There are many institutions that provide services in the field of youth and volunteering and there are limited studies that provide practical training opportunities for young people. Theoretical knowledge is only established by practice studies. Within this scope, this project was provided to young people with two NGOs experienced in national and international field (İstanbul Kadın ve Kadın Kuruluşları Derneği-Istanbul Women and Women Organizations Association / İKADDER and Hanımlar Eğitim ve Kültür Vakfı-Women Education and Culture Foundation / HEKVA). At the end of this project the participants were provided with sufficient information on the necessary techniques and methods to improve themselves.
Partners of the project: 4 NGOs from Turkey (İzmir, Istanbul, Diyarbakır, Samsun) took part.
The duration of the project was six months. In this framework, young people were given the following opportunities:
- Role and importance of NGOs in national and international context
- Experience sharing and implementation of the foundation structure and legislation
- Experience sharing and implementation of association structure and legislation
- Experience sharing and implementation of platform structuring
- Communication and voluntary work in NGOs
- The structure and functioning of the Economic Enterprises which are among the most important means of ensuring the sustainability of NGOs
- Taking part in relief activities
- National and international advocacy activities
- Sharing experience with experienced NGOs and activists
- The opportunity to practice internship in the NGOs
- Certificate presentation to young people who have completed the project process
Project participants had the opportunity to be employed voluntarily or professionally in the NGOs by increasing experience and knowledge in the field of NGOs. Thus, the young leaders of the future and their volunteers contributed to the need for qualified human power, which is a service-oriented leader that NGOs need.
Diyarbakır and Samsun youths, who are more disadvantaged in accessing and enhancing knowledge, have the potential to become a young leader in joining social life, accessing knowledge and in their regions. Thus, cultural and economic differences were removed from the intervention of young people in their communication and gathering, enabling cultural differences to be used as a learning tool, a unifying instrument.
Every young person involved in the project was made a member of the Türkiye Gençler Arası İletişim Platformu- Turkey Youth Communication Platform (TÜGAP). TÜGAP is included in the e-mail group, it has been continuously carried out the information flow and the relationship with NGOs were followed.
The young people involved in the project were followed up on active duty in the NGOs who recommended them.
NGOs that have developed a partnership relationship in the project have had the opportunity to benefit both from their experience and from the point of view of the youth.
They have increased their experience by becoming a partner in a national project financed by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
This project gained reference qualities for the projects they would undertake in common NGOs. İKADDER provided both office facilities and new links and references for project development to ensure the continuity of its services to Türkiye Gençler Arası İletişim Platformu-the Turkey Youth Communication Platform (TÜGAP), which it cooperated with the project to be carried out.
The results were shared with Türkiye Aile Platformu-Turkey Family NGOs Platform (TÜRAP) Türkiye STK Çocuk ve Gençlik Platformu- Child and Youth Platform of Turkey (T-STK ÇOGEP). and Gökkuşağı İstanbul Kadın Kuruluşları Platformu/GİKAP – Rainbow Istanbul Women’s Organizations Platform / GİKAP) network, supporting the knowledge and experience of the members of this platform.
1.2. Target Group:
The project consists of 30 young girls from all over Turkey (İstanbul, Samsun, Diyarbakır and İzmir). 8 substitute persons were identified and replaced by participants who could not participate in the program due to any setbacks, thereby preventing a setback in the goals and timeline of the project. Participants were preferably university graduates or young graduates between the ages of 20-25. During the internship, an official representative of NGOs took part.
In the workshop program, two representatives were represented as well as the young NGOs. The participants internalized the development of and the importance of open, voluntary work. Individuals who aimed to work in this area are taken into consideration. Attention was drawn to the participants’ awareness of the gains achieved as a result of this project. Strong candidates with strong social dialogue, who believed in the effectiveness of lifelong education and were ready to share it with individuals from all walks of life, were preferred.
Activities carried out within the scope of the project:
- Organization of Internship Program
- Informational Meetings
- Application of Internship Program
– The Role and Priority of NGOs in the National and International Context
– Associations, Foundations, Initiative Groups and Platforms as Institutional Service Tools in Civil Society Studies
– Associations and Study Areas in Turkey
– Association, Foundation, Initiative Group and Platform Simulation
– Reading the Media Correctly to Know the World
– Reporting Techniques and Correspondence
– Simple Reporting Techniques and Correspondence Application
– Advocacy
– Advocacy for Associations, Foundations, Initiatives and Platforms
– Social Entrepreneurship
– The Future of NGOs Building the Future
– The Role of Foundations in Social Change and Development Process through related Vakfiye Examples
– Foundation and Volunteerism
– Resource Development, Funding and Campaign Preparation in NGOs
– Implementation Studies – Soup Kitchen, Social Assistance Distribution, Poor Family Survey
– Communication and Media Management in NGOs
– A Visionary Example of Work: Dialogue in the Dark
- Evaluation Meetings
The workshop was organized to negotiate the opinions of the two-day seminars and practices and to present a workshop environment for young people. The answers to the following questions were searched:
– What kind of social role will NGOs play in the near future?
– What will the role of young people in your future NGOs be?
– What are the problems young people face when working in NGOs?
– What can be done to direct young people to NGOs?
– What should be the understanding of leadership in NGOs?
– What are the ways to monitor the lack of communication between young people and NGOs?
– What do you want to use to change and improve CSOs?
Results of group work were shared in reports.
There was a mini debate on “Changing Voluntary Perception in the NGO”. In the two-day workshop, managers of NGOs working for youth and young people had the opportunity to share their views and negotiate. The workshop program ended with a trip.
- Practice in NGOs
The 30 young people involved in the project have taken 20 hours of NGO internship to be able to consolidate their knowledge in their training seminars, develop the experiences they have in practice and in order to benefit from the experiences of NGOs,.
They have been involved in a variety of activities in areas identified by project partners. Young people who have completed their internship in the following titles are entitled to receive a certificate.
– Preparing a project
– Helping a campaign organization
– Preparing the annual plan
– Workshop organization
– Library organization
– Youth camp organization
– Nursing home and patient visits
– Secretariat work
During the internship period, young people worked independently with experienced NGO staff and found an opportunity to exchange point of view. They had an opportunity to apply NGOs’ functioning, creation of infrastructure systems, organization and leadership. Beyond performing the defined tasks, they are the subject of the most important achievement of the project in terms of producing, thinking and resulting outlooks.
