or may focus on advocacy methods in general. One of the common methods of awareness-raising is to organize trainings. Trainings organized to strengthen NGOs in advocacy and how to influence policies have aimed to empower NGOs on the various ways of participation, and ensured dissemination of the knowledge on the various methods of increasing participation. Institutions aiming to promote NGOs, such as the Istanbul Bilgi University NGO Research and Training Centre and the Civil Society Development Centre (STGM), have been organizing trainings since 2006 on advocacy and policy influence. Moreover, publications compiling the subjects discussed and experienced gained in these trainings help in increasing awareness and knowledge in the field. Books prepared by these same institutions and made digitally available for all also enrich the field.2 Activities opening new discussion areas such as seminars and conferences can be given as examples to thematic events organized to raise awareness. An example of the pioneers of the conference activities aiming at building awareness and opening new discussion areas is the working groups and conference event on “New Tactics on Human Rights” organized in 2002 and 2003 by Helsinki Citizens Assembly.3 2 for detailed information, please see: www.bilgi.edu.tr, www.stgm.org.tr. 3 for detailed information, please see: www.bilgi.edu.tr, www.stgm.org.tr.

Another activity carried out to build awareness is reporting. Reporting is an important activity in ensuring the quality and control of the information entering the field. Reports produced by NGOs ensure production of alternative information in a specific area. When the subject collecting and interpreting the data is the beneficiary, the asymmetry caused by the power that comes with knowledge is disturbed, enabling NGOs to voice their opinions and even interfere in the relevant policies. Especially in the last decade, a large number of reports have been produced in various areas such as education, health, migration and social policy by various NGOs such as Education Reform Initiative, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, Social Policy Forum, and Positive Living Association.4 These reports have evaluated the relevant situation from a different perspective, while also attempting to unearth the invisible issues. Campaigns are another awareness-raising tool. Campaigns serve to raise public awareness on a specific matter, while also voicing the demands through various actions and/or performances. Among the recent high-impact campaigns, we can list the “Turkey Sign Kyoto” (Türkiye Kyoto’yu İmzalasın) campaign5 of 2007, the “No to War in Iraq” (Irak’ta Savaşa No) campaign of

4 for detailed information, see: www.tesev.org. tr/, www.erg.sabanciuniv.edu/, www.spf.boun. edu.tr, www.pozitifyasam.org 5 for detailed information, see: http:// www. kyotoyuimzala.com/, http://www. savaskarsitlari.org/arsiv.asp?ArsivTipID=9&Ar sivAnaID=37811,

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

2002, and the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) Campaign of 2002-2004. Another way of participating in decision-making and policymaking processes is monitoring. Monitoring can be used as a method structured to identify the current situation and can be built as the initial phase of both reporting and the campaign process. In the monitoring process, current policies, practices and/or laws are examined in view of the laws of the relevant subjects. Monitoring can be done by experts, or directly by the beneficiaries. When services are monitored directly by the beneficiaries of those services, it is called “participatory monitoring”. Adrese Büyüteç is a project using the participatory monitoring method and aiming to thus empower the participants.

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ AND PARTICIPATORY MONITORING Advocacy and Monitoring

level. For example, ministers and MPs are decision-makers elected at the national level, while governors are decision-makers appointed at the local level. In short, it is the process of influencing the elected or appointed decision-makers at the national, local and international levels for the problem you are trying to solve.6 In this scope, Adrese Büyüteç is also an advocacy project. Advocacy projects identify the various methods they will use to achieve their goals. These may include campaigning, lobbying, modelling, agenda-setting and reporting. The method adopted in this sense by Adrese Büyüteç is the “participatory monitoring” method. Participatory Monitoring as an Advocacy Tool7

“Cavar”, which means “to dig” in Spanish, was first used by Homero Fuentes as a metaphor for the monitoring process.

6 Aksakoğlu, Yiğit. op.cit.,ps:4. 7 For the description of “Participatory Monitoring”, the text “Participation and Civic Engagement” was used. http://web. worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/ EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/EXTPCENG/0,, cont entMDK:20509352~menuPK:127820 3~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSite PK:410306,00.html

Introduction

C A V A Context

Archive

Visit

Participatory monitoring is a process through which stakeholders at various levels engage in monitoring a particular project, program or policy, share control

Analysis

R Report

over the content, the process and the results of the monitoring and engage in taking or identifying corrective actions.

There are some criteria necessary for reliable and smooth execution of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities.

To get information on the area that will be monitored, first of all it is necessary to reach the information on the status and infrastructure of the services and local activities provided in the area of youth (Who provides the services? How? How many organizations are working in the area of youth? What kind of and how many projects and activities are there? Who carries them out?). After that, the targets of the monitoring activity can be identified.

Constantly following and archiving the available current data and information sources on the youth area can help in identifying the direction of the monitoring activity.

Ways to solve the identified problems can be formulated through disclosure of the data obtained from monitoring and the historic data processed as specified above.

Careful evaluation and testing of the quality of the collected data is a necessary process to see whether the monitoring is getting reliable data. Hence, expert consultancy may be required; or a joint process can be created through cooperating with the academia.

4-Continuously identifying and measuring the scope of the pressure on the youth and the negative or positive practices targeting them may be important in revising the format and objectives of the monitoring.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

FREEDOM It is necessary that monitoring teams do not feel under pressure when running the monitoring process. This is an important prerequisite for an impartial monitoring. On the other hand, the monitoring method should not be under the Initiative of either the one monitoring or the others planning the monitoring programme. It should be a continuous learning process, and the method should be identified through joint steps.

RESPONSIBILITY & METHODOLOGY Monitorer should be accountable for every step he takes, as it is the only way to ensure the testability of objective and final data in the evaluation of the process where violation of rights occur or that is the subject of the monitoring. On the other hand, it will also enable avoiding potential errors with re-evaluation of inaccurate or incomplete data.

There are certain criteria that are necessary to ensure reliable and smooth running of the monitoring and evaluation activities.

TECHNICAL CAPACITY İzleme yapılacak alanın bilgisi ve değerlendirilecek kriterlerin kendisi göz önünde tutulmalıdır. Dolayısıyla izlenecek alan sürekli yakın takipte olmalıdır.

TRANSPARENCY Data obtained and how they were obtained should always be reliable, clear and understandable for the public. On the other hand, data should be categorized as private and public, and there should be a secure data storage system to ensure protection of private data. Sharing with the public the obtained data via reports at specific intervals (quarterly, semi-annually) is important in terms of the visibility and accessibility of the outputs of the monitoring system.

Introduction

Differences between the methods of conventional monitoring and participatory monitoring can be shown as follows:8 Conventional Monitoring

Participatory Monitoring

Who plans and manages the process:

Senior managers, or outside experts

Local people, project participants and stakeholders, often helped by a facilitator

Role of primary stakeholders / beneficiaries:

Provide information only

Design and adapt the methodology, collect and analyze data, share outputs and develop concrete action plans

How success is measured:

Externally defined, mainly quantitative indicators

Internally-defined indicators, including more qualitative indicators

Approach

Predetermined

Adaptive within the process

The most important characteristic of participatory monitoring is the active participation of main stakeholders. Participatory Monitoring Process:

Identify Stakeholders Establish Goals

Take Action

Develop Indicators

Share Results

Analyze Results

Gather Information

8 IDS Policy Briefing: Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation: Learning from Change)

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Participatory Monitoring is important, because it: • Enables learning from changes that are more inclusive and more responsive to the needs and aspirations of those most directly affected, • Suggests a method that ensures direct participation of the beneficiary for impact analysis, • Develops a sense of belonging for the monitoring activity, • Empowers beneficiaries specifically on the subjectmatter, • Follows a transparent and accountable process, • Ensures development of correct and effective actions in line with results. Main principles of PM are as follows: • Primary stakeholders should be active participants, not just sources of information! • It should build capacities of local people to analyze, reflect and take action. • It should enable joint learning of stakeholders at various levels. • It should catalyze commitment towards the action plan created. Adrese Büyüteç is a participatory monitoring process in the area of youth in which young people are involved as active participants, because we believe that a monitoring activity in the area of youth can achieve the highest

effectiveness only if it is carried out by young people who are directly affected from the monitored services, who can identify their own needs and who experience these needs in their daily lives. What does using this monitoring tool add in general to the format of “monitoring” the civil area?

Participation of young people in the decision-making processes concerning them and the process of monitoring the implementation phases of these decisions is important in terms of widening the application areas of the “governance” concept in Turkey in general and development of a needsbased and effective youth policy in particular. Young people should be empowered to identify and express their own needs. Since participation is not only an output but also the foundation of democratic systems, this will also contribute to the development of a culture of democracy. In this scope, the starting point of the Adrese Büyüteç project is the growing need for the participation of youth in the development process of youth policies. It is expected that this report, which is the end product of a monitoring process carried out on youth services in 16 provinces by local young people, will contribute to the development process of youth policies in this country. It is aimed that this study will become a model for the civil sector in terms of the monitoring of public services directly by its beneficiaries.

Introduction

An “Adrese Büyüteç Story”: By Whom? For Whom? With Whose Funding?

Adrese Büyüteç was carried out in 16 provinces where young people monitored 5 institutions that provide youth services. While field activities of the project were coordinated by the Community Volunteers Foundation, content support came from Istanbul Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit and Istanbul Bilgi University NGO Training and Research Unit. Financial support for the project was provided by the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

EVALUATING PARTICIPATORY MONITORING Project volunteers using the participatory monitoring (PM) method during the Adrese Büyüteç process evaluated the method. Here are the responses they gave: What did PM teach? • Methods of demanding and “questioning” our rights, • How to take a critical eye to policy processes, implementations and institutions, • Institutions and their employees may not always give satisfactory answers, • Individual Initiatives of employees can get ahead of laws and regulations, • One should be inquisitive about rights and practices, • Giving importance to citizenship awareness and rights ensures participation in the process, • Institutions sometimes do not even know their own regulations, • Young people are not informed about the institutions that provide services to them, • Young people do not question why they are not informed about the services they get from these institutions, • Institutions offering services do not sufficiently advertise themselves, • Young people do not take part in decision and policy making mechanisms concerning the youth, • Monitoring process has an important effect in building the self-confidence of young people, • Preliminary research is important, • Lack of communication between institutions and recipients of their services, • Institution employees are not youth-friendly, • The services that are or should be provided are not a favour but a requirement, and these services are our rights, • In general, institutions are not disabled-friendly, • Youth services are not adequate, • There is no gender equality in the general mentality of the institutions.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

As they have listed above, young volunteers got widely informed about the institutions from which they get services, and learned the processes of demanding their rights. The PM method helped young people in getting information on the institutions (their statutes, duties etc). The things to be done before PM were listed by participants as follows. Pre-PM Preparation phase • Before starting the PM, there should be a clear job distribution. • Before going to the institutions to be monitored, participants should research and get information on the institution. • Participants should be aware of main questions before starting on PM. • Before starting PM, people who have received services from the institution should be contacted. • Experienced of those previously involved in PM should be learned and a monitoring strategy should be determined

Some positive and negative things that may happen during a PM activity were listed as follows Weaknesses of PM • There may be doubts about the accuracy of the information received. • Observer may not be adequately informed or equipped. • The PM form may not cover all necessary areas. • Observer may provide a full account of his/her experiences. • Observers share their PM experiences, and hence may influence the participants who have not yet done PM. • The timing of the monitoring may be wrong. • Problems arising from not having an example, as PM has not been used as a method before. • The institution may always be monitored by the same people who may have a one-sided perspective. • Close relations with employees of the institutions may affect objectivity.

• Appointments should be taken from the relevant institutions before PM.

• Inability to enter the institution to be monitored.

• Participants should rehearse, write a scenario and distribute roles before PM.

• Observers may be interrogated because they are young

• The addresses of the institutions to be monitored should be learned.

• Not knowing how the institution operates.

• Observer should be free from negative prejudices about the institution.

• Inadequate PM due to inability to properly phrase the questions.

• Participants should follow the legal procedures when entering the institutions. • People with previous knowledge about the institution should be contacted to share their experiences. • The PM form should be read and examined. • A PM schedule should be set.

Introduction

Strengths of PM • Allows reflection of different viewpoints. • Participants get informed about the institutions and share their information. • Ensures participants gain awareness on the operations of the institutions from which they do not receive services. • Allows identifying the differences between regulations and practice. • Allows taking action to be included in the institutions monitored (e.g. becoming a member of the youth assembly). • Sets an example for other institutions as “PM” is a new method. • With this method, we witness and become proofs of the reality of the problem! • One-to-one interviews allows observation of the behaviours of institution employees in addition to providing information.

Things done after PM were listed as follows. Following PM • Reports on the relevant institutions were prepared. • Observations on the relevant institutions were discussed among the teams involved in PM, allowing a critical evaluation. • Observers learned their rights. • Observers gained experience that will be useful for future PM activities. • Ideas for new projects were created. • Reports were shared with all teams. • Things learned were shared with local young people. • We became better informed about the institution monitored. • People started to make more use of the services offered by the institutions. • We got the opportunity to influence participation mechanisms.

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ HISTORY Gökdağ Göktepe & Yörük Kurtaran

The history of Adrese Büyüteç goes back to a meeting held at the office of the Youth Studies Unit in Istanbul Bilgi University in the summer of 2007, when this project was nothing more than an idea. Everyone was sharing what was in their minds when talking about the annual programme. We wanted to do something “new”. While discussing all these policy aspects, we started to get inspired by the breakthrough achieved by the women’s movement in Turkey in the last 15 years, and got really curious about what “they” did and how they did it. As a result of all these discussions – or rather, brainstorming and collision of ideas – we also established some facts about the youth area in Turkey. Of course, it was not easy to put these findings in an order, although all those discussions were nothing but hundreds of sentences in which we had complained about issues concerning or affecting us and tried to find solutions. Preliminary Meetings

Of course, while thinking about this whole process, we also racked our brains to find out who would want to get involved in these activities. We were talking about monitoring and policy (but not organization!), so had to discuss these issues with people who would understand this specific language. So we contacted friends with whom we could decide on the “how” of the activities without having to discuss at length the “why”. When designing the whole process together, if the subject – our participating

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

friends, in this case- is not involved in the design phase she/she may find it difficult to fully participate in the process. After the design phase, we discussed how we wanted to work, and decided that we wanted to create an enabling environment for our friends who wanted to engage in this activity. After some busy telephone and e-mail traffic, we came to an agreement with Malatya, Kocaeli and Samsun. They said – and rightly so – that the job was too abstract, asked us to send someone so that we could explain the activity together to the volunteers. So we went to Malatya and Kocaeli. Samsun was the next destination... In these local meetings, we mostly talked about why we have to do this PM. In the end, everything was clear to those we had contacted, yet still we had to describe at length the project to everyone. The local people were justified in their need for lengthy explanations: “Why monitoring?”they asked, “Not tangible” they said, and “What policy?” … In Kocaeli, we worked for 2 days at a Culture Centre of the Gölcük Municipality. When it started snowing on the second day, we took shelter in a friend’s home. With snow outside and a roaring stove inside, we worked while dining, with much laughter. In Malatya, first we tried to hold a meeting with a team in the school canteen – yes, in the middle of so many people. Then, we went back, this time with only 2 people, and found the chance to make a 2-day meeting – in the cold provincial public library, and almost getting ourselves locked out one morning. What I remember

from these adventures was how I got sick during the bus trip between Kahramanmaraş – Malatya, and how AEGEE opened its home for us – cheers for NGO solidarity! The first Study Visit

While all these developments started to add colour to our lives, we decided to combine the PM works with study visits .9 We did not make an open call, because we more or less knew who would b joining from which province. On the road, Samsun and İzmir joined us –only coincidence really. Just as we were about to start, we found the opportunity to make a solid start in Izmir with more people joining us upon hearing our plans. In Samsun, out of pure luck we found a fellow traveller who decided to join us. We attempted a landing in Ankara, but people were not interested. So it did (could) not happen. In March 2008 we held a workshop with young people coming from the provinces (2 from each) to inform them about policy-making and advocacy and what NGOs other than those working in the youth area were doing. We had great fun. We also had the opportunity to discuss the policy-making processes of many organizations in their own areas and the methods they used. In 10 days, we interviewed around 25 people and organizations. On the last day of the study visits, we even prepared a draft 9 It should be mentioned that in our first year, we launched this “monitoring” programme – which was not yet named Adrese Büyüteçwith the contributions of the Open Society Institute (www. osiaf.org.tr), and the study visits with the support of Olof Palme International Center (www.palmecenter. se). We thank both these institutions...

Introduction

report format showing participants how to look at what in a PM. It was not easy. But when we look back, we see we have put all these experiences to good use, with changes big and small. So, I guess it was not so bad... Then, to our surprise, all this PM job transformed into Adrese Büyüteç. Inıtial Efforts

Amateurism was rife, and discipline was a little over zero; in truth, we started learning with trial and error for this first experience. In all the provinces, we made new friends. We laughed with the anecdotes in Adrese Büyüteç visits. Based on the feedback we received, perhaps one of the most important gains from this year is the ability gained by our friends who organized the project in their local areas in terms of taking an objective look to their own local environments. I think it will make all of us feel good to thank all who have contributed, especially in our first year. A New Partnership

Then TOG got involved. The young people we had contacted were already Community Volunteers. The grapevine started to work. It really was not us who organized all these people. Amidst councils and e-mail groups, one day this whole organization came to being. With the ownership demonstrated by our friends, we gained new members, and TOG became an institutional partner. The first concrete output of these efforts was the 3-day exchange meeting at the Samsun 19 Mayıs Youth Centre in the fall of 2008. After that, TOG started to provide the financing. And the Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit gradually evolved

from the organizer of the activity to the delegator of the model, focusing more on the pen and paper aspects of the project. We made it into the history of Adrese Büyüteç as both a meeting of those organizing the project in their own local areas, and a convention of new organizations who wanted to get involved in these efforts. Again, decisions were made, forms were updated and experiences were shared. We were fully motivated and ready to step into the field... Sometimes, we went with a team of three and found the opportunity to record on video the experiences of the teams. 2010-2011

We have a lot of monitoring reports, mainly from the monitoring conducted in 2009. We worked on these. We found new sponsors to fund the project.10 Also, Istanbul Bilgi University NGO Research and Training Centre11 also became a partner. The report was finalized. We produced a booklet on how the project was locally organized – including all the experiences in the process. Then, a documentary film was added to this. The project website was launched12. In addition to the website, we also started a project blog.13 From late 2009 to the Juneof 10 Before the autumn of 2009, National Endowment for Democracy (NED) (www.ned. org), and then the European Commission (http://ec.europa. eu/) sponsored Adrese Büyüteç for around 16 months. 11 for detailed information, please see: http:// stk.bilgi.edu. tr/ 12 for detailed information, please see: www. adresebuyutec.net 13 for detailed information, please see: http://adresebuyutecgunlugu.blogspot.com

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

2011, more than 250 Community Volunteers in 16 provinces took part in the Adrese Büyüteç Project. In the project provinces, the works were started with the “Project Training” conducted in march 2010. Throughout the trainings, we talked about our previous experiences, why we are doing this participatory civil monitoring, the methods of the monitoring process, and how we would organize in the provinces to realize all these actions. Five public agencies were monitored 167 times by young people from 16 provinces. During this process, the abstract nature of monitoring and policy works that did not exactly correspond to daily life, and the long time required to see the results affected the motivation of a lot of our friends and resulted in the project team having to exert more effort than initially expected. But in the end, we managed. In June, we held a midterm review meeting and discussed the problems we encountered and how we should continue in the second term of the project. Then we adjourned to meet again in September. In September, we conducted an activity much like the “Study Visits” of 2008, which had resulted in the Adrese Büyüteç project. We visited 11 NGOs that were engaged in advocacy and used the monitoring method in their own areas, together with the project volunteers. We shared our own experiences and received information and tools to increase the quality of our own local works. By the January of 2011, project volunteers had already finalized the

monitoring activities in their local areas. In late February, we met in Istanbul to discuss how to share the outputs and decide on the tools we should use to increase the impact of our activities. In February, we shared all our deliverables with decision-makers, opinion leaders, public officials and the public opinion. In this activity, which we call the Lobby Marathon, for the first time in Turkey young people met to discuss their own needs with public agencies. In May, we shared the project outputs with the Turkey’s leading journalists and columnists as well as the NGOs that used similar methods, in two separate meetings. The project ended in May 2011.At the end of the project, a documentary film, a web site, a project guidebook, a project report and booklets summarizing the activities were produced. In addition, 250 young volunteers gained experience in monitoring the public, which is an important requirement of being a citizen. Next

From 2008 to May 2011, we have accumulated a huge body of experiences, which did not exist in Turkey before. We have created a new method and a new perspective through which millions of young people in Turkey can demand their rights through democratic means, monitor the services provided by the state to them as citizens, and make new demands based on their needs. In the next phase, we intend to disseminate the project through more effective instruments in the light of the experiences gained.

MONITORING, EVALUATION & CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Project Monitoring and Evaluation Report Conceptual Framework of the Project Documentation Process

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

B) MONITORING, EVALUATION & CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Betül Selcen Özer, Monitoring and Evaluation Expert

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ PROJECT EVALUATION REPORT Introduction

The purpose of this report is to provide a general evaluation of the outcomes and impacts of the Adrese Büyüteç Project, and identify the effects it has created on the project team, target audience and other stakeholders, as well as the positive and negative experiences of the project. In this framework, the report aims to contribute to the formulation of strategies that will be pursued in future studies. Project Summary

“Adrese Büyüteç” is a project funded by National Endowment For Democracy and the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, and carried out in partnership by the Community Volunteers Foundation, Istanbul Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit and Istanbul Bilgi University NGO Research and Training Centre. The aim of the project is to ensure that young community volunteers experience one of the requirements

of democracy by monitoring and questioning the services provided to them as citizens by the state. In this framework, it was decided to carry out the monitoring activities through youth monitoring groups set up under Community Volunteers organizations in 16 provinces - Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Samsun, Kocaeli, Malatya, Aksaray, Trabzon, Kars, Hatay, Muğla, Erzurum, Kilis, Konya, Adana and Edirne. Adrese Büyüteç aimed to increase the participation of young people in the youth policy-making processes, obtained data that would allow communication with the state and lobbying, ensure that young people were informed about youth services, create an advocacy tool in the area of youth by developing a monitoring method, and add a needs-based mentality to the youth policy-making process. The project uses the participatory monitoring (PM) method. Participatory monitoring is a process shaped with the active participation of primary stakeholders and carried out to identify the available services related to a specific situation or event, measure the quality of the services, identify any violation of rights, and create pressure to ensure delivery of the services. Participatory monitoring is also used to identify whether the measures/ corrective actions taken to improve a specific situation work. In this sense, most of the activities carries out to respond to a particular situation are considered as reactive activities carried out after a particular event takes place.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Each of the project criteria and indicators developed during the project were designed in view of the purpose, level and recipient groups, based on different perspectives. During the evaluation, the main objectives and strategies of the project were compared to the current situation. Adrese Büyüteç Project Evaluation Report contains evaluations and analyses compiled under five headings: Suitability, Effectiveness, Efficiency, Social Impact, and Sustainability. Quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in various phases and evaluations of the project. When we look at the qualitative methods, it is seen that the project is addressed as a “case study”. During this case study, 9 focus group meetings were carries out at various phases of the project so as to obtain in-depth and multidimensional qualitative data on the perspectives of participants on youth

services, their project experiences, tendencies, ideas, attitudes and habits. Observations and documentation analyses were among the others qualitative research methods used in the evaluation phase of the project. In order to make a general evaluation about the views of participants in the local monitoring groups on the training programme, a semistructured end-of-training evaluation form was also used in the process. Furthermore, data obtained from the monitoring forms developed under the project constituted the basis of the quantitative research method used in the evaluation process. With the help of these forms, prepared to identify the current situation in the monitored agencies under five main headings –namely, Physical Conditions, Access to Information, Auditability and Participation, Service Quality and Gender Equality-, all quantitative data incoming from all the organizations were analyzed in a standardized manner, and the open-ended questions used in the monitoring forms enabled a more in-depth and multi-dimensional analysis of the agencies monitored.

PROJECT SUITABILITY Project Rationale

Public services available to the youth in Turkey can be compiled under the following categories: education, health, working life, social security, employment, cultural life, and leisure activities. These services are provided by various ministries and NGOs established specifically

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

for these services. The framework of the facilities and services provided to young people by central public agencies, universities and municipalities is determined in various laws and regulations. Youth Centres operate under the Youth Services Department of the Directorate General of Youth and Sports to help young people in acquiring knowledge and skills and finding productive ways of spending their leisure time with social, cultural, and arts and sports activities. As of 2010, there are 157 Youth Centres operating under the Youth Services Department of the Directorate General of Youth and Sports, with 286,379 young members. Youth Centres are institutions that enable young people to engage in various social and cultural activities in their free time, that support their self-development, and in which young people produce solutions and develop projects. Youth Centres were opened in line with Articles 58 and 59 of the Constitution, with the purpose of protecting the youth from harmful habits and ensuring that they have the opportunity to engage in social, cultural and sports activities in their leisure. The objectives identified by the Department of Youth Services can be summarized as follows: to turn youth centres into centres of attraction for the youth; increase the number of activities offered at the centres; discover young talents and encourage them to develop their talents; ensure flow of information between youth centres; activate currently inactive youth centres; spread youth centres

across the country and increase the number of young members participating n their activities; promote development of youth projects by youth & sports clubs, youth centres and NGOs and encourage young members of youth centres to participate in these projects; build relations with governmental and nongovernmental organizations working in the area of youth and engage in collaborations with them. The agency responsible for providing accommodation services to university students in Turkey is the Institution for Student Loans and Dormitories (KYK). The agency’s mission is to contribute to the educations of higher education students with contemporary and reliable accommodation, nutrition, loan & scholarship services, and to their self-development through social, cultural and sports activities, via a state-based approach. The Institution for Student Loans and Dormitories was established with the Law no. 351 on the Institution of Student Loans and Dormitories” that came into effect on 22 August 1961 after its adoption on 16 August 1961 based on the provision of Article 50 of the 1961 Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, which reads as follows: “To assure that capable and deserving students in need of financial support may attain the highest level of learning consistent with their abilities, the State shall assist them through scholarships and other means.” Initially, the agency was under the supervision of the Ministry of National Education (MoNE), and then the supervisory power over the agency was transferred to the Ministry of

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Youth and Sports with the Presidential Communication of 6 February 1970; afterwards, with article 52/b of the Decree Law no. 179 published in the Official Gazette dated 13.12.1983, it became an affiliated institution of the MoNE, and then with Presidential Approval published in the Official Gazette of 04.05.2009 no. 27218 (Repeated), it was turned into an affiliated institution of the Prime Ministry; finally, with the Law no. 6082 published in the Official Gazette of 10.12.2010 no. 27781, it was attached to the Prime Ministry. The Institution of Student Loans and Dormitories is a public institution with legal entity subject to the provisions of private law, providing social services with a special budget. The institution has been providing student education loans since 1962 in accordance with the Law no.351 on the Institution of Student Loans and Dormitories, student contribution loans since 1985 as per Law no. 2547 on Higher Education, and scholarships since 2004 pursuant to Law No. 5102 on Granting Scholarships and Loans to Higher Education Students. It currently has a bed capacity of 248,557 with 276 dorms in 81 provinces and 112 districts. MEDICO and Health, Culture and Sports Department (SKS), The Department was established pursuant to Articles 46 and 47 of the Law no. 2547 on Higher Education, to fulfil the following duties: to meet the social needs of students in line with the plans and programmes of the Council of Higher Education, such as protection of

the physical and psychological health of students, providing nutritional & accommodation services and facilities for studying, resting and leisure; to this end, opening reading halls, health centres for outpatient and inpatient services, student canteens and cafeterias, provide meeting, theatre and cinema halls, gyms and sports fields and camping areas, to the extent allowed by its budget, and to take necessary measures to ensure that students benefit from these services in the most efficient way. The Health, Culture and Sports Department, which serves in universities, is defined as a health organization for the entire population to which it serves, a service that meets the social, cultural, consultancy and guidance needs of students, and a department of implementation where applications and researches are carried out to support education and training. They work under either the rector or a vice rector appointed by the rector. The main services executed at the Department include: Health Services, Nutrition Services, Social Services, Cultural Services and Sports Services. European Union (EU) Offices are units established for the execution of EU Education and Youth Programmes (Socrates/Leonardo da Vinci/Youth), which are executed and managed in Turkey by the State Planning Organization (SPO)- Centre for European Union Education and Youth Programmes- Turkish National Agency (www.ua.gov.tr). EU Offices also

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

provide consultancy and coordination services in collaboration with the academic and administrative units of universities, in addition to activities such as conducting the preliminary talks for reciprocal agreements to be concluded with university representatives from European and other foreign countries, and representing the university in national and international meetings concerning these programmes.

processes in line with equality and democracy, and also to identify and find solutions for the problems of the youth. Members of Youth Assemblies consist of young people in the 15 – 24 age range. Assemblies serve for a term of two years and convene twice a year regularly. Assembly secretariat is run by the public relations departments of the municipalities. Youth Assemblies can make recommendations to the Municipal Assembly.

Youth Assemblies were created based on Article 1314 of the Municipal Law no. 5393 to ensure that local governments and young people create joint projects for the youth, to ensue communication between local governments and the youth, to instil self-confidence in young people so that they become idealist, active, and a part of the solution, and to ensure that young people take part in consultation, decision, management and execution

Although the facilities and services offered to young people in Turkey have a specific framework identified by various laws and regulations, there is not enough information based on the experiences of the beneficiaries of these services with regard to how the legal framework is implemented, the content of available services, the legal situation vs. implementation, and the relations between stakeholders. Studies done by institutions on this subject are very limited. As long as these practices remain unknown, it remains almost impossible to make rational propositions on the area of youth.

14 ARTICLE 13. — Everyone is a fellow-citizen of the county which he lives in. The fellowcitizens shall be entitled to participate in the decisions and services of the municipality, to acquire knowledge about the municipal activities and to benefit from the aids of the municipal administration. It is a basic principle to extend aid without hurting human feelings. The municipality shall perform necessary activities to improve the social and cultural relations between the fellow-citizens and to preserve cultural values. While performing these activities, it shall take measures to enable participation of the universities, proficiency groups in the status of public institution, trade unions, non-governmental organizations and experts Each person, who is settled or domiciled within the municipal boundaries or has relation with the fellowcitizens, shall be liable to obey the decisions, orders and notifications of the municipality based on laws, and to pay his portion of taxes, levies, duties, support and participation shares.

Suitability of the Project to National and Local Priorities

The starting point of the project is to ensure that young community volunteers experience one of the requirements of democracy by monitoring and questioning the services provided to them as citizens by the state. In the preparation phase of the project, the main criterion taken into consideration was the determination of the current situation.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

In 2009, Community Volunteers Foundation, with the support of Istanbul Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit, started to examine the services provided to the youth by the state in 4 pilot provinces, namely Samsun, Kocaeli, Malatya and Izmir. After gathering information on the extent, accessibility and content of the services, the groups reported their experiences and supported the whole process with field visits and a 10-day study visit in Istanbul. As Adrese Büyüteç project started to examine public bodies, the areas and subjects to be focused on were decided at workshops together with the participating young people. The relevant agencies were monitored under five categories: Physical Conditions, Access to Information, Auditability and Participation, Service Quality and Gender Equality. Each category includes the prerequisites for the adequate delivery of the service by the monitored agency. With this pilot study, critical information on observations regarding the monitored institutions and also on how the monitoring process was designed by the youth services was gained through experience. The results of this pilot study have served as an important roadmap in shaping the main project. When identifying the target group of the project, it was aimed to ensure that a total of 40-45 Community Volunteers from 15 local organizations were trained and took active part in the monitoring activities in their local area. Starting off with these young people, over 23 thousand active members from

94 TOG local organizations in various provinces and districts of Turkey were also included in the target group. The selection process took into account the ability of Community Volunteers to take a critical eye at the institutions providing services to them and in which they were directly involved, share the information they gathered and when necessary suggest alternative ways. To increase the impact of the project and disseminate the model, other youth organizations and their active young members were also included in the target group of the project. Methodology of the Project

Advocacy is the attempt of NGOs to influence a public policy for a common interest. It can also be defined as a process of strategic use of information to influence decision-makers to change laws or policies in favour of segments excluded from the society. Advocacy aims to demand policy or legislation changes, or contribute to the changes made in them. In this scope, Adrese Büyüteç is also an advocacy project. Advocacy projects identify the various methods they will use to achieve their goals. These may include campaigning, lobbying, modelling, agenda-setting and reporting. The method adopted in this sense by Adrese Büyüteç is the “participatory monitoring” method. Participatory monitoring is a process through which stakeholders at various levels engage in monitoring a particular project, program or policy, share control over the content, the process and the

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

results of the monitoring and engage in taking or identifying corrective actions. In addition to being an activity carried out to identify what is wrong with a specific situation or event and define the corrective actions that should be taken, monitoring can also be carried out to determine whether the corrective actions have worked as intended. Adrese Büyüteç is defined as a participatory monitoring project in the youth area in which young people take part as active participants. Monitoring by young people who are the direct beneficiaries of the services monitored, who can identify their own needs and who experience these needs in their daily lives is an important starting point in terms of the effectiveness, transparency and outcomes of the project.

EFFICIENCY OF THE PROJECT Project Preparation and Basic Training Planning Phases

In the preparation phase of the project, one of the most important activities was the designing of the training programme to be delivered to the local monitoring groups that would be created under local TOG organizations. During the training planning phase, a total of 6 preliminary meetings were held with the project team and the trainers who would be working in the project. In these meetings, the conceptual basis, the session contents and the general flow of the trainings were discussed. Needs analysis, purpose and methodologies of the

trainings were also discussed, and the general learning objectives of the 4-day basic training were identified as follows: • Ensure that young people can identify with the citizenship concept; • Ensure that young people express the concepts they associate with the citizenship concept; • Raise awareness that citizenship is a whole founded on equality and consisting of civil, political and economic rights; • Discus and raise awareness on the ways and forms of civic participation; • Discuss participation of youth, the barriers to participation, and opportunities; • Inform about the methods used by civil actors to influence public policies; • Build awareness on the advocacy works carried out at the local, national and international level in different areas (environment, IT, human rights, etc); • Raise awareness on various advocacy methods (modelling, lobbying, campaigning, reporting); • Ensure participants link these policy influence processes to their own advocacy project; • Introduce civil monitoring as an advocacy tool;

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

• Inform participants about the processes involved in the civil monitoring method and the changes it targets; • Discuss the civil monitoring method to be used in the youth area; • Ensure a link between advocacy, civil monitoring and the Adrese Büyüteç project; • Ensure participants are informed about the rights areas in which advocacy works are carried out; • Inform and raise awareness on the background of the advocacy concept, using advocacy examples; • Inform participants about the advocacy work to be carried out under Adrese Büyüteç; • Raise awareness among participants on the problems experienced in rights areas; • Help participants to understand the cause & effect relation between historical events and civil society works by looking at their own activities from a historical perspective; • Help participants understand that youth issues are discussed as a historical result of civil activities; • Build awareness that as a result of the youth works carried out in Europe and Turkey we are today able to talk with young people about participatory democracy and “participatory monitoring” methods

and how to monitor the public services available for the youth; • Build awareness that the segment we identify as “Youth” is not a homogenous group; • Build awareness that different young people have different needs; • Raise awareness that despite all their differences, young people can share some common characteristics; • Ensure they recall their real life experiences with public agencies; • Help them in identifying their own needs based on their experiences; • Draw attention to the gap between needs and current situation (if any); • Ensure that they are informed and reflect on the functions and structures of the EU Offices, Institution of Loans and Dorms, Youth Assemblies of the Department of Youth Services of DG Youth and Sports, Youth Councils of City Councils, and the Health, Culture and Sports (SKS) units of universities; • Ensure participants are informed about the public services offered to young people; • Adequately inform participants to enable them to engage in discussions on the regulations and services of the institutions they will monitor; • Raise awareness on which services can be monitored at

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

institutions; • Help them identify their priorities in consideration of the constraints; • Raise awareness on cooperation opportunities with youth groups engaged in similar works in other provinces under the project; • Provide participants with tools to help them effectively convey the training content to their local organizations upon their return; • Give assurance about the office support they will need to implement the PM method in their local areas, and plan the cooperation process; • Co-create communication tools for execution and coordination of the project calendar; • Develop the participants’’ skills regarding how to effectively use websites, blogs and e-mailing groups during the project. In the preliminary meetings, the conceptual basis, the session contents and the general flow of the trainings were discussed. It was decided that the discussions in the trainings should focus on the current situation in Turkey rather than how youth services should be. For each session, the relations with other sessions, the forward/backward references and the methods to be used in the general flow of the programme were identified. When creating the training programme, care was taken to ensure that sessions did not use similar methods and the contents included references to other sessions.

