The Özne Çocuk Project, dedicated to protecting children’s rights in Türkiye and enhancing the quality of child protection services, successfully concluded with a closing conference held in Ankara on October 31, 2024.

Our project successfully concluded with a closing conference held in Ankara on October 31, 2024. The conference marked the end of this three-year initiative, which aimed to raise awareness on improving the quality of childcare services and preventing child labour through its four main components. Civil society organizations, public institutions, and other stakeholders active in the field of children’s rights attended the event.

Opening remarks were delivered by Barbaros Murat Köse, Head of the Central Finance and Contracts Unit, Ministry of Treasury and Finance of the Republic of Türkiye; Jean M.R. Barbe, Delegation of the European Union to Türkiye, Head of Section; Civil Society, Fundamental Rights, Judiciary and Home Affairs;  Faruk Özçelik, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Security; Ambassador Mehmet Kemal Bozay, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs; and Leman Yenigün, Deputy Minister of Family and Social Services. In their speeches, they highlighted the project’s contributions to child rights and protection systems in Türkiye.

Following the opening remarks, Project Team Leader Robert Kroiss presented the project’s outcomes and achievements over the three-year implementation period. Within the project’s scope, activities were organized to enhance child protection services, combat child labour, and provide training specifically targeting children under vulnerable conditions.

A panel on “Child Rights and Child Protection Services” was also held as part of the closing conference. Moderated by Project’s Training Key Expert Tarık Tuncay, the panel featured Bayram İnce, Head of the Quality and Service Planning Department at the Ministry of Family and Social Services; Prof. Dr. Esra Çalık Var and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Semih Ceyhan from Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, who shared insights on advancing child protection services and strengthening children’s rights.

During the “Psychosocial Support Model” working group session in the afternoon, project expert Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saadettin Burak Açıkel and the representatives from civil society and public sectors reviewed the model developed under the project, sharing their perspectives. Following this, project experts Assoc. Prof. Dr. Harun Aslan and Rumeysa Bozdemir presented information on the Integrated Care Guidelines developed within the project, gathering feedback from participants.

The project has made significant strides in strengthening children’s access to their rights, improving childcare services, and effectively combating child labour across Türkiye. Its outcomes were shared with relevant stakeholders, leading to recommendations for policies and strategies that can be applied in the future.

The first consultation meeting for Activity 3.3 on establishing a National Working Group on Monitoring Child Labour and organizing consultation meetings, was held in Ankara with a total of 31 participants.

Emin Türker, Head of the Employment Policies Department at the General Directorate of Labour, and Robert Kroiss, Team Leader of the Özne Çocuk Project delivered the opening remarks of the meeting attended by participants from various institutions.

Project experts Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mete Kaan Namal, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Harun Aslan, and Berk Uslu posed questions to gather participants’ opinions and facilitated discussions on their suggestions.

The first session of the meeting explored the definition and assessment of child labour, as well as guidance mechanisms for intervention. In the second half, attendees exchanged information on child protection, prevention of child labour, and data management and analysis.

The meeting concluded with a discussion of conclusions and recommendations. As part of this activity, a total of five consultation meetings are planned, offering participants the chance to discuss various topics and share their insights.

As part of the “Technical Assistance for Support for Children’s Rights in Türkiye” project, jointly implemented by the Ministry of Family and Social Services as the main beneficiary and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security as the co-beneficiary, the second week of the “Child Protection and Care Service Standards Training”, which will be held in 10 provinces with 1200 participants in total, was conducted in Adana and Antalya.

The training in Adana was conducted under the supervision of the Project’s Team Leader Robert Kroiss along with Project experts Esra Çalık Var and Rabia Tuba Yıldız. The training sessions were led by Esma Pınarbaşı, Seda Okul, Zafer Yalçın, Fadime İmre Keskin, and Fatmanur Dikmen.

