 What is the Youth Voices Program?
The Youth Voices program that was launched first in Peru in 2002 by the World Bank is a global program that carries the objective of creating a more effective dialogue between the youth of the participant countries and the World Bank, as well as giving young people support with respect to finding their own solutions to the problems they face. Some of the participant countries where the program has been implemented are as follows: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Peru and Yemen. The Youth Voices Program in Turkey A group of young people between 18 and 25 years of age, who are from different provinces in Turkey with different cultural and educational backgrounds, and who are voluntarily and actively involved in the sphere of civil society, came together in March 2004 and formed the Youth Voices of Turkey group. Since September 2005 this group has been functioning as a dialogue group of 13 people. Objectives and Targets - As a dialogue group, making concrete suggestions about the possible solutions to the urgent problems of the youth in Turkey.
- Being in dialogue with the government, local administrations, civil society organizations, youth organizations and other relevant structures for the purpose of creating a consistent and sustainable youth policy in Turkey. Drawing all these parties' attention on this issue and making the necessary contribution to this process.
- Working towards of the objective of including the youth of Turkey in decision-making mechanisms and encouraging young people in this respect.
What have we done until now? Meeting on a regular basis, members of the Youth Voices group were divided into four different working groups in May 2005, namely Education, Rural Development, Employment and Governance working groups, and continued with this organizational structure until June 2005. In May 2005, the reports prepared by these working groups were presented to an audience which included representatives of the government, international organizations and the embassies, as well as the employees of the World Bank office. Some of the meetings in which members of the Youth Voices group participated are as follows: - "Youth, Development and Peace" International Conference, September 2004-Sarajevo
- "World Bank Fourth Knowledge Economy Forum," March 2005-Istanbul
- "World Bank Creative Ideas for Development Contest," Jury Meetings, March-May 2005
- "Youth Development and Social Participation" Workshop, April 2005-Istanbul
- "Japan Social Development Fund" Workshop, October 2005, Gölba??-Ankara
What are we doing? Having operated under the "Youth Policy Development" and "Youth and Employment" working groups between August 2005-July 2005, the Youth Voices group has been in touch and cooperation with other youth actors, organizations, and relevant public and international organizations. Projected prospective tasks are as follows: a) Youth Policy Development Working Group: - Researching the existing youth policies in countries of Europe and the rest of the world and sharing the results with relevant parties through one-to-one visits.
- Organizing a workshop in March 2006 for discussing concrete steps to be taken and suggestions with respect to the development of youth policy in Turkey.
b) Youth and Employment Working Group: - For the purpose of increasing the awareness and sensitivity of young people about the youth employment in local administrations and other relevant parties, organizing visits to provincial and township offices of the Employment Institution of Turkey as well as private employment offices and researching the professional orientation of young people.
- For the purpose of increasing the awareness of young people about employment, organizing seminars and other activities in pilot provinces, to be selected on the basis of a research, in cooperation with local organizations.
How to reach us? Click here to view Youth Voices 2004-05 page |
 
RSS