Before the Trainings

Before the start of the basic training process, one of the most important phases of the project, a focus group meeting was held on 12 March 2010 with 15 participants of both sexes. The focus group meeting aimed to get indepth information on what participants thought about the project and the trainings. Average age was 20.8 for female participants and 21.4’ for male participants. Most of the participants (49.3%) were third-year university students . When asked how they first became aware of the project, majority of the participants said they had learned about it from the Young Volunteers (Genç Gönüllüler) mailing group and the TOG Website. Some participants said they had learned about the project at their local meeting. The common opinion of the participants at the focus group meeting was that this project was very different compared to the previous projects they had taken part in. “…I think this will be a project unlike any we have done to date. That is why I came here today.” (female, 21) “…This is the first time I am thinking that we will do a great job and make our voice heard” (male, 20) Participants said the project was very important for them since they had no knowledge about the services offered to them by public agencies, their legal rights or the applicable legislation, and therefore could not make any demands.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

“To what extent am I using the opportunities provided to me …” (female, 19) “ ….we do not know anything about the extent to which our rights, defined by laws, are delivered to us” (male, 21) During the focus group, participants also expressed the excitement they felt about taking part for the first time in a project that aimed to increase the participation of young people in the youth policy-making process, and said it was important to gather data on the youth area in order to influence the agencies providing youth services. They said that although they had no idea about how to collect data, the project implementers should develop a youth-friendly monitoring tool to collect information on the youth area. Basic Training

Under the project, the training programme was announced on 2 February 2010, and the 105 applications received were evaluated based on criteria such as gender balance and geographical distribution, as a result of which 41 participants were accepted into the programme. The training programme was delivered on 12 – 17 March 2010 to 41 participants from 15 provinces15 in Silivri (Annex I: Adrese Büyüteç Training Programme List of Participants) The training programme included a total of 24 sessions extending over 5 days (Annex II: Adrese Büyüteç 15 Aksaray, Ankara, Erzurum, Hatay, Istanbul, Izmir, Kars, Kocaeli, Kilis, Konya, Malatya, Mersin, Muğla, Samsun, Trabzon

Training programme Sessions), with 9 trainers in addition to the project team16. Active and participatory learning methods were used during the sessions. Interactive learning methods such as simulations and role-playings secured the interest of participants and gave the opportunity to learn with a new method in a new environment. The training also included workshops on understanding the advocacycitizenship relation, getting informed about the agencies providing youth services, raising awareness on the needs concept, and the concept of participatory monitoring, accompanied by discussions on future monitoring possibilities by Community Volunteers. Active and participatory learning methods were used during the sessions. Each session was linked to other sessions, and backward and forward references assured transitions in the general flow of the training programme. Care was taken to ensure that sessions did not use similar methods and the contents included references to other sessions. On 17 May 2011, and end-of-training evaluation form (Annex III: Adrese Büyüteç Training Evaluation Form) was administered to enable a general evaluation of the views of the participants on the Adrese Büyüteç Training Programme. The form consists of three main sections: training, trainers and organization.

16 Yörük Kurtaran, Laden Yurttagüler, Evren Sener Ünal, Özlem Ezgin, Gökdağ Göktepe, Özlem Çolak,Volkan Akkuş, Neslihan Öztürk, Betül Selcen Özer

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

The participants were most satisfied with the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience during the trainings, and the harmony of thepresentations with the overall training content ( 100%). Participants found the time allocated to the training sufficient, and thought the subjects included in the programme were in

alignment with the project objectives (94.1%). participants thinking that the examples on project implementation were too few indicated that the most important shortcoming was that the institutions were not sufficiently addressed with regard to applicable laws and regulations (Table I: Adrese Büyüteç Training Evaluation Results).

35,3

5,9

100,0

Subjects in the programme were in alignment with project objectives.

52,9

41,2

5,9

100,0

Subjects were delivered with suitable methods and techniques.

52,9

35,3

5,9

100,0

Applications were sufficient in terms of understanding the subjects.

52,9

29,4

11,8

5,9

100,0

Presentations were in harmony with the training content.

76,5

23,5

100,0

Examples on project implementation were sufficient in number.

41,2

35,3

17,6

5,9

100,0

Tools, devices and documents were used effectively and efficiently.

52,9

17,6

100,0

We were given the opportunity to share our knowledge and experiences during the training.

82,4

17,6

100,0

The subjects I expected to see in the programme were all included.

52,9

29,4

17,6

100,0

TOTAL

54,9

30,7

9,8

3,9

0,7

100,0

N/A

Disagree

TOTAL

58,8

Strongly Disagree

Agree

Time allocated to the training programme was enough

TRAINING

Can’t Decide

Strongly Agree

Table I: Adrese Büyüteç Training Evaluation Results

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

(100%). Participants thought that trainers encouraged participation throughout the training (94.1%) while they had some problems in maintaining the interest level in the subjects during the sessions (80.5%) (Table II: Adrese Büyüteç Trainer Evaluation Results).

Can’t Decide

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

64,7

35,3

0,0

100,0

conveyed the subjects in a clear and easy-to-understand way

70,6

29,4

0,0

100,0

were able to maintain high level of interest throughout the sessions

58,4

22,1

19,5

0,0

100,0

encouraged participation throughout the training

52,9

41,2

5,9

0,0

100,0

were able to build effective communication with participants

58,8

41,2

0,0

100,0

administered the training program to schedule

23,5

52,9

17,6

5,9

0,0

100,0

TOTAL

50,0

39,2

8,8

2,0

0,0

100,0

In the evaluation on organization, the sensitivity of the organization team about the problems, their problemsolving skills and attitudes and behaviours towards the participants got the highest score (100%). A small portion (29.4%) of the participants think the information they received before joining the programme were sufficient.

TOTAL

Agree

were able to reflect their knowledge and experiences on the subject

TRAINERS

N/A

Strongly Agree

Table II: Adrese Büyüteç Trainer Evaluation Results

Majority stated although they knew before coming to the training that the theme was participatory monitoring, they would have preferred having more information on the programme and its contents (Table III: Adrese Büyüteç Organization Evaluation Results).

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Can’t Decide

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

29,4

11,8

47,1

5,9

100,0

I had no problems in arriving at the training venue

64,7

23,5

5,9

0,0

100,0

I was satisfied with the accommodation services

52,9

41,2

5,9

0,0

100,0

I was satisfied with the food

52,9

11,8

23,5

5,9

0,0

100,0

Training hall was selected in line with the number of participants

58,8

17,6

0,0

5,9

100,0

There were no distractions (noise, light, air conditioner etc.) in the training environment

23,5

5,9

29,4

17,6

23,5

0,0

100,0

Organization team’s attitude and behaviours towards participants were positive.

64,7

35,3

0,0

100,0

Organization team’s responsiveness to problems and problem-solving skills were very good.

52,9

47,1

0,0

100,0

TOTAL

46,3

24,3

14,0

9,6

4,4

1,5

100,0

Information I received before joining the programme were sufficient

At the end of the training programme, participants stated that with this training, their awareness on the concepts of citizenship, civil monitoring and advocacy increased, they gained a detailed idea on the project and got equipped with very good tools to achieve the project objectives. Developing the Participatory Monitoring Method

During the trainings, the Participatory Monitoring (PM) method to be used by participants in their local areas was outlined, and afterwards finalized and shared with the participants.

TOTAL

Agree

0,0

ORGANIZATION

N/A

Strongly Agree

Table III: Adrese Büyüteç Organization Evaluation Results

This method will enable detailed and standardized identification and measurement of violations of rights, available services and service quality in institutions providing youth services, by young people in all project provinces. Participatory Monitoring is of utmost importance as it offers a method that ensures direct participation of beneficiaries in the process of influencing policies, develops a sense of belonging towards the PM activity, empowers the beneficiaries on the subject, runs within an accountable and transparent process and ensures development of the correct results-based actions.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Participatory monitoring is a process where stakeholders are engaged in the monitoring process of a specific project, programme or policy, and actively participate in the processes of execution and finalization phases of the monitoring and the process of developing the steps that will follow up the results. Throughout the project, young volunteers mapped the practices in the youth area by monitoring the non-educational public agencies serving them –Dormitories, Youth Centres, Youth Assemblies, EU Offices, SKS & Medicos – for six months through participatory monitoring. Since Adrese Büyüteç is a PM project in which young people actively participate in the monitoring of the youth area, the things to be monitored in the institutions providing youth services were decided in agreement with project implementers, who are the direct beneficiaries of the services to be monitored, and institution-specific monitoring forms were developed. (Annex IV: Adrese Büyüteç Monitoring Forms) Monitoring Forms

• Adrese Büyüteç Dormitory PM Form • Adrese Büyüteç SKS-Medico PM Form • Adrese Büyüteç Youth Centre PM Form • Adrese Büyüteç Youth Assembly PM Form • Adrese Büyüteç EU Office PM Form

With the help of these forms, prepared to identify the current situation in the monitored agencies under five main headings –namely, Physical Conditions, Access to Information, Auditability and Participation, Service Quality and Gender Equality-, all quantitative data incoming from all the organizations were analyzed in a standardized manner, and the open-ended questions used in the monitoring forms enabled a more in-depth and multi-dimensional analysis of the agencies monitored. Local PM Activities

Local project groups carried out the PM activities to identify the current situation of the services provided by institutions in their own provinces in April – June 2010 and October – November 2010. In this advocacy activity carried out in 16 project provinces by 250 young volunteers, 5 public institutions providing youth services – Dormitories, Youth Centres, Youth Assemblies, EU Offices, SKS & Medico – were monitored 167 times at various intervals. While the general target of the project was 225 PMs, the 167 PMs achieved shows that 74% of this target has been met. How to monitor is as important as what to monitor in PM activities. Although it is assumed that the observer does not interfere in anything and simply establishes the existing facts, the possibility of alterations In the comments based on the observer’s viewpoint should not be overlooked.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

In the reports of local PM groups, aspects such as having at least two people from the project team in each PM, ensuring an average of two PMs by different people to each institution during the project, and having the project carried out in 16 different provinces are important in terms of the reliability of the monitoring. Public agencies were monitored according to their “Physical Conditions”,

“Access to Information”, “Auditability and Participation”, “Service Quality” and “Gender Equality” With regard to the content and format of the monitoring method, it was observed that beyond being a format able to deliver “objective” data, PM enabled young people to become a part of the learning process and gain valuable personal experiences.

Aksaray

Ankara

Edirne

Erzurum

Hatay

İstanbul

İzmir

Kars

Kilis

Kocaeli

Konya

Malatya

Muğla

Samsun

Trabzon

167

TOTAL *

TOTAL

Youth Assembly

Youth Center

SKS – Medico

Adana

ORGANIZATION

EU Office

Dorm

Table IV: Adrese Büyüteç, Number of Local PMs on Organization Basis *

Empty boxes indicate there are no relevant institutions in that province or the institution could not be reached by young volunteers.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Kars, Kocaeli and Kilis organizations managed the highest number of PMs, while the number of PMs by Edirne, Adana and Konya organizations were way below the others. The institutions most frequently monitored by the local organizations were Youth Centres, SKS-Mediko and Dorms, with Youth Assemblies receiving the least PMs. Summary findings of the monitoring activities carries out by the local project groups are as follows: 40% of the young volunteers had physical difficulties in reaching the Youth Assembly, and it was established that 50% of the Assemblies had no websites and that 40% of the decisions taken were not implemented. Regarding Youth Centers, it was established that 88% of them had bureaucratic procedures that young people found difficult, such as registration; 56% were not located in a safely accessible location, and 81% had no practices oriented to young people with disabilities. Young volunteers stated that EU Offices were 85% youth-friendly, and that there was no access to information in 54% of the EU Offices in universities. Moreover, 8% of the information accessed through EU Offices are not up-to-date. It was also established that every 2 out of 3 university students did not know the duties and functions of the Medico health unit; only 25% of the Medicos had ambulances; and none of the Medicos provided the Health Check that should be carried out once a year on each student as a requirement of the applicable regulation. Regarding SKS Departments, 44% do not

carry out any activities for student orientation, while only 40% did not include any information on the university on their websites. PMs by local monitoring groups showed that in 0% of the universities it was not possible to set up more than one clubs on the same theme. Regarding dorms, which are among the institutions from which young people get the most service, 80% do not have sufficient internet access, and none of the dorms have a health staff or infirmary for emergencies. In the PMs on gender equality, it was established that the entrance-exit hours were different for male and female students in all the dorms. Mid-term Meeting

Project mid-term meeting was held on 15-18 July 2010 in Istanbul with 15 participants. Those not participating in the basic training delivered on 12-17 March 2010 were given priority when choosing the meeting participants (Annex V: Adrese Büyüteç Mid-Term Meeting List of Participants). Except one, all participants were active members of the Adrese Büyüteç team of their local area. Since the meeting coincided with the summer holiday, it was observed that health job distribution was not done within the local teams in the selection of the meeting participants. Again, due to the date which coincided with the summer holiday, there were problems in conveying the experiences (Annex VI: Adrese Büyüteç Mid-Term Meeting Training Programme).

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

TOTAL

Can’t Decide

Time allocated to the training programme was enough Subjects in the programme were in alignment with project objectives Subjects were delivered with suitable methods and techniques. Applications were sufficient in terms of understanding the subjects. Presentations were in harmony with the training content. Examples on project implementation were sufficient in number. Tools, devices and documents were used effectively and efficiently. We were given the opportunity to share our knowledge and experiences during the training. The subjects I expected to see in the programme were all included

Agree

EĞİTİM

Strongly Agree

Table V: Adrese Büyüteç Mid-Term Meeting Training Evaluation Results

58,3

41,7

0,0

100,0

33,3

66,7

0,0

100,0

50,0

0,0

100,0

58,3

41,7

0,0

100,0

50,0

0,0

100,0

25,0

41,7

33,3

0,0

100,0

41,7

58,3

0,0

100,0

75,0

16,7

8,3

0,0

100,0

50,0

41,7

8,3

0,0

100,0

49,1

45,4

5,6

0,0

100,0

The participants were most satisfied with the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience during the trainings (91.7%). Participants found the time allocated to the training sufficient, and agreed that the subjects included in the programme were in alignment with the project objectives. In the general evaluation on training, sufficiency of the number of examples on project implementation got the lowest score (66.7%). (Table V: Adrese Büyüteç Mid-Term Meeting Training Evaluation Results).

Participants stated that throughout the training, trainers were able to reflect their knowledge and experience on the subject and conveyed the subjects in a clear and easy-tounderstand way, also building effective communication with the participants. Participants thought that trainers encouraged participation throughout the training and were successful in maintaining the interest level in the subjects during the sessions. (Table II: Adrese Büyüteç Mid-Term Review Meeting Trainer Evaluation Results).

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

TRAINERS

Strongly Agree

Agree

Can’t Decide

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

TOTAL

Table VI: Adrese Büyüteç Mid-Term Review Meeting Trainer Evaluation Results

were able to reflect their knowledge and experiences on the subject

50,0

0,0

100,0

conveyed the subjects in a clear and easy-to-understand way

58,3

41,7

0,0

100,0

were able to maintain high level of interest throughout the sessions

25,0

66,7

8,3

0,0

100,0

encouraged participation throughout the training

33,3

58,3

0,0

8,3

0,0

100,0

were able to build effective communication with participants

33,3

58,3

0,0

8,3

0,0

100,0

administered the training program to schedule

58,3

33,3

8,3

0,0

100,0

TOTAL

43,1

51,4

2,8

0,0

100,0

ORGANIZATION

Strongly Agree

Agree

Can’t Decide

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

TOTAL

Table VII: Adrese Büyüteç Mid-Term Review Meeting Organization Evaluation Results

Information I received before joining the programme were sufficient

16,7

41,7

33,3

8,3

0,0

100,0

I had no problems in arriving at the training venue

58,3

25,0

8,3

0,0

100,0

I was satisfied with the accommodation services

25,0

66,7

8,3

0,0

100,0

I was satisfied with the food

25,0

58,3

16,7

0,0

100,0

Training hall was selected in line with the number of participants

66,7

25,0

8,3

0,0

100,0

There were no distractions (noise, light, air conditioner etc.) in the training environment

41,7

8,3

0,0

100,0

Organization team’s attitude and behaviours towards participants were very positive.

66,7

25,0

8,3

0,0

100,0

Organization team’s responsiveness to problems and problem-solving skills were very good.

50,0

33,3

16,7

0,0

100,0

TOTAL

43,8

39,6

13,5

3,1

0,0

100,0

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Majority stated they would have preferred having more information on the programme and its contents before the training (Table VII: Adrese Büyüteç Organization Evaluation Results). Study Visits

Under the Adrese Büyüteç project, a study visit was organized on 23- 26 September 2010 in Istanbul with 14 participants from local organizations (Annex VII: Adrese Büyüteç Study Visit List of Participants). The study visit achieved its objective of ensuring that local teams familiarized with examples that could help them in building their capacities on the research, civil monitoring and advocacy activities carried out under the Adrese Büyüteç project (Annex VIII: Adrese Büyüteç Study Visit Programme). Institutions and persons visited were as follows: • Women for Women’s Human Rights • Amnesty International • Association for Nature • Public Expenditure Monitoring Platform • Education Reform Initiative • Third Sector Foundation of Turkey • Hale Akay • KONDA Research Centre • Istanbul Bilgi University Child Studies Unit -ÇOÇA • Association for Social Change

The common denominator of each institution visited by the participants was that they collected information on the problem area designated according to their own objectives and engaged in advocacy works to disseminate these information and ensure that they are used for solution. These examples provided guidance to project participants with regard to monitoring the public institutions providing services to them, identifying the problems, creating suggestions for solutions and ensuring the realization of these solutions. Final Meeting

On 20-23 January 2011, a total of 30 participants from 16 university organizations involved in the Adrese Büyüteç Project came together in Istanbul for the Final Meeting (Annex IX: Adrese Büyüteç Final Meeting List of Participants). The last meeting before the Lobby Marathon, the final meeting (Annex X: Adrese Büyüteç Final Meeting Sessions) aimed to; • Evaluate the monitoring processes of project teams • Clarify the monitoring method based on how they are done • Analyze the data obtained from PMs • Demonstrate the lobby-advocacy relation • Prepare for the lobby marathon. participating in the Adrese Büyüteç “Final Meeting” and starting the preparations on the lobbying activity,

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

volunteers representing the project teams from 16 provinces divided between them the institutions monitored, and, until the lobby marathon, gathered information about these institutions and supported the production of expert articles

consisting of the relevant observation data on each institution. The content and technical preparation phases of the “Lobby Marathon” to take place in Ankara were executed in the days following the final meeting by the project team and projects volunteers.

FINAL MEETING

Strongly Agree

Agree

Can’t Decide

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

TOTAL

Table VIII: Adrese Büyüteç Final Meeting Evaluation Results

Time allocated to the final meeting was enough

14,3

53,6

21,4

10,7

0,0

100,0

Subjects in the final meeting were in alignment with project objectives

25,0

71,4

3,6

0,0

100,0

Subjects were delivered with suitable methods and techniques

17,9

50,0

28,6

3,6

0,0

100,0

Applications were sufficient in terms of understanding the subjects.

14,3

46,4

32,1

3,6

0,0

3,6

100,0

Presentations/simulations were in harmony with the training content.

28,6

46,4

17,9

7,1

0,0

100,0

Examples on project implementation were sufficient in number.

0,0

39,3

42,9

14,3

0,0

3,6

100,0

Tools, devices and documents were used effectively and efficiently.

28,6

57,1

14,3

0,0

100,0

We were given the opportunity to share our knowledge and experiences during the final meeting.

57,1

42,9

0,0

100,0

The subjects I expected to see in the final meeting were all included

28,6

35,7

7,1

0,0

100,0

TOTAL

23,8

48,4

21,8

5,2

0,0

0,8

100,0

Project team representatives participating in the Adrese Büyüteç “Final Meeting” think the subjects included in the meeting were in alignment with project objectives (96.4%), yet examples on project

implementation were too few. 60.7% of the participants stated that the examples were not sufficient and therefore he subjects could not be understood.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

TRAINERS

Strongly Agree

Agree

Can’t Decide

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

TOTAL

Table IX: Adrese Büyüteç Final Meeting Trainer Evaluation Results

were able to reflect their knowledge and experiences on the subject

32,1

57,1

10,7

0,0

100,0

conveyed the subjects in a clear and easy-to-understand way

28,6

64,3

7,1

0,0

100,0

were able to maintain high level of interest throughout the sessions

14,3

42,9

35,7

3,6

0,0

3,6

100,0

encouraged participation throughout the training

35,7

32,1

28,6

3,6

0,0

100,0

were able to build effective communication with participants

35,7

50,0

14,3

0,0

100,0

administered the training program to schedule

39,3

53,6

7,1

0,0

100,0

TOTAL

31,0

50,0

17,3

1,2

0,0

0,6

100,0

ORGANIZATION

Strongly Agree

Agree

Can’t Decide

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

TOTAL

Table X: Adrese Büyüteç Final Meeting Organization Evaluation Results

Eğitim programına katılmadan önce aldığım bilgiler yeterliydi

35,7

28,6

7,1

28,6

0,0

35,7

Eğitim yerine ulaşımda hiçbir sıkıntı yaşamadım

46,4

39,3

0,0

14,3

0,0

46,4

Konaklama hizmetlerinden memnun kaldım

35,7

60,7

3,6

0,0

35,7

Yemeklerden memnun kaldım

28,6

64,3

0,0

7,1

0,0

28,6

Eğitim salonu katılımcı sayısına uygun olarak seçilmişti

28,6

14,3

28,6

0,0

28,6

Eğitim ortamında dikkatimi dağıtacak (ses, ışık, havalandırma vs.) unsurlar yoktu

42,9

17,9

10,7

28,6

0,0

42,9

Organizasyon ekibinin katılımcılara karşı tutum ve davranışları çok olumluydu

53,6

46,4

0,0

53,6

Organizasyon ekibinin sorunlara karşı hassasiyeti ve sorun çözme becerisi çok iyiydi

42,9

57,1

0,0

42,9

TOPLAM

39,3

42,9

4,5

13,4

0,0

39,3

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Participants stated that throughout the training, trainers were able to reflect their knowledge and experience on the subject and conveyed the subjects in a clear and easy-to-understand way (89.3%, 92.9%, respectively), but had difficulties in maintaining the interest level through sessions (57.1%) and sometimes fell short in encouraging participation. Participants had problems mostly about the physical conditions of the training room. While 42.9% thought the training hall was not selected in accordance with the number of participants, 39.3% complained about distractions in the training environment. Youth Panels

7 project teams17 organized youth panels in December 2010- March 2011. Young volunteers identified the problems in their provinces and their needs as the youth, and them invited an expert speaker to discuss these issues at a panel.

The teams collaborated in organizing the panels. Through these panels, which contributed to discussions on a needsbased youth policy, young people found the opportunity to discuss their needs and ask questions to the experts. Lobby Marathon

A total of 27 project volunteers from 16 project provinces participated in the Lobby Marathon that took place on 28 February – 3 March 2011 in Ankara (Annex XI: Adrese Büyüteç Lobby Marathon List of Participants). Under the 4-day lobby marathon, a series of private/legal entities and private/ public institutions providing youth services and serving as participation mechanisms were visited. The target group of the Lobby Marathon included the project volunteers, with an aim to increase

Table XI: Adrese Büyüteç Youth Panels Proje Örgütlenmesi

Uzman

Panelin Konusu

Trabzon

Batuhan Aydagül

Eğitim

Muğla

Müge Yamanyılmaz

Genç Kadınların Katılımı

Erzurum

Yörük Kurtaran

Gençlik Politikaları

Kars

Laden Yurttagüler

Gençlik ve Sosyal Haklar

Aksaray

Tuna Öztürk

Gençlik ve Sağlık

Konya

Yörük Kurtaran

Gençlik Politikaları

İstanbul

Yiğit Aksakoğlu

Gençlik ve Savunuculuk

17 Trabzon, Muğla, Erzurum, Kars, Aksaray, Konya, İstanbul

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

their capacities in line with project objectives, the NGOs that could potentially be included in cooperation through a networking, public institutions with executive power in meeting the existing needs and solving the problems in the youth area, and decision-makers. Institutions visited to share the results and suggestions were as follows: • Delegation of the European Union to Turkey • Republican People’s Party • State Planning Organization, Department of Income Distribution and Social Inclusion • Department of Youth Services • Advisor to the Minister for Youth • Ministry of Interior, DG Local Administrations • DG Institution of Loans and Dorms • Health Workers Union • TGNA Youth Commission and YASA-DER • Presidency of the National Agency • National Youth Council Presidency Before the Lobby Marathon, we requested meetings with the youth branches of all political parties that have seats in the TGNA, yet got no favourable response from any of them. Similarly, appointments could not be taken from the Chamber of Unions, the union and the NGO. During the visits, the discussions revolved around

the monitoring of 5 public institutions providing youth services and youth representation for three months twice, making a total duration of 6 months reporting of the PM data, the analysis of the data by relevant experts and the situation and suggestions arising from such analysis. As a result of the Lobby Marathon, a dialogue process based on knowledge and experience was created with public institutions and decision-makers; a constructive image on the value, importance and needs of the youth area was created in the viewpoints of public institutions and decisionmakers; participation of young people in decision-making processes was ensured; a setting of dialogue and discussion on the current situation and possible future of youth policies was enabled; and institutional relations were built between project implementers and public institutions and decision-makers. Resource Utilization

When we compare the cost items of the project to the value created throughout the project duration, it is seen that the project budget was effectively used. In the Adrese Büyüteç project budget, when the HR line is excluded, it is seen that 49.4% of the remainder was spent on trainings (Table XII: Adrese Büyüteç Project Budget Utilization Chart); and the amounts under preliminary training meetings were transferred to study visits to ensure a more effective use. Following the trainings taking place on 12-17 March 2010 and 15-18 July

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

2010, representatives from local monitoring groups participated in the study visits held on 23-26 September 2010 in Istanbul. With the final meeting held on 20-23 January 2011 in Istanbul and the lobby marathon carried out

in Ankara, the activities aimed at the project start were achieved, and through these activities it has been possible to evaluate the project outputs in a more comprehensive and effective way at the national level.

Table XII: Adrese Büyüteç Project Budget Utilization Chart Administrative Expenses %7.3 Other expenses (equipment, organization, etc.) %16.1

Travel Expenses %27.2

Training Expenses %49.4

EFFECTIVENESS Evaluation of Objective18 Objectives

OBJECTIVE 1

Delivered

Ensure young people, as citizens, are informed about the youth services provided to them by the state

Although 15 local organizations were planned to be involved when determining the project objectives, this number was raised to 1618 in response to the applications received during the training planning and project phases. The training programme was carried out on 12 – 17 March 2010 with 41 participants in Istanbul - Silivri. During the training, young people were informed of and encouraged to reflect on the public services provided to them and the functions and structures of the EU Offices, Institution of Loans and Dorms, Youth Centres of the Department of Youth Services of DG Youth and Sports, Youth Assemblies of City Councils, and the MEDICO and Health, Culture and Sports (SKS) units of universities. By the end of the trainings, project participants had gained enough knowledge to enable them to lead discussions on the legislations and services of the institutions they were to monitor. Under the project, young people grasped the citizenship-advocacy relation, got informed about the agencies providing youth services, got informed about youth services, increased their awareness on the concept of need, and gained an understanding of the youthadvocacy relation.

18 İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Samsun, Kocaeli, Malatya, Aksaray, Trabzon, Kars, Hatay, Muğla, Erzurum, Kilis, Konya, Adana and Edirne

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Objectives

OBJECTIVE 2

Delivered

Create an advocacy tool in the youth area by developing a monitoring method to identify the violation of rights and available services at the institutions from which young people receive services, and assess the quality of these services

When developing the Participatory Civil Monitoring Method, it was decided to monitor, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the institutions from which young people receive services. Before formulating the method, a focus group meeting was held to enable a more in-depth and multi-dimensional analysis of the institutions, drawing on the reporting outputs of the piloting phase. In the light of the data thus gained and the suggestions of local PM groups as well as past experiences, a total of 5 institutionspecific participatory monitoring (PM) forms19 were developed. The forms enabled standardized analysis of all the quantitative data incoming from the local organizations under five categories: Physical Conditions, Access to Information, Auditability and Participation, Service Quality and Gender Equality. In addition, the open-ended questions used in the PM forms enabled a more in-depth and multidimensional analysis of the institutions. With regard to the content and format of the monitoring method, it was observed that beyond being a format able to deliver “objective” data, PM enabled young people to become a part of the learning process and gain valuable personal experiences, which is in concordance with the research methodology used.

OBJECTIVE 3

Obtain sufficient data to enable communicating with the State and lobbying

Using the Participatory Civil Monitoring Method, 5 public institutions providing youth services – Dormitories, Youth Centres, Youth Assemblies, EU Offices, SKS & Medico – were monitored 167 times at various intervals by 250 young volunteers in 16 project provinces. While the general target of the project was 225 PMs, the 167 PMs achieved shows that 74% of this target has been met. In the reports of local PM groups, aspects such as having at least two people from the project team in each PM, ensuring an average of two PMs by different people to each institution during the project, and having the project carried out in 16 different provinces are important in terms of the reliability of the monitoring.

19 Adrese Büyüteç Dorm PM Form, Adrese Büyüteç SKS-Medico PM Form, Adrese Büyüteç Youth Centre PM Form, Adrese Büyüteç Youth Assembly PM Form, Adrese Büyüteç EU Office PM Form

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Objectives

OBJECTIVE 3

OBJECTIVE 4

Delivered

Obtain sufficient data to enable communicating with the State and lobbying

Increase participation of young people in the youth policy-making processes and promote a needs-based approach in youth policy-making

A total of 31 project volunteers from 16 project provinces participated in the Lobby Marathon that took place on 28 February â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3 March 2011 in Ankara. In the 4-day lobby marathon, a series of private/legal entities and private/ public institutions providing youth services and serving as participation mechanisms were visited. The institutional link established between the public institutions, decision-makers and the young volunteers implementing the project made a great contribution to the personal development of the project participants. In the focus group meetings, it was observed that young participants were able to express their opinions with ease, had more self-confidence as a result of the project, had developed their ability to take Initiatives to solve problems, and had become more active citizens. Under the project, youth participation in youth policymaking was increased, and it was ensured that young people had adequate data to enable them to communicate with the state and engage in lobbying activities; by developing a monitoring method, an advocacy tool was created in the youth area, and a needs-based approach to youth policies was promoted. During the project, a dialog process based on knowledge and experience was built with public agencies and decisionmakers; lobbying activities were carried out on the value and importance of the youth area and the needs of young people; youth participation in decision-making processes was ensured; a setting of dialogue and discussion on the current situation and possible future of youth policies was enabled and a future action plan for youth policies was delivered; and institutional relations were built between the two parties. With this project, for the first time in Turkey young people found the opportunity to engage in advocacy activities with the decision-making bodies of the state.

Factors Affecting Project Objectives

Clear, measurable, realistic and achievable objectives identifies at the start of the project made timely delivery possible. Identifying long-term and short-term objectives and working towards them within a pre-defined time schedule with successive steps ensured reaching the next objective to be focused on in a more planned manner. The long duration of the project resulted in changes in some of the

local PM groups that were involved on fully voluntary basis. Due to problems in transfer of information, the process went slower in some local PM groups. Having too many institutions under watch caused it to take longer for young people to get sufficient information on the institutions and their services. While young participants were more informed about the legislations and operations of the agencies from which they get services - dorms, medicos, sks etc.-, some

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

problems were encountered in the monitoring of institutions from which they were not receiving services. Visibility and awareness of project outputs can be increased at local and national level through effective use of websites, logs and mailing groups. Additionally, project managers, target groups, relevant NGOs, local governments and the public sector can be encouraged to participate so as to ensure sustainability. Among Community Volunteer organizations, the number of volunteers engaged in advocacy is seen to have made a statistically significant increase compared to the year before, there has been no increase in the number of advocacy-themed local projects by these organizations when compared to the year before. Although there is a stirring on this theme within the local organizations, the desired goal has not yet been met in terms of realization of new projects. All processes of future and/or ongoing projects and trainings should be reviewed from the perspective of participatory monitoring. On the other hand, local monitoring groups involved in this project should be supported to use civil monitoring mechanisms in the future projects they will implement.

PROJECT IMPACT When we look at the deliverables achieved as a result of planned activities, it is seen that the project had significant impact especially on young people participating in it and within the local organizations running

the project. Participating young people and organizations monitored the services of which they are the direct beneficiaries, identified the sources of their own problems through their own observations, and engaged in advocacy activities based on these findings. This study technique, which embodied participatory democracy, has proven a very educative process for young volunteers and grassroots organizations. Focus group meetings were carried out with male and female participants during the project in order to see the changes created by the project. It is seen that young people applying to participate in the Adrese Büyüteç Project and taking active part in all project phases have made greater gains than the other stakeholders by experiencing an aspect of democracy in their role as citizens, monitoring and questioning the services provided to them by the state and seeking solutions to their own problems through advocacy. Among the participating young people, around 91% want to continue advocacy works in the year ahead. Adrese Büyüteç gets its power and effectiveness from the need felt for youth participation in the development process of youth policies. It was the first time ever in Turkey that young volunteers mapped the practices in the youth area by monitoring the noneducational public agencies serving them –Dormitories, Youth Centres, Youth Assemblies, EU Offices, SKS & Medicos – for six months through participatory monitoring. Adrese Büyüteç is a unique and extremely

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

innovative project not only in terms of its partners, participants and end-products, but also from the perspective of all other organizations. The reports prepared by participants at the end of the process of monitoring the youth services offered in their local areas are expected to make a great contribution to the development process of youth policies in the country. ıt is seen that this project sets a model for the civil area in terms of monitoring of state-provided services by their direct beneficiaries. Under the project scope, young participants gained an understanding on the citizenship-advocacy relation, learned about the institutions providing youth services, increased their awareness on the concepts of “need” and “social right”, grasped the link between youth and advocacy and the relations between all these concepts. The institutional link established between the public institutions, decision-makers and the young volunteers implementing the project made a great contribution to the personal development of the project participants. In the focus group meetings, it was observed that young participants were able to express their opinions with ease, had more selfconfidence as a result of the project, had developed their ability to take Initiatives to solve problems, and had become more active citizens. Under the project, youth participation in youth policy-making was increased, and it was ensured that young people had adequate data to enable them to communicate with the state and

engage in lobbying activities; by developing a monitoring method, an advocacy tool was created in the youth area, and a needs-based approach to youth policies was promoted. During the process, a dialog based on knowledge and experience was built with public agencies and decisionmakers, and a discussion platform with decision-makers was created to ensure youth participation in decision-making processes. With this project, young people carried out an advocacy activity vis-à-vis the decision-making organs of the Republic of Turkey. Adrese Büyüteç undertook a very important role in bringing the concept of advocacy on the agenda and disseminating its effects. Participatory civil monitoring has become a subject leaving its mark particularly in national community activities (councils etc.) All these indicators indicate that the number of PM-themed projects run by grassroots organizations is likely to increase in the near future.

