BACKGROUND
The 2019 Youth Policy Institute findings reveal that despite some progress, young people are largely excluded from social, economic and political processes. High school and university students do not receive sufficient support in areas such as referral to civil society, local collaborations, and self-advocacy. This situation reduces young people's participation in civil society and narrows down their areas of producing solutions to social problems. The fact that local NGOs do not sufficiently encourage young people limits the participation of disabled and non-disabled young people in decision-making processes. There is a need for advocacy activities where disadvantaged young people can take part together with their peers.
PROJECT GOALS
- Training content will be created with trainers and consultants.
- 2 Organization and Advocacy Trainings of 3 days each will be organized with 20 participants, and participants will gain awareness on rights-based approaches to disability, discrimination in disability, disability rights and similar issues, and their knowledge and skills will be increased with problems in the field.
- 3 youth groups that receive training facilitated by mentors will be provided with 2 months of administrative initiatives and monitoring activities in the field.
- 2-days Field Evaluation Meeting will be held where participant feedback will be reported.
- Advocacy will be carried out in the field for 2 months with social media campaign, lobbying and reporting groups.
- 2-days Local Advocacy Academy Camp will be organized.
PROJECT RESULTS
- Ten young people with visual and orthopedic disabilities and 10 young people without disabilities living in Samsun participated in the project.
- Sessions were held on "Introduction, Team Games, Group Agreement Formation," "Civil Society, Youth, and Organization," "Attitudes and Approaches Toward Individuals with Disabilities," "Myths and Urban Legends About Disability," and "Equal Opportunities and Access to Rights for Disadvantaged Groups." Our other project partner, the Association for the Visually Impaired in Education, collaborated with a Disability Rights Expert to develop the content: "Disability-Related Models and Rights-Based Work," "Types of Discrimination," and "Disability-Based Discrimination Case Study."
- Two three-day advocacy academies were held in October and February.
- As a result of the participants' work with mentors, a total of 122 petitions regarding accessibility were prepared and submitted to the relevant municipal departments. The project concluded with a two-day camp held in May.
