First National Platform on Roma Integration in Turkey (Ankara, 2017)
- 13 Sep 2017
- News
First National Platform in Turkey, 13 Sept 2017
The first national platform meeting in Turkey was held on 13 September 2017 in Ankara, organized by the Regional Cooperation Council Roma Integration 2020 Action Team in close cooperation with the National Roma Contact Point of Turkey, Mr Emre Ertekin, Social Policy Expert at the Family and Community Service in the Department of Social Inclusion at the Ministry of Family and Social Policy (MoFSP).
About 45 participants attended the forum, ranging from representatives of relevant ministries and other state bodies, representatives of local governments, the European Union Delegation, and civil society organizations.
Following the submission of the 2016 annual monitoring report on the implementation of its National Strategy for Roma Citizen’s (2016-2021) and Action Plan (2016-2018) by the Government of Turkey, the discussions at the Forum evolved around the report. The main objective of the Forum was to review the implementation of relevant policies in 2016 and the first half of 2017, discuss main achievements and challenges and formulate conclusions and recommendations for the future work on the Roma integration policies.
The Forum was opened by Mr Mehmet Mustafa Nuri Nuruan, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Family and Social Policy and Mr Orhan Usein, Team Leader of the RCC project Roma Integration 2020 Action Team.
Mr Nuruan reminded of the purpose of the Public Dialogue Forum, and in particular highlighted the importance of the first meeting of the Committee for Monitoring and Evaluating the National Strategy for Roma Citizen’s (2016-2021) and its Action Plan (2016-2018) that was held in February this year as relevant to the monitoring process.
Mr Orhan Usein, Roma Integration 2020 Action Team Leader of the Regional Cooperation Council stressed the importance of Turkey’s participation in the RI2020 project given its leading role in the region. He welcomed the establishment of the Committee for Monitoring and Evaluating the National Strategy for Roma Citizen’s (2016-2021) and its Action Plan (2016-2018) and added that he looks forward to more regular meetings. He offered the assistance of the RCC RI2020 with the view to drafting the Phase II Action Plan (2019-2021). He also called for the monitoring report to become an annex to the national strategy and action plans.
After the opening remarks, representatives of line ministries presented the 2016 report in the areas of education, health, housing, employment and social services and social assistance followed by discussions and recommendations.
A policy paper reflecting the discussions and particularly the recommendations of the meeting is available below.