In the training conducted in Antalya, our project’s Key Expert Tarık Tuncay and the Project expert Sultanberk Halmatov served as supervisors while Burçin Boz, Emel Aydın, Gülsüm Aydemir, and Yasin Yılmaz led the training sessions.

The ‘Child Protection and Care Service Standards Trainings’ have started in Ankara and Diyarbakır under the “Technical Assistance for the Support of Children’s Rights in Türkiye Project’’, carried out by the Ministry of Family and Social Services and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the co-beneficiary of the Project.

This activity, conducted under the second component of the Özne Çocuk Project titled Child Care Services, aims to enhance the capacity of units providing child protection and care services. To achieve this goal, a comprehensive Training Needs Analysis (TNA) was conducted. As a result of the analysis, an in-service training program on Child Protection and Welfare Professional Competencies, containing 30 modules at three competency levels (Level 1-basic competencies, Level 2-specialization competencies, and Level 3-supportive skills), was created.

The program is designed in a hybrid model based on face-to-face and online methods. It includes a Training of Trainers (ToT) attended by 25 professional staff for the face-to-face and online trainings to be given to the professional staff of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, followed by a dissemination training to be conducted in 10 provinces. After the Child Protection and Welfare Professional Competency Training of Trainers held in February and March 2024, the face-to-face and online dissemination trainings on ‘Child Protection and Care Service Standards Trainings’ will be conducted in 10 provinces, namely Ankara, Diyarbakır, Antalya, Adana, İzmir, Samsun, Kocaeli, İstanbul, Erzurum, and Konya, during the months of May and June 2024.

İbrahim Kürşat Ergüt, Head of the Orphan and Daytime Services Department at the Ministry of Family and Social Services, delivered the opening speech. He introduced the Özne Çocuk project and explained the purpose and scope of Activity 4.2.
During the two-day training, the Özne Çocuk Project’s Key Expert, Prof. Dr. Tarık Tuncay, along with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Melike Tekindal, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurullah Çalış, and Aslı Saban, gave presentations and gathered feedback.
Activity 4.3 “Needs assessment for psycho-social support needs of vulnerable children,” training was led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burak Açıkel and Aslı Saban. They discussed the aims and scope of Activity 4.3 and presented relevant information.

The third session of Activity 2.7 Training of Trainers on Child Protection and Care Service Standards was held in Ankara.

The opening speeches of the training, designed to enhance the capacity of staff working in institutions offering child protection and care services were delivered by Tarık Tuncay, the Key Expert of the Özne Çocuk Project. The opening remarks covered the content and topics of the training program. Representatives from the Ministry of Family and Social Services as well as relevant staff from central and provincial organization participated in the training.

During the five-day training programme, Assist. Prof. Dr. Tuğba Görgülü, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurullah Çalış, Assist. Prof. Dr. Süleyman Soyhanoğlu, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sultanberk Halmatov delivered presentations and moderated group work sessions.

On the first day of the training, Assist. Prof. Dr. Tuğba Görgülü provided information on Child Neglect and Abuse, Addiction, and Domestic Violence.

On the second day of the training, sessions led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nurullah Çalış delved into topics related to Combatting Early Forced Marriage, Services for Children in Street Conditions, and Combatting Child Labour, sharing current data with the participants.

The participants concluded the third day of the training with a session led by Assist. Prof. Dr. Süleyman Soyhanoğlu on Skills for Working with Vulnerable Groups and Skills for Working in Disasters and Emergencies. Following the training sessions, group work was held and the outputs prepared were presented.

In the following days, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sultanberk Halmatov provided insights on Basic Concepts in Drawing Analysis along with Methods and Techniques in Play Intervention. After group work, the participants successfully completed the third session of the training programme.

The second session of the Activity 2.7 Training of Trainers on Child Protection and Care Service Standards was held in Ankara. The opening speeches of the training, designed to enhance the capacity of staff working in institutions offering child protection and care services were delivered by Tarık Tuncay, the Key Expert of the Özne Çocuk Project. Representatives from the Ministry of Family and Social Services as well as relevant staff from central and provincial organization took part in the training.