SUSTAINABILITY For purposes of the sustainability of the Adrese Büyüteç Project, it is necessary that the continuation of the project is not reduced to financial support only, and the tangible outputs of project are taken into consideration. Under the project, modules prepared for target groups can produce tangible deliverables; as such, these modules have also led to some unforeseen outputs through utilization of the modules by local PM groups in other nation-wide activities.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

In particular, it is aimed to ensure the sustainability of the civil monitoring method developed under the project by disseminating it to various different groups. The final report and the training modules will be published on the project website (www.adresebuyutec. net) so that other youth groups can also benefit from them after the project. One of the main purposes of Adrese Büyüteç is to carry the project outputs beyond the project duration. It is known that there is no obstacle to ensuring sustainability with the multiplier effect that will be created by project outcomes, and that project implementers in particular have sp far given priority to creating the necessary resources to ensure long-term sustainability of the works that set a model with proven success. It is seen that during the project design phase, the concept of sustainability is not addressed as a strictly financial issue and that priority has been given in particular to designing mechanisms to ensure the sustainability of the project idea and purposes. One of the most important things that ensured the sustainability of the project was making sure that the project implementer did not regard institutionalism, which would ensure the sustainability of the project idea and purposes, as something involving only the institutions, and designed the multiplier effects in line with the sustainability strategy. On the other hand, with the project guidebook prepared by the experts, dissemination among the youth will be possible. Similarly, thanks to the

guidebook, other youth organizations will also be able to bring on their agenda the crucial topics of advocacy, participatory civil monitoring etc. They will be able to benefit from the project experiences and outputs included in the guidebook, and even conduct a similar study within their own organizations. This shows that Adrese Büyüteç has the potential to be model for not only the Community Volunteers organizations but also to other youth organizations.

CONCLUSION Although the facilities and services offered to young people in Turkey have a specific framework identified by various laws and regulations, there is not enough information based on the experiences of the beneficiaries of these services with regard to how the legal framework is implemented and the content of available services. Adrese Büyüteç, the first example of its kind in Turkey, encouraged young people to reflect and talk about the institutions and services and develop projects for the future. Adrese Büyüteç is a unique and extremely innovative project not only in terms of its partners, participants and end-products, but also from the perspective of all other organizations. An important process combining the concepts of “youth participation” and “participatory civil monitoring” was triggered with the project within TOG and mainly in local organizations. The project will enable developing tools that will increase youthparticipation not only in TOG but also in all youth

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

NGOs whose main priority is not participatory civil monitoring. Likewise, other youth organizations and NGOs will also be able to bring on their agenda the issues of PM, youthadvocacy, measuring service quality, identifying violations of rights and ensuring active participation of main stakeholders. Adrese BĂźyĂźteĂ§ has the potential to become a model not only for TOG organizations but also other youth organizations. The interest of other NGOs in the project shows that the model can be implemented not only in the youth area but also in other civil society areas. When we look at the outputs of the planned activities, we see that the project had a tremendous impact on the participating young volunteers and local organizations. Young participants made greater gains than the other stakeholders by experiencing an aspect of democracy in their role as citizens, through monitoring and questioning the services provided to them by the state. The institutional link established between the public institutions, decision-makers and the young volunteers implementing the project made a great contribution to the personal development of the project participants. In the focus group meetings, it was observed that young participants were able to express their opinions with ease, had more selfconfidence as a result of the project, had developed their ability to take Initiatives to solve problems, and had become more active citizens.

Lobbying activities had positive effects in terms of the institutional identity of the Community Volunteers Foundation and cooperation opportunities. In addition, the solution-oriented visits based on the gathered data are a new approach in the youth area. The lessons learned from this project will help creating models that will work towards a youth policy that is based on needs and information and that respects human rights and social rights. Although importance was given to ensuring internal consistency during the project design phase and although the right situation and needs analyses were conducted, some problems were experienced in some of the objectives. In particular, the changes in the compositions of some of the local organizations during the project and the problems in transfer of information slowed down the process for some project groups. Having too many institutions under watch caused it to take longer for young people to get sufficient information on the institutions and their services. While young participants were more informed about the legislations and operations of the agencies from which they get services - dorms, medicos, SKS etc.-, some problems were encountered in the monitoring of institutions from which they were not receiving services.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ANNEXES Annex I: Adrese Büyüteç Training Programme, List of Participants (12-17 MARCH 2010) NAME - SURNAME

ORGANIZATION

Taner Lüleci

KOCAELİ - Kocaeli University

Dilara Çetiner

KOCAELİ - Kocaeli University

Serap Derinoğlu

KOCAELİ - Kocaeli University

Ali Şahin

KONYA - Selçuk University

Zehra Takcı

KONYA - Selçuk University

Esra Karakılıç

KONYA - Selçuk University

Serkan Çeliker

SAMSUN - Ondokuz Mayıs University

Gülçin Keskin

SAMSUN - Ondokuz Mayıs University

Habibe Erol

SAMSUN - Ondokuz Mayıs University

Kamil Yücel

ANKARA - Çankaya University

Bulut Öncü

ANKARA - Ankara University

Hazal Kutkan

İSTANBUL - Galatasaray University

Hande Akdeniz

İSTANBUL - Galatasaray University

Gökhan Yay

İSTANBUL - Galatasaray University

M.Emre Yücedal

ERZURUM - Atatürk University

Çetin Bitmez

ERZURUM - Atatürk University

Ayşe Gül Danacı

ERZURUM - Atatürk University

Rıdvan Yılmaz

MALATYA - İnönü University

Sinem Güp

MALATYA - İnönü University

Ersin Sönmez

MALATYA - İnönü University

Kübra Kara

TRABZON - Karadeniz Technical University

Serdar Tarık Güler

TRABZON - Karadeniz Technical University

Melda Akşit

TRABZON - Karadeniz Technical University

Aysu Taşcı

KARS - Kafkas University

Nevin Karahan

KARS - Kafkas University

Adem Dayi

KARS - Kafkas University

Atilla Yılmaz

KİLİS - Yedi December University

Ali Akgül

KİLİS - Yedi December University

Meryem Er

KİLİS - Yedi December University

Kübra Mıtış

MERSİN - Çağ University

Yahya Mendi

MERSİN - Çağ University

Esra Özdemir

HATAY - Mustafa Kemal University

Dilay Duman

HATAY - Mustafa Kemal University

Fedai Ekinci

AKSARAY - Aksaray University

Nurullah Özdemir

AKSARAY - Aksaray University

Zeliha Coşkun

AKSARAY - Aksaray University

Hasan Bilgin

MUĞLA - Muğla University

Mücahit Acar

MUĞLA - Muğla University

Aycan Şahin

İZMİR - Dokuz Eylül University

Hüseyin Şenol Parlak

İZMİR - Dokuz Eylül University

Rengin Ergül

İZMİR - Dokuz Eylül University

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ANNEX II: Adrese Büyüteç Training Programme, Sessions (12-17 MARCH 2010) SESSIONS

TRAINERS

Welcome Technical Information

Gökdağ Göktepe

TOG / Adrese Büyüteç Project Coordinator

Introduction

E. Sener Ünal

TOG / Training Department Manager

Expectations

Özlem Ezgin

TOG / Youth Studies & Social Rel. Dep., Manager

Project Introduction

Gökdağ Göktepe

TOG / Adrese Büyüteç Project Coordinator

Project Introduction

Özlem Ezgin

TOG / Youth Studies & Social Rel. Dep., Manager

Laden Yurttagüler

Bilgi University NGO Research and Training Centre / Academic Member

Laden Yurttagüler / E. Sener Ünal

Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit / Academic Member

Laden Yurttagüler / Özlem Ezgin

Bilgi University NGO Research and Training Centre / Academic Member TOG / Youth Studies & Social Rel. Dep., Manager

Policy Influence

E. Sener Ünal

TOG / Training Department Manager

Monitoring

Özlem Ezgin

TOG / Youth Studies & Social Rel. Dep., Manager

What’s Happening in Life?

Laden Yurttagüler

Bilgi University NGO Research and Training Centre / Academic Member

Yörük Kurtaran

Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit / Academic Member

E. Sener Ünal

TOG / Training Department Manager

Yörük Kurtaran

Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit / Academic Member

Institutions I

Gökdağ Göktepe / Özlem Çolak

TOG / Adrese Büyüteç Project Coordinator TOG / Youth Studies Project Assistant

Institutions II

Gökdağ Göktepe / Özlem Çolak

TOG / Adrese Büyüteç Project Coordinator TOG / Youth Studies Project Assistant

Golden Orange

Demir Çeneli Kadınlar Film Display

Citizenship Tower of Babel Advocacy Examples

History of Youth 101 Noah’s Youth Pudding What do I need?

Yörük Kurtaran

Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit / Academic Member

Yörük Kurtaran

Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit / Academic Member

Experiences Sweet and Sour

Gökdağ Göktepe / Rengin Ergül / Serkan Çeliker

TOG / Adrese Büyüteç Project Coordinator

What next?

Gökdağ Göktepe

TOG / Adrese Büyüteç Project Coordinator

Netting

Özlem Ezgin

TOG / Youth Studies & Social Rel. Dep., Manager

Yörük Kurtaran

Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit / Academic Member

Özlem Ezgin

TOG / Youth Studies & Social Rel. Dep., Manager

Telescope I Telescope II

Fellowship of the Ring Evaluation

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

12-17 March 2010 Adrese Büyüteç Training Programme

INTRODUCTION

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Expectations, Project & Programme Introduction

Policy Influence

Noah’s Youth Pudding

Telescope

Fellowship of the Ring

Break

Citizenship

Monitoring

What do I need?

Experiences Sweet and Sour

Fellowship of the Ring

Lunch

Tower of Babel

What’s happening in Life?

Institutions -1

Netting

Evaluation

Break

History of Youth 101

Institutions -2

What next?

Evaluation

Dinner

Advocacy Examples

Dinner

Saturday

Welcome, Introduction, Briefing Technical Information

Golden Orange; ”Demir Çeneli Kadınlar” Film Display

STARTING!

Friday

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Annex III: Adrese Büyüteç Training Evaluation Form (12-17 MARCH 2010)

I disagree with some of the statements on Training above BECAUSE…

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Can’t Decide

Agree

TRAINING

Strongly Agree

TRAINING EVALUATION FORM

➡

SESSIONS

➡

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Welcome / Technical Information DAY I Introduction Expectations Project Introduction Programme Introduction Citizenship Tower of Babel Advocacy Examples DAY II Policy Influence Never Monitor What’s Happening in Life? History of Youth 101 DAY III Noah’s Youth Pudding What do I need? Institutions I Institutions II Golden Orange DAY IV Telescope I Telescope II Experiences Sweet and Sour What next? Netting DAY V Fellowship of the Ring Evaluation

were able to reflect their knowledge and experiences on the subject conveyed the subjects in a clear and easy-to-understand way were able to maintain high level of interest throughout the sessions encouraged participation throughout the training were able to build effective communication with participants administered the training program to schedule

I disagree with some of the statements on Trainers above BECAUSE â&#x20AC;Ś

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Decide

Agree

TRAINERS

Strongly Agree

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Strongly Disagree

Disagree

Can’t Decide

Agree

ORGANIZATION

Strongly Agree

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Information I received before joining the programme were sufficient I had no problems in arriving at the training venue I was satisfied with the accommodation services

I was satisfied with the food

Training hall was selected in line with the number of participants There were no distractions (noise, light, air conditioner etc.) in the training environment Organization team’s attitude and behaviours towards participants were very positive. Organization team’s responsiveness to problems and problem-solving skills were very good. I disagree with some of the statements on the Organization above BECAUSE …

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

After these four days I MUST SAY THAT ....

Thank you for sharing your comments with us â&#x20AC;Ś

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Annex IV: Adrese Büyüteç PM Forms ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ EU OFFICE PM FORM A. Physical Conditions A1. Is the office location easily accessible for young people? Yes No

A2. Where in the university/campus is the office located?

A3. On which days is the office open? (You can check more than one options) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

A4. What are the opening/closing hours? Opening

______

Closing

______

A5. Is there a waiting area for students? Yes No

A6. If yes, are there chairs? Yes

A7. Is the EU Office building disabled-friendly? Yes No

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ EU OFFICE PM FORM B. Access to Information B1. Are there information meetings on Erasmus and Youth Programme? Yes No B2. Are brochures/booklets etc being distributed on Erasmus and Youth Programme? Yes No

B3. Are the information in the informational materials up-to-date? Yes No

B4. Do they inform about things other than the Erasmus programme, such as accommodation and transport? Yes No

B5. Do they give the address of their relevant website? Yes No

B6. How much time is allocated to giving information?

B7. Do they also give information those who are not university students? Yes No

B8. Are there designated personnel in the departments and faculties? (Like advisors or faculty office) Yes No

B9. Is there an “EU Office” sign at the door? Yes No B10. How is the environment?

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ EU OFFICE PM FORM B11. Are there informative posters on the walls? Yes No

B12. Is it possible to get information before going to the office about the relevant EU projects consultant or expert, how to access them, and the location and opening/closing hours of the office? Yes No

B13. If yes, from where?

B14. Are there EU consultancy units in different campuses/faculties? Yes No

C. Auditability and Participation C1. What are the selection criteria of students for Erasmus?

C2. Are these criteria available in written format? Yes No

C3. Can students access this information on the internet? Yes No

C4. Is it required to leave ID card at entrance? Yes No

C5. Is it possible to work on voluntary basis at the EU Office? Yes No

C6. Who decides on who will go to Erasmus? C7. Can students participate in this decision-making process? Yes No

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ EU OFFICE PM FORM D. Service Quality D1. How is the approach of the personnel giving information? Youth-friendly?

D2. How many people work at the EU Office?

E. Gender Equality E1. What is the gender distribution of the employees? Female ______ Male ______ Total ______

E3.What is the gender distribution of students going to Erasmus? Female ______ Male ______ Total ______

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ YOUTH ASSEMBLY PM FORM A. Physical Conditions A1. Is transport difficult to the Youth Assembly? (e.g., can it be safely reached after sunset? or with only one public transport from city centre?) Yes No

A2. On which days is the Youth Assembly open? (You can mark multiple options) Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

A3. Ehat are the opening/closing hours? Opening

______

Closing

______

A4. Where do they use as meeting venues?

A5. Is the Assembly building disabled-friendly? Yes No

B. Access to Information B1. Do the local newspapers, periodicals and TV channels know about the Assembly? Yes No

B2.Iıs the press regularly informed? Yes No

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ YOUTH ASSEMBLY PM FORM B3. Do they communicate with student associations (primary and secondary education)/NGOs/other young people? Yes

No B4. Does it have a website? Yes No

C. Auditability and Participation C1. How is the organizational structure? (Chairman, working groups, etc)

C2. What are the eligibility criteria for membership to the Youth Assembly? (Can anyone become a member? Are there specific criteria?)

C3. Is there an executive board? Yes No

C4. If yes, how is it elected?

C5. Is there a steering committee? Yes No

C6. Are there other structures similar to the steering committee? Yes No

C7. How are the relations between the City Council and the Youth Assembly?

C8. How many members does the Youth Assembly has? C9. What activities, other than meetings, does the Youth Assembly carry out? (such as voluntary projects) Yes No

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ YOUTH ASSEMBLY PM FORM C10. How is the volunteer structure?

C11. How are the relations between National Youth parliament and the Youth Assembly?

C12. Does the Assembly have an office and employees? Yes No

C13. How many people work at the Assembly?

C14. Who pays the salaries of the employees?

C15. Do they have insurance? Yes No

C16. How are the employees selected?

C17. How much contribution does the municipality make?

C18. Does the municipality provide only financial contribution? Yes No

C19. Does the structure of Youth Assemblies change depending on the government? Yes No

C20. Is it possible to participate in the decision-making in Youth Assemblies? Yes No

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ YOUTH ASSEMBLY PM FORM C21. Can the decisions taken in Youth Assemblies be implemented? Yes No

C22. How are the project development processes developed? Who are included?

C23. What is being done for the personal developments of the volunteers?

C24. You mentioned that the municipality supports you; does this create a political pressure on you? C25. Can those with foreign nationalities, non-Muslims or members of other faith groups also participate?

D. Service Quality D1. Does the Assembly’s general assembly convene? Yes No

D2. If yes, how often? Weekly Monthly Quarterly Semi-annually Other

D3. Who is the target group?

D4. What is the framework of the activities?

D5. If all 400 members were active, would you limit the number of members? Yes No

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ YOUTH ASSEMBLY PM FORM E. Gender Equality E1. What is the gender distribution of the members of the Youth Assembly? Female ______ Male ______ TOTAL ______

E2. Is the head of executive board female? Yes No

E3. What is the gender distribution of the members of the executive board? Female ______ Male ______ TOTAL ______ E4. Is the head of the steering committee female? Yes No

E5. What is the gender distribution of the members of the steering committee? Female ______ Male ______ TOTAL ______

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ YOUTH CENTRE PM FORM A. Physical Conditions A1. What are the working hours of the centre? Opening

______

Closing

______

A2. Is the centre open at the weekends? Yes No

A3. Where is it located?

A4. Does it have its own building? Yes No

A5. How is the transportation?

A6. Is it safely accessible after dark? Yes No

A7. Can it be reached with only one public transport from the town centre? Yes No

A8. Does it have a garden? Yes No

A9. Is there a waiting area inside? Yes No

A10. Are there chairs to sit in the waiting area? Yes No

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ YOUTH CENTRE PM FORM A11. Is there a place for volunteers to spend time? Yes No

A12. Is the building disabled-friendly? Yes No

A13. Are there workshops/crafts halls etc where volunteers can engage in activities?

A14. If there is a lounge, is it large? Yes No

A15. Are there toilet facilities? Yes No

A15. If yes, are they clean? Yes No

B. Access to Information B1. ıs there a “Youth Centre” sign at the door? Yes No

B2. Do they give brochures, booklets etc for more information? Yes No

B3. (If yes) are these materials given on demand or without having to ask for them? Yes No

B4. How is the interior of the Centre?

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ YOUTH CENTRE PM FORM B5. Are there project-related posters on the walls to inform the youth? Yes No

B6. Is there an updated info panel/bulletin board? Yes No

B7. Do the local newspapers, periodicals and TV channels know about the Centre? Yes No

B8. Is the press regularly informed? Yes No

C. Auditability and Participation C1. What is the membership procedure ?

C2. Are there membership criteria? Yes No

C3. Do members have obligations? Yes No

C4. What is the age range?

C5. Do they accept all applying young people? Yes No C6. How do they decide on the activities that will be carried out?

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ YOUTH CENTRE PM FORM C7. How do the participation mechanisms work?

C8. Do they hold regular meetings with Youth Centre members? Yes No

C9. How does the Youth Centre finance itself?

C10. Does the Youth Centre have an advisory board? Yes No

C11. What are the activities offered to young people by the Youth Centre?

C12. What does the Youth Centre do to ensure youth participation?

C13. How are the leaders and executives elected?

C14. How many of the leaders come from a sports background?

C15. Can young substance addicts, ex-convicts etc become volunteers in Youth Centres? Yes No

D. Service Quality D1. How many persons work at the centre?

D2. Doe the leaders and instructors have insurance? Yes No

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ YOUTH CENTRE PM FORM D3. What is the average age of the employees?

D4. Do the behaviours/attitudes of employees change according to the age, appearance etc of those applying for membership? Yes No D5. What is the average age of leaders?

D6. Do the courses, activities etc respond to the needs of young people? Yes No

E. Gender Equality E1. How is the gender distribution of those working at the centre? Female

______

Male

______

Total ______ E2. What is the gender distribution of the leaders? Female

______

Male ______ Total ______ E3. What is the gender distribution of the leaders? Female ______ Male ______ Total ______

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ SKS – MEDICO PM FORM A. Physical Conditions A1. Do clubs have separate rooms? Yes No

A2. Are there any criteria a club must meet in order to get a room? Yes No

A3. If yes, what are these criteria?

A4. By how many clubs is a room used? (You can mark multiple options) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 or more A5. Between which hours can the club rooms be used? Yes No

A6. ıs there internet connection in club rooms? Yes No

A7. Are the facilities offered by the university used for activities? (e.g. using the gym, meeting hall etc) Yes No

A8. What are the working hours of the SKS / Medico? Start ______ End ______

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ SKS – MEDICO PM FORM A9. How many people work at the SKS / Medico? Female

______

Male ______ Total ______ A10. Is there a SKS / Medico sign at the door? Yes No

A11. Is there a waiting area? Yes No

A12. Is there a special practice for people with disabilities? Yes No

A13. Is there a social facility which students served by Medico can use? Yes No

A14. Are there activities promoting and giving information on the university? Yes No

A15. What facilities are there to meet the accommodation needs of students? Does it provide students with necessary information on student dorms? Yes No A16. Is transport available between campuses or, if the campus is located at a distance, to central locations downtown? Yes No A17. Can all students benefit from this service? Yes No

A18. Is this service in return for a fee? Yes No

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ SKS – MEDICO PM FORM A19. Are there sports facilities? Yes

No A20. Between which hours of the day can the sports facilities be used? Yes

No A21. What are the activities carried out at the sports facilities?

A22. Are there separate sports facilities at each campus? Yes No

A23. Can all students use them? Yes No

B. Access to Information B1. Are the processes for founding a club/community/society/group etc available in written form –e.g. on the relevant website? Yes No B2. Where does one apply to found a club/community/society/group?

B3. Is there a clubs regulation/directive? Yes No

B4. Is this regulation directive available on the internet? Or can it be acquired in text format? Yes No

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ SKS – MEDICO PM FORM B5. Are the criteria for closing down a club accessible on the internet? Yes No B6. Does the Medico provide documentation for more information? chure, booklet etc.) Yes No

B7. Are there informational posters on the walls? Yes No

B8. Does Medico have a webpage? Yes No

B9. Are the signs sufficient? Yes No

B10. Are informative materials such as banners etc used? Yes No

B11.Is information on activities such as courses, exhibitions, conferences, theatres etc available in text written format – e.g. on the website? Yes No B12. Is information on activities promoting and giving information about the university available in text written format – e.g. on the website? Yes No

C. Auditability and Participation C1. How many clubs are there in total at the university?

C2. What are the activity areas of these clubs?

________

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ SKS – MEDICO PM FORM C3. Is it possible to reach the total number of students who have club membership? Yes No C4. Minimum how any people are required to set up a club?

________

C5. Are grade point averages sought as a criteria for founding a society? Yes No

C6. Is it necessary to have an advisor? Yes No C7. Who determines the advisor?

________

C8. Is it possible to found a club on any theme? Yes No

C9. How is the club statute prepared?

C10. Does the university interfere in the club statute? Yes No

C11. Is it possible to do activities with other societies? Yes No

C12. What does the Student Clubs Union do?

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ SKS – MEDICO PM FORM C13. How is the relations of the Student Clubs Union with the management?

C14. How are the union chairman, executive committee, audit committee elected?

C15. To which upper organ are the clubs attached?

C16. Do clubs report to any authority? Yes No

C17. If yes, where/to whom do they report?

C18. What is the funding system of the clubs?

C19. Are the criteria of the funding to be provided to clubs determined? Yes No

C20. Who takes the funding decision?

C21. What is the authorization system for club activities and what are the criteria for such authorization?

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ SKS – MEDICO PM FORM

C22. Can students who are students at the university but not member to any club also organize activities? Yes No C23. What are the criteria for closing down a club?

C24. Who takes the decision to close down a club?

C25. Is it possible to found more than one club on the same theme? Yes No

C26. Is there a student council? Yes No

C27. How are the representatives elected?

C28. Does a club closed down have a chance of reopening? Yes No

C29. Can university students do voluntary work at SKS / Medico? Yes No

C30. Can university students work as wage-earning assistants while studying at SKS / Medico etc? Yes No

C31. What kind of activities are carried out to respond to the talents and interests and leisure preferences of students? (training courses, exhibitions, conferences, drama etc, …)

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ SKS – MEDICO PM FORM

C32. Are these activities on payment basis? Yes No

C33. Do students have to pay to use the sports facilities? Yes No

C34. What terms and conditions are sought for eligibility to use sports facilities?

D. Service Quality D1. Who works with young people wanting to found a club and who are active in clubs?

D2. What is the knowledge/experience of this person?

D3. How is his/her approach to young people?

D4. Does SKS deliver the services for which it is responsible? (banners, photocopy, t-shirts) Yes No D5. Does bureaucracy slow things down? Yes No D6. How much time do they assign to information purposes at the SKS / medico?

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ SKS – MEDICO PM FORM

D7. How is the approach/attitude of the person giving information? Youth-friendly? Yes No

D8. Are social impact analyses carried out at the university?(on psychological problems) Yes No D9. Are there activities to inform students about their future professional careers and job opportunities? Yes No D10. Is there a Career Planning Centre? Yes No

E. Gender Equality E1.How many of the overall students with club membership female and male? Female

________

Male ________ Total ________ E2. What is the number of the personnel working at the Health Centre? Female

________

Male

________

Total ________ F. Right to Health F1. Is there a health centre for students at the university? Yes No

F2. Which polyclinics are available at the Health Centre?

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ SKS – MEDICO PM FORM

F3. Are there any criteria sought for eligibility to treatment? Yes No

F4. If yes, what social security schemes are required? (SSK, Bağkur or health certificate?)

F5. What services are provided to students to meet their medicine requirements spectacles etc?

F6. Are there routine health checks for students? Yes No

F7. If yes, how often?

G. Right to Education G1. Are there scholarship opportunities? Yes No

G2. How many people are given scholarship? Yes No G3. What activities are there to inform and guide about scholarship opportunities?

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ DORM PM FORM A. Physical Conditions A1. What are the dorm entrance/exit hours? Entrance ______ Exit

______

A2. Are all the rooms in the dorm the same? Yes No

A3. How many persons per room? 1

6 7 or more

A4. Is the dorm near the university? Yes No

A5. Is the dorm close to town centre? Yes No

A6. How are the study halls?

A7. Are there enough chairs, desks, tables, lockers? Yes No

A8. Are there places with television, radio, newspapers, periodicals available? Yes No

A9. Are there any heating problems at the dorm? Yes No

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ DORM PM FORM A10. Is there a hot water problem at the dorm? Yes No A11. Until what hour are the cafeterias/canteens open?

________

A12. Is the dorm building disabled-friendly? Yes No

B. Access to Information B1. Is there an orientation programme to inform about the dorm? Yes No

B2. Is there free internet access available at the dorm? Yes No

B3. Are there information/announcement panels in the dorm? Yes No

B4. Is it possible to learn from the info/announcement panels in the dorm about the social activities available at the university/in the city (meetings, concerts, theatres, performances etc.)? Yes No

B5. Do students waiting for dorm placement know at what place they are on the waiting list? Yes No C. Auditability and Participation C1. How are dorm entrance/exit hours determined?

C2. How is the process of obtaining permission to leave the dorm?

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ DORM PM FORM C3. Are there social, cultural, sports activities organized/available in the dorm? Yes No

C4. If yes, please specify?

C5. How are they carried out?

C6. How is the demand?

C7. What are the working hours at the dorm? Start

______

End

______

C8. Do they abide by the working hours at the dorm? Yes No

C9. How is the security system at the dorm?

C10. How do students enter/exit the dorm?

C11. Is there a student representative at the dorm? Yes No

C12. If yes, how is this student representative elected?

Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ DORM PM FORM C13. What is the procedure to carry out an activity at the dorm?

C14. Do young people have a say on these matters? Yes No

C15. Is there a dress code in the dorm? Yes No

C16. Is there a regulation on disciplinary rules at the dorm? Yes No

C17. Is everyone informed about this regulation? Yes No

C18. Is the dorm personnel youth-friendly? Yes No

C19. Is there respect to privacy at the dorm? (room searches, checking belongings of students etc.) Yes No

C20. Are there groupings among students at the dorm? Yes No

D. Service Quality D1. How many students are staying in the dorm? Female ____ Male

____

Total ____

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Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ DORM PM FORM D2. How many personnel work at the dorm?

Female _____ Male

_____

Total

____

D3. Do dorm personnel get in-service training? Yes No

D4. Are there counselling and guidance services at the dorm? Yes No

D5. If yes, how are these services delivered?

D6. Are the common use areas in the dorm clean? Yes No

D7. Are the student rooms regularly cleaned by dorm personnel? Yes No

D8. Does the dorm serve meals? Yes No D9. Are the dorm meals sufficient in terms of quality and variety when compared to other enterprises? Yes No D10. How much does one meal cost at the dorm?

_________TL

D11.Is it prohibited to bring food from the outside into the dorm? Yes No

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Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ DORM PM FORM D12. Are there places where young people can spend their time at close proximity to the dorm? Yes No

D13. Are there places in the dorm where young people can spend time? (cafeteria, netcafe, library etc.) Yes No D14. Are the following available in the dorm? (You can mark multiple options) Restaurant Canteen Cafeteria Laundry Cobbler

Dry Cleaner

Stationery Photocopy

Hairdresser /Barber D15. How does dorm management approach the varying needs, demands and expectations of students? Positive Negative D16. Are the physical structure and social areas of the dorm adequate? Yes No

D17. What sanctions does the financial contract signed during dorm admission include?

D18. Are there power outlets/sockets in the rooms? Yes No

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Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ DORM PM FORM E. Gender Equality E1. Are dorm entry/exit hours the same for female and male students? Yes No

E2. Do dorm rules differ between female and male students? Yes No

E3. Do male personnel enter the sleeping floors in girls’ dorms? Yes No

E4.If yes, is an announcement made beforehand? Yes No

F. Right to Health F1. Is there always a health personnel available for health emergencies at the dorm? Yes No

F2. Is health equipment that can be used in health-related emergencies always available at the dorm? Yes No

F3. Is there a special application for events of communicative diseases? Yes No

G. Right to Housing G1. Does the dorm offer accommodation to students with disabilities? Yes No

G2. Can non-Muslim / exchange students stay at the dorm? Yes No

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Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ DORM PM FORM G3. Can students stay at the dorm during summer school? Yes No

G4. Are there special conditions for accommodation for some students? (families of martyrs, students with disabilities...) Yes No

G5. Does the YURTKUR I.D. Card permit staying in other dorms? Yes No

Annex V: Adrese Büyüteç Mid-Term Meeting Training Programme, List of Participants (15-18 July 2010)

104

NAME- SURNAME

ORGANIZATION

Hazal Tutkan

İstanbul

Hüseyin Parlar

Erzurum

Berçem Çetin

Kilis

Ahmet İlhan

Hatay

Eray Demirel

Trabzon

Naz Kirazlı

Muğla

Belkıs Kaya

Kocaeli

Esra Nevcihan Altun

Konya

Sevgi Aksoy

İzmir

Yahya Mendi

Adana

Gamze Mandik

Ankara

Zafer Dost

Samsun

Mesut Öztürk

Aksaray

Mustafa Dinçer

Malatya

Hasan Çiçek

Kars

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Annex VI: Adrese Büyüteç Mid-Term Meeting Training Programme (15-18 July 2010) 15-18 Jully Adrese Büyüteç id-Therm Meeting Programme Thursday

Saturday

Sunday

Technical Information by project Team

Situation with the Project? The Term Ahead (Calendar)

Monitoring and evaluation

Break

What was our Monitoring Method? Analysis of First Term’s Monitoring Outputs

How to Organize? Field Department Support

Monitoring and evaluation -2

Lunch

How Did You Do It? (exchanging experiences)

Standardization in the Monitoring Method

DEPARTURE

Friday

ARRIVAL

Ek VII: Adrese Büyüteç Study Visits, List of Participants

NAME- SURNAME

ORGANIZATION

Mehmet Can

Malatya

Simge Sönmez

Ankara

Başar Kaya

İstanbul

Esra Karakılıç

Konya

Aşkın Kilis

Trabzon

Elif İnce

Samsun

Emre Yücedal

Erzurum

Hüseyin Şenol Parlak

İzmir

Aysu Taşçı

Kars

İdris Alp

Aksaray

Hasan Bilgin

Muğla

Atakan Tembel

Kilis

Lami Ösge

Adana

Alper Serdar

Kocaeli

Buket Kayaoğlu

Hatay

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Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Ek VIII: Adrese Büyüteç Study Visits, Programme (22-26 September 2010) Wednesday

09:30-10:30 * Why study visit? * Which agencies do what on monitoring? * Where are they on the Map? (2010 Volunteer Programme Office, Halep Pasajı)

11:00-12:30 Amnesty International, Cennet Özcömert (Talimhane Office) ARRIVAL

lunch

106

09:00-10:00 Starting the Day (2010 Volunteer Programme Office, Halep Pasajı) 10:00-12:00 Women for Women’s Rights, Şehnaz Kıymaz Bahçeci (Gümüşsuyu Office)

19:30-20:45 * Welcome *Introduction * Adrese Büyüteç * Logistics (TOG Office)

Saturday

09:00-10:00 Starting the Day (2010 Volunteer Programme Office, Halep Pasajı)

16:00-17:30 ERG Batuhan Aydagül (Karaköy-SA İletişim Merkezi)

18:00-19:30 Evaluation Meeting (2010 Volunteer Programme Office)

09:30-12:00 Adrese Büyüteç Next Steps (TOG Office)

10:00-12:00 TESEV, Hale Akay (Şiirci Kafe)

13:30-14:45 Evaluation (TOG Office)

13:00-15:00 Association for Social Change, Levent Şensever Cengiz Alğan

13:00-15:00 TÜSEV (Başak Etkin & Zeynep Meydanoğlu) (Sabancı Building, Karaköy)

16:00-17:30 Public Expenditures Monitoring Platform, Nurhan Yentürk (Dolapdere-Santral)

Sunday

16:00-18:00 ÇOÇA (Santral, E-3)

18:3019:00 Short Evaluation (2010 Volunteer Programme Office) --------20:00-21:30 Activity

DEPARTURE

Friday

14:00-15:00 Association for Nature (Çengelköy Office) Derya Engin ------------13:00-14:30 KONDA, Bekir Ağırdır (Gayrettepe-Şişli Office)

Dinner

Thursday

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Ek IX: Adrese Büyüteç Final Meeting, List of Participants NAME- SURNAME

ORGANIZATION

Başar Kaya

Istanbul

Fulya Korkan

Istanbul

Gamze Mandik

Ankara

Bulut Öncü

Ankara

Cem Yılmaz

Izmir

Aycan Şahin

Izmir

Alper Serdar

Kocaeli

Aydın Sarıgül

Kocaeli

Serkan Dündar

Muğla

Hasan Bilgin

Muğla

Özgün Köybaşı

Adana

Bekir Kıraç

Adana

Dilay Duman

Hatay

Buket Kayaoğlu

Hatay

Atilla Yılmaz

Kilis

Adnan Turan

Kilis

Mihail Atik

Malatya

Kübra Gülhas

Malatya

Çetin Bitmez

Erzurum

Ayşegül Danacı

Erzurum

Aysu Taşçı

Kars

Fedai Ekinci

Aksaray

İdris Alp

Aksaray

Mehmet Kaya

Konya

Bilal Dönmez

Samsun

Aşkın Kilis

Trabzon

Eray Demirci

Trabzon

Arzu Ulutaş

Edirne

Sebiha Küçükçal

Edirne

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Monitoring, Evaluation and Conceptual Framework

Ek X: Adrese Büyüteç Final Meeting, Programme (20-23 January 2011) Thursday

ARRIVAL

108

KICK OFF

Saturday

Sunday

TELL YOUR STORY!

WHAT IS ADVOCACY AND LOBBYING?

FINAL CURVE IN THE PROJECT

Coffee Break

ONCE UPON A TIME ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ ONCE UPON A TIME ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ

WHY ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ? WHY LOBBYING IN ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ?

FOCUS GROUP EVALUATION

Lunch

WHAT OUR FINDINGS SAY -1

LOBBYING PROGRAMME AND INSTITUTIONS

EVALUATION AND CLOSING

Coffee Break

WHAT OUR FINDINGS SAY -2

LOBBYING

Dinner

FILM NIGHT

PARTY?

DEPARTURE

Dinner

Friday

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Annex XI: Adrese Büyüteç Lobby Marathon, List of Participants

NAMA-SURNAME

ORGANIZATION

Gökhan Yay

İstanbul

Fulya Korkan

İstanbul

Gamze Mandik

Ankara

Bulut Öncü

Ankara

Cem Yılmaz

İzmir

Aycan Şahin

İzmir

Alper Serdar

Kocaeli

Aydın Sarıgül

Kocaeli

Serkan Dündar

Muğla

Hasan Bilgin

Muğla

Özgün Köybaşı

Adana

Dilay Duman

Hatay

Atilla Yılmaz

Kilis

Adnan Turan

Kilis

Mihail Atik

Malatya

Kübra Gülhas

Malatya

Çetin Bitmez

Erzurum

Emre Yücedal

Erzurum

Aysu Taşçı

Kars

Fedai Ekinci

Aksaray

İdris Alp

Aksaray

Mehmet Kaya

Konya

Bilal Dönmez

Samsun

Aşkın Kilis

Trabzon

Eray Demirel

Trabzon

Arzu Ulutaş

Edirne

Sebiha Küçükçal

Edirne

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Monitoring, evaluation Conceptual Framework

PROJECT ACTIVITIES & CONCEPTUAL DISCUSSIONS Volkan Akkuş, Project Expert

Adrese Büyüteç is an advocacy project in which young people monitor the institutions from which they receive services, using the “participatory monitoring” method. By using the participatory monitoring (PM) method, the project turned the experiences in which young people were the “subjects” into tangible, concrete data, and became an advocacy activity by bringing these data to the attention of relevant bodies through activities such as “study visits” and a “lobby marathon”. The information about how the idea for this project first emerged and the ensuing maturation process can be found in the 2008 report20 of the project. For more detailed information on the project phases, the project website21 can be consulted. This section includes information on the conceptual bases of the Adrese Büyüteç idea, the discussions taking place during the course of the project, the theoretical/conceptual rationale and reasons for which these activities were carried out with the relevant 20 for detailed information, see: http:// www.scribd. com/doc/30852850/AdreseBuyutec-2008- Pilot-Proje-Raporu 21 for detailed information, see: http://www. adresebuyutec.net

110

persons/institutions. The subsequent pages will attempt to briefly answer the following questions: 1. What are the conceptual pillars of the Adrese Büyüteç Project? 2. Which discussions and contents did project activities involve? 3. What were the project activities and contents, along with the whys and hows?

WHAT ARE THE CONCEPTUAL PILLARS OF ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ? The main pillar of the Adrese Büyüteç idea starts by addressing the youth, including university students who are a relatively lucky minority, as a disadvantaged group in terms of their representation and access to social rights and services. The perception on “youth”, which has varying definitions in almost all references and which is identified with varying age ranges, never goes beyond them being the “individuals of the future”. On the other hand, institutions engaged in debates on the youth’s human rights, “social rights” and “needs” unique to their life experiences, are unfortunately limited to NGOs and youth organizations carrying out rights-based activities. Regardless of where or how they are defined, the functioning of the mechanisms related to the representation and right demands of the youth is questionable. This representation issue surfaces through many problems such as the number of young individuals managing to find a place for themselves within the

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

parliamentary system, the average age of officials responsible for making decisions “on behalf of the youth”, and the poor functioning of the local and national participation mechanisms. As a result, we are now face to face with a relevant, deep-reaching debate about the functioning of the contract between the social state and young individuals. Addressing the debate on human rights and social rights on a needs-based platform and making the related data visible will help us get an idea on the quality and adequacy of the services provided to young people. The main basis on which Adrese Büyüteç was founded since its emergence as an idea was to reach the information on whether the services provided under the contract between the individual and the state were adequate and functioning. In Turkey’s situation, considering the experiences of the young people, it is clearly seen that there are some problems about the services provided by the institutions monitored under the project. Adrese Büyüteç was designed as an advocacy activity to enable young people, who were having various problems in communicating their demands about the services provided to them within the representative democracy practice, to make their demands known. The project structure that highlights “participatory democracy” is of particular importance in the sense that it is oriented to ensure participation of young people, who are regarded as a “homogenous group of the individuals of the future”

by representative democracy and who are often ignored, in the policies that primarily affect them. Setting of with volunteerism and advocacy as participation tools, the project uses the “participatory monitoring” (PM) method as an advocacy tool. In short, with the PM method, young people who have things to say and demands ad suggestions to make regarding the their representation and the provision of their fundamental social rights have found the opportunity to communicate to relevant institutions the data they have collected, through this advocacy tool. In the project continuing since 2010 January, young people took part in the project as “activists” seeking representation for some of their common needs as the “subjects” of their political demands and suggestions. In the introduction to this study, you can find information on “Deciding On Behalf of Others”, “Advocacy and Service”, “Experience and Experience-Based Advocacy”.

PROJECT ACTIVITIES & DISCUSSIONS Adrese Büyüteç Project Training: Why Adrese Büyüteç Training?

The main purpose of the training conceived in the beginning of the project which, as an advocacy activity, identified the monitoring method as its conceptual basis, was to engage in discussions on citizenship, participation, advocacy and participatory monitoring with the

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Monitoring, evaluation Conceptual Framework

12-17 March 2010 Adrese Büyüteç Project, Training Programme Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Expectations, Project & Programme Introduction

Policy Influence

Noah’s Youth Pudding

Telescope

Fellowship of the Ring

Break

INTRODUCTION

2 3

Monitoring

What do I need?

Experiences Fellowship of the Sweet and Sour Ring

Lunch

Institutions -1

Netting

Evaluation

What’s Tower of Babel happening in Life? Break Advocacy Examples

Yemek

Citizenship

Evaluation

Welcome, Introduction, Technical Information

Dinner

Briefing

Break History of Youth 101

Institutions -2

Evaluation Dinner

Break

Dinner

What next?

Evaluation

Golden Orange; ”Demir Çeneli Kadınlar” Film Display

volunteers who would be executing the project. In this framework, it was felt necessary to organize an inception training that would have a positive effect on the related knowledge, skills and opinions of young volunteers in order to support the intended discussion and the political work. On the other hand, a training of this format was necessary to transfer and disseminate the experienced gained in the piloting phase regarding “monitoring”, which was a fairly new method in Turkey, and to involveyoung people in this project process of

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Evaluation Dinner

STARTING!

which they were the “subjects”. It was planned that the project volunteers engaged in these theoretical discussions and leaving the training with adequate knowledge on the PM method would have a determining effect on activities such as study visits and the lobby marathon in the ensuing phases of the project. Training methodology & Conceptual/ Theoretical Content

The conceptual flow of the training designed for young volunteers who would carry out the monitoring

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

activities of the project and report their experiences was built on citizenship and social rights as its foundation. In this conceptual context, the first topic discussed with the young volunteers who would be monitoring public agencies in their local areas was “citizenship”. Within the “equality and peerage” frame of this conceptual discussion, the project coordination and training team chose to use non- formal methods22 and the peer education23 model. Based on the rights-based approach of the project, citizenship was addressed as a contract with the state. Within the frame of this contract, the state has the obligation to meet the needs of its citizens, including the special needs of each group, by using the resources obtained through the tax system. This entire discussion was structured on the “principle of indivisibility of rights”24 which is shaped on a human rights basis and which stands against the existence of a hierarchy25 between rights. Not mentioning some of the discussions put forth by the “organized, activist youth” in this part of the

22 for detailed information, see: http://www. unesco. org/iiep/eng/focus/emergency/ guidebook/ Chapter12.pdf http://www. infed.org/biblio/b-nonfor.htm http:// egitimheryerde.org/web/non-formal- yayginegitim-hakkinda 23 for detailed information, see: http:// en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Peer_education 24 for detailed information, see: http://www. sosyalhaklar.net/2009/bildiri/gulmez.pdf 25 25 for detailed information, see: http:// tr.wikipedia. org/wiki/Maslow_teorisi for detailed information, see:

training would have meant ignoring a picture of Turkey with regard to the current situation of the discussion and perception of rights. From these initial conceptual discussions of the Training Programme, we recall the following as being highly meaningful: • The approach from the frame of state and law uses the “citizenship” discourse, while organized civil approach uses the “citizen” concept. • “Citizenship” comes to foreground when concepts such as unity, uniting, unison are used, and “citizenship” comes to fore in actions related to the demand for rights. • In the contract between the state and the citizen, ‘citizen’ is the individual who has duties and from whom some things are expected, while a “ national” is an individual who demands something from the state and its mechanisms. • The definition of “... speaking the same language and moving together towards the same goal” is far from being a rights-based approach. Beyond these, it was discussed that the “nationality” concept does not mean “equal representation”, and that having social rights cannot in practice prevent some groups from becoming disadvantaged. In short, under headings such as representation and the delivery of social rights to certain standards, the disadvantaged positions of various social groups were opened

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to discussion based on the training modules and the personal experiences of the participants, who were young individuals themselves. As an output of this thematic discussion, it was found that lack of equal representation can cause different social groups to become disadvantaged, though there are methods for demanding rights and “participation” in decision mechanisms and policies through and civic rights within the constitutional system. At the end of this thematic section, as data input the conceptual texts by Kymlicka and Norman were discussed. This conceptual text focuses on the new citizenship perception and social contract. This approach, defining the citizenship concept on the concepts of “Status-Belonging-Engagement” constitutes a conceptual basis for the advocacy studies the project teams foresees to carry out. According to this approach, which defined status based on identity/citizenship certificate, citizenship defines –at last on paper – an equality. This social contract also defined “rights and duties”. The concept of belonging focuses on the individual’s geographical, political, ethnic, cultural etc belonging, depending on the content. Lastly, the “engagement” concept defines the individual’s 26

representation and participation. Through these three concepts as a whole, a transition was made to the new thematic section that opened to discussion the practices and private area of life under the heading of “policy”. Within this thematic block, some of the questions raised by project volunteers included the following: • The discourse of fundamental rights and freedoms is used in virtually the entire public domain, however there is no clarity as to what exactly they cover. • Does pluralism mean plurality or majority? • Are individuals/groups remaining impartial towards a policy matter considered apolitical? • Is democracy a decision-making process or a participation mechanism? • If representative democracy is a system of bargaining and mutual compromise, what can we do about the victimized party? • Old-age, sickness etc are disadvantages that can happen to anyone. So who should design the system?

Representation and Participation → Advocacy → Influencing the Decision-Makers → IInterest → Participatory Methods In Advocacy 26 for detailed information, see: http://fds.oup. com/ www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-829644-4.pdf

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→ Reporting, Campaigning Lobbying, Modelling

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After discussion of citizenship and policy, the new conceptual discussion focused on the concept and ways of ”participation”, “advocacy”, and monitoring as a method. The discussion followed the following course: The main output of this discussion was that the perception that no method is absolutely effective on its own and that all methods are actually interlinked and can achieve effectiveness when used together. After examining the good examples of each method used in advocacy, the session moved on to “civil monitoring” as a participatory method, with a more information-based content.

The theoretical information input on “civil monitoring”, which constituted the foundation of this thematic section, formed the backbone of the session. Participants were given information on the civil monitoring method, as outlined by Homeros Fuentes. The “Participatory Monitoring” section in the introduction can be referred to for this method. In order for civil monitoring to be, “participatory monitoring”, it is necessary that those doing the monitoring be a part, i.e. subject/actor, of the process. When we look at Adrese Büyüteç from this perspective:

Identify Goals and Stakeholders → Adrese Büyüteç Project Training

Identify Indicators and Monitoring Areas → Identify the Monitoring Method with Participants

Gather Information/Data → Local Monitoring, Developing the Youth Policy Discussion Areas, Study Visits, Visits Between Grassroots Organizations, Expert Meetings

Analyze Results → Expert Analyses and Articles, Mid-term Meeting and Final Meeting

Share Results → Website, Project Report, Lobby Marathon and Publishing a Guide Book, Project Documentary

Take Action → It can be said that monitoring projects like Adrese Büyüteç have received demands from grassroots organizations.

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However, despite this optimist picture, it should be noted that project volunteers had some concerns, especially during the lobbying activities, about exactly which institutions/persons should be monitored and how these persons/ entities would respond. The links27 given below can be accessed for more detailed information on advocacy. Regarding the project implementation, a general discussion was run on the “advocacy” activities that would be carried out after the end of the thematic section with a focus on knowledge and skills. The topics addressed in view of advocacy included “the rights of women, children, persons with disabilities, culture & arts, and freedom of expression and worker rights”. It is hard to see the headlines used in the newspaper prepared by participants as heart-warming. However, this situation analyses proved a useful activity in terms of discussing the good examples and the problems experienced about advocacy and representation in Turkey. After this session, which was mainly an analysis of the civil domain and advocacy activities, an enabling environment was created for information exchange and discussions on the project’s own area. “What is the situation in the Area of Youth Policies?” In the session, participants attempted to draw a 27 for detailed information, see: http://www. newtactics.org/ , http://stk.bilgi.edu.tr/ savunuculukseminer.asp http://stk.bilgi.edu. tr/docs/SAVUNUCULUK.pdf

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detailed picture of the area of youth policies in view of the changes it has gone through since 1960s, its actors, activities, and the changes public institutions and their legal frameworks. Discussion topics included student movements, military interventions, economic depressions, the environmental movement, emergence of neo-liberalism, constitutional amendments and, in particular, the changes in the civil and youth domain since late 1990s. The active participation of the learners in discussions on rapid growth of the civil area, and the increase in the resources allocated to this area was promising in terms of the political ground which the project aimed for. Identifying the general situation of the area which the project intended to intervene in left a positive effect on the motivations of the participants to influence the political processes affecting their own lives. In an environment where youth is defined as a homogenous group with common needs, one of the discussions –naturally- focused on the question of- “who are the youth?”. While it was propounded that the youth, which is indeed not a homogenous group, has varying needs and expectations, it was also suggested that there are some common topics that concern the group as a whole within the context of fundamental social rights. Participants discussed how public institutions operate in terms of meeting the common needs of the youth area and the specific needs of the relatively disadvantaged groups included within

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

the youth. It appears that there is a priority need for special policies regarding services received by young people in special cases such as being a young person in Turkey, being young and female in Turkey, being young and disabled in Turkey, and being young, disabled and female and member of an ethnic/cultural group in Turkey. The Adrese Büyüteç team, placing the project’s conceptual frame on a rights-based approach, identified the next discussion area as where agencies to be monitored stand in terms of the needs of the youth. The ensuring discussions focused on the needs of the youth within the context of social rights, and the general situation of the public entities that have the obligation to meet these needs as a requirement of the social contract. During the discussion that was shaped with the experiences of the youth, focus was on the expectations of the youth from public institutions, the duties of these institutions as identified by the laws, and the extent to which these duties were fulfilled in practice. The main path to be followed in this PM-based advocacy activity will be to observe whether the responsible institutions meet the needs of young people with suitable, adequate and quality services –at least- in keeping with their definitions in the law. The legal bases of using the available data, or rather the experiences of young people with the institutions from which they receive service, as an advocacy tool by transforming it into a demand for rights will be the duties of these laws as defined in the laws and regulations.

Hence, this section of the training was allocated to examining the duties and legislations of the institutions to be monitored. In the third section of this book, you can find articles including the data analyses related to these institutions. As a result of almost five days of training and discussion the categories of monitoring to be conducted were identified and it was attempted to finalize the monitoring method and the PM forms. It was decided that in order to ensure “participatory” monitoring, local teams should make their monitoring reports by experiencing the services provided by the institutions. 2. Adrese Büyüteç Miterm Meeting: Why Mid-Term Meeting?

A Mid-term Meeting was felt necessary so as to evaluate the progress with project volunteers from local organizations, exchange experiences on the PM process and work on ensuring standardization in the quality of the PM data. Meeting Content

At the 3-day meeting, problems encountered in local PM works, the internal issues encountered in the organizations of local teams during the long project duration, and the standardization of the data were some of the agenda items. Almost the entire meeting was structured on the demands from local organizations and the areas in which support was needed. Moreover, the content of the study visits to be conducted in the coming

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days, the institutions to be visited and the agenda items to be discussed in the interviews with institutions were shared by the project team. Since the PM reports were to be categorized and evaluated for each relevant institution, the efforts to create a common language were taken further ahead during this meeting to ensure a common reporting methodology and exchange of personal experiences. Lastly, the project calendar and project objectives were reviewed, with fresh discussions on the main purpose of the project: the need to have young people make demands for their own on matters of which they are the subjects. 3. Study Visits: Why Study Visits?

On the basis of the advocacy activities and tools discussed in the project background, it is critical to create an agenda on the activities conducted and data gathered, as well as to exchange information with stakeholders. Hence, project volunteers visited and interviewed 10 institutions within the scope of the study visits conducted in Istanbul. Another output of the study visits was that it ensured networking with other organizations active in the civil area. Institutions Visited &

International, an organization carrying out worldwide reporting activities on violations of human and all other rights, volunteers received information on the reporting and monitoring activities of the organization, which also monitors ongoing cases on violation of rights • KONDA Research29: Originally a survey company, KONDA works as an NGO, finds funding for its projects and publishes study reports on social issues. Meeting content mostly included how the methods were used and techniques to ensure healthy data gathering. During the meeting, which was highly fruitful for the project team, an in-depth discussion was carried out on the policy effects of reporting on and ensuring visibility of social issues. • Association for Nature30: The meeting with Association for Nature, a highly active organization on nature protection and ecology in Turkey, focused on exchanging experiences. Carrying out monitoring activities mostly in the field of ecology, the organization provided some valuable feedback on the method used. • Women for Women’s Human Rights (WWHR) – New Ways31:

Content of the Visits

• Amnesty International28: At meeting with Amnesty

28 for detailed information, see: http://www. amnesty. org.tr/ai/

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29 for detailed information, see: http://www. konda. com.tr/ 30 for detailed information, see: http://www. dogadernegi.org/ 31 for detailed information, see: http://www. Femaleininsanhaklari.org/

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An organization highly active in advocacy and lobbying on the human rights of women in Turkey, WWHR also monitors the press and the ongoing cases and publishes shadow reports from a civilian perspective. In the meeting, volunteers learned about the reporting and lobbying experiences of the organization, their methods, and their opinions on the general situation of their activity area. • Hale Akay, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)32: TESEV is a foundation operating as a “think-tank” on social and economic issues in Turkey. It organizes meetings and releases publications in areas such as democratization and good governance. At the meeting, participants talked to Hale Akay about the details of her report on the military and security in Turkey. • Education Reform Initiative (ERG)33: Active since 2003 under the Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Centre, ERG works to influence decisionmakers and create dialogue platforms with stakeholders to realize an education reform in Turkey. Monitoring and observing educational reforms is also one of the aims of organization. The

meeting with ERG focused mostly on the general situation of the education area in Turkey and the activities that should be carried out on the education-youth axis. • Third Sector Foundation of Turkey (TÜSEV)34: Describing the civil society as the third sector next to the public and private sector, TÜSEV works on legal issues, inter-sectoral collaborations, and effective utilization of resources for NGOs, and has many associations and foundations under its umbrella. The meeting was in the format of exchanging views on the STEP (Civil Society Index Project) and the various approaches regarding the general situation of the civil sector in Turkey. • Public Expenditures Monitoring Platform (PEMP)35: PEMP is a monitoring platform run by over 50 organizations under the auspices of the Istanbul Bilgi University NGO Research and Training Centre. Unlike Adrese Büyüteç, PEMP uses its “right to information” to monitor from official channels the budgets of public agencies, with an aim to ensure visibility of the obtained data through trainings and camps and create a pressure mechanism through letters sent to the TGNA. At the meeting, the data

32 for detailed information, see: http://www. tesev. org.tr/default.asp?PG= ANATR

34 for detailed information, see: http://www. tusev. org.tr/

33 for detailed information, see: http://erg. sabanciuniv.edu/

35 for detailed information, see: http://www. kahip. org/index.html

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gathered by the platform were briefly shared, then, the strategic use of monitoring and information within the context of rights were discussed as main topics. • Association for Social Change36: Say Stop To Racism and Nationalism (DUR DE!)37Initiative, under which many organizations and foundations are gathered, has assumed an active role in the fight against hate crimes and hate speech in Turkey. The meeting focused on DUR DE! Initiative’s press-scanning and reporting activities against hate speech. The activities carried out to ensure visibility of the existence of and fight against hate speech as an advocacy tool provided a new perspective to the project team and introduced them to this new method. • Istanbul Bilgi University Children’s Studies Unit38: Istanbul Bilgi University Children’s Studies Unit is actively involved in the Rights in Education Advocacy Platform, Child Neglect and Abuse Prevention Platform and the Public Expenditures Monitoring Platform, and follows the works of the Network Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CTCS), Anti-Poverty 36 for detailed information, see: http://www. sosyaldegisim.org/ 37 for detailed information, see: http://www. durde. org/ 38 for detailed information, see: http:// cocukcalismalari.bilgi.edu.tr/

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Network and Justice for Children Initiative (ÇİAG). The main topics of the meeting included the issues in the children’s area, the point reached in advocacy activities and the monitoring and reporting activities carried out in the children’s area. After the Study Visits/ Rapporteur’s Note:

It can be said that the study visits were highly effective in terms of introducing the participants with some innovative methods used in the monitoring, reporting and advocacy works carried out in Turkey-and in some cases in the world. Additionally, it was also gratifying to see the development of the perception that Adrese Büyüteç is not the only project in this field, the monitored institutions are not the only institutions in this field, which brings together a multitude of stakeholders interested in policy issues, and hence that it is possible to employ many new and different methods. 4. Final Meeting and Preparing for the Lobby Marathon Why Final Meeting?

It was felt that a meeting was needed before the lobby marathon so as to prepare, review and share the data gathered throughout the project. Since project team and institutions did not have sufficient lobbying experience, it was necessary to compile the data into a lobbying tool and prepare the lobbying team for the marathon via sessions with people/institutions who had experience/expertise on lobbying.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Final Meeting - Content:

The meeting content was designed to make a final evaluation of the whole process with the project team before the lobby marathon and to deepen the discussion on advocacy and lobbying in the civil area. other agenda items included sharing the lobbying schedule and the documents produced under the project as well as getting feedback. The programme flow leaned mostly towards sharing theoretical information on the lobbying activity, the institutions and the lobbying experiences with the project team rather than theoretical or conceptual discussions on the civil area. The difficulty of finding Turkish reference books on lobbying, the fact that written sources were mostly based on the legal frameworks of the EU39, the European countries or the USA made it difficult to carry the discussions to the practices in Turkey. 5. Lobby Marathon:

The purpose of the lobby marathon, which was the final activity of the project, was to communicate the data compiled from the experiences of young participants, their demands, suggestions and complaints to the monitored institutions and the relevant stakeholders. Through the lobby marathon, available data were shared with experts and officials of agencies and organizations including the State

39 for detailed information, see: http:// ec.europa. eu/civil_society/interest_groups/ docs/ workingdocparl.pdf

Planning Organization, Delegation of the European Union to Turkey, Department of Youth Services, Political Parties, Directorate General of Local Administrations, TGNA Youth Commission, and the Presidency of the Student Council. It would indeed be overly optimistic to expect readily observable effects after an advocacy activities like the lobby marathon. Thus, as was discussed at the final meeting, longerterm objectives were identified before starting the lobby marathon. However, the feedback from institutions, the interest shown to our available data by stakeholders, the contact information acquired and the thus opening od the doors of the highest-level decisionmaking mechanisms, left a positive impact on project volunteers and the coordination team. It is gratifying to see that the data produced through over one year of monitoring and reporting finally served as an advocacy tool, reaching their intended recipients. After the Lobby Marathon and the Project / Rapporteur’s Note:

Since the lobby marathon designed to share the project outputs was too close to the general elections, some important stakeholders, such as political parties, did not give us appointments, which was unfortunate. On the other hand, our inability to get an appointment from some other critical institutions, such as the Ministry of Health and the Council of Higher Education, give ample evidence on the challenges of carrying out advocacy activities in Turkey.

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Communicating this study and the project outputs firsthand to these stakeholders is still something that implementing institutions must do. As a positive impact, it would be unfair not to mention that a lot of positive feedbacks were received from members of the press and the NGOs working in similar areas in the civil sector, with which the project outputs were shared. We hope to see the effects of our civil monitoring activities and project outputs on the civil area in Turkey, on the services received by the youth as part of their social rights, and on the culture of advocacy of rights.

REFERENCES: • http://stk.bilgi.edu.tr/docs/ SAVUNUCULUK.pdf • www.newtactics.org • http://fds.oup.com/www.oup. co.uk/ pdf/0-19-829644-4.pdf • Citizenship In Diverse Societies, Will Kymlicka, Wayne Norman • http://wikipedia.org • www.stgm.org.tr • www.bianet.org • hdr.undp.org/en/media/hdr04_ biblios.pdf • http://ec.europa.eu/civil_ society/interest_groups/docs/ workingdocparl.pdf

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ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ VISUAL DOCUMENTATION PROCESS

Project Training

The visual documentation of Adrese Büyüteç was produced in three phases:

Project Team’s Preparation and Evaluation Meetings

• Planning • Implementation • Framing / Montage The visual documentation consists of video recordings during the field activities and some interviews with the project team and experts to support the content.

PLANNING To highlight the elements included in the documentation objectives, the planning focused on the project calendar and the goals desired to be reached. The questions to be asked in the interviews and the elements we wanted to emphasize regarding the activities were also identified during the planning phase. We determined the documentary content together with the coordination team and the trainers and experts involved in the project. Hence, each revision and feedback helped us prepare a product conveying new perspectives fed by a diversity of experiences.

IMPLEMENTATION Implementation was the phase in which we recorded the project activities on video.

Mid-term Meeting Local Monitoring Works Youth Panels Lobby Marathon

The recordings were designed to answer the following questions: What is being done? Why? Hence, we were able to create the sections containing information on the purpose, function and programme of the activity. The data given by young volunteers who conducted the monitoring and who took part in all project phases on both the activities and their own learning processes were what fed the project and hence the documentary most. Our experiences and the suggestions arising from them should be regarded as information that organizations/Initiatives wanting to conduct civil monitoring projects can benefit from and that can help them in identifying realistic, participationoriented, measurable and sustainable objectives, because another objective of the visual documentation was to become a guide for future monitoring projects. Hence, the data we compiled from the observations, suggestions and comments of young volunteers also helped the objective of producing a documentation that could serve as

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a guide. Therefore, another question we asked to the project coordination team and the young volunteers who implemented the project in the field and who are the most effective stakeholders of the project was “How did we do it?”.

another monitoring project. Hence, the interviews gave references to our experiences but adopted the perspective of an ideal monitoring project based on the participatory method in consideration of the needs and facilities likely to change in cases of other projects.

FRAMING / MONTAGE

The documentary is published on the project website (www.adresebuyutec. net) and the websites of the implementing organizations, TOG (www.tog.org. tr) and GÇB (http:// genclik.bilgi.edu.tr). CD versions have also been distributed to institutions, local organizations and project volunteers collaborating in the project. It also became an additional document to the documentation prepared at the end of the project for sharing with the field.

We took care to make the recordings in the natural environment of the activities, to the extent possible. We edited the recordings from 11 field activities by compiling 58 video cassettes. Interviews with experts and the project coordination team under each title helped us in creating the main framework of the documentary and conveying the project with references to the project calendar. As mentioned in the section on the implementation phase, one of the projectobjectives was to create a documentary that could guide/help

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SITUATION OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS PROVIDING YOUTH REPRESENTATION AND SERVICES IN TURKEY Youth Assemblies (Youth Representability) EU Offices (Youth’s Right to Mobility and Education) Dorms of the Institution of Student Loans and Dorms (Youth’s Right to Housing) GSGM Youth Centres SKS (Freedom to Organize In Universities) MEDICO (Health Services in Universities)

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YOUTH ASSEMBLIES (YOUTH REPRESENTABILITY) Ali Ercan Özgür

INTRODUCTION Within the frame of the Adrese Büyüteç’s monitoring on Youth Assemblies, the Youth Assemblies of different provinces were visited by volunteers who served in, received services from or wanted to get information on the Assemblies. In these visits, the structure, functioning, and province-wide roles of youth assemblies were evaluated based on various criteria including youth representation and stakeholder relations. Analysis based on these M&E activities and the historical framework were discussed along with suggestions for improvement of youth assemblies. This section addresses the youth assemblies PM work carried out by Adrese Büyüteç. In this scope, first the general legal and historical framework of youth assemblies will be presented. Section two will inform about the methods used in the youth assembly visits, inspections and interviews, and section three will give an analysis based on the data obtained through the PM work. The last section will offer practical nd supportive suggestions for

development and empowerment of youth assemblies.

SECTION 1 – YOUTH ASSEMBLIES – GENERAL FRAMEWORK On the global scale, the emergence of youth assemblies took place with the increase in local/grassroots participation. However, in practice, youth councils organized at the national level were more effective. In this scope, Europe comes as a significant example. The European Youth Forum is also a strong example as the umbrella organization of national youth councils organized in Europe. The Swedish Youth Council founded in 1933 is accepted as the oldest youth council in Europe.40 At this point, to prevent a conceptual differentiation, it should be noted that although assembly and council appear to have different usages, they are essentially two words used to describe the same thing: a youth formation or platform. In this study, council will be used for “national Youth Council” and assembly will be used for “Local Youth Assemblies”. It is seen that Local Youth Assemblies are usually widespread in countries with federal governments of strong local governments. In this sense, it can be said that there is a direct relationship between the development of youth assemblies and local governments. The European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional 40 “European Charter on Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life” http://www.coe.int/t/ dg4/ youth/Source/Coe_youth/Participation/ COE_charter_participation_tu.pdf

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Life, adopted by the Council of Europe (CoE) in 1992 is an important indicator of the relationship between local governments and youth assemblies.41 The Charter was revised in 2003, undertaking an essential role in the development of wide-scoped local youth policies. Part III of the Charter provides the framework of the roles and duties of youth assemblies. In this sense, this general description and guideline can be instrumental in examining the practices of local youth assemblies in Turkey and discussing the ideal structure of youth assemblies. According to the Charter: • “Effective participation of young people in local and regional affairs should be based on their awareness of the social and cultural changes taking place within their community, and requires a permanent representative structure such as a youth council, a youth parliament or a youth forum.” • “The roles of such a structure might include: ■ providing a forum for the free expression by young people of their concerns, relating, inter alia, to proposals and policies of the authorities; ■ offering the possibility for young people to make proposals to the local and regional authorities; 41 for detailed information, see: http:// www. kentkonseyleri.net/changepage. aspx?lg=2&pi=123

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■ enabling authorities to consult young people on specific issues; ■ providing a forum where projects involving young people are developed, monitored and evaluated; ■ providing a forum to facilitate consultation with young people’s associations and organisations; ■ facilitating the participation of young people in other consultative bodies of the local and regional authorities.” While the CoE and the EU hold a light to empowerment of local youth assemblies in Europe with their advanced experienced and legal frameworks on local democracy, urbanization and participation, the United Nations (UN) started to contribute to this process on the global scale, in particular with the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).In Chapter 25 of the “Agenda 21”, which is the final declaration of the conference and which outlines the agenda for the 21st century, it is stated that “It is imperative that youth from all parts of the world participate actively in all relevant levels of decision-making processes because it affects their lives today and has implications for their futures. In addition to their intellectual contribution and their ability to mobilize support, they bring unique perspectives that need to be taken into account.” Agenda 21 Chapter 28 recommends adoption of “Local Agenda 21”s to

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strengthen participation through local governments. With the following 1996 Habitat II, Istanbul Summit, establishment of local youth assemblies emerged as an important process through inclusion in the UN agenda. 10 years after the Rio Conference, in 2002, an evaluation conference was held in, Johannesburg, South Africa, which produced the “Rio+10: Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development”. Paragraph 170 of the Implementation Plan forms an important international legal basis for the establishment of local youth assemblies: “Promote and support youth participation in programmes and activities relating to sustainable development through, for example, supporting local youth councils or their equivalent, and by encouraging their establishment where they do not exist”. Local Youth Assemblies started to be established in Turkey with the launch of Turkey’s “Local Agenda 21”, in partnership with the International Union of Local Authorities Section for the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East Region (IULA-EMME), UNDP Turkey, Ministry of Interior and the State Planning Organization. The youth cocoon activities of the habitat II Summit held in 1996 in Istanbul, and in particular the youth and civil participation meetings held in various cities played a great role in the development of local youth assemblies in Turkey. Under the umbrella of the Youth for Habitat International network, support

was given for the establishment and operations of local youth assemblies, which has been continuing since 1997 under the Local Agenda 21 Programme. Efforts to establish youth assemblies continued in many towns in Turkey, and supported in 2003 with the “National Youth Parliament” which was formed by the local youth assemblies operating in Turkey. The National Youth Parliament (UGP), which also serves as a platform, has become a structure representing over 70 local youth assemblies, where these assemblies gather at certain intervals to discuss youth issues and plan campaigns targeting decision-makers. Also acting on behalf of the local youth in the preparation of the Municipality Law no. 5393 of 2005, UGP and local youth assemblies played a role in the preparation of Article 76 of the Law, which laid down the provisions concerning the establishment of City Councils and gave youth assemblies a powerful representative role. The regulation on City Councils adopted in 2006 provided a solid legal basis for representation of youth assemblies at town level, by setting forth that the City Council steering committee consists of 7 members including the chairpersons of women and youth assemblies. The establishment of City Councils was made mandatory for municipalities with a population of over 10,000 with said regulation and law; hence, the number of youth assemblies also increased following 2005. As a result of all these, the roles and activity areas of local youth assemblies, the relationship between city councils

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and youth assemblies, the role of youth assemblies in the National Youth Parliament, relations with local actors and the legal status of the assemblies were recommended in the Local Agenda 21 Programme as follows42:

strengthening cultural exchanges and bridges of friendship with the youth in other countries; and contributing to the development of holistic youth policies at the national level and formation of the National Youth Council.”

“The common principles adopted by all Youth Assemblies include standing up to all forms of discrimination; protecting and furthering youth rights at the local level within the framework of national and international conventions; not engaging in any vertical relation with any political formation; observing gender equality; being transparent and sharing; ensuring impartiality, unconditionality and equality in exchange of information; avoiding practices that serve personal interests in the activities; working on the “volunteerism” basis; being open to new participants; announcing all activities to members; consulting the opinions of all members and ensuring their participation.

Hence, a National Youth Council emerged from the local youth assemblies that were already experienced in the Local Agenda 21. It can be said that these processes, in which knowledge, local democracy experiences and youth participation played an important role, the legal framework was in conformity with the international instruments although new for Turkey.

The multi-dimensional functions of the Youth Assembly include ensuring that the youth has a say in local governments, participate in planning, decision-making and implementation processes; promoting youth-related programmes and facilitating their implementation; empowering youth organizations and developing an awareness on organizing; encouraging exchange of knowledge and experiences among the youth;

42 for detailed information, see: http:// www. kentkonseyleri.net/changepage. aspx?lg=2&pi=123

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SECTION 2 – METHODOLOGY It is important evaluate the development and current situation of local youth assemblies, which have become widespread in the course of the last five years, within the legal framework described above. In this sense, the current position of youth assemblies, where they stand in the legislation, and their effect in the area of youth representation will be evaluated through the analysis arising from the monitoring & evaluation work carried out using the method that will be explain below. In this sense, the youth assemblies will be evaluated based mainly on their representational achievements in addition to the services they provide, unlike the other Adrese Büyüteç PM’s carried out on other institutions such as SKS, Institution of Loans and Dorms, Youth Centres and EU Offices.

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The youth assemblies were monitored through visits paid at different times in the cities selected in consideration of geographical balance. In the visits, the questionnaires prepared beforehand (PM Forms) were administered to relevant authorized persons, with questions falling under the following categories: 1. Physical Conditions, 2. Capacity to Access Information, 3. Auditability and Participation Gaps, 4. Service Quality and

and evaluation. Among the visited cities, Adana, Izmir, Kars, Kocaeli and Malatya had some considerable experiences from the previous years with regard to Local Agenda 21. hence, this perspective was included in the evaluations and analyses. The last element that restricted the PM&E was that youth assemblies were considered as service structures like youth centres. The failure to see youth assemblies as mainly representative mechanisms adversely affected the evaluation.

