REFUGEE INCLUSION AND PARTICIPATION IN MUNICIPALITIES

The “Inclusion and Participation in Municipalities” event, hosted by The Union of Municipalities of Turkey (TBB) and The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to which we participate as WALD, was also attended by representatives of local government, national, international institutions and non-governmental organizations. It was held in Adana between 12-13 May 2022.

The program started with the opening speeches of Adana Metropolitan Municipality Deputy Secretary General İsmail GÜNEŞ, Head of Integration and Communication Department of the Ministry of Interior, Dr. Aydın Keskin KADIOĞLU, UNHCR Turkey Representative Philippe LECLERC, TBB Deputy Secretary General Kayhan ÖZÜM.

UNHCR Turkey Representative Philippe LECLERC stated that "As UNHCR, we appreciate the services Turkey provides to Syrians under temporary protection status, no matter where we are, and that as UNHCR, we have provided assistance to people fleeing war since its establishment". LECLERC emphasized that the spirit of the Global Compact on Refugees lies in the fact that all stakeholders act together and stated that social cohesion and living together in peace is a must for the whole society.

Head of the Department of Compliance and Communication of the Ministry of Interior, Directorate of Migration Management, Dr. Aydın Keskin KADIOĞLU and the host of the program, Deputy Secretary General of TBB Kayhan ÖZÜM, were among the names that addressed the participants.

MUNICIPAL COORDINATION EVENT

TBB Representative Sümeyye GEDİKOĞLU, who came to the podium after the video screening on migration and integration prepared by the TBB, made a presentation titled "Municipalities and Asylum Seekers, Inclusion and Participation". After the presentation, the first panel of the program, the thematic session on “Leaving Nobody Behind” was held. UNHCR Turkey representative Philippe LECLERC, who was the first speaker of the session, stated that "Ukrainian refugees, after Turkey, emphasized that Poland is the second country receiving the highest number of refugees, followed by Romania and Slovakia.He also stated