During the five-day training program, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burak Açıkel, Assist. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özaslan, Prof. Dr. Müdriye Yıldız Bıçakçı, Rabia Tuba Yıldız, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ege conducted sessions and moderated group work.

On the first day of the training, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burak Açıkel presented material to the participants on Child Mental Health and Assist. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özaslan shared insights on Adolescent and Adult Mental Health.

The second day commenced with the session on Trauma and Intervention led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Burak Açıkel. This session was followed by Assist Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özaslan who presented information on Behaviour Management and Discipline.

On the third day, Prof. Dr. Müdriye Yıldız Bıçakçı gave a presentation on the Characteristics of Children with Typical and Atypical Development. The training continued with group work sessions.

On the fourth day of the training, Rabia Tuba Yıldız informed participants about Burnout and Stress Management in Staff/Families, as well as Conflict Resolution Skills.

The last day of the training continued with the sessions on Interview Techniques with Children and Communication Skills led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Ege. The training concluded with group work sessions, presentation of the outputs, and overall evaluation.

The first session of the Training of Trainers on Child Protection and Care Service Standards of our Project was held in Ankara with the participation of approximately 25 individuals. The opening speeches of the training, designed to enhance the capacity of staff working in institutions offering child protection and care services were delivered by Mr. Bayram İnce, the Head of Quality and Service Planning Department, and Tarık Tuncay, the Key Expert of the Özne Çocuk Project. The opening remarks encompassed an overview of the training’s general framework, program details, and pre-assessment subjects. Representatives from the Ministry of Family and Social Services as well as relevant staff from central and provincial organization took part in the training.

The five-day training featured presentations by Tarık Tuncay, the Key Expert of the Özne Çocuk Project, Assist. Prof. Dr. Aslıhan Nişancı, and Prof. Dr. Esra Çalık Var, along with group work sessions.

The first day of the training commenced with sessions led by the Key Expert of the Project Tarık Tuncay. The sessions covered topics on National and International Legislation, Preventive and Daycare Services, Care and Social Rehabilitation Services, Assessment, Identification and First Response Services, Support Services within Families, Institutions Responsible for Child Protection and Collaboration with Stakeholders.

On the second day of the training, the session was led by Assist. Prof. Dr. Aslıhan Nişancı, focusing on the Evaluation of Social Service Needs and Analytical Thinking Skills. Afterward, Prof. Dr. Esra Çalık Var provided information on Assessing Children and Families/Risk Identification.

The third day proceeded with the session on Family-centred Child Protection Services led by Prof. Dr. Esra Çalık Var, followed by group work and the presentation of outputs.

On the fourth day of the training, Prof. Dr. Esra Çalık Var delivered a session on Case Management.

The final day of the training was completed with sessions on Psychosocial Intervention Approaches led by Tarık Tuncay, the Key Expert of the Özne Çocuk Project.

The “Validation Workshop on Child Protection Services and Quality System” took place on Tuesday, 31 October 2023, in Ankara. The workshop commenced with the opening remarks from Mustafa Bilir, Deputy Director General of Ministry of Family and Social Services, Directorate General of Child Services, Bayram İnce, Head of Department of Research, Development and Project and Tarık Tuncay, the Key Expert of Özne Çocuk Project.

The first session of the workshop, attended by 50 participants from public institutions, civil society organizations and academia, examined the current situation of child protection services and the quality system in Türkiye through the findings of the field study conducted on this matter. The second session delved into the alignment of child protection services in Türkiye with the EU standards.

After the lunch break, participants engaged in focus group work exploring themes surrounding the accessibility and comparative analysis of child protection and child care services. During these group work, participants crafted set of recommendations aimed at enhancing the accessibility and quality of child protection services. The recommendations drafted by the groups were then shared with participants in the closing session of the workshop. The workshop concluded with evaluations of the day.