5. Gender Equality Visits were made in the provinces of Adana, Ankara, Erzurum, Istanbul, Izmir, Kars, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Muğla, Samsun and Trabzon. The survey questions were prepared and administered in a format that included the structure and practices of the youth assembly as described in detail in the legislation. In this sense, the evaluation reports containing the objective and close-up observations of the volunteers also made a great contribution to the whole project. Some institutions in some provinces were visited more than once, which caused some limitations in the comparison of data. To prevent this, it was assumed that all cities were visited and monitored equal times.

of Monitoring Province Adana

Term 1

Term 2

Ankara

Total 1

Erzurum

İstanbul

İzmir

Kars Kocaeli

Konya

1 1

Malatya

Muğla

Samsun Trabzon

Additionally, the selection of provinces only based on geographic balance and the disregard of whether there were any Local Agenda 21 of city councils practices started in previous years in the cities also limited the research

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SECTION 3 – ANALYSIS OF YOUTH ASSEMBLY PM RESULTS Evaluation reports based on observations and questionnaires administered through visits to the Youth Assemblies of Adana, Ankara, Erzurum, Istanbul, Izmir, Kars, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Muğla, Samsun and Trabzon under the Adrese Büyüteç project were used to conduct the analyses under 3 main headings: 1. City’s Local Agenda 21 Experience 2. Conformity to Legislation 3. Monitoring Criteria a. Physical Conditions, b. Capacity to Access to Information, c. Auditability and Participation gaps, d. Service Quality and e. Gender Equality In the analysis section, data and legal framework are analysed under the above headings, followed by suggestions that will constitute the basis of the conclusions and suggestions section. 3.1. City’s Local Agenda 21 Experience

Survey data obtained from the project provinces focused particularly on services and representation; hence, Local Agenda 21 comes as an important criteria as it constitutes a major element in the establishment of youth assemblies. In the cities that had previous experience with Local Agenda 21, the Local Agenda 21 practices

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had started long ago on voluntary basis, before the determination of the legislation for that city. Such a criteria plays an essential role, especially in the development of local democracy. Plus, the establishment of youth assemblies, which are important structures for local representation of the youth, have started in Turkey with the start of implementation of the Local Agenda 21. Between 1997 and 2005, until the adoption of the Municipal Law no 5393 and the relevant Regulation on City Councils, local youth assemblies were in the format of civil youth Initiatives based on volunteerism, hence creating a significant experience of local democracy. Basically, experience in Local Agenda 21 means that the existence of the youth assembly is already known and youth assemblies are already –or starting to be- recognized as a representation structures by the public agencies, NGOs, youth units, public and the media of the city. From the 12 provinces monitored, only Adana, Izmir, Kars, Kocaeli and Trabzon had experience in Local Agenda 21. Adana and Kocaeli demonstrated a sustainable structure in terms of the institutionalization of the Local Agenda 21 implementation and continuity of youth assemblies. In this sense, the disparity between the cities in terms of the experience and continuity of their Youth Assemblies was another factor that had to be considered during the analysis.

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In addition, for example while the youth assemblies of Çankaya in Ankara, Yakutiye in Erzurum, and Konak in Izmir were monitored, the central youth assemblies were monitored in other cities. In this scope, there are likely to be some disparities due to the former ones being district municipalities. 3.2. Conformity to Legislation

The structures of the youth assemblies in the relevant cities were examined in terms of conformity to legislation. In all the cities, there were city councils and youth assemblies established pursuant to the Municipal Law no. 5393. However, some varying or unique practices were also seen in some cities, which are explained below. Adana Youth Assembly: Founded in 2003, Adana Youth Assembly has a Statute that states that it is based on the principles adopted by the National Youth Assembly. Its administrative costs are covered under the budget allocated by the Greater City Municipality for the Adana City Council; participation is open to all individuals and institutions.43 Youth Assembly of the Greater City Municipality of Istanbul: Established after the adoption of the Municipal Law no. 5393, the Youth Assembly is organized as an organ of the greater City Municipality of Istanbul. It differs in this sense from other youth assemblies, as it is named İBB Youth Assembly. Another difference is that İBB Youth Assembly allows 43 for detailed information, see: http://www. adanakentkonseyi.org.tr/genclik_meclisi.asp

representation of representatives of the youth branches of political parties. According to the Statute of İBB Youth Assembly, membership is open to all youth groups, yet Clause 5 of the Statute, which governs terms and conditions for membership, reads “... elected through approval of candidates found eligible by the İBB Presidency”, revealing a fundamental contradiction. According to information received from monitoring visits, applying candidates are subjected to an interview, which suggests that the assembly does not enable local participation based on transparent and clear criteria. İBB Youth Assembly has a well-sized budget provided by the Greater City Municipality of Istanbul (İBB), which is significant in terms of autonomy44. Kocaeli Youth Assembly: Kocaeli is one of the cities with the longest experience with the city council and the local Youth Assembly. In the recent years, the city demonstrates this experience with the legislation and institutionalization of the practices of its city council and Youth Assembly. Youth Assembly’s legislation says the Assembly operates under the city council with the support of the municipality. Trabzon Youth Assembly: In Trabzon, there is a city council and, under it, a youth assembly, both established after the Local Agenda 21. However there is also the Youth Assembly of the Trabzon Municipality, which causes a dual structure. 44 for detailed information, see: http://www. ibbgenclikmeclisi.com/

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3.3. Monitoring Criteria

The monitoring criteria were formulated based on the answers to the questions included in the PM forms (attached) during the visits to youth assemblies.

On which days is the Youth Assembly open?

Weekdays 12

Everyday 9

a) Physical Conditions:

Physical Conditions were evaluated as per answers about transportation and access, working hours and working environment. Is transportation to Youth Assembly easy?

No 11 Yes 11

In this context, it was stated that transportation was in general easy. So it was observed that young people had no difficulty in accessing the assembly. It was seen that since youth assemblies mostly operate under the city councils, which are always located at or very close to the city centre, transportation was generally easy. However, it was also observed that Youth Assembly offices and buildings were far from being youth-friendly.

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Everyday except Sunday 17

One factor that demonstrates this is found in the data on the working days and hours of the assemblies. They are generally open during the working hours and days of the municipality, i.e. all public agencies. Hence, it has not been possible to observe whether the assemblies were fully independent and autonomous. As such, according to the general legislation and international practices, youth assemblies should always be open and accessible, a principle which was not observed in the monitored assembly. Is the building disabled-friendly?

Yes 5 No 7

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Another important observation was about the disabled-friendliness of youth assembly buildings and offices. Youth assemblies were found to be disabled-friendly in general, though not all of them were so. Although it is difficult to make a general judgement, it was seen in a second monitoring that one of the assemblies had been transformed into a disabled-friendly structure, which is an indication that youth assemblies are learning, living and developing structures. Hence, it is very important that buildings of youth assemblies are both disabled-friendly and youth-friendly.

In this scope, most of the assemblies informed that the local media were informed about their activities. However, the answers indicated a lower score regarding regular information of the local press. Is the press regularly informed?

Yes 5

No 4

b) Access to Information:

Under the heading of access to Information, the monitoring focused on the local media’s awareness of youth assemblies, the availability of a website, and relations with primary local stakeholders such as the student unions of universities and high schools and other youth organizations. Are local newspapers, periodicals and TV channels aware of the assembly?

No 4

Yes 9

It was observed that youth assemblies do not provide sufficient information to the local media, though they were still well-known in the media. The contradiction here stems from the fact that during the monitoring process, the news on youth assemblies appearing in the press were not scanned, and the evaluation was made based solely on the statements given by the assemblies; as such, it is not possible to say that news about the activities of local youth assemblies find a priority place in the local media. However, the survey found that local youth assemblies were able to make the headlines in the local press especially in news related to the local implementations of nationwide campaigns. In this scope, it was observed that activities carried out with the National Youth Parliament found more media coverage

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Is there communication with student unions, NGOs or other young people?

No 2

websites, which also gives us information on the memory and institutional structure of youth assemblies. In this sense, the institutional structure of youth assemblies reveals itself as an area with room for improvement. c) Auditability and Participation:

Yes 8

From the questions and observations regarding interaction and participation with the other youth structures in the city, it was seen that local youth assemblies are in contact with all youth platforms, as required by the legislation. This result, which is in harmony with the founding purpose of youth assemblies, is an important indicator of development.

Yes 5

In this era of advanced technology, social media and the internet play an effective role in communication, access and participation. In the youth assemblies monitored, only half had

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Is there an Executive Board?

No 2

Yes 8

Is there a website?

No 5

Under this heading, the organization structure, membership processes, elections, and organs of youth assemblies, their relations with the city council, their voluntary structures and services were examined.

According to the monitoring results, 80% of the assemblies have an executive board. Based on this criterion, it is possible to say that the functioning of youth assemblies, which is an indicator of local democracy, is well-established and allows experiencing local democracy. Answers to open-ended questions show that local assemblies constitute an important experience of local democracy in terms of participation. In addition, in cities with previous

Adrese BĂźyĂźteĂ§ Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

experience and City Councils, it was observed that the Youth Assembly experience was more developed. In this sense, it can be said that the Local Agenda 21 experience played an important role in this development process. Furthermore, it was observed that local youth assemblies in close relations with the National Youth Parliament more effectively produced services and a platform for representation. Do youth assemble carry out activities other than meetings?

participatory budgeting method is not pursued. On this point, it was observed that youth assemblies are mostly dependent on municipalities for their budget and personnel management, and are not the main decision-makers. Do municipalities only provide financial contribution?

Yes 6

No 4

No 4 Yes 6

However, it was observed that youth assemblies produce very few activities and services other than representation. This limitation, according to observations, was because of the limited office and working environments of local youth assemblies, and their structure being mostly public. One other reason that comes to fore is that most youth assemblies are not autonomous and do not have their own budgets. In those that have an allocated budget, it is observed that the elected organs of youth assemblies cannot prepare a budget, and that a

However, looking at the past of youth assemblies in Turkey, it is also important that the debate has reached this point. At this point, it can be expected that youth assemblies gain an institutional structure at city level and that these representation-oriented structures have better working conditions and more resources and opportunities. Does the Assembly have an office and personnel?

No 4

Yes 6

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In addition, although a significant success is seen with regard to voluntary management of the assemblies, it was seen that comprehensive actions could not be implemented due to restrictions caused by the continuity issues arising from availability of volunteers. It should be underlined that one constraint in terms of observation was that the related question asked both whether the assembly had an office, and whether it had a staff. Hence, despite 50% positive answers, it cannot be established whether the weighted effect comes from the office or the personnel part of the question. However, it is known in general that youth assemblies run on a volunteerism basis, with only their administrative costs covered by the municipality or through the city council. Is it possible to participate in decisions in the youth assembly? No 0

Yes 10

This observation is significant in view of the institutionalization of youth assemblies and their local democracy experiences. According to the answers, it is possible to participate in 100% of the decisions.

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Can decision taken at youth assemblies be implemented?

No 4 Yes 6

To the extent that young people take their own decisions, they can also communicate these decisions to the other authorized decision-making mechanisms of the city, which is made possible mostly through the city councils and the new legislation. In the cities where monitoring was done, 60% of the decisions were implemented. However, it should be noted that the content and nature of these decisions were not queries. As with the budget above, it should be expected that young people are able to make and implement more critical and important decisions. Answers to open-ended questions revealed that youth assemblies include relevant stakeholders in their project processes through participatory methods in tangible areas such as project development and can create extra budgets for the assembly. Regarding the personal development of the volunteers, it was seen that there were a variety of capacity-building projects, both local and through UGP, which also developed the relations between youth assemblies and other cities.

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Youth Assembly members and beneficiaries stated that there is no political pressure on them, although it was observed that the municipality could potentially exert political pressure on structures established as youth assemblies. It can be said that this negativity can be eliminated through establishing civilian youth assemblies, or ensuring that the legislation on city council’s and youth assemblies is abided by.

Youth assemblies identify their target audience as youth groups; the framework of their activities is based on youth participation, volunteerism, social responsibility, social works and sub-working groups, with all these clearly defined, which suggests that the institutional structures, objectives and activity areas of youth assemblies are in keeping with the youth assembly legislation. Is the head of Executive Board female?

d) Service Quality:

Monitoring on service quality included observations on how and how often the general assembly convenes, its target audience, and the general framework of the assembly activities. In this context, the main finding was the existence of a general assembly designated as the main decision-making organ. It was seen that there was a general assembly of the youth assembly in all cities. How often does the general assembly convene?

quarterly 2 semi-annually 4 weekly 2 other 1

monthly 1

Although the meeting frequency of the general assembly varied, the existence of this structure in cities or all young people and youth organizations may lay the groundwork for local democracy experiences of future years.

Yes 1

No 2

e) Gender Equality:

For gender equality, the representation of women in the organs and functions of the youth assemblies was monitored. Only the Muğla Youth Assembly had a female chairman, which is a reflection of the situation of gender equality, i.e. representation of women, in Turkey. A similar gender inequality was also seen in the representative executive boards. Although adequate data could not be obtained regarding general assemblies, gender equality was the highest in Erzurum and İzmir.

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SECTION 4 – SUGGESTION

As a result of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) done under the Adrese Büyüteç Project, various conclusions and suggestions have emerged for youth assemblies, decision makers and the stakeholders of youth assemblies. One of the major problem areas emerging in the M&E was the budget allocated to youth assemblies and its utilization. This is an important criteria for evaluation of the autonomy level of local youth assemblies in particular. The meetings and questionnaire results show that local youth assemblies are unable to determine a budget based on the needs of the youth, and therefore cannot freely plan their activities. The funds provided by municipalities especially prevent assemblies from identifying the areas where these funds should go. The only area where youth assemblies can be autonomous in this sense is the possibility of benefiting from national and international funds for youth projects, which causes youth assemblies to work on project-basis and focus all their efforts in that single area. An institutional funding and budgeting model is necessary to ensure the sustainability and institutional structure of youth assemblies. This is an important requirement that can be provided for through central and local organizations. However, it is seen that particularly those youth assemblies hosting the local legs of projects run by the National Youth Parliament are more autonomous in this sense. Projects

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such as Learning the Computer from Peers (Bilenler Bilmeyenlere Bilgisayar Öğretiyor), I Can manage My Mony (Paramı Yönetebiliyorum), Everyone will be Computer Literate (Bilgisayar Bilmeyen Kalmayacak), also create different effects as projects areas where local young people can contribute. Another discussion area emerging with regard to the functioning of youth assemblies is their accessibility. Having their own autonomous spaces under their management and administration is effective in ensuring this accessibility. It is also important that these spaces are youth-friendly and able to host youth works and representation. In addition, youth assemblies should ensure more effective communication through media and a dedicated website in order to reach all relevant groups in the city. One important factor regarding the accessibility of youth assemblies is whether they are disabled-friendly or not, which means that youth assemblies should be able to serve in their own disabled-friendly buildings. When compared to international examples, it can also be concluded that youth assemblies should be more active and focus more on services that ensure visibility of youth issues in the city. For example, conducting an extensive local youth survey on an annual basis and sharing the results with the public can be an effective tool in increasing the visibility of youth assemblies and local youth problems and hence influencing decisions. In order for youth assemblies to

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become the main focal point for youth representation at city level, they must build institutional representation relations with all the youth platforms in the city. As such, closer and institutional relations are needed with student councils of universities and high schools as well as relevant youth NGOs. This will enable more effective representation and coordination with the youth platforms in the city. Another main finding was that a significant progress appears to have been made in the functioning of youth assemblies since their emergence in 1996, in terms of both legislation and implementation. At this point, youth assemblies should have financial and structural autonomy and have a say in all decisions concerning the youth, in order to further local democracy practices and ensure a strong youth representation at the local level. The M&E will enable a future study of the emergence and development of local youth assemblies in the world and at city level from a historical perspective, which will no doubt provide valuable information on how youth assemblies came to be and how they affected local participation.

REFERENCES 1. European Youth Forum - http:// www.youthforum.org/fr/system/ files/ yfj_public/eyouth_opinion/ en/e-YO_ EN_2.pdf 2. “European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life” http://www. coe.int/t/dg4/ youth/Source/Coe_ youth/ Participation/COE_charter_ participation_tu.pdf 3. http://www.kentkonseyleri.net/ changepage.aspx?lg=2&pi=123 4. http://www.adanakentkonseyi. org. tr/genclik_meclisi.asp 5. http://www.ibbgenclikmeclisi. com/ 6. Alemdaroğlu, A. (2005) Bir İmkan Olarak Gençlik, Birikim Dergisi, No:196, İstanbul. 7. Benevolo, Leonardo (1993), Avrupa Tarihinde Kentler / Leonardo Benevolo ; translated by Nur Nirven, İstanbul : AFA Yayıncılık, 1995 8. DG for Youth & Sports - http://www. gsgm.gov.tr/ 9. Department of Youth Services http://www.ghdb. gov.tr/ 10. İstatistiklerle Gençlik (2007), İstatistiklerle Türkiye’de Gençlik, Istanbul Bilgi University: İstanbul http://genclik.bilgi.edu.tr/docs/ istatistiklerlegenclik.pdf

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UNIVERSITY EU OFFICES (MOVEMENT AND EDUCATION RIGHTS OF THE YOUTH) Ali Alper Akyüz

DUTIES AND ACTIVITIES The need to create dedicated administrative units for development of European projects and for organizing EU-supported students exchange programmes in universities, emerging especially after Turkey’s participation in European Union (EU) Education and Youth Programmes and the Bologna process45 in higher education, has led to the establishment of “EU Offices” under various different names in universities. Although they are often created from scratch specifically for this purpose, in some universities EU offices operate under the already existing “International Relations Offices”. The duties of these offices vary46 from one university to another, and often include:

45 The Bologna Process, aiming to increase cooperation between higher education institutions in Europe through transferability, academic recognition and credit transfers is not directly organized by the EU and foresees voluntary participation of the countries. However, the EU is directly effective over the content and activities , especially in terms of joint programmes and student exchanges. Turkey became a part of the process in 2001. 46 EU Offices in each university perform one or two of the duties listed here.

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• Develop the information and experience infrastructure for preparing and implementing projects under EU programmes (Lifelong Learning, 7th Framework Programme for Research and Development etc.), • Develop partnerships and collaborations and perform bureaucratic procedures for partnership programmes including exchange of students and academic members, such as ERASMUS, • Determine or help other academic units determine the criteria for students exchanges, • Provide advisory services to students and academic members regarding exchange programmes, • Ensure and monitor adaptation of the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System), which is important for the Bologna Process and for student exchanges, at the university, • Carry out other activities included within the scope of the Bologna Process. Apart from these, though not included among their duties, some EU Offices also serve as Eurodesk Infopoints or Host or Sending Organization for Action 2-European Voluntary Service under the EU’s Youth in Action programme. The duties monitored and evaluated under this study included the following: advising and informing on direct student and youth mobility for Lifelong

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Learning (ERASMUS in particular, and also Leonardo Da Vinci and Grundtvig) and on occasion Youth (European Voluntary Services and Youth Exchanges) programmes; determining the selection criteria and executing the selection process.

LEGISLATION AND CENTRAL INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE: Establishment of special administrative units for the above-mentioned duties in universities is under the Initiative and responsibility of universities, and there is no direct legislation regulating this area. However, this does not mean that the establishment of these offices are completely dependent on the Initiatives of universities. The EU offices were established either with the coordination of the Centre for European Union Education and Youth Programmes (Turkish National Agency) which is responsible for carrying out the programmes in Turkey, and under the auspices of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) in cases directly related to the Bologna process, such as ECTS (see: Bologna Process 20032005 Turkey National Report, page 5 and 10, http://www.ond.vlaanderen. be/ hogeronderwijs/bologna/links/ National-reports-2005/National_ Report_Turkey_05.pdf). Although there is not a legislation directly regulating the establishment and operation of EU offices, there are a series of EU and Turkish laws and decisions they need to comply with in the fulfilment of their duties. There are:

a) On the EU side:

• Decision No. 1720/2006/ EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing an action programme in the field of lifelong learning”, and • Decision No. 1719/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing the ‘Youth in Action’ programme for the period 2007 to 2013” b) On the Turkish side:

• Law Amending the Decree Law no.540 on the Establishment and Duties of the State Planning Organizations” no. 4968 dated 31 July 2003, with regard to the establishment of the national Agency • Regulations on the functioning of the Turkish National Agency47, c) Between the EU and Turkey:

• Memorandum of Understanding between the European Community and the Republic of Turkey on the participation of Turkey in the Youth in Action programme and in the action programme in the field of lifelong learning (2007-2013) (related Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 2007/12318and dated 11/06/2007 was published in the Official Gazette of 30/06/2007) 47 Full list of these Regulations can be found on the website of the Turkish National Agency (http://www.ua.gov.tr/) under “Abous UsLegislation”.

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• The Framework Agreement between Turkeand the European Community on the General Principles for the Participation of Turkey in Community Programmes (Law dated 28 June 2002 no. 4763). The general objective of the Lifelong Learning Programme is to contribute through lifelong learning to the development of the Community as an advanced knowledge-based society, with sustainable economic development, more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, while ensuring good protection of the environment for future generations.” (Decision No. 1720/2006/EC, article 1.2) The specific objectives of the LLP include the following with regard to the youth, who are the beneficiaries of the services of EU Offices “a) to contribute to the development of quality lifelong learning, and to promote high performance, innovation and a European dimension in systems and practices in the field, b) to support the realisation of a European area for lifelong learning; c) to help improve the quality, attractiveness and accessibility of the opportunities for lifelong learning available within Member States; d) to reinforce the contribution of lifelong learning to social cohesion, active citizenship, intercultural dialogue, gender equality and personal fulfilment; e) to help promote creativity, competitiveness, employability and the growth of an entrepreneurial spirit; f) to contribute to increased participation in lifelong learning by people of all ages,

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including those with special needs and disadvantaged groups, regardless of their socio-economic background, g) to promote language learning and linguistic diversity, and i) to reinforce the role of lifelong learning in creating a sense of European citizenship based on understanding and respect for human rights and democracy, and encouraging tolerance and respect for other peoples and cultures” (Article 1.3). The general objectives of the Youth in Action programme are specified as follows: “to promote young people’s active citizenship in general and their European citizenship in particular; to develop solidarity and promote tolerance among young people, in particular in order to reinforce social cohesion in the EU; to foster mutual understanding between young people in different countries; to contribute to developing the quality of support systems for youth activities and the capabilities of civil society organisations in the youth field; and to promote European cooperation in the youth field (Decision No. 1719/2006/ EC, article 2.1). the programme does not specifically list higher education institutions (HEI) as the programme beneficiaries, and gives priority to young people and non-profit organizations working in the field of youth; higher education institutions can be considered among “....in certain justified cases, other partners working in the field of youth. Implementation of both programmes foresee promoting an awareness of the importance of cultural and linguistic diversity within Europe, as

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well as of the need to combat racism, prejudice and xenophobia, making provision for learners [beneficiaries] with special needs, and in particular by helping to promote their integration into promoting equality between men and women and contributing to combating all forms of discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, in conformity with EU policies (Decision No. 1720/2006/ EC, Article 12 and Decision No. 1719/2006/EC, Article 2.3).

monitoring, a two-phase process was used, and then suggestions for a youthfriendly approach were formulated based on the information thus acquired and within the above-mention framework and legislation. The main criteria in the phases of monitoring and formulating suggestions is whether the monitored EU Offices adopted a youthfriendly approach (taking into account the special needs of young people arising from being young and valuing them as individuals) in their services to young people.

Within the framework of the abovementioned legislation, the duties of the Turkish National Agency include: “Announcing the EU education and youth programmes in Turkey; manage, coordinate, monitor and report to the European Commission the activities for participation in these programmes”; these duties are directly related to universities, which are among the beneficiary institutions, and hence to their EU Offices. Under the National Agency, there are dedicated coordination units for each subprogramme of the LLP and Youth in Action Programmes. Universities mostly benefit from the ERASMUS programme, which is a sub-programme concerning higher education under the LLP, though they can also apply for the others and benefit from the mobility activities of students under various other programmes and sub-programmes.

Monitoring was done in 13 provinces (and universities): Aksaray (Aksaray University), Ankara (Bilkent University), Edirne (Trakya University), Erzurum (Atatürk University), Hatay (Mustafa Kemal University), İstanbul (Yıldız Technical University), İzmir (Dokuz Eylül University), Kilis (7 Aralık University), Kocaeli (Kocaeli University), Malatya (İnönü University), Muğla (Muğla University), Samsun (Ondokuz Mayıs University) and Trabzon (Karadeniz Technical University). The PM team in Kars reported there were no EU Offices in their university or that they were unable to find one48; Adana (Çukurova University) team’s PM data were not included in the evaluations as they were not received by the project implementers.

INTERPRETATION METHOD

48 A search on the website of Kars Kafkas University found that these duties are carried out by the External Relations Unit under the Rector’s Office, and that relevant up-to-date activity announcements were made on the website.

To interpret the monitoring data of EU Offices and get feedback on the results from the young people conducting the

It cannot be said that the situations of these 13 universities represent all

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the universities in Turkey; however, the picture presented carries an indicative importance; moreover considering the programme eligibility criteria and the characteristics of the EU Offices are actually linked to the specific conditions and capacity of the university, the situation of each university should be addressed individually. Approaches may vary considerably between universities, cities, and even between different universities located in the same city, and also depending on whether it is a state or foundation university; however, these variations are not included within the scope of this evaluation. Therefore, the evaluation was based on a vertical analysis of the data, i.e. looking at the answers given to each question and their distribution among universities. Each monitoring team carried out their monitoring activity in two periods, i.e. the spring and fall of 2010, with two separate monitoring for each period; hence, it has been possible to see some changes between the periods, though rare (either negative or positive). Similarly, in questions requiring commenting, the answers could vary depending on the persons monitoring. In cases of differing answers, the final count of the answers to yes/no questions were taken into account; and for answers requiring commenting, the exceptional answers were left out. Although a qualitative evaluation of each university-specific monitoring, i.e. producing university-specific interpretations through horizontal analysis of the whole questionnaire,

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was not included within the scope of this study; yet the conclusions and suggestions section offers some general observations. The results of the initial analysis of the data and the interpretations were presented to a group of participants who were among the PM teams, and their feedbacks were included in the report.

CONCLUSIONS This section includes the general conclusions reached under the headings of “Physical Conditions”, “Access to Information”, “Auditability and Participation” and “Service Quality and Gender Equality”. the conclusions and comments are relevant only to the universities listed above. a) Physical Conditions

The majority of the PM teams think that EU Offices are easily accessible (77%, 10/13). As an exception, the EU Offices of Hatay Mustafa Kemal University and İzmir Dokuz Eylül University are in the rector’s building located in city centre and hence outside of the main campus, with no information offices or units in the campuses. The EU Offices are centrally structured, with no opportunity to get information from anywhere other than the coordinators, who are academic members, and not for departments or faculties. It was stated by the teams that 5 of the offices did not have signs on the door stating the office’s function, and again in 5 of them it was not possible to get information, without personally going, on the employees and how to access the offices.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Except for one, all offices are generally open during working days and hours, though opening and closing hours may vary slightly; at the Kocaeli University, students only have 2 days a week to get information from or talk to the office. Conversely, it was stated that the EU Office at the Malatya İnönü University was open during all working days plus on Saturdays. Most of the offices have a waiting area (61%, 8/13) and around half has chairs (7/13, among those with waiting areas, chairs are not available at the Aksaray University). Offices were in general described as being disabled*friendly (61%, 8/13). According to monitoring teams, half of the offices are physically adequate and arranged in a youthfriendly way, although there is no standard according to the answers to open-ended questions on this issue. b) Access to Information

Offices provide information on programmes and mobility opportunities by organizing information meetings (77%, 10/13) and through brochures (61%, 8/13). In all the universities, information on the offices and programmes could be reached from websites. The information provided through these channels is up-to-date (92%, 12/13) and include information on living and experiences such as accommodation and transport, in addition to programme terms and conditions (%70, 9/13). The approach of employees in one-to-one interviews was found to be responsive and youthfriendly, yet office environments were generally described as not youth-friendly.

Despite the easiness of getting information from central EU Offices, there are fewer opportunities to get information on faculty or department basis (46%, 6/13). c) Auditability and Participation

The student selection criteria employed for mobility and exchange programmes were mostly grade point averages and foreign language skills. Selection criteria are available in written format (77%, 10/13) and can be accessed from the Internet (85%,11/13). The authority deciding on the students who will benefit from exchange programmes is mostly the EU Office, or the decision is made through a central examination; only in the Bilkent University the department coordinators play a role as decision-makers. There is no student participation in determination of criteria. In half of the offices, voluntary working is possible (7/13). The lack of participation of students and departments in the determination of criteria and election procedures indicates that EU Offices are emerging as a new central power managing a specific resource within the university. For other reflections of this, it might be useful to evaluate the situation applicable for programmes other than Erasmus and the services provided to academic members. Selecting the beneficiary students through the criteria of grade point averages and foreign language skills also makes one think that there is an elitist representation approach, and there is a

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need to discuss this practice together with students, especially in terms of compatibility with the purpose of disseminating program objectives where quotas are not filled. d) Service Quality and Gender Equality

The functioning and approaches of offices and their employees were described as generally “youth-friendly” (70-85%, 9-11/13) via various questions asked by PM teams .On average, 4 personnel work in the offices (minimum 2, maximum 8); most of the employees are women (office average 62%) and there is at least one female employee in every Office (min. 1, max. 8, varying between 25-100%). Although included in the questions, no data could be obtained about the number of students benefiting from the programmes; hence no evaluation was made on that account. General Conclusion and Suggestions

The competence of the EU Offices carrying out the administrative procedures concerning the EU programmes of universities will directly affect the extent to which students are able to benefit from programmes that include competitive elements. Therefore, although there is no obligation other than the advice and encouragement of the National Agency and YÖK, all universities have either established or appointed an administrative unit to execute and coordinate this task. Since these offices report to the rector’s office, the results of the monitoring will actually lead to demands that will be voiced at university basis, hence an

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evaluation should be made individually for each university. However as this is not included under this study, some general conclusions were reached and suggestions made through a vertical analysis of the questionnaire. The National Agency can be the address of these demands for support, as it is directly responsible for the execution and coordination of the programme. Since their role as programme implementer and coordinator at university basis has a direct effect on the funds received from EU programmes, it was observed that EU Offices are becoming a new centre of power in universities, and are the top actors particularly in selection and criteria-setting processes. Setting selection criteria based only on academic achievement and foreign language skills is not in full conformity with the pedagogical approach of the programmes and has the potential to cause overlooking the potential for “empowerment” oriented motivation. Similarly, selecting the candidates on the basis of a centrally administered exam/test may prevent needs-based decision-making. On the other hand, selection on department basis in direct contact with the students by a jury is more compatible with the principle of decentralized management, though it was specifically mentioned by PM teams that such a procedure could lead to favouritism between students. Organized participation of students in the determination of the criteria, and organization of students demanding transparency and accountability can prevent such adversities.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

In the PM data, the changes between the two different monitoring periods on university basis are generally positive, which can be considered as a learning process. Among the universities monitored, Edirne Trakya, Hatay Mustafa Kemal, İzmir Dokuz Eylül, Kocaeli, Malatya İnönü and Samsun Ondokuz Mayıs Universities may be recommended for further specific monitoring. In the meeting with monitoring teams, it was stated that the EU Offices of some universities had assumed the role of an organization standing students in mass to the European Youth in Action Programme, designed for disadvantaged young people and NGOs, and European Voluntary Service. It is acceptable for the university to assume this role in the exceptional cases where there are no competent NGOs to undertake it; moreover, considering that the programmes provide a certain amount of funds per beneficiary, this has become an important income item for universities. This implies that a fund that should be utilized for the improvement of local youth organizations is channelled to universities, causing university students, who cannot in general be considered as disadvantaged in terms of socioeconomic level, to benefit from the programme more compared to non-university students; it also leads to situations where the volunteer serving in volunteer service cannot contact the sending organization in the event of problems that may require one-toone communications. Lastly, it also means that the personnel of EU Offices can allocate less time to education

and research programmes, which constitute their main duty. Although university Offices are authorities that can be applied to, it falls on the National Agency to prevent abuses that may arise from the problematic situation mentioned above. It is gratifying to see that females constitute the majority of the personnel of EU Offices; however an evaluation of gender equality regarding the beneficiaries could not be made due to lack of data. The same female-favouring figures can also be seen in the data of the National Agency. To allow taking necessary measures against a possible disparity, data disaggregated as per Gender Equality can also be demanded from universities and the National Agency. It was previously stated that the data for 13 universities cannot represent the whole country. Additionally, in terms of representation, in provinces with more than one universities, such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, it is suggested that more PMs are carried out to reveal any differences there might be between state universities and foundation universities. In this way, it can also be observed whether there are any differences between the approaches of state universities and foundation universities, similar to the difference between metropolises and smaller cities. Finally, it should be demanded that the National Agency provide publication and education support to EU Offices of universities to contribute to a “youthfriendly” structure and approach.

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DORMS UNDER THE MAGNIFIER (RIGHT TO HOUSING) Özlem Ezgin, Yörük Kurtaran

A. GENERAL FRAMEWORK: In Turkey, the public entity that is responsible for providing accommodation services to university students is the Institution of Student Loans and Dorms (KYK). The Institution was established with the “Law no. 351 on the Institution of Student Loans and Dorms” adopted on 16 August 1961 and coming into effect on 22 August 1961. It is a private budget public organization with legal entity and subject to private law provisions. While at first it was under the supervision of the MoNE, later on this supervisory authority was transferred to the Ministry of Youth and Sports as per the Presidential Memo dated 06 February 1970. The institution was then made an affiliated organization of the MoNE with the Decree Law no. 179 and the Law no. 3046, and later an affiliated organization of the Prime Ministry with the Presidential approval published in the Official Gazette of 04.05.2009 no. 27218 (reprint). The institution currently serves with a bed capacity of 248,557 in 279 dorms in 112 districts and 81 provinces.49 The Institution’s mission is “to contribute to the educations of higher 49 for detailed information, see: http://www.kyk. gov. tr/kyk/html/index.php

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education students with contemporary and reliable accommodation, nutrition, loan & scholarship services, and to their self development through social, cultural and sports activities, via a state-based approach.” The Institution has the obligation to fulfil the requirements of constitutional and international regulations in its activities. Article 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey provides that All individuals are equal without any discrimination before the law, and that State organs and administrative authorities shall act in compliance with the principle of equality before the law in all their proceedings.1 Additionally, in accordance with Article 90 of the Constitution, In the case of a conflict between international agreements in the area of fundamental rights and freedoms duly put into effect and the domestic laws due to differences in provisions on the same matter, the provisions of international agreements shall prevail. In this context, the provisions International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, coming into force on 3 January 1976, are inevitable. The Covenant regulates the right to a standard of living, including nondiscrimination in Article 22; gender equality in Article 33; and housing with Article 11/14. In addition, Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines housing as a human right, as follows: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” Article 11/1 of the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Turkey is a State Party, includes housing in its definition of “and adequate standard of living”: The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international co-operation based on free consent. Furthermore, articles directly related to housing can be seen in the laws of the Council of Higher Education as well as KYK and other directly relevant public organizations. According to Article 47 of the Law on the Council of Higher Education, which is related to Social Services: “(As amended: 17/8/1983 – article 2880/28) Higher education institutions shall have the duty to meet the social needs of students in line with the plans and programmes of the Council of Higher Education, such as protection of the physical and psychological health of students, providing nutritional &

accommodation services and facilities for studying, resting and leisure; to this end, opening reading halls, health centres for outpatient and inpatient services, student canteens and cafeterias, provide meeting theatre and cinema halls, gyms and sports fields and camping areas, to the extent allowed by its budget, and to take necessary measures to ensure that students benefit from these services in the most efficient way.” As seen, within the framework of existing laws, housing is an important element of the rights-based relationship between the state and the citizens. In this framework, it is important that the housing-related requirements of university students, who are the citizens of Turkey, as a requirement of a social state. In the Public Expenditures Monitoring Platform50’s 2011 “Public Expenditures Monitoring Report”, the Table on Monitoring of Youth Empowerment Expenditures,51 data on KYK’s expenditures on TL basis are as follows: 2008

2009

2.204.224.000

2.724.370.000

2010

2011 (estimate)

3.009.899.000

3.368.437.000

As can be seen, although there seems to be an increase on yearly basis, these expenditures are not reflected as an increase to the share of KYK expenditures in the GDP. Also, when we divide the expenditure made from 50 for detailed information, see: www.kahip.org 51 Public Expenditures Monitoring Report, Table: 4, p. 21, 2011.

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the central budget for KYK per each students staying in KYK dorms, we get the Table given below – which reveals a decrease in the expenditure per student in 2010: 2008

2009

2010

“The fundamental values of the Institution are identified as being reliable, having a student- focus, social responsibility, sensitivity, sustainability and a focus on development.

