Improving community-based social services for refugees and vulnerable residents of host communities in Turkey
Project description
Title: Improving Community-based Social Services for Refugees and Vulnerable Residents of Host Communities in Turkey – Community-based Local Initiatives Project (CLIP 2)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO)
Country: Turkey
Lead executing agency: Vice President’s Office of the Republic of Turkey
Overall term: 2021 to 2023
Context
Refugees in Turkey (approximately 4 million, mostly Syrian) still face severe challenges like poverty, precarity, and a lack of access to social services or the labour market.
Rising costs of living, and unemployment exacerbated by Covid-19, also negatively impact vulnerable host communities and hamper social cohesion.
Despite state efforts, the quality and quantity of social services is still not sufficient everywhere. Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) involved in providing social services to vulnerable groups often lack technical and management capacities. Better coordination with state authorities is needed for more holistic and long-term effective service provision.
Objective
The personal and socio-economic resilience of refugees and vulnerable residents of the host communities is improved.
Approach
Local initiatives in Turkey’s underserved regions provide services to refugees and vulnerable Turkish citizens (e.g., persons with disabilities, survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), child labourers):
- Protection services incl. legal/social counselling, mental health and psychosocial support, individual protection assistance and case management, awareness-raising and empowerment plus specialised services for persons with disabilities and SGBV survivors.
- Non-formal education incl. language or life- and employment-relevant courses.
- Intercultural understanding/social cohesion, incl. cultural or social activities.
Partners receive capacity development, such as technical and management trainings. Cooperation structures among CSOs and with local authorities are consolidated to achieve a more sustainable impact. Local initiatives receive peer-network support.
CLIP2 is co-financed by BMZ’s Special Initiative on Forced Displacement and the European Union through its Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).
Last update: July 2021