1052

1210

1208

Also;

Considering that only half of the applicants can benefit from dorms, it is obvious that university students in Turkey have a serious housing problem. various other studies also give similar findings.52

B. DORMS FROM THE YOUTH’S EYES Under the Adrese Büyüteç Project, KYK’s dorm services in 16 provinces were monitored by young volunteers during a period of 6 months. Monitoring produced 36 reports on the following headings: • Physical Conditions • Access to Information • Auditability and Participation • Service Quality • Gender Equality • Right to Health • Right to Housing These headings are also important in terms of monitoring the implementation practices of the institution and its values and working principles. As such, the institution defines its mandate, which also match

52 Kurtaran Y. Ve Özer B., Gençler ve Barınma, İstanbul Bilgi Üniv. Youth Studies Unit, 2009

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these monitoring headings, as follows:53

• Providing services in conformity with laws, regulations and general rules of law in matters failing under our duty domain, being reliable in our delivery of accommodation, nutrition and scholarship/credit services to higher education students, • Providing services with the awareness that higher education students are the future of our country and any investment and improvement in them is for our country, • Paying strict attention to producing solutions for the needs of students and preparing environments for their development when carrying out our services, • Treating everyone, to which we have the obligation to serve, with equality in the execution of our services, • Ensuring that our management has an understanding, structure and functioning that is able to provide effective and quality services, and that

53 for detailed information, see: http://www.kyk. gov. tr/kyk/html/yurtkur/performans.pdf , YURT KUR 2010 Yılı Performans Programı, s:21

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

puts to fore the concepts of flexibility, transparency, participation,accountability, and foreseeability • Giving importance to conformity of practices to social values when providing services to students, • Working with a focus on the expectations of students, parents and the society, paying special care to development and maintaining the level of quality achieved, • Using human and financial resources effectively, economically and efficiently, • Reducing bureaucracy and red tape, developing collaboration skills in cooperation with other public agencies and organizations, and reducing waste of resources, • Increasing efficiency in business processes and developing information-based policy and decision-making processes, • Ensuring that citizens benefit effectively from information and communication technologies in the delivery of services, • Ensuring that the e-organization concept is implemented at the maximum level and maintained, in line with the e-Government model, • Developing existing administrative and human capacity in quality and quantity in line with the strategic management approach, are among our fundamental principles, policies and priorities.”

Hence, the monitoring works carried out by the beneficiaries give us data that should be evaluated and reflected on from many angles. B. 1. Physical Conditions

As one of the areas where change is most needed, quite a lot of developments have taken place especially in the recent years with regard to Physical Conditions. The Institution states that, according to surveys, the most important factors affecting the satisfaction levels of students staying at dorms include: the number of students per room, number of students on the floor, number of storey in the dorm, location and sufficiency of showers and toilets, and quality and variety of the equipment and furniture in the dorm rooms. It is seen that the institution is already aware of the needs in this sense and have made it a priority to improve the physical conditions of dorms in its working plans. Nevertheless, monitoring results show us that young people staying at dorms have quite a lot of problems within the context of physical conditions, and these needs match the needs areas identified by the institution. It is seen that the Institution is aware of the shortcomings in this area and has stepped up its efforts in this direction. In this context, the Institution has identified six different dorm models, giving priority to increasing the number of Model 1 and 2 dorms.54

54 for detailed information, see: http://www.kyk. gov. tr/kyk/html/yurtkur/performans.pdf , YURT KUR 2010 Yılı Performans Programı, s:25

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Situation of Public Institutions Providing Youth Representation and Services in Turkey

Table 1: Model Types and Features Model 1 Ø In-room bathroom-WC Ø Single bed system Ø Wood furniture Ø In-room TV-fridge Ø In-room desk-bookcase Model 2 Ø In-room bathroom-WC Ø Single bed system Ø Wood / Metal furniture Model 3 Ø In-room bathroom-WC Ø Bunk-bed system Ø Metal furniture Model 4 Ø Baths-WC on floor Ø Single bed system Ø Metal furniture Model 5 Ø Baths-WC on floor Ø Bunk-bed system Ø Metal furniture Model 6 Ø Collective shower system Ø Bunk-bed system Ø Metal furniture

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Performance Indicators

Unit

2008

2009

2010

Model 1 & Model 2 total bed capacity

e.a.

16,441

24,441

33,441

Total Model 1 & Model 2 bed capacity added during the year

e.a.

2,950

8,000

9,000

Model 1 & Model 2 total bed capacity/2007 end-ofyear total dorm capacity

806

1,105

1,641

Within the context of physical conditions, the goals set by the Institution for improvement of existing dorms and building more new dorms are very important and relevant. There are considerable developments seen in this area.55 Today, the Institution serves with a bed capacity of 248.557 in a total of 279 dorms in 112 districts and 81 provinces. Compared to the number of university students in the country, this still appears limited. The capacity building goals set by the Institution are also positive developments for the youth. The dorm observations of the monitoring teams can be summarized as follows: Unfortunately, there are no standards about the physical conditions of dorms. Although there were single rooms in one province and double rooms in three provinces, rooms are usually built for and used by 4 to 7 students. There is also no standard as to the locations of dorms. While some dorms are very close to the campus, some are located at far distances. In all the dorms monitored, except for one, there were no arrangements to ensure comfortable use of the dorms

55 for detailed information, see: http://www.kyk. gov. tr/kyk/html/yurtkur/performans.pdf , YURT KUR 2010 Yılı Performans Programı, p:32

by physically impaired students. As seen, there is the problem of lack of any standards in the monitored dorms. The varying distances of dorms to the campuses create additional transport costs for some students. As the number of persons occupying a room increase, privacy and academic success can also be negatively affected. In this framework, the positive changes in the performance criteria related to increasing the bed capacity should be considered in parallel to another criteria, such as the number of beds per room. Otherwise, continuing the existing ward system will mean continuation of the existing problems. B. 2. Access to Information

As one of the primary stakeholders of dorms and as individuals living there, young people’s access to information from inside and outside of the dorm is important. Data from PM forms show that young people do not go through any orientation program that informs them about the dorm. Orientation programmes are critical for young people with regard to learning the culture, utilization mode and rules of the environment where they will be spending a big part of their university lives.

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Situation of Public Institutions Providing Youth Representation and Services in Turkey

When it is considered that dorm students usually come from other cities, one can easily see the importance of such programmes for their adaptation to their new lives. This data points at an area for improvement in terms of the dorm life. Today, as the Internet has spread to all areas of life, including governmental procedures, access to internet by university students is particularly critical. As computers became cheaper, computer sales and ownership has increased in the recent years, boosting both the computer and internet usage rates. PM forms show us that free internet access is not available at dorms, although the Institution has set it as a priority.56

The shortcomings in the physical conditions of dorms are frequently voiced, allowing the Institution to develop fast and effective strategies. Yet, it should be underlined that physical conditions are not the only factor determining the quality of life in dorms. The “Survey on the Needs of the University Youth” conducted by the Community Volunteers Foundation in 2009 on a total of 2257 students from 186 departments and 40 faculties of 58 universities also gives us the same results, pointing at a critical issue with regard to participation: 57

Performance Indicators

Unit

2008

2009

2010

Number of blocks with access to computer systems

e.a.

502

523

542

Number of blocks/dorms with access to computer systems /2007 total dorm/block number

For improvement in this area, necessary arrangements should be made to ensure that not only the administrative units but also the students of dorms have free access to the internet. PM forms tell us that dorms have notice and bulletin boards with information on the city and the university life. This positive practice also ensures that students staying at the dorms remain informed about various socialization opportunities the dorms, where they spend most of their time. 56 for detailed information, see: http://www.kyk. gov. tr/kyk/html/yurtkur/performans.pdf , YURT KUR 2010 Yılı Performans Programı, p:46

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B. 3. Auditability and Participation

“Housing services are not provided according to student circumstances. Housing services reflect the mentality of the management rather than the needs of those staying at the dorms. Resources and facilities are scarce. Yet, the few available resources and facilities are used with no concern about the beneficiaries. Dorms do not have the minimum humane conditions; the existing conditions in the dorms is humiliating.

57 for detailed information, see: http:// www. tog.org.tr/abs/templates/sayfa. asp?articleid=1610&zoneid=57

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

There is a need not for infinite resources but for humane conditions and self-development opportunities. “ In this context, PM forms point at other problems, including the following: The way the body of rules regulating life in dorms is created, whether they are based on the needs of the youth and the contents of the existing disciplinary regulation are the most important issues that need discussing in this context. There are no standards in the entry/ exit hours implemented at dorms. These hours may vary depending on the dorm management. At the same dorm, these hours can change depending on seasons, and in all the dorms the hours are different for male and female students. Yet, in the inquiry made using the right to get information, KYK officials state that they have no practices that differ for males and females, in harmony with Article 10 of the Constitution.

institution.58 Yet, practices like taking/ reading fingerprints can also be used to increase the management’s control over the students. Additionally, it may be difficult to prevent practices that are against the interests of young people unless the cases in which these personal information are shared or disclosed by the management are determined – in a way conforming to the principle of inviolability of private life. For young people who spend a big portion of their university lives in their dorms, the social activities available in the dorm are highly important. PM forms show that various activities take place at the dorms, from various sports activities to theatre performances, film displays and self-development courses. According to the data given by the Institution, there are a total of 501 social facilities in the regional directorates and the dorms attached to them.

Performance Indicators

Unit

2008

2009

2010

Number of dorms where e-Dorm project is being implemented

e.a.

122

ID checks at dorm entrance/exit, student certificate checks and the recent practice of reading fingerprints at entrance/exit are the various practices seen. The fingerprint reading method is used not only for dorm entry/exit but also when using the food tickets. Increasing the use of this method is among the goals of the

To ensure delivery of contemporary services to students, in dorms and dorm campuses with suitable physical structure, there are football, basketball, volleyball, mini football, and tennis courts, running tracks, indoor sports hall, gym, movie-theatre halls and similar social facilities. 58 for detailed information, see: http://www.kyk. gov. tr/kyk/html/yurtkur/performans.pdf , YURT KUR 2010 Yılı Performans Programı, s:45

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Performance Indicators

Unit

2008

2009

2010

Number of active students participating in the social activities

E.a.

42,845

49,272

56,663

Data from PM forms shows us the following needs improvement: ensuring transparency of the opportunities, conditions and processes of these social activities, and also ensuring the accessibility of information on these activities. Young people do not see themselves as having a say in these matters. The matter of “student representation, designed as a participation tool, is also an area that needs improvement. Data indicate problems in many phases, from the transparency of the election process to the working conditions of the representation. B. 4. Service Quality

The dorm personnel is one of the most important stakeholders of the dorm life. PM data say that dorm personnel mostly serve with a youthfriendly approach. the data reached by monitoring young volunteers show that the personnel does not receive in-service training, while it is seen that the Institution strategically gives importance to personnel training. 59

KYK executes the services expected of it through 6,413 civil servants employed under the Law no. 657 on Civil Servants, 1 worker on contractbasis and 55 permanently employed workers, making a total of 6,469 personnel working at the central and regional directorates and dorm 59 for detailed information, see: http://www.kyk. gov. tr/kyk/html/yurtkur/performans.pdf, YURT KUR 2010 Yılı Performans Programı

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directorates of the Institution. 67% of the staff are male, and 33% are females. 15% of the staff are graduates of primary education, 27% high school; 57% have an associate or undergraduate degree, and 2% have master’s and doctorate degrees. The education level of 948 of the staff members is below the high school level, and this is generally the personnel employed in auxiliary services. For new recruitments, the Institution prefers and prioritizes candidates with university degrees. An important issue in this area is the lack of any guidance and counselling services in dorms. These services are of utmost importance for young people who are arriving at a new city into a new social environment. The Institution should also make this a priority. Another area in need of improvement is the cleanliness of the common use areas in dorms. PM data indicate a serious need in that regard. Similarly, it is forbidden to bring food from the inside. Despite this prohibition, it is stated that the food offered at the dorms is extremely insufficient. Prices that changes according to the enterprise winning the catering contract also create a whole other problem. The approach of dorm managements to the varying needs, demands and expectations of students, which is an important indicator under this heading, was also revealed as “negative” in the PM data.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Performance Indicators

Unit

2008

2009

2010

Number of personnel participating in training

e.a.

2.545

1.428

1428

Person*day for delivered trainings

e.a.

14.981

10.000

Start year

Increase in the number of civil servants employed %

B. 5. Gender Equality

B. 6. Right to Health

Entry/exit hours are where the gender-based discrimination becomes clearly visible in dormitories. The answer from KYK to our queries on this matter was that there was no discrimination between male and female students and that the entry/ exit hours may vary between 22.00 and 23.00 depending on the social and cultural conditions of the province or district in which the dorm is located”. However, the experiences of young people indicate that the problem is not with the entry/exit hours but with the discrimination practices and attitudes of the personnel regarding conformity to these hours. In this matter, the practices are under the Initiative of each dorm management, and a process in violation of the general attitude of the KYK Directorate General is being pursued by the personnel.

Provision of health services is important in dorms. Data from PM forms show that a health professional and health equipment for emergencies are not always available at the dorms. ıt was also stated that no special measures are taken in cases of communicative diseases.

According to PM data, dorm rules can vary for male and female students. This is revealed in attitudes varying towards male and female students for the same behaviour. PM data show that male personnel go up the floors where female students are boarding. Pre-announcement of these instances is appropriate conduct.

B. 7. Right to Housing

Monitoring data under this heading targeted monitoring the extent to which the right to equal and fair housing was provided to all. An important improvement in this area would be transforming the dorms into disabled-friendly establishments and ensuring that the services provided nationwide also include the special needs of persons with disabilities. Of the students applying in the academic year of 2010-2011, 106,165 students were placed directly and he others through the waiting list, as of the start of the academic year There are sometimes special practices for some students at dorms. Students in financial constraints and staying at the dorms, offspring of martyrs and veterans of war, students placed under the protection of the State, students from Turkic Republics and Communities, and students of foreign

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Situation of Public Institutions Providing Youth Representation and Services in Turkey

nationality receiving scholarship from the government are not required to pay dorm fees; in the academic year of 2009-2010, a total of 14,720 students benefited from this scheme As of 1992, KYK has integrated with the Turkic world and since then has been providing housing for students coming from Turkic Republics and from Turkic and kin communities. In the academic year of 2008-2009, around 4,000 students were staying at dorms under this practice, free of charge. In addition, dorms also house 978 students from countries with which Turkey has a Culture Agreement, or who have come to our country on their own means; a total of 1396 foreign nationality students receive scholarship from the government.60 As understood from KYK activity reports, a new work plan was launched as a part of the restructuring in education. The work focuses on improvement of physical equipment and furniture available in dorms. In this scope, the increase in the number of dorms and beds are both positive. Nevertheless, the current situation has difficulties in meeting the demands.

C. GENERAL FINDINGS When all reports are examined, it is possible to list some individual suggestions to correct the issues that negatively affect young people. However, we think that it is more important to make a general analysis of the public management approach

60 for detailed information, see: http://www.kyk. gov. tr/kyk/html/yurt/barinma.php

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and focus on some crosscutting main issues. In this framework, we would like to underline that improvements in the following areas will be important steps towards improving the overall situation. 1. There is a lack of standardization in dorm services. there are differences between the services of public agencies located in different provinces, and also between the services delivered by the same institution at different times. Yet, achieving a certain standard in the relationship between citizens (in this case, university students) and public institutions is important in terms of the principle of equality. Hence, it is important that the services are standardized based on good practices. 2. Access to dorm services should be improved. Although building hierarchies between priorities may create other inequalities within the context of social rights, it is obvious that improving access to services by female and disabled students is important. As long as the current practices are continued, the Institution will be unable to respond to the varying needs of university students, hence violating the principle of equality. 3. There is a capacity problem in dorms.As long as the gap between supply and demand cannot be closed, again the citizens will not be able to use

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

their right to access services on the basis of equality.

D. SUGGESTIONS Developing a new approach to dorms will make it easier for students to benefit from dorm services. In this framework: 1. There is a need to improve participation mechanisms in order to provide services based on the needs of dorm occupants. Guaranteeing these mechanisms through laws with clearly defined participation processes will enable students to participate in dorm management and in general in university management. 2. There is a need for more resources, as well as for prioritizing the utilization of available resources. In this framework, rather than a simple “allocation of more funds”, it is necessary to develop an approach for efficient and needsbased utilization of resources. 3. It is necessary to ensure that there is no discrimination against women or people with disabilities in access to dorms and services, parallel to existing laws. Although new legal arrangements are needed in this framework, the priority focus should be on changing the current practice. As seen, it is possible to establish some practices that will serve the interests of young people single some individual improvements. However, as needs change every day, it is

necessary to develop and systematize a service approach that will include a whole range of services to respond to this change. Otherwise, it may not be possible to systematize, in a sustainable way, an approach that will turn the scales towards the youth’s side in the relationship between the state and the citizens. NOTE 1 Article 10.– All individuals are equal without any discrimination before the law, irrespective of language, race, colour, sex, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion and sect, or any such considerations. (As amended on 7.5.2004-art 5170/1 .) Men and women have equal rights. The State shall have the obligation to ensure that this equality exists in practice . (As amended: 7/5/2010-art 5982/1 .) Measures taken for this purpose cannot be construed as violating the principle of equality. (As amended: 7/5/2010-art 5982/1) measures taken for children, the elderly, the disabled, the widows and orphans of martyrs of martyrs of war or service and martyrs and veterans cannot be considered as violating the principle of equality. No privilege shall be granted to any individual, family, group or class State organs and administrative authorities shall act in compliance with the principle of equality before the law in all their proceedings . 2 The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to guarantee that the rights enunciated in the present Covenant will be exercised without discrimination of any kind as to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.. 3 The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to ensure the equal right of men and women to the enjoyment of all economic, social and cultural rights set forth in the present Covenant.. 4 The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international cooperation based on free consent.

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YOUTH CENTRES OF THE DG YOUTH & SPORTS Emrah Gürsel, Neslihan Öztürk

We can define youth work briefly as activities based on extracurricular and non-formal techniques supporting individual empowerment and social participation of the youth. Youth works include a range of activities from street works to youth exchanges, and from effective use of the media to voluntary projects. Just like a part of this study was created by youth itself, there are also studies and activities not created by the youth but targeting them nonetheless. Among these activities, those executed at youth centres are of fundamental importance. Youth centres still play an important role as venues where young people can “hang out” and spend time socializing and learning. When we say youth centres in Turkey, the first institution that comes to mind is the Department of Youth Services (GHDB) working under the DG Youth & Sports (GSGM). There are a total of 131 youth centres operating in accordance with the Regulation on Youth Centres under GHDB. Additionally, GAP (Southeastern Anatolia project Regional Development Administration), another public agency, has 9 Youth and Culture Houses operating in the region. When we say youth centres, another factor we see is the local governments. These centres, run

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by local governments under various names such as “Youth Training Centres”, “Youth and Child Centres” etc differ from each other in their structure and content. The other actors on the field are the NGOs, which can reach only a limited number of young people. There are also some structures names Youth Centre and established by forprofit organizations. It was inevitable to include youth centres in Adrese Büyüteç, a project in which young volunteers monitor the services provided to the youth by public organizations. According to OECD figures, half of the young people between the ages of 15 and 19 drop out of school, it can be said that youth centres constitute one of the rare services provided to young people who are not included in the school system, and that youth centres can play a major social role if they are shaped correctly, all of which make them an important element of youth services.

HOW DID WE READ THE MONITORING RESULTS? Throughout 16 months of activities under the Adrese Büyüteç Project, young volunteers conducted enough monitoring on the field to enable them to develop suggestions on the functioning and philosophy of the mechanisms from which they receive services. The participatory monitoring (PM) forms, designed to ensure standard reporting of field monitoring activities with objective results and filled out by young volunteers during/ after their site visits started to give us some hints as to how we could take

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

a picture of the whole situation in the progressive phases of the project. In addition to PM forms that would ensure “objective” data with their style and content, we also saw that monitoring was a part of the learning process of young volunteers and that their experiences were too valuable to be ignored. When evaluating the forms, we assessed the personal perceptions and experiences of young people conducting monitoring in a total of 16 provinces . We can say that we carried out this project with 61

monitoring teams, keeping in mind the personal positions of the young people conducting the monitoring in our interpretations. When creating the comments and suggestions for this text, we set off from the perspective of youth works. When reading the forms, especially the answers to open-ended questions, we also kept in mind that the needs of young people can vary based on time, place, age, gender and similar factors. When examining and interpreting the monitoring results, we looked at whether

• young people who were involved and engaged in youth centres before the project,

• the services provided were suitable for young people with varying needs,

• young people who decided to join the youth centres during the project, and

• the operation was standard

• young people who had never thought about joining youth centres. However, while preparing forms in line with pre-defined criteria to obtain objective results, it was not taken into consideration that the perceptions of the PM teams on youth centres would be so effective in the evaluation phase. Hence, it can be said that when reading the forms, we made our evaluations based on the monitoring results, the volunteers taking part in the process, and the motivations, perceptions and needs demonstrated by the

• the service was focused on the needs and means of the local area, • the parent institution under which the centre operates has a positive effect on the Youth Centre, • youth centres were independent or dependent on other institutions in using and developing their resources, and to what extent, • they centres were able to develop their own opportunities and means.

61 Adana, Aksaray, Ankara, Edirne, Erzurum, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Kars, Kilis, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Muğla, Samsun and Trabzon.

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MONITORING RESULTS AND SUGGESTIONS Membership to Youth Centres

When we look at the procedures and regulations on youth centre membership, we see that the regulations of centres operating under the Department of Youth Services serve as a model for the regulations of youth centres operating under the municipality. Before the PM data and comments about membership, it is necessary to ask the reason behind the existing membership procedures and, based on the answers, identify the responsibilities related to the operation and management of the centre. When we look at the regulations of youth centres, we see no relationship between the membership registries to the centre and the operations of the centre’s executive, steering and audit boards. It is also impossible to say right out that being a member brings any advantages or disadvantages in terms of benefiting from the services. Independent from the PM data, what we need to do first is to start a discussion on why a procedure is needed for membership to youth centres. Looking at the PM activities carried out under the Adrese Büyüteç Project, we see that out of the 16 youth centres monitored, only 2 required registry for participation in activities, while the remaining 14 centres required both registration for activities and registration for membership. When we look at the regulations of youth

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centres attached to municipalities and the Department of Youth Services, we see that the documents required for membership are almost the same62. And when we look at the answers given to open-ended questions, it is seen that although not included in the regulation, young people are asked to bring additional documents, such as student certificate obtained from the university, certificate of domicile, and documents obtained from the public prosecutor’s office. Again in 2 our 16 centres monitored, the membership procedures were different for those below and above 18 years of age, although the regulations do not stipulate different procedures63. In some of the centres, registering for sports activities required submitting a health report and certificate attesting the blood type. We can regard these as additional information sought to ensure the safety of the young people with regard to sports activities; however, such practices may also increase the likelihood of young people, especially those with bad experiences with public institutions, acting hesitant to register for such activities. The article concerning the fees to be paid for membership are also very 62 Documents requires for membership to youth centres: (Regulation article 17) b- x2 passport photo, original or copy of birth certificate, c) Application from obtained from the Youth Centre, fully filled out and signed. 63 Age-based exceptional procedure: If willing and interested in the activities of the Youth Centre, those younger than 12 and older than 24 can also become members, provided that they are excluded from competitions. However, those under 7 and those above 26 years of age cannot become members.

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clear64. Lookign at the picture revealed by the PM, we see that in one out of the 16 Youth Centres monitored, fee for 2-year membership is TL 12. This and similar symbolic fees can be an instrument in contributing to a sense of belonging and ownership of the services by the youth. However, they should not reach a level which can change the perception that the services offered to young people in the centres are a right rather than a service that can be sold and purchased in the market. As a conclusion, it should be clearly defined how the membership mechanisms works, what the exceptions are, along with its purposes and the liabilities it arises. Physical Accessibility

Physical accessibility is a factor effecting the motivation to benefit from the services or demand services from a youth centre. All 16 of the youth centres monitored had single-transport access from the city centre. However, for these of these centres, we see in the answers to open-ended questions comments like “too distant to city centre”, ‘’transportation too difficult”, and ‘’no one knew where it was located, they could not give directions”. The feedback and data from forms and the PM team show that youth centres 64 in the regulation on youth centres, the provision on membership fees read as follows: Article:17)membership fee shall not be taken from the young person who will become a member; however, a participation fee, as determined by the provincial directorate, may be taken to cover the costs of the activities he/she will participate in.

must be located in a place safely and easily accessible, visibly situated, with necessary security measures taken in its vicinity, which may be one of the important suggestions of this project for youth centres. 9 of the 16 youth centres monitored were places considered as not safely accessible after dark. A negative factor that strikes the eye is that not being in a “safe” neighbourhood is something that should be rectified in order to ensure that young people, especially girls, can benefit from youth centre services. Physical Conditions of the Centres

In line with the approach of youth work on the subject of youth, in order to make space utilization more effective, it is necessary to arrange the physical conditions and psychological accessibility of the centre in consideration of the young people all of whom have different needs and backgrounds. In 14 of the 16 monitored centres operate in their own buildings (81.3%). In 11 (68.8%) of the centres, there is a garden open for use by the centre, and 14 of the youth centres have a space where volunteers can spend time together. As to the physical conditions of the centres, all 16 have spaces used/allocated to activities, while only 3 are too small or impractical to meet the demand. From the PM data, we can say that the buildings of youth centres have relatively enabling physical conditions. Beyond the criteria of whether the youth centre has its own space or not, things change a little when we

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look at whether these spaces are used effectively or how they are used. Hence, having enabling and complete physical facilities may not mean that the facilities are adequate to organize the activities that will meet the expectations of young people. Experience, viewpoint, personal skills and similar individual characteristics are elements that young people can develop as they share with their peers. Hence, it is important to design and envision youth centres not only as places where young people receive services, but also where they can spend their leisure with their peers, meet new people and socialize. A youth centre focused solely on service provision may transform into places which see young people as objects whose certain needs must be met of compensated for. To make these places attractive, it should be ensured that they have the tools and spaces which will make young people prefer going there, and the mechanisms should be carefully picked and designed. A youth centre with a pool table and a pinball machine may, at first glance, be perceived as a place designed mostly for boys. The common use areas where young people can spend time with each other should be designed to ensure equal participation by both genders, with an environment in which they can communicate with each other. Printed materials, educative box games, materials with which young people can make artistic productions,

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like music, painting etc, are also things that can enrich common use areas. Furthermore, these tools and devices must appeal to all young people of different ages, viewpoints, genders and interests. When we look at youth centres from the angle of their accessibility for people with disabilities, the situation is not very bright. Only 3 of the 16 centres monitored were designed for use by people with disabilities (18.8%). Even if we take an optimistic look and assume than a disabled youth has managed, despite all obstacles, to reach the youth centre, it does not look possible that s/he will be able to enter and use the youth centre without help from others. From answers to open-ended questions and the experiences of PM teams, even in the 3 centres which presented a positive look by being accessible for disabled young people, we understand that this accessibility is mainly due to temporary solutions added in later phases, or arrangements that are not practical. Some of the other factors that require attention when assessing whether the physical space is enabling for activities are hygiene, safety, appropriate temperature and lighting. Activities

What distinguishes youth work from any hobby or educational activity is the consideration put into knowing how many of the activities realized at youth centres address the personal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; emotional developments, educations, daily life practices and likes of young persons, using the available resources

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in line with the demands of young people when designing an activity, and observing the changes happening in the young people within the process. From the PM data, we see that the most common activities in youth centres include tours, planting trees, guitar courses, chess courses, sports activities, photography courses, drawing courses, drama courses etc. There are also some activities specific to their youth centres, such as mangala courses and cyclists society. Having different or identical services in all youth centres does not say anything about the quality of the services provided. To the extent that a youth centre is able to organize long-term and short-term activities within its means and in line with the demands, and able to make such activity specifically for the youth, we can call it a youth-focused youth work. Hence, where the activities of a youth centre are designed only by the youth workers and management mechanisms based on assumptions, such activity becomes indistinguishable from a simple hobby or educational activity. It is common in youth work that youth workers, who constantly interact with young people and have more familiarity than anyone with the daily life practices and interests of young people have an idea about the activities to organize and encourage the youth to develop their own idea and suggestions to diversify the activities. Another situation observed in youth centres is that 7 out of the 16 monitored centres, children and women

were also receiving services (43.8%). It is always useful to remember that a youth centre serving children and girls/ women is a factor that prevents young people from coming to that youth centre. Putting thought into knowing how many of the activities realized at youth centres address the personal – emotional developments, educations, daily life practices and likes of young persons, using the available resources in line with the demands of young people when designing an activity, and observing the changes happening in the young people within the process will enable a youth-centred perspective at youth centres. Participation Mechanisms at Youth Centres and How They Work

In the monitoring activities of Adrese Büyüteç, the question “what is being done at the centre for youth participation”, related to the participation mechanisms at youth centres, was answered as follows: • information to young people, • using the social networks on the internet, • opening stands at schools, • using the media, • using brochures, posters and similar printed materials. Sometimes, having its doors open to all young people and announcing this approach through various means may not be enough for a youth centre to ensure the participation of young people. Sometimes it is also important what a youth centre understands

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from “youth participation”. When we consider the definition of the concept of “participation” based on some qualitative criteria, promoting and informing may seem like the most rational and common methods to ensure participation. However, if we think of participation as a concept taking place at youth centres with the youth being its subject, it becomes necessary to define the concept of participation with a qualitative, needs –based approach and make the arrangements for it accordingly. When making these arrangements, it may provide guidance to ask some questions to an ideal youth centre within the frame of needs and means, and to search for the answers specific to that centre. a) Participation. How and Where?

When we think of youth centres as places providing services oriented to the needs and areas of interest of the youth, which provides young people with various opportunities, and which contributes to their psychologicalpersonal development, we can consider participation in the following lines: the extent to which young people receive services; and the extent to which young people provide services when they take ownership of the centre, take part in all its processes and assume responsibility for all the processes taking place at the centre. And to turn the service-receiving young person into an element of the participation mechanism, it is necessary to have an individually-operating and needs-based mechanism. For example, in the case of a guitar course with a capacity of

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30 people, in order to ensure 100% participation, it will be enough to have a quantitative criterion that will not cause any hindrance in the calendar, programme and number of participants of the course. However, when we define the reasons for carrying out that activity with the goal of providing personal development focusing on the person, a tool with which young people can express themselves, followed by an enabling environment that can create new demands for the sustainability of the course, we give priority to more qualitative criteria. Hence, the purpose becomes not only to ensure that the young person comes to the guitar course and learns how to play the guitar, but also to change and improve his/her perception of himself/herself, which elevates the young people from only an individual participating in the course, to one of the reasons of the survival of that youth centre. Hence, activities carries out solely with the motivation to inform young people about the services, becomes an element that instrumentalizes the youth for the survival of the centre, which goes beyond the concept of participation serving as a mechanism. Young people coming to youth centres should be the subject of the raison d’être of the youth centre’s operation, management and activities. Things that require extra care can be listed as follows: ensuring that young people become one of the subjects and building blocks of the centre while getting services from it without being instrumentalized; stating that the youth should take responsibility in line with the philosophy of the centre; being

Adrese BĂźyĂźteĂ§ Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

transparent about all things related to the centre; building relations in which the young people can trust; avoiding being hierarchical; support cooperation without thinking the youth centre as something independent from the other institutions and people in the local area; ensuring that young people are informed about the daily activities of the centre. b) The Role of Youth Workers in the Participation Mechanism

It is important that the people working at youth centres interpret the values of youth work from a youth-focused perspective. Data from monitoring show that the centre personnel are persons appointed and/or selected by an upper body under which the centre operates. Youth workers should be people who can explore the needs of the youth and create the safe zone where the youth can express themselves. Young people in a local area being of similar ages and from close social classes does not change the fact that they have different characteristics and expectations that distinguish them from each other. Hence, youth workers should feel responsible towards the young people frequenting the centre, rather than the centre that employs them and should build personal relations with each young member.

IN LIEU OF A CONCLUSION Turkey has a young population, with half of its population is under 29.2 years of age65. 65 TURKSTAT, Address Based Population Registry System 2010 Results (31 December 2010), www.tuik.gov.tr

Therefore, it can be said that policies concerning the youth are directly related to the daily lives of a considerable portion of the population, considering the youth and the people around them. It is one of the main responsibilities of the social state to create opportunities for social and individual self-realization of young people, in addition to formal education. However, it is clearly seen that the contents and approaches of existing youth centres are far from meeting the needs and being sufficient. In this context, it would be the right strategy to increase the number of youth centres operated by local governments together with NGOs or on their own. The central government can provide services oriented to build the capacities of locally operating youth centres, supervise them and increase communication between the youth centres. The knowledge and experiences of youth organizations and youth workers active in this area can play a key role in any strategy developed with regard to youth centres. The government is working on establishing a new youth structure in 2011. The spirit of the Turkey Youth Agency, which is planned to be established, and the66 new regulation that will be developed for youth centres should be based on decentralization, data-based action, provision of youthfriendly services, participation, and approaching all differences existing in the society as a richness. 66 The draft law for the Turkish Youth Agency, developed with the contributions of TOG, is currently pending discussion at the parliament.

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HEALTH, CULTURE & SPORTS DEPARTMENTS FREEDOM TO ORGANIZE IN UNIVERSITIES Burcu Oy

The civil society action that can be described as the public domain where people and organizations voice and debate their demands related to their relations with each other, with the state and with the society, and which ,is hence an important part of the democracy culture, is directly related to the existing participation channels and freedom to organize. In order to be able to use the freedoms of coming together under a common cause and/ or area of interest, organizing and taking action in the name of creating a desired social change, it is necessary to have an enabling legal framework, a supportive social-political foundation and, on this foundation, participation opportunities accessible to all (Keyman, 2004). The freedom to organize, one of the collective rights that constitute the basis of the social movements that are necessary for participation in the public life, gaining and protecting a many human rights and freedoms from freedom of expression to social rights, includes a series of rights and freedoms for various subjects. One of these subjects is the individual, who has the

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right to express his/her thoughts, set up an organization fully on his own Initiative and discretion to engage in actions parallel to these thoughts, to participate in any organization, to assume any position within such organization and to leave the organization whenever s/he so desires; the other subject, which can be described as a collective subject, is the organizations, which are under the protection of the law in many aspects of their operations, from their establishment to the continuation of their legal entities and their mode of operation (Kaboğlu,1989 in Beyazova, 2008) This legal guarantee covers both the negative obligations of states and individuals with regard to recognizing and protecting the autonomy and Initiative areas of both subjects, and the positive obligations of the states to provide expression and participation channels that enable realization of different forms of organizing and action (Tarhanlı,2002) Different forms of organizing include not only the traditional organization structures that first come to mind, such as foundations, associations, unions, co-ops and professional organizations, but also a large gamut of Initiatives and platforms, citizenship Initiatives, social movements, intra-university organizations and international networks that do not have legal entities. When establishing facts about the freedom to organize, it is necessary to look at whether there is a legal basis that protects and enables this wide range of organization types, and at the practices encountered by different individuals and groups when demanding or using their right to organize, and at their experiences as a whole.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

YOUTH AND THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE The youth of 15-24 age range, who constitute 20% of the entire population of Turkey and for whose education and empowerment only 2% of the GDP is spent although they are given much value in the political discourse, is a group that has many problems and needs in many areas, from social rights such as education, health and housing to the freedoms of thought and expression (Public Expenditures Monitoring Report, 2010). Developing and implementing a youth policy in line with the needs of the youth and for the solution of their problems can be possible only through active participation of the youth in this process. And to enable this participation, the youth should be empowered as autonomous and equal citizens in the social life, their domains of expressions should be improved, and different forms of action and organizing in which they can participate with their free will should be supported (Nemutlu and Kurtaran,2008). This need, which is expressed in the Lisbon Strategy 2000 of the EU by asking the states to guarantee the participation of young people in the economic and social life and their playing an active role in decision-making processes in areas concerning them; to support youth organizations and Initiatives and improve the opportunities offered in this area; and to provide freeof-charge culture and arts activities and sports opportunities through which young people can spend their leisure (Yurttagüler, 2008), was included in the Youth Strategy of the 9th Development Plan 2007-2013) of the Republic of Turkey, which, in its constitution, has

tasked the youth to exalt the state and its principles, and defined obligations for the protection of the youth rather than their empowerment, as ‘Measures will be taken to ensure better communication of the young people with their families and the society, to develop their selfconfidence, to increase their sense of belonging to the society and sensitivity towards the society they live in, and to ensure their participation in the decision making processes (UN Development Programme, 2008). These criteria and requirements mentioned with reference to developing and implementing a youth policy in line with the needs of the youth and for the solution of youth problems are directly related to the freedom to organize. Within the social discourse that suggests that how young people use this freedom depends on their personal motivations and life views as well as their families and circle of friends, today’s youth, born and raised after 1980, is defined as a group of closed, silent and apolitical consumers (Neyzi, 2004). The fact that, according to the State of Youth survey (UN Development Programme, 2008), only 4% of the young people taking part in the survey stated being a member of an NGO, or that in a survey carried out on the civil society participation of the youth in Istanbul (Yentürk, Kurtaran, Uran, Yurttagüler, Akyüz and Nemutlu, 2008) it was found that only one fourth of the young people are a member of a civil society organization despite the wide gamut of organizations available, from sports and university clubs to societies, associations, foundations and

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political parties; and also the fatc that political participation is as low as 1.2%, can be seen as findings supporting this common belief. However, these same surveys also include findings that young people are more able to take part in organizations established-runparticipated by their peers; that young people with broader opportunities on the basis og the economic and educational levels of their families and selves participate more in organizations and can be more independent, productive, social and participative compared to financially constrained and socially excluded young people. These quantitative findings and the experiences expressed in the qualitative studies done in the same area demonstrate that the organizing levels and choices of young people cannot be explained with their being an apolitical and consumer group, and are closely related to the socioeconomic conditions, the available opportunities and means, the problems of the existing political system and traditional politics, the tools and methods used, the common approach to organizing in the society , and the legal processes (Beyazova, 2008). The fact that, according to 70% of the youth who are not included in the education system and who make up more than half of the young people taking part in any organization in the civil area, even in the case of university students who are more fortunate in this area, the most fundamental problems and needs are clustered in the areas of matters that surround the social lives of young people and their ability to express themselves and organize with regard to

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these matters, should be accepted as the rationale for doing more research to study the state of the freedom of organizing and widen its scope, and for taking systematic measures. (Community Volunteers Foundation, 2009). In order to realize all these studies, it is important that the existing legal groundwork and services and practices are transparent and can be executed and monitored in tandem with active participation and follow up by the youth. The Adrese BĂźyĂźteĂ§ project, run by the Community Volunteers Foundation, is a valuable study modelling the abovementioned monitoring and followup process based on various public institutions from which young people receive services. In the following pages, we will address the legislation on the freedom to organize in universities, and we will attempt to provide some suggestions in line with the existing legal foundation and the needs compiled from the findings of the monitoring reports made by university students with regard to Health, Culture and Sports Departments of their universities, within the context of the right to organize in universities.

UNIVERSITY YOUTH AND THE FREEDOM TO ORGANIZE Social and Legislative Developments

The university youth, given the mission to shape the society based on the requirements of the new regime in the early republican period, started to play a more active role in social movements with universities gaining a say in the

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

political domain with their autonomous statuses with the effect of the global political and social changes in the 1960-1980 period. However, the environment of conflict fuelled between youth groups trying to fulfil their mission to transform the society through different political polarizations, created the grounds for redefining the youth organization as a social threat (Beyazova,2008). This process resulted in the coup of 1980, which ended the activities of all political parties and all mass organizations, in which the youth was extremely active. Losing their autonomy with the Law on the Council of Higher Education adopted in 1981, the universities were turned into non-political structures based on an appointment system, and all student representation systems were abolished (Orhaner,2008). Higher education defined its purpose as raising its students as individuals who are loyal to the nationalism of Ataturk in line with Ataturk’s principles and reforms; who carry the national, moral, humanistic, spiritual and cultural values of the Turkish nation, and who are proud and happy to be a Turk; who hold the interests of the society above personal interests and who are filled with love towards their family, country and nation; who know their duties and responsibilities to the Republic of Turkey and who have integrated these duties and responsibilities into their behaviours. It is questionable to what extent one can speak about autonomy and freedom to organize in universities which were steered by the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) within the framework of a law that, until 1997, did

not give academic members the right to join political parties or the right to join an association that is not a public interest group without permission from the rector, and which, until 2004, provided for inclusion of the General Staff members in the steering committees of the representatives of the Ministry of National Education and the Council of Ministers (Beyazova,2008). According to the Disciplinary Regulation of the law that is still in effect, students can be subjected to suspension for up to two years or dismissal from institution for acts carried out in a higher education institution (HEI) which should be considered within the framework of the freedom to organize, such as engaging in political activities and distributing manifestos, hanging banners and placards; organizing or participating in meetings without permission from authorized persons in the indoor or outdoor areas of the HEI; attempting acts such as boycotting, occupying or blocking for purposes other than political or ideological; possessing, reproducing or distributing manifestos, banners, placards, cassettes and similar materials for political or ideological purposes. The individual right to organize of the university students and the collective right to organize of university organizations continued to be restricted for long years not only within the university but also in the social life on the basis of an Associations Law that introduced an abundance of prohibitions. The association and solidarity bans under these laws remained in effect until 1995, and the ban on meeting, demonstrating or marching for purposes and in areas other than those stated

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in their statues remained in force until the Constitutional Amendment on 2001. It was not until 2004 that associations gained their freedom from law enforcement bodies and gained a structure attached to the Associations Departments of the Ministry of Interior through the legislation changes in line with the EU alignment processes and through the growing demand from the public, (Beyazova,2008). Wide-scoped bans on the establishment, purposes and activities of associations and rules that required associations to have any notice they wanted to publish checked first by the chief local administrator could be cancelled only in 2004. However, there are still laws in force that limit any activity other than those stated in the statute, and that gave the right to benefit from the resources of the Dg Youth and Sports only to those associations that registered to the DG â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in addition to registration to the Associations Desk of the ministry of Interior- as youth associations/clubs and pledged to abide by the relevant laws, decrees, regulations, directives circulars, communiquĂŠs and orders of the DG (Kurtaran,2008). Another important channel of expression and participation within universities were the student representation systems that were very active and political with an active student base pre -1980. The student representations, which, in those days, served the function of actively conveying the needs, demands and thoughts of students to te management levels and supported the academic representation of the students an d the solution of their

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education-related problems, were totally abolished after 1980, and were redefined in early 2000s with the effect and expectations from the Bologna Process which aimed to develop the European Education Area, within the framework of a model regulation dictated from top to bottom. Most of the representations established on the basis of this model regulation, which had problems regarding election and representation, are seen as dummy structures that are far from meeting the needs and demands of students. Within the framework of this regulation, the representatives represent a wide student base, but are criticized for using their powers as a political propaganda tool (Orhaner, 2008). Having too many problems in this regard, the regulation was not widened for universities, and n contrary were made even more problematic in terms of the freedom to organize, by setting criteria as grade point averages and disciplinary standing etc. When we say freedom to organize in universities, the first structures to come to mind are the university clubs and societies, the operations of which vary from university to university, and which are under the control of various structures, such as the Rectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Office, the Deanship, the Student Affairs Department, the Health, Culture and Sports Department and the Student Representatives Board/Union. This operation, which is deprived of a standard rights-based legal regulation, is shaped depending on the structure of the university and the position, choices and characteristics of the personnel, should be structured within

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

the framework of the Regulation on Health, Culture and Sports Departments, which is defined in Article 47 of the Law on Council of Higher Education as: ‘Protecting the physical and psychological health of students, treating those who are sick or having them treated, providing housing, eating, studying and resting areas and leisure opportunities based on their areas of interest, provide opportunities for students to gain new areas of interest and services that will enable the improvement of their social statuses and healthy development of their talents and personalities, raising them as individuals who take care of their physical and psychological health, and equip themwith habits orderly and disciplined studying, resting and entertainment’ and which is established for these purposes. Freedom to Organize and the Adrese Büyüteç Project

The Adrese Büyüteç ‘freedom to organize’ evaluations will be presented on the basis of the monitoring reports on the SKSs, which have predefined duties and services in the areas of health, psychological counselling and guidance, and social, cultural and sports services. Under the project, young volunteers who had received the necessary basic training and supported within the process by the project team prepared and shared a total of 36 PM reports in 16 provinces in 6 regions, with 20 first-term PM reports and 16 second term PM reports. Although some differences were observed in the evaluations done in different

periods and by different people, these differences were not considered to create a situation shadowing the reality and consistency of the data, and were accepted as an indication of the lack of standards in the operation and service provision formats of the institutions. Parallel to this understanding, each monitoring report was included in the analysis process as the experiences of different persons. Data will be conveyed based on the defined obligations of the in various service areas under the relevant regulation. In accordance with Article 14 of the regulation, SKS’s have the duty to “provide new-coming students with introductory and enlightening information on the university, the rules and the close vicinity”. However, in 14% of the PM reports, it is stated that no activities are carried out to render these services, and ratio of availability of such information on the websites of the universities remains as low as 60%. In half of the reports, it was stated that there were information posters and banners on the walls, yet 64% of the participants found the signs insufficient. In general, since the working hours coincide with the class hours, there may be some problems occasionally in benefiting from the services of SKSs, stated the young participants and mentioned the problems experienced in bureaucracy; participants indicated that the experiences are shaped according to personal relations developed with the personnel and the different situations including the time allocated to giving information and whether the personnel is youth-friendly or not. 75% of the

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reports said the officials were helpful and warm. In the meeting where the findings were evaluated, participants said not all the offices agreed to an interviews and those who did accept an interview were generally individuals who understood the students and their project-related motivations, and hence that the representation of this finding should also be taken into consideration. According to another article (art.15) of the regulation, SKS’s have the obligation to “provide transport services to students and employees, or to contract an enterprise to provide these services and ensure that the service is executed in the best way possible”. However, more than half of the reports indicated insufficiencies in terms of mans of transport between campuses and from campus to town centre, and a comparison with findings from other questions revealed that in cases where these were paid services, 30% of the students were unable to use this services. Article 15/a of the Regulation also lists the following among SKS’s duties: ‘providing necessary services to meet the basic needs of students such as housing, nutrition, scholarships and credits, to cooperate with the organizations providing these services and ensure better execution of the services, and to work to ensure that the dorm canteens and cafeterias provide the highest quality of services”. However, half of the reports stated that the information on catering and housing services was insufficient; although it was stated that there are scholarship facilities, the gap between

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the data provided regarding the number of students accessing these scholarships in open-ended questions was evaluated to have been caused due to insufficient information. In article 17 of the Regulation, the sports-related responsibilities of SKSs are defined. Nearly90% of the PM reports mention the existence of a sports facility, yet only half of them serve free of charge. The findings that the facilities were not available in multiple campuses and that their working hours were not known and/ or their working hours coincided with class hours, have created questions about the extent to which these facilities were used. It was also mentioned that as the sports branches covered gt diversified and required special equipment, the payment conditions become more challenging. Article 16 of the Regulation governs the responsibilities of SKSs in the cultural area. Some of these responsibilities are about organizing exhibitions, concerts, conferences, theatre performances and similar cultural and arts events and courses and workgroup in the related areas in order to ensure leisure activities for students and equip them with new areas of interest and the habit of resting and entertainment. In about 70% of the reports, it was stated that it is possible to reach information on the website about the abovementioned cultural activities; yet in the openended questions it was emphasized that extra effort is needed to be informed about these activities, only half of which are free-of-charge.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

At first, the above findings are associated with the general duties of SKS’s to create opportunities and facilities for the leisure times of students; however, the value of these activities and events as venues where young people can come together and interact with each other should not be underestimated, and it should not be overlooked that these may be the groundwork or a step towards enjoyment of the right to organize. Some of the other duties set forth under Article 16 of the Regulation foresee cooperating with organizations active in the social, cultural and arts areas. These duties in particular can be regarded as a basis for improving the relations of universities with NGOs. Again from the answers to open-ended questions, it is understood that strange as it is, the existence of student clubs and societies have started to become powerful by undertaking the social, cultural and arts-related activities and events that universities do not/cannot organize. Participants gave examples showing that the clubs and societies organizing wide-scoped events such as Spring Festivals, which can contribute to promoting the university, in line with the demands from the management and student representatives have gained a more powerful status. Students clubs and societies, which are the first structures to come to mind when we say freedom to organize at universities, are generally managed based on the internal regulations of the Culture Presidencies of SKSs. However, there are no articles in the YÖK SKS regulation that mentions

the freedom to organize or defines and guarantees the rights of clubs. Information on student clubs and societies, which are usually included under the campus life section on the websites of SKS or the Student Affairs Department are not regularly updated. Deprived of legal guarantees and having limited accessibility and promotion opportunities, clubs have a problematic structure that differs from university to university with regard to their founding and closure criteria and operational processes. Around 66% of the PM reports show that information on the founding process of clubs can be found on the internet. However, the authority to apply for these procedures varies, from academic advisor to deanship approval, SKS Culture Directorate to student representative boards; although the intermediate authorities may thus vary, it is stated that the this process is dependent on the approval of the rector. To establish an association, it is enough to have 7 people; while the number of students needed to establish a society at the university is 5 or above, according to around 45% of the reports. In the answers to open-ended questions, clubs operating in the fields of sports, education, arts, culture, IT, travelling, career, communication, social interest/responsibility and professional areas were named, although 35% of the reports showed that clubs cannot be founded in the areas wanted by the students, and 40% of the reports indicated it is not possible to establish more than one clubs in the same area. 90% of the young people emphasized

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that the advisor’s approval is needed in club founding processes, and around 25% of the reports stated that grade point averages were one of the criteria sought for founding a club. Students stated that when preparing their club statutes they take as reference the SKS model statutes, that these processes are usually steered by advisors or SKS law bureaus, and that independent from what they really want, students draft the statutes according to the existing legislation and in conformity with the school’s principles and its directives on societies. 60% of the reports stated that club directives could be accessed from the internet, while 80% stressed that university managements interfere in the statutes. In addition to this difficult founding process, the facilities and opportunities of clubs are also limited, and they do not have any legal protection or any transparent service distribution process. It was observed that more than 50% of the clubs did not have their own rooms, and in 40% of the reports it was stated that in order to get a room, clubs must meet some vague criteria with regard to the number of members, the frequency of activities, conformity to regulations, developing positive relations with the SKS, being a long-established club, and getting approval from the rector. In cases where clubs were observed to have their own rooms, only 30% of them stated that every club had its own room, with the rest sharing rooms with other clubs, with hours between which they could use the rooms being vague or limited to one or two hours during the working

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hours. Also, 41% of the reports stated that there was no internet in club rooms. More than half of the young participants stated that the criteria for clubs to benefit from university resources were specified, yet answers to open-ended questions revealed problems in these areas. It was stated that financial support varied within ‘available means’ according to the budget allocated to student activities by the SKS –Secretariat GeneralRector’s Office, and according to the number of clubs and societies, and that usually clubs are forced to make their own budgets either through sponsors or with monthly fees collected from members in return for receipts. Additionally, it was emphasized that budget allocations depended too much on the effect of the activities on the promotion of the university, the club’s relations with the management and the subject of the activities. Although PM reports indicated that clubs could use various venues of the university for their activities, it was stated that in order to get the required authorization for an activity, the activity must comply with the directive and pre-set criteria, must be compatible with the purpose and annual activity plan of the club, and must have obtained approval from the advisor and the SKS. In 73% of the PM reports, it was indicated that clubs are obliged to submit reports on club activities to the advisor or the units under which they operate. In 30% of the PM reports stating that clubs and societies that do not comply with the statute and decisions of the university, that include actions against the university management,

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

that incline towards ‘unauthorized’ subjects, that have activities with political content, that are found to be separatist and against the principles and reforms of Atatürk, that engage in activities without permission and/or that fail to renew registration on annual basis, can be closed down by SKS Culture Directorates, the University Managements, the Rector’s Office and/or by Student Clubs Coordination Boards, it was emphasized that these criteria were accessible on the internet. In 58% of the reports, ’young people said SKSs fulfilled the services under their responsibility, and 70% complained that things ran slowly due to bureaucracy. When evaluating the results of the PM reports which stated that it was considerably difficult for students who are not member to a club or society to organize an event, it was stated by students that ambiguities and amendments in the Law on Duties and Powers of the Police included some adversities that legitimized the arbitrary attitude of the police towards actions where students want to express their opinions, positions and reactions regarding current events. 80% of the PM reports mention the existence of student representations as an alternative participation channel, yet it is said that this newly starting tradition, imposed from the top in line with the changes made in the Regulation with the effect of the Bologna process, has a structure that is apparently ‘pseudo democratic’. In addition, it was stated that student representations had a structure

operating under the dominion of political groups because of their election and representation systems that are not/cannot spread across a wide and informed student base. In 50% of the reports, it was mentioned that young people are able to work voluntarily in the SKSs to which the clubs are attached, and 60% of the reports stated young people had the opportunity to work as paid assistant at SKS; yet at the meeting where the data were evaluated, it was stated that these voluntary works were nothing but a participation activity for show purposes and were far from ensuring effective participation in the decisionmaking processes. In the PM reports, under the Gender Equality heading, some questions were asked in the gender balance of club memberships and those working at SKSs; however, young people stated that it was impossible to reach sound data regarding these questions, and usually left them unanswered. At the meeting where the data were evaluated, the information and opinions shared by young people based on their experiences and observations suggested that there are no big gaps when it comes to club memberships, though male students are the majority in executive boards and in student representations. Also, it was expressed that the gender balance changed according to the field of activity of a club, giving as example that male students usually preferred sports clubs while female students mostly preferred social responsibility clubs.

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SUGGESTIONS Activities that are expected to be carried out in order to ensure the freedom of organizing in universities and make sure that it is demanded and used as a right in the light of these suggestions should be taken under guarantee on a legal basis. Laws and regulations that have problematic articles in terms of guarantee and enjoyment of the right to organize should be abolished. When rearranging these regulations, the daily life practices of students and organizations as well as their demands and needs should be taken into consideration. In addition, work should be carried out to monitor and improve the services which are observed to have problems and shortcomings in implementation although they are included under the responsibilities of institutions set forth in laws. In these monitoring and improvement efforts, it is extremely important that active participation of young people is ensured in a way that will enable them to actually influence the decision processes. The YĂ&#x2013;K system and law, which restrict the autonomy of the universities and the freedom and rights of expression, thought and organizing of their academic and administrative personnel and students should be seriously questioned, and restructured with a transparent system through which relevant stakeholders can convey their needs, demands and thoughts, and actively participate in decision-making mechanisms. In this restructuring process, fundamental changes in the higher education system should be

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brought on the agenda. On the basis of the freedom to organize and freedom of expression, the articles of the YĂ&#x2013;K Disciplinary Regulation, which to a very large extent limit the political activities and action-based expression channels of students and which allow arbitrary penal sanctions and practices must be changed. . The Law on the Duties and Powers of the Police, which limits the action-based expression channels of the youth and which causes a lot of problems on the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s side when they are expressing themselves, as well as the articles of the Law on Meeting and Demonstration Marches that allows arbitrary practices should be abolished; and violent and/or punishing practices based on the articles that restrict the rights to organize and take action should be prevented. The Student Representation Regulation put into practice in line with the effects of and expectations from the Bologna process which targeted enlarging the European Education Area in early 2000, and the practices imposed from the top based on this regulation should be reviewed. Necessary changes should be made to enable representation systems to become structures that get their strength from a wide student base and that can communicate the needs, demands and thoughts of students to management mechanisms and hence influence the decision mechanisms. These changes should be designed to respond to the structures and needs that change from university to university, and universities should be allowed to develop different regulations and practices based

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

on the demands coming from their students. In this sense, the only central limitation on the regulations should be on the limitation of the freedom to organize based on criteria such as grade average points or disciplinary standing of the students. In election of representatives, the main tenet should be wide participation; election of students should not be subject to approval from a higher authority, either academic or administrative. The operations and regulation of SKSs, which are the first structures to come to mind with regard to the freedom to organize in universities and under which clubs and student societies operate, should be reviewed. SKSs should stop being control mechanisms under which clubs operate, and should continue their existence as structures providing services to students in the areas in which they define themselves; and universities should be allowed to make their own autonomous regulations that will meet the varying demands and needs of their students. In order to ensure that students benefit from the services as their rights, information should be visible and accessible to all from various channels, including the internet. Systems should be established through which the services provided and the employees providing these services can be monitored and evaluated by the recipients of those services. The freedom of organizing and the existence of student organizations in universities should be taken under the guarantee of the law via a new regulation. Criteria such as GPA, member quorum, acting in an ‘acceptable’ area, advisor’s approval,

adoption of the SKS statute etc, which are sought for founding a club, should be abandoned, and informing the relevant department should be sufficient to found a club. The execution process regarding the clubs should be determined with the participation of students, and systems and practices that allow limitation and interference in the internal affairs of organizations by an academic and/ or administrative upper body should be abandoned. It may be meaningful in terms of ensuring that the new arrangements are in line with the needs and demands of students to ensure that student clubs and representations that are based on broad representation play an active role in the establishment processes of coordination boards. Opportunities should also be provided for students and groups who want to express themselves or engage in actions or activities to express themselves without setting up a club; to this end, specific procedures should be determined with the participation of students. Facilities and opportunities available to university organizations such as financial resources, venues, rooms, internet services etc should be widened and distributed via a transparent system that can be monitored. Benefiting from these facilities and services should not be dependent on criteria such as the activity area of the organization, who the individual students are, the impact of the activity on the university’s promotion, and relevance with the opinion of the university

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management. All financial burdens that make organizing difficult, and that force students to express and/ or do something in which they do not believe in just for the sake of appearances (forced conformism: Lüküslü, 2008) should be borne by university managements. University managements should share with students every year how much funds have been allocated to which activities of which organizations. NGOs from outside the university should be allowed to collaborate with student organizations, and discriminating practices in this area should be abandoned. Student and youth organizations that have defined themselves as youth clubs in their statutes should not be required to be registered at the Directorate General of Youth of Sports to benefit from the funds, facilities and opportunities offered by the DG Youth and Sports. Also, clubs and youth organizations should not be put under the obligation to pledge that they will abide by the directives, communiqués and orders of the DG and to accept inspection by provincial directorates when necessary and intervention in its internal affairs in line with these ‘requirements’. In particular, it is unacceptable to ask organizations that are already registered at the Associations Desk to limit themselves with yet another regulation. The in-kind and in-cash resources offered by DG Youth and Sports to youth organizations as ‘assistance appropriation’ should be increased; the

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distribution of these resources and the framework of the services provided should be transparent and able to be monitored; and in this process, any and all kinds of discriminatory practices based on the identities and activity areas of organizations and the regions from which they come from should be prevented. As stated t the beginning of this section, it is of utmost importance that any developments in the freedom of organizing at universities follow a transparent process with broad participation. In this sense, it is necessary to disseminate the monitoring systems modelled in the Adrese Büyüteç Project. In this line, creating systems through which students can evaluate the administrative personnel from which they receive services and the freedom of organizing at universities, quite similar to the academic personnel evaluation system, can be put forward as a final suggestion. Sharing with the public the findings obtained from these systems, as the scorecards for the freedom of organizing and in a way that determines the values and prestige of universities may be an optimistic expectation, but is certainly a meaningful indicator in the process of improvement, which is a long way.

REFERENCES Beyazova, Ayşe (2008). Örgütlenme Özgürlüğü Ekseninde Türkiye’de Üniversiteli Gençlerin Örgütlenme Deneyimlerine İlişkin Nitelikli Bir Analiz, Istanbul Bilgi University Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Hukuk Yüksek Lisans

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Programı İnsan Hakları Hukuku Yüksek Lisans Tezi. Birleşmiş Milletler Kalkınma Programı (2008) . Türkiye 2008, İnsani Gelişme Raporu, Türkiye’de Gençlik., Çankaya, Ankara. Kaboğlu, İbrahim, (1989) , Kolektif Özgürlükler, DÜHF, Diyarbakır, in Beyazova, Ayşe (2008). Örgütlenme Özgürlüğü Ekseninde Türkiye’de Üniversiteli Gençlerin Örgütlenme Deneyimlerine İlişkin Nitelikli Bir Analiz, Istanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Hukuk Yüksek Lisans Programı İnsan Hakları Hukuku Yüksek Lisans Tezi. Keyman, Fuat, (2004), Avrupa’da ve Türkiye’de Sivil Toplum, Sivil Toplum ve Demokrasi Konferans Yazıları, No 3, Istanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları Eğitim ve Araştırma Birimi. Kurtaran, Yörük, (2008). Türkiye’de Gençlik Alanında Devletin Rolü, İçinde Yentürk, N. Kurtaran, Y. Ve Nemutlu G. (der.), Türkiye’de Gençlik Çalışması ve Politikaları, Istanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Yayınları, İstanbul. Lüküslü, G.Demet,(2008). Günümüz Türkiye Gençliği: Ne Kayıp Bir Kuşak Ne De Ülkenin Aydınlık Geleceği, İçinde Yentürk, N, Kurtaran, Y. Ve Nemutlu G. (der.) ,(2008), Türkiye’de Gençlik Çalışması ve Politikaları, İstanbul Bilgi University Yayınları, İstanbul Nemutlu G. ve Kurtaran, Y. (2008). Gençlik Çalışmaları Temelinde Gençlik Politikaları Önerileri, İçinde Yentürk, N, Kurtaran, Y. Ve Nemutlu G. (der.) , Türkiye’de Gençlik Çalışması ve Politikaları, Istanbul Bilgi University Yayınları, İstanbul.

Neyzi, Leyla, (2004). Nesne ya da Özne? Türkiye’de Gençliğin Paradoksu, Ben Kimim? Türkiye’de Sözlü Tarih Kimlik ve Öznellik, İletişim Yayınları, İstanbul. Orhaner, Berkay (2008). Türkiye Üniversitelerinde Student Temsiliyetinin Durumu ve Geleceği, Birikim: Student Hareketleri. Yentürk,N., Kurtaran, Y., Uran, Ş., Yurttagüler, L, Akyüz, A. ve Nemutlu N, (2008). İstanbul Gençliği: STK Üyeliği Bir Fark Yaratıyor mu?, İçinde Yentürk, N, Kurtaran, Y. Ve Nemutlu G.(der.) Türkiye’de Gençlik Çalışması ve Politikaları, Istanbul Bilgi University Yayınları, İstanbul. Yurttagüler, L., Sosyal Dışlanma ve Gençlik, (2008). İçinde Yentürk, N, Kurtaran, Y. Ve Nemutlu G. (der.), Türkiye’de Gençlik Çalışması ve Politikaları, Istanbul Bilgi University Yayınları, İstanbul. Tarhanlı, Turgut, (2002), STK’larda Gönüllülük ve Gençlik, Türkiye’de Sivil Toplum Kuruluşları Sempozyumu, Tarih Vakfı, İstanbul. Community Volunteers Foundation (2009), Üniversite Gençliği’nin İhtiyaçlar Araştırması. 2010 Yılı Kamu Harcamalarını İzleme Raporu: http://www. kamuharcamalariniizlemeplatformu. org/site_media/docs/milletvekili_ mektup_2010.pdf

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MEDICO HEALTH SERVICES AT UNIVERSITIES

students and the modes of access to these health services. While discussing the right to health on the one hand, we will also be discussing many other rights and the conditions under which these rights are used.

Tuna Çağlar Öztürk

The first part addresses the service formats of the medicos at universities and the daily life practices. The right to health of the university youth should not be discussed independent from the general right to health. We are now lunching into a general discussion on the right to health, by taking ourselves out of the campus with a few words within the context of the youth, the state and the right to health. Hence, it would not do to forego mentioning the union-based struggle waged in the area of health. In the last part, we will also be addressing the reaction against the Law on Social Insurance and Universal Health Insurance (SSGSS), which has garnered the greatest social reaction in the area of health in the last 5 years.

The right to health and healthy living, which is a fundamental right for everyone, is defined specifically not only in the national constitution but also in many international conventions. And the state has the obligation to ensure this right for each one of its citizens. The services and facilities required for the enjoyment of this right by children and young people are addressed in detail in some instruments, and arrangements were made to ensure equal conditions for everyone. According to official data, more than half of Turkey’s population is at or below the age of 20. Therefore, recognition of the right to health and access to this right in practice becomes all the more important. Hence, it also becomes very important for young people to be aware and informed about and to demand these rights, and hence benefit from this right and its implications in his/her daily life. It also becomes useful in terms of improving, widening and disseminating the scope of these rights. There are a lot of laws that define these rights. And then there is also the way these laws are implemented in the daily life. This section aims to make an evaluation of the health services received from the university by

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This article draws on the periodic observations carried out in universities in 15 provinces under the Adrese Büyüteç Project. Medicos, which we can describe as “in-campus hospitals”, were monitored and evaluated by university students.

HEALTH SERVICES AND CONDITIONS IN MEDICOS What is a medico?

The definition, purpose and services of medicos are codified under the “Implementation Regulation on for Higher Education Institutions, Medico-

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Social, Health, Culture and Sports Departments (1)”: “medicos are units providing primary health care services and under the management of a responsible physician with the purpose providing health services and health-related consultancy to university students and employees. They carry out the duty to protect and improve the health of the population it serves and provide primary health care services when needed, and plan and monitor secondary and tertiary treatment services.” According to the “Social Security Authority Health Practices Communiqué (2)” released by the Social Security Authority, medicos work as primary public health institutions. In universities, they operate under the Medico-Social Health, Culture and Sports Departments. General Situation and Conditions

Adrese Büyüteç observes how the health services provided in universities work in the daily life and shows that there is a difference between how these services are defined in the law and how they are actually rendered. According to available findings, the university youth is not satisfied with the current situation, and the majority does not have a clue about how to benefit from these services. Medicos either have no activities to promote and make themselves known to the population they serve, or these activities are far from being sufficient. There is no information (banners, pamphlets), no promotion, and no activity (film display, conference

etc) to promote the services. 2 out 3 students do not know the duties and functions of medicos. The health services provide at our universities are limited and insufficient. There are only a few universities that have adequate facilities, equipment and personnel. In the universities established in the recent years and in the health centres of the universities in East Anatolia, the services are very limited. In the universities of many cities, students cannot benefit from these free services due to lack of specialized physicians and polyclinics. Today, many universities take a small fee or donation from students and employees receiving health services from the medico. While no fee is charged in some universities, in general we see there is no specific standard to that. In cases where the university covers only a portion of the treatment costs, the remainder comes out of the student’s pocket, and not all students have the means to pay this portion. More than 70% of the university students do not have social security. Plus, in Turkey, most university students come from other cities. For students coming from low-income families with no social security, medicos mean the only free health insurance. A person applying for the services offered at medico social centres must certify that s/he is eligible to receive services in accordance with the regulation, and transactions for the services vary according to certain status criteria. Students with social security cover their medicine and spectacle needs by getting

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prescriptions from the social security authority to which they are attached. Students with no social security can receive treatment with their health books, while those without health books can get one from the university. Covering the costs of medicines, spectacle, orthopaedic devices etc within the means of its budget is also a responsibility of the university . Universities also give health services to the students f other universities. Therefore, any student can benefit from this right through the nearest university. The physical structures, equipment, personnel number and service types of medico-social centres are regulated in consideration of the size and needs of the population served. These micro hospitals with their locations varying according to the geographical location of faculties and other campuses, have the duty to carry out all health services of the university and provide inpatient health services. In our universities, medicos work only during the work hours. Personnel and students at in-campus dorms cannot use the medico after work hours. When a dorm student gets sick at night, s/he has to wait until the medico opens in the morning, or get services from another hospital. Only a few medicos keep ambulances. Hence, there is a need for a health system that students can reach 24/7. Even if such a health system was to be put in place, today most of the medicos have personnel shortages and are physically lacking. In medicos with too few physicians, students are

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treated by doctors specializing in other areas. Most of the medicos were not designed to ensure comfortable use by people with disabilities. There are no special practices for the disabled in most of the campuses. One of the duties of universities defined in the Implementation Regulation for Medico-Social Culture and Sports Departments (3) is to conduct health checks of all students at the university every year, to the extent it is capable, and record the health findings in the relevant fiches. Data obtained by students in the PM activity of the Adrese BĂźyĂźteĂ§ Project show that universities are not doing anything with regard to this duty. Below, you will find some examples from the daily life. Of course it would be wrong to generalize these situations or conditions. However, even this one single example demonstrates how the universities have failed in providing quality health services. In the following event taking place at a university, a student gets sick and is taken to the medico centre in the campus... It was a busy time of the year with lots of schoolwork, and one day during class one of our friends said she was not feeling well and asked us to take her to a hospital immediately. She was writhing in pain at the back of the classroom. We left the class and took her to the medico, yet there were no doctors there, though I am not sure if he could have done anything if he had been there since the doctor at the medico was

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

a dentist. After this shock, we set out to take our friend to the hospital, which was at the other side of the city. We made it to the hospital in about half an hour, and completed her admission procedures. According to the information given to us by the ER doctor, our friend had been poisoned from the water. We had lost some time since there were no ambulances at the university. After treatment, our friend got well and we dropped her to her dorm. Then we returned to the school and decided to ask where the medico doctor was. The medico doctor was not present in the university, and even his nurse did not know his whereabouts. For a whole week, we checked to see if the medico doctor had arrived. After a week, his vacation was over and he was back to school. We had a chance to talk to him for a while. The doctor said not a lot of people used the medico, and those who do use it only for referral procedures. “There is a medico, but it is not fullyequipped. And there is not much we can do about it” was how the doctor complained. So, applying to the Adrese Büyüteç Project after such an event was all the more meaningful for me and my friends. A Monitoring Report

YOUTH, STATE AND THE RIGHT TO HEALTH When we look at the youth in today’s world, we see that the global market system prevailing the world has pushed the youth into very hard living

conditions, and that they are the ones suffering the most from the adversities created by the system. On the other hand, we also realize that new rights are being defined and constantly developed for the contemporary youth with the effect of human rights advocacy, which is a growing area of reaction in the world. Due to all these reasons, the “right to health”, the “right to healthy living” and the “rights when getting health services” become all the more important. Each one of them are defined in national constitutions and international conventions. According to the social state approach, the state delivers these rights to its citizens and monitors their implementation. For those unable to use these rights due to any reason (physical impairment, no equal opportunities, economic, cultural etc) the state should administer positive discrimination and be interventionist. It should produce needs-based, specific solutions and implement these solutions ensuring that they are accessible to its citizens. In the 1982 Constitution, under Section VIII Health, the Environment and Housing, Article 56 on Health Services and Conservation of the Environment (4) reads as follows: “Everyone has the right to live in a healthy, balanced environment . It is the duty of the state and citizens to improve the natural environment, and to prevent environmental pollution To ensure that everyone leads their lives in conditions of physical and mental health and to secure cooperation in terms of human and material resources through

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economy and increased productivity, the state shall regulate central planning and functioning of the health services.” The important thing for quality health is ensuring that these rights are provided to the beneficiaries by the state with no requirement to struggle for them, and that these rights exist in the daily life. In this context, the right to health of the university youth is not excluded from the discussion on the general right to health. Lack or inadequacy of these rights due to various reasons should be evaluated as negative, since they would prevent citizens from using their rights. voicing the rights and informing those who will benefit from the rights and also monitoring the processes of using the rights is the right of all, and particularly the youth – university students- who are the beneficiaries and holders of these rights. It is no doubt a positive development for a university to carry out activities to inform and educate its students and staff about , for example, HIV+. If this information is presented with no conditions to all students and staff members, the goal should be to execute the activity for everyone in the university and ensure that everyone in the university gets information on this subject. The population that should receive this service should be able to reach it with no conditions. The Council of Higher Education should assume responsibility and make effort to ensure that university students receive quality health services, while

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university students should constantly supervise the demand mechanisms to ensure that these rights reach all students and that the current situation can be improved. The participation of young people in this process is very important, for reachable, free and quality health is one of their fundamental rights.

ABOUT THE HEALTH AREA The Law on Social Insurances and Universal Health Insurance (SSGSS) and Family medicine have entered our lives despite reactions and debates. The World Bank says, in its definition of Family Medicine, that it should be “instituted to form the basis of private health services”(5). As a requirement of this system, health is in a way privatized, which goes beyond the social state mentality. While family medicine reregulates the service part of the health system, the Universal Health Insurance was regulating the material requirements of the system. Hence, there was a self-sufficient health system. The law received objections first from the professionals of the health sector, and they organized huge campaigns on the right to health. In all the hospitals and health centres they worked, they talked to the people and shared their problems. The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and the Union of Health Workers (SES) announced an action calendar and launched a serious of actions in March 2007, under the name “White Actions(6)”. Under the White Actions movement, a referendum was organized in which health workers

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

participated, along with massive meetings aiming to protect the health centres. In their statements, TTB and SES announced that they were doing these actions in the name of the right to health, the personnel rights, job security and professional dignity. Health workers organized panels and meetings in many cities and explained the SSGSS and the Family Medicine system to their colleagues and citizens. With the “White Referendum” they voted on the health policies in their health institutions. On 11 March, with a meeting held in front of the Ministry of Health in Sıhhiye, Ankara with the participation of health professionals from all provinces, the results of the White Referendum were announced. The referendum results did not endorse the “Health Transformation Programme”. The Law was also bringing changes to the structures of Medicos at universities. University students also started organizing under a campaign “Not Giving Up My Medico” (“Medikomu vermiyorum”). The campaign, in which all students could actively take part, soon spread across many universities and organized itself. In the world, health expenditures are increasing every year. Hence, it is possible to evaluate the health transformation programme as a reality of the global market system. And laws like SSGSS are added to the similar examples already existing in the world, in a structure that has no parallelism with the social state philosophy. In France, the campaign launched against a similar law started in a few

campuses, quickly spread across other universities and created huge reactions. Then, with the support of trade unions, it was transformed into a strike and boycott participated by 3 million people, as a result of which the government could not refuse the demands of its citizens. Similar reactions were also seen in Greece and in Chile, making the world see how important a public service health services are. Laws issued concerning health services are watched closely by the citizens and emerge as a sensitive area as it changes their daily lives firsthand in the quickest way. The consequences of the market economy, as a whole of the economy policies that have been getting wider and wider for nearly 30 years, is leaving a lot of areas, mainly education and health, outside of the scope of public services. In short, in an attempt to profit from fundamental rights and public services, citizens are forced to pay fees in addition to the taxes they pay. In addition to the failure to achieve enough public legitimacy to prevent the codification of the SSGSS Law and the Family Medicine scheme, a healthy codification process could also not be executed since the debates led by various stakeholders in the public before the codification of the law remained biased and limited in their dimension. As in the actions and methods of claiming rights in France against a similar programme, in order to make SSGSS into a rights-based law, the public should design the law together with all the stakeholders, a

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broad and safe debate environment should be created, dialog channels should be left open and all citizens should act in unison. It is also true that the reactions to the worn out, bankrupted health system in which no investment had been made in years, hindered healthy decision-making during the process of making the law. The SSGSS Bill was adopted by the parliament on 17 April 2008 and published as a Law no. 5754 in the Official Gazette of 8 May 2008 (7). It is possible to say that with the law coming into effect on 1 October 2008, many of the rights earned in the area of right are now in a worse condition than before. In time, as the social problems arising as a consequence of the system start to emerge, the need for a health system that is free and equal for everyone may reveal itself. What should be done today is to see all discrepancies, shortcomings and errors in the health system that is left to the fluctuations in the market, create the preventive and corrective mechanisms, show the negative effects of the private sector on human health and know that health cannot be an area of profit.

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And this can only be possible if people working in the health area and those receiving health services as well as the public officials providing health services and sitting in decisionmaking positions all come together in a platform. The need for health services and the right to health are the most fundamental human rights and therefore the state has the obligation to provide this right to its citizens. Looking from this angle, health services are too important to be left to the caprices and fluctuations of the market system.

Notes (1) http://www.mevzuat.adalet.gov.tr/ html/20349.html (2) http://www.ttb.org.tr/mevzuat/index. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=755 &Itemid=35 (3) http://www.yok.gov.tr/content/ view/472/183/lang,tr/ (4) http://www.anayasa.gen.tr/1982ay.htm (5) World Bank -2004 (6) http://www.ttb.org.tr/index.php/ttb/ttbhakkinda/afiler/538-beyaz-eylemler (7) http://www.resmi-gazete.org/ tarih/20080508.html

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS

General Suggestions

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GENERAL SUGGESTIONS Yörük Kurtaran

Under the Adrese Büyüteç project, 250 young volunteers monitored the youth centres operating under the City Councils, the dorms of KYK, the youth centres of the Youth Services Department of the DG Youth and Sports – and operating under the Provincial Youth and Sports Directorates–, and the EU Offices and Health, Culture and Sports Departments/Medicos of universities in 16 cities.67 All of these youth groups consisted of members of university clubs and societies who were also a part of the Community Volunteers Foundation network. Under the monitoring project, these 5 institutions were monitored 167 times, as follows: EU Offices 30 times, Dorms 37 times, youth centres 39 times, youth assemblies 27 times, and SKS/Medicos 34 times. On province-basis, 64% of the PMs were the first-time monitoring and 36% were the second-time monitorings. On provincial basis, total number of monitorings on these 5 institutions were as follows: Adana 4, Aksaray 8, Ankara 9, Edirne 3, Erzurum 7, Hatay 9, İstanbul 7, İzmir 10, Kars 17, Kocaeli 20, Kilis 20, Konya 6, Malatya 12, Muğla 12, Trabzon 10 and Samsun 13. 67 Adana, Aksaray, Ankara, Edirne, Erzurum, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Kars, Kilis, Kocaeli, Konya, Malatya, Muğla, Trabzon, Samsun.

At first glance, when we look at factors such as the number of institutions reached and the number of monitorings done, the difficulty of making an overall deduction from these 16 months of monitorings can be seen. Additionally, the geographical distribution of the provinces is always an important factor that prevents generalizations. However, when we take the conceptual basis as an envisagement of a minimum equality in the relations of the state with its citizens, it becomes trivial whether the available findings have a representation capability, because in a democratic environment, singular practices and their stories become important data. In addition to all these, the high number of commonalities seen in the monitoring analyses of each institution also makes it easier for us to reach similar conclusions. In this framework, we have established the following findings as topics crosscutting all the institutions, after all the monitoring works done. Of course, the dose of the relation of these findings to the institutions may vary between institutions and/or provinces. However, this does not change the content of the findings any way. There is no standard to the relationship built by existing public institutions with the youth. As such, practices vary according to the personnel providing the service, just as there are striking differences between similar institutions operating in the same province. Bin this framework, with a very basic approach, improvement is needed in the processes to ensure

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that public institutions provide similar services on the basis of equality. Observations regarding the improvement of gender equality indicate a serious need for a change in mentalities and practices, though in varying doses, whendifferent institutions are compared. In the general society and in all its areas, in a very parallel way to the discrimination against women, there are problems in young women’s access to services compared to men; furthermore, the fact that these discriminatory behaviours are sometimes committed by the employees of public institutions can point to a serious violation of the law. There are differences between practices and the service frameworks determined in laws and regulations. As in the case of young women, some practice not defined in existing laws can be witnessed frequently and even regarded as “natural”. Yet, if the in-service trainings on applicable laws and regulations are redefined and implemented in a way encompassing not only some technical practices but also the principles of a democratic society, it may be possible to effect positive developments. Existing laws and regulations have fallen behind the needs of the youth in some areas, which results in bureaucratic public practices that do not meet the demands remaining in force and creating serious problems in implementation. Yet, changing these texts to reconnect them to life will not only make life easier for the employees of relevant institutions, but

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will also have a positive effect on the relationship between the state and the youth. Although the youth is the segment that can give the most important data on how to improve these processes, there are no mechanisms through which young people can make their voices heard. Moreover, since the limits of some practices are not defined in the laws, these limits may become reliant on the “good will” of some executives. However, with participation mechanisms defined as rights and with well-defined processes and tools, young people can freely speak up and voice their needs, and public institutions with better links to life can target ore effective services based on needs and customer satisfaction. Although resources are a problem that we see in all monitoring activities, they also remain the excuse for some practises that are in need of improvement. In this framework, although institutions do need more resources, it is possible to implement various participation mechanisms even with very limited resources, and hence clear the way for more positive practices. Almost all public institutions have a problem with keeping up with the times. And one of the most tangible signs of this are the feedbacks on how they are unable(unwilling to use the internet. Accepting that tools such as the internet are an indispensible element of the lives of the youth and designing relevant solutions, including free internet services, based on the

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

needs of this segment will not only increase the accessibility of public services, but also have a positive effect on satisfaction levels. As seen, the above findings should be addressed with priority as an extension of the general findings produced as a result of the monitoring activity. However, it should be also noted that these go beyond being concrete findings and also decipher a serious mentality. According to this mentality, in the relationship between the youth and the state, it is the state that always knows the “right way”. Hence, taking action for these demands on the basis of their current inequality can easily be perceived as an action to disturb the “peace”.

We hope that this and similar studies and findings contribute to strengthening the civil society, increasing the demands for rights, and ensuring that the unequal relationship between the state and its citizens is transformed in favour of the citizen. The main concern of Adrese Büyüteç was to take a look at the state and the life from the eyes of the youth for a humane living. And we think that we have succeeded.

There is a need for some serious change so that the rights can be demanded, so that these demands can be expressed without violence to enable exercise of all democratic rights, and so that they are shaped around the needs of the youth rather than the wants of the state. Adrese Büyüteç is only one of the tools to enable voicing these problems anywhere and anytime and through different channels and methods. These books are also tools to make all these available tools known to the public, localize them and put them in use. The findings shared above are true and valid for many different areas of the relationship between the state and the citizen. And the method of reaching these findings provides another alternative by including the subject – in this case the youth- directly in the process.

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ANNEXES

12-17 March 2010 Adrese Büyüteç Training Sessions Study Visits The Lobby Marathon

Annexes

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ADRESE BÜYÜTEÇ TRAINING SESSIONS (12-17 MARCH 2010) SESSION: Welcome Day/Session: Day 0 Duration: 10 Minutes Aim: To take the first step into the training. Objectives: Kick off the project training. Learn how the participants’ journey was and whether they had any problems. Initiating the introductions. Application: The trainer who will carry out the introduction session asks questions to participants and interprets the answers.

SESSION: What’s the Time? Day/Session: Day 0 Duration: 60 Minutes Materials Needed: Clocks on A5 paper showing a specific hour, for each participant. Aim: To ensure that participants and project team feel comfortable in a common area. Objectives: Create a safe environment in which participants and trainers can get to know each other and express themselves freely. Application: First we distribute the paper clocks randomly to all participants.

Depending on the number of participants, there may be more than one clocks showing the same hour. We have 1-minute performances corresponding to each hour. Session supervisor reads a mission, for example: ‘it is 3:00, you have just waken up and you are telling the horrible nightmare you saw last night while doing pilates’. Then the participants whose clocks show hour 3:00 take turns to perform according to the mission scenario. Suggestions/Comments: Make sure that all performances are as enjoyable as the others with a similar difficulty level. If digital rather than analog clock is used, again hours showing one of the 24 hours of the day can be designed so that everyone gets a chance to make a different performance. SESSION: Technical Information Day/Session: Day 0 Duration: 10 Minutes Aim: To give logistic information. Objectives: Provide technical and physical information to participants on the training and the venue and location where they will be spending time until the end of the training programme. Application: Participants are given explanations on the hotel, the training programme, the general objectives of the training, and the rules of the programme and other matters that they should pay attention to. SESSION: Project and Programme Introduction

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Day/Session: Day 1, Session 0 Duration: 60 Minutes Materials Needed: Poster paper, board marker, computer, overhead projector, projection screen, Visual documentation of the Bilgi University Youth Studies Unit Study Visits Aim: To give general information on the project and the training. Objectives: • Inform participants about the objectives and past activities of the project. • Ensure participants are informed about the training programme so that they can perceive and follows it as a whole. Application: Project Coordinator gives information on the general objectives and the start date of the project. Then the visuals on the “study visits”, which are the starting point of the project, are shown on the projection screen so that participants can watch it. After the video, general questions of the participants are answered. Then A4 papers bearing the name of each session are hung on the wall and the trainer briefly explains each session. Suggestions/Comments: After the video display, participants may ask some detailed questions about the project content. In such a case, it is better to postpone the answer by referencing the future sessions, as most of the answers will already be provided during the various sessions of the training. SESSION: Citizenship

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Day/Session: Day 1, Session 1 and Day 1 Session 2 Duration: 120 Minutes Materials Needed: 2 pieces of adhesive paper for each participant, Poster papers, board marker. Aim: To discuss why the citizenship concept, which is based on equality, cannot remove the disadvantages for some groups, and potential means of participation for disadvantaged groups. Objectives: • Ensure a safe discussion environment on the concept of citizenship • Ensure young people associate the youth concept with their selves • Enable young people to express the concepts they associate with the concept of citizenship • Raise awareness that citizenship is an integral concept based on equality and consisting of civil, political and economic rights. Application: Each participant is given 2 adhesive papers and asked to write on each paper a concept that comes to their minds when we say citizenship. Participants are given 10 minutes to reflect on and write the answer. They are also asked not to share their thoughts with each other during that 10 minute time. After writing their thoughts on the papers, participants stick the papers on the wall.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

After each participant sticks the concept papers on the wall, they are asked to mark with a colour pen the concepts with which they do not agree. A total of 15 minutes is given to participants so that they can examine the concepts and raise their objections. After all participants take a look at all the concepts on the wall and mark the ones they disagree with, then the whole group starts grouping the concepts. Concepts that are the same or similar are put under the same group with the participation and approval of the learners. When grouping the concepts, participants are asked to state why they agree or disagree with them. After the discussion on the concepts, session is ended after sharing T. H. Marshall’s work classifying and describing citizenship as civil, political and social rights. Suggestions/Comments: The analysis section of the application may include the following questions. 1. How did it go? Was it easy? Was it difficult? 2. What is difficult about finding a concept related to citizenship? What is the easy part? 3. Why did you write down these concepts? 4. How do you relate them? 5. What is the relationship between citizenship and equality? Are all citizens “equal”?

6. What are the main characteristics that unite/join citizens? 7. Which rights come to mind when we say citizenship? If you were to classify the areas defined as rights on the wall, how would you define? 8. What are the civil, social and political rights of citizens? N.B.: At the end of this session, the main conceptual framework used by T.H. Marshall in his article “Social Class and Citizenship” was used. T.H. Marshall’s article which says that citizenship is based on equality and consists of three fundamental areas of rights, i.e. civil, political and social, can be found in the book “Sosyal Politika Yazıları” by Ayşe Buğra and Çağlar Keyder.( T.H. Marhsall, “Sosyal Sınıf ve Yurttaşlık” in “Sosyal Politika Yazıları” Ayşe Buğra & Çağlar Keyder [İletişim Yayınları: 2005], İstanbul.) SESSION: Tower of Babel – Disadvantaged Groups and Ways of Participation Day/Session: Day 1 Session 3 and Day 1 Session 4 Duration: 180 Minutes Materials Needed: Role cards, building layout charts, poster papers, board maker. Objectives: • Create a safe environment for discussion on disadvantaged citizens and being disadvantaged.

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• Create a discussion environment on which citizens can be disadvantaged and why. • Discuss and raise awareness on ways and forms of citizen participation. • Discuss youth participation, obstacles to participation, and opportunities. • Raise awareness on participatory democracy and representative democracy. Application: Inform participants that this is a role-playing game and the theme is citizenship and disadvantaged groups. Participants are invited to an emergency meeting of residents in an apartment building where there are some problems. Then trainers hand out role cards and invitation to the meeting, both of which can be found at the end of the section. After giving participants enough time to read the invitation and the role cards, trainers start playing the role of outside experts and open the meeting. Trainers inform that unlike the usual meeting of building residents, this time the discussions will be moderated by outside experts so that everyone can have equal speaking rights. Trainer then summarizes the system emphasized in the letter and drawing the boundaries of the role-play. For example, in this meeting, unlike the usual meetings, there is no condition to be a resident for at least 2 years in order to have a voting right.

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After the main roles and the purpose of the meeting are understood, the building layout plan showing where each resident resides is shared so that all participants learn more about each other. The building managers lead the discussions on agenda items included in the invitation letters, allowing 10 minutes for each topic. Which topic will be focused on and when the discussion on each topic will end depends on the trainer’s choice. After discussion of agenda items, each discussion/issue is voted. When it is decided that residents have discussed enough, moderators say they will prepare a minute which will also include the voting, and then close the first part of the session. The second part of the session is for analysis. Some of the analysis questions that can be used may include the following: 1. How did the role-playing go? 2. How did you feel? 3. Which role felt more disadvantaged than others? 4. Was there anyone who felt his/ her words were not heard or were ignored due to his/her role? 5. What do you think about the voting method (majority-minority) used for decision-making? 6. Are there instances in your daily life where you are not listened to or where you are not taken seriously because you are young? If yes, when?

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

7. Do you think voting is the most appropriate decision-making method? 8. Are there any groups you think who cannot have their needs/ demands met with the voting method? 9. What do you think can be done about it? After the analysis discussion, the citizenship debate of Kymlicka and Norman is shared with participants in the generalization section. Then, session is closed with descriptions of the general concepts of representative democracy and participatory democracy. Suggestions/Comments: • When working with the abovementioned method, especially in crowded groups, it should be kept in mind that the discussions may be prolonged. Hence, it is suggested that moderators be sensitive about time-management. • When working with crowded groups, participants may sometimes find it difficult or be reluctant to speak up during discussions. Moderators should encourage the participants, especially during the role-playing. • It may help to remind the building plan to the participants during the role-playing. • Discussion on representation may be of utmost importance to achieve the session aim.

Bilgi Notu: At the end of this session, the citizenship theory postulated by Will Kymlicka and Wayne Norman is used in the generalization section. In this theory, Kymlicka and Norman say that citizenship is an equality-based status and may accommodate various different definitions of belonging, and that those with citizenship status can participate in decision-making processes via democratic mechanisms. The related article of Kymlicka and Norman can be found in the book “Vatandaşlığın Dönüşümü: Üyelikten Haklara” compiled by Ayşe Kadıoğlu. (Will Kymlicka ve Wayne Norman, “Vatandaşın Dönüşü: Vatandaşlık Kuramındaki Yeni Çalışmalar Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme” in “Vatandaşlığın Dönüşümü: Üyelikten Haklara”compiled by Ayşe Kadıoğlu, [Metis Yayınları: İstanbul], 2008.) Role and Scenario Cards Used in the Session Invitation to meeting of building residents

Dear Residents of the Dilek Building, The ordinary general assembly meeting of our Building, which convenes very six months, will convene “extraordinarily” this year due to objections, general complaints and needs that remain unmet. As a resident of the Dilek Building, you are invited to participate in the general assembly meeting that will start at 17:00 at the Selimpaşa meeting hall of our building. Unlike the routine meetings, this time the requirement of at least two-years

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of residency will not be sought for voting. All residents of the building are invited to this extraordinary meeting. However, each household will have only one vote right during the meeting. For a healthy meeting, Mr Sener and Ms Laden, who are not building residents, will join us to moderate the discussions. Meting Agenda:

1. Opening to discussion the general assembly participation rule reading â&#x20AC;&#x153;those who have not been living in the Dilek Apartment for at least two years cannot participate in the general assembly meetingâ&#x20AC;?. 2. Opening to discussion the individual distribution system instead of joint payment of fuel and water bills.

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3. Deciding on construction of a parking lot in the place of the playground. 4. The issue of pets. 5. Decision on funds to be used for roof repairs. 6. Joint decision-making on selection of tenants by property owners. 7. Decision on the SSK (social security) of the doorman and the assignment of the empty boiler room to the doorman for use as an apartment 8. Decision on exemption of pensioners from participation in building costs. We expect to see you at this important meeting.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

Building residency plan

Retired teacher (roof leaking)

Retired teacher’s husband (roof leaking)

Jeweller couple

Student house- student 1

Student house- student 2

Student house- student 3

Student house- student 4

Surgeon (husband and wife, both MD)

Cat owner 1

Single advertiser (parking space problem)

Single advertiser’s girlfriend

Hajji old man

Old woman living alone (smelly house)

Retired colonel’s wife

Two siblings

Foreign family Woman

Foreign family Man

Foreign family Child

Cat owners husband 1

Parrot owner 1

Parrot owner’s husband 1

Young female teacher (living alone)

Dog owner 1

Dog owner’s wife 1

Civil servant couple, union members (resident for 1.5 years)

Two siblings

Hajji old woman

Hajji couple’s son

Civil servant (resident for 5 years)

Building manager

Manager’s wife

Grocery shop

Disabled man/woman

Car dealer

Doorman

Doorman’s wife

ROLE CARDS Retired Teacher, Couple: (floor 6)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 7 years. You bought your flat with your retirement bonus. Despite the roof leaking on several at certain periods of the year, no lasting solution has yet been found. Since you are on the top floor, you have to live with this problem frequently, especially when it rains. Due to costs you cannot afford and since you it as the problem of the whole building, you think all

Retired colonel

residents of the building should share the responsibility in the roof issue. Your agenda asking for allocation of a portion of this year’s monthly dues to fix the roof issue has been brought on the meeting agenda. However, some residents refuse to up the monthly dues for this problem.

Jeweller Couple: (floor 6) You have been living at the Dilek Building for 2.5 years. Despite the roof

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leaking on several at certain periods of the year, no lasting solution has yet been found. Since you are on the top floor, you have to live with this problem frequently, especially when it rains. Your financial situation allows you to bear all the costs on your own. But you think that the costs should be borne by all residents, or at least shared among the top floor residents. You also want a raise in the monthly dues to rearrange the parking lot. Your agenda asking for allocation of a portion of this year’s monthly dues to fix the roof issue has been brought on the meeting agenda. However, some residents refuse to up the monthly dues for this problem. Retired Colonel, couple: (floor 6)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 10 years. You bought your flat with your retirement bonus. Despite the roof leaking on several at certain periods of the year, no lasting solution has yet been found. Since you are on the top floor, you have to live with this problem frequently, especially when it rains. Also, since your flat is on the north side, the current heating arrangements do not heat your apartment sufficiently. During the time you were the building manager, there were no such problems. You think there should be more heating. But this means increasing the monthly dues. You are keen on increasing the monthly dues so that you can get more heating, but the other residents are fine with the current heating arrangements so they do not want to up the monthlies.

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Your agenda on allocating some of this year’s monthlies to fixing the roof problem and also rearranging the monthly dues has been carried to the meeting agenda. However some residents so not want either the roof job or the upping of the monthlies. To siblings: (floor 6)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 1.5 years. You are usually not at home since you travel a lot. But since the fuel and water bill is shared among all flats, you think you are paying for more than what you use. As a solution, you want to have separate meters installed for every flat. Residents reject the idea, as they think this will add an extra load on the overheads. Your agenda was included in this year’s meeting agenda. You also complain about not being able to participate in last year’s meeting because of the 2-year residency condition. Student house: (floor 5)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 1 year. Your neighbour below, the family of doctors, is complaining about the noise from your flat and they want you out of the building. You are thinking that they are employing a double standard since you are young. In any case, the noise from the flat that has a dog is way higher than yours. Plus, you already have very little money, and now the retired neighbours want to be exempt from paying monthlies and you think this is unfair.

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

You have managed to add to this year’s agenda your problems about the tenant selection of flat owners and the amount of monthlies. Foreign family: (floor 5)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 2 years. You chose this building because of its playground. But now there are some residents who want to convert the playground into a parking lot. You vehemently object to this idea. They already act weird towards you since you are a foreigner. You have managed to include in this year’s meeting your problems about the playground. Family of doctors: (floor 4)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 3 years. Over the last 1 year, you have grown tired of the noise coming from the young neighbour living upstairs and the dog owners, the cat that thinks the hall is its litter box, and the doorman who insists on having is social security made. If these problems are not solved, you are determined to seek your rights through legal action. You especially think that those making noise should go from the building. You have managed to include your problems in this year’s agenda. Cat owners: (floor 4)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 4 years. You found your dear little cat on the street right before your building. There are people who do not want the cat in the building. What’s more, you vehemently object

to giving to the doorman the old boiler room, which serves as a shelter for all those lovely cats that are otherwise left on the street. You already think the doorman is a lazy man. You are determined to defend the rights of both your cat and the other cats. But they make fun of your love for animals and they do not take your words seriously. You have managed to include your problems in this year’s agenda. Parrot owners: (floor 4)

You have newly moved to the Dilek building. You sense a tension in the air, and you think that the saying “don’t buy a house, buy a neighbour” is no longer the mentality in this building. You think what is important is the approach, rather than the problem itself. You are thinking that it would be good if everyone was a little understanding towards each other. You joined the meeting to see if you could be the mediator. Young woman, teacher: (floor 4)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 2 years. You have not been able to participate in any of the meetings to date because of the 2-year residency condition. Your budget cannot afford either an increase in the monthly payments or exemption of the pensioners from monthly payments or paying the social security premiums of the doorman. You have come to raise your objections to all of these agenda items.

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Single Advertiser and his GF: (floor 3)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 1.5 years. Your girlfriend frequently stays with you. The old hajji is uncomfortable with it, and you have difficulty understanding his attitude. You also need a space where you can safely park your brand new, top model car. You are willing to do everything in your power to have a parking lot constructed (including a raise in monthly payments). You are thinking that the resources of the building are not used in line with your needs. You have come to put an end to this. Old Hajji and his family: (floor 2)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 10 years, or in other words, since it was first built. The land for the building was also yours. You are not happy with the recent newcomers. Both the students and the young teacher who lives alone, and especially the advertising guy who lives on the flat above you and whose girlfriend frequently stays the night all make you morally uncomfortable. Also, the doorman insists on social security. While you are demanding exemption from payment of monthlies because you are retired, you will be forced to pay tons of money because of him. You have come to put an end to this. Dog owner: (floor 3)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 3 years. Your late uncleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dog has been staying with you for the last 3 months.

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You had promised your late uncle before his demise that you would take care of his dog and give him a home. However, there are some people in the building who do not want your dog. It is impossible for you to understand this vulgar, cruel and cold-hearted attitude. It is very important for you to be at that meeting to prevent any unfavourable decisions on this matter. Union members, couple: (floor 3)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 2 years. It disturbs you immensely that you had not been able to participate in the meetings before. Today you are here to express this feeling and correct this young. The wrongs in the building are countless anyway â&#x20AC;Ś Your doorman does not even have social security despite all his labour and dedication. Plus, all your Initiatives to have his social insurance covered face a serious resistance. Yet this is not legal. You are participating in the meeting to unite forces with your doorman and to raise your voice, which has never been heard before. You have a tough job ahead. Civil Servant couple: (floor 2)

You have been living in the building for 3 years. Since you are still paying the mortgage, your budget is tight. So you are not keen on any suggestion that may raise the monthly payments. You are even thinking that the monthlies should be reduced so that your budget can get some relief. So, you think that the currently vacant old boiler room should be rented instead of being given

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

to the doorman, and that the money from the rent should be used to reduce the monthly dues. The doorman should work and earn his house in any case, just like you did. Also, you are vey discontent with the shop owners who were also invited to the meeting. You are thinking that they do not count as one of the residents of the building. Building manager: (floor 2)

You have been living at the Dilek building for 5 years. And you have been the building manager for the last 2 years. However whatever you do, you cannot please anyone. You are aware that there are some problems, yet no one is willing to find a solution. It is not possible to make everyone happy. Plus, those who do not know anything about the building also want to take part in the decision-making. It is unheard of! You think that the monthlies and the right to participate in the meetings should be dependent on the year of residency at the building. You have invited two experts from the outside to participate in the meeting. That way, you will also be able to speak your mind. Old Lady living alone: (ground floor)

You have been living at the Dilek Building for 6 years. Since your sons live abroad, you have to deal with every problem yourself. You are aware of the many problems in the building and you think they are of the unsolvable sort. However, your income is limited to what your sons send you from abroad.

So, you think that those with money should contribute more to the building’s expenses, and that you should be exempted from paying these expenses because of your advanced age. Disabled: (ground floor)

You have been living at the building for 1 year. You want the building entrance rearranged. Yet, this issue was not even included in the agenda. You are going to the meeting to share this grievance. Also, turning the playground into a parking lot will make your life easier. You will be there to make your voice heard. Grocery Store: (ground floor)

You have been operating the store on the ground floor of the Dilek Building for nearly 2 years. Since you are on the ground floor, you know all the residents. You are especially pleased with the young residents, as they always and everyday shop from you. But the decision that requires you to pay the monthly due in an amount equal to everyone else feels unfair to you, because your store is not that big. Plus, the parking lot planned to replce the playground will also reduce your business. You want to join this meeting and raise your voice. But since you are a store owner and not a resident, no one takes you seriously. Though you are also a part of this building! Car Dealers: (ground floor)

You have only just moved to the store on the ground floor of the building. They expect you to pay the monthly

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dues regularly, yet no one is asking your opinion. When moving here, the realtor had told you the playground in front of the building would be converted into a parking lot. But now you see there is a serious opposition to the idea in the building. Yet, is this opposition continues, how can you do business ….? Doorman: (ground floor)

You have been working at the building for 3 years. And the chores never ends. They are not giving you a place to live, and they are not paying your insurance premiums. For the first time ever, you have now found the opportunity to raise your voice at the meeting of residents. This time you will defend your rights to the end. You need other residents to support you..

SESSION: Influencing Policies Day/Session: Day 1 evening session, Day 2 session 1 Duration: 270 Minutes Materials Needed: Advocacy examples from different work areas, reference information and documents, computer and internet access, poster paper, board marker Aim: Ensure participants get information the work areas and methods developed by various actors to influence policies in the civil domain. Objectives: • Give information on the policy influence methods of the actors in the civil domain

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• Raise awareness on advocacy works developed at national and international levels in different work areas (environment, IT, human rights, etc) • Raise awareness on different advocacy methods (modelling, lobbying, campaigning, reporting) • Ensure participants link the processes of influencing public policies to the advocacy project in which they are involved. Application: Participants are divided into 8 groups, with gender balance maintained in each group. Each group is given examples of various tactics and relevant information, documents or information access channels. Here are the examples: • Reporting: Amnesty International, Education Reform Initiative • Modelling: Turning the Information Pile into a Meaningful Mass: Library and Information Services in Developing Human Rights, New Tactics in Human Rights • Lobbying: The Women’s Movement in Turkey / Zelal Ayman • Campaigning: Call to End Corruption: 1 Minute Darkness for Unending Light, New Tactics in Human Rights; No to Censorship Initiative Each group is asked to prepare presentations to be presented to the plenary group, including the answers to the questions below with regard to their examples:

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

• What is the subject? What is the target? • Who was it done by? • When was it done? • What was the method used? What kind of tools were chosen? • What is the result? • What aspect of the tactic is interesting/striking to you? The groups spend the afternoon hours evaluating the assignments given to them and preparing their presentations. In the subsequent session, each group makes its presentation on the tactics assigned to them to the plenary group. any questions from the plenary group regarding the presentation are answered. At the end of the session, all participants become informed about the various advocacy tactics developed and used at local, national and international levels. Before closing the session, the moderator summarizes the session, stressing that different actors can influence public policies via different methods. Moderator then gives information on the four advocacy methods he examples of which were studied in the session (modelling, lobbying, campaigning and reporting), and then closes the session. Suggestions/Comments:

The moderator should have good knowledge about the examples assigned to the groups. This is very

important in terms of supporting the world of the teams and enriching the Q&A part of the session. Groups should be provided with the necessary information, documents and equipment (computer, internet access etc) so they can do more detailed research on the examples. During the group works, it is important that the trainers visit and guide the groups. Time-management is crucial especially in the second session, and group presentations should be moderated carefully. N.B.: • Aksakoğlu, Yiğit. Stk’lar İçin Savunuculuk Rehberi, Sivil Toplum Geliştirme Merkezi • Enformasyon Yığınını Anlamlı Hale Getirmek: İnsan Haklarını Geliştirmede Kütüphanecilik ve Enformasyon Hizmetleri, İnsan Haklarında Yeni Taktikler • http://sansuresansur.org/ • http://www.erg.sabanciuniv.edu/ • http://www.amnesty.org.tr/ai/ • Türkiye’de Kadın Hareketi, Zelal Ayman, Savunuculuk ve Politikaları Etkileme Konferans Yazıları no 1, 2004 • Yozlaşmaya Son Verme Çağrısı: Sürekli Aydınlık İçin1 Dakika Karanlık, İnsan Haklarında Yeni Taktikler

SESSION: What is Monitoring? Day/Session: Day 2, Session 2 Duration: 90 Minutes Materials Needed:

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Cardboard and pens in various colours, Poster paper, board marker. Aim: To inform participants about the connection between the “Adrese Bütüyeç” project and advocacy and civil monitoring, so that they are better equipped to do advocacy in the youth area through civil monitoring.

• What is monitoring? What is civil monitoring?

Objectives:

• What are the principles of the method?

• Introduce civil monitoring, one of the advocacy tools, to participants • Inform participants about the processes of the civil monitoring method and the changes it targets • Discuss on the civil monitoring method that will be used in the youth area • Ensure building a link between advocacy, civil monitoring ad the Adrese Büyüteç project Application: This session is executed with all the participants. At the start, advocacy is discussed again with a reference to the previous session. “Civil monitoring” is introduced as an advocacy method. The relationship of the Adrese Büyüteç Project with the youth area, advocacy and civil monitoring concepts, and its position in this context is clarified. It is suggested that the session, guided by the moderator, is run with participatory methods to the extent possible. Session should be enriched with the questions and contributions of participants.

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The main questions of the session are as follows:

• What are the phases of civil monitoring? • What does the method target?

• How can the method be used in the youth area? • How can the method be used by young people? • Where does Adrese Büyüteç stand in all these discussions? Suggestions/Comments: The moderator should direct the session with participatory methods as much as possible, and a link should be established between the information given and the Adrese Büyüteç Project. N.B.: Why Monitoring?

Adrese Büyüteç Youth Area Civil Monitoring Report

local, regional, national or international level. For example, ministers and MPs are decision-makers elected at the national level, while governors are decision-makers appointed at the local level. In short, it is the process of influencing the elected or appointed decision-makers at the national, local and international levels for the problem you are trying to solve. 68

In this scope, Adrese Büyüteç is also an advocacy project. Advocacy projects identify the various methods they will use to achieve their goals. These may include campaigning, lobbying, modelling, agenda-setting and reporting. The method adopted in this sense by Adrese Büyüteç is the “participatory monitoring” method. Why Participatory Monitoring?

Cavar”, which means “to dig” in Spanish, was first used by Homero Fuentes as a metaphor for the monitoring process. Participatory monitoring is a process through which stakeholders at various levels engage in monitoring a particular project, program or policy, share control over the content, the process and the results of the monitoring and engage in taking or identifying corrective actions. The most important characteristics of 68 Aksakoğlu, Yiğit.”STK’lar İçin Savunuculuk Rehberi”, Sivil Toplum Geliştirme Merkezi, 006, p:4 69 The part explaining the “Participatory Monitoring” concept was taken from the article “Participation and Civic Engagement” at http://web.worldbank. org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/ TOPICS/ EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/EXTPCENG/0 ,,contentMDK:20509352~menuPK:127820 3~pageP K:148956~piPK:216618~theSite PK:410306,00.html

participatory monitoring is the active participation of main stakeholders. Participatory Monitoring is important, because it: • Enables learning from changes that are more inclusive and more responsive to the needs and aspirations of those most directly affected, • Suggests a method that ensures direct participation of the beneficiary for impact analysis, • Develops a sense of belonging for the monitoring activity, • Empowers beneficiaries specifically on the subjectmatter, • Follows a transparent and accountable process, • Ensures development of correct and effective actions in line with results. Main principles of PM are as follows: • Primary stakeholders should be active participants, not just sources of information! • It should build capacities of local people to analyze, reflect and take action. • It should enable joint learning of stakeholders at various levels. • It should catalyze commitment towards the action plan created. Adrese Büyüteç is a participatory monitoring process in the area of youth in which young people are involved as active participants, because we

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C A V A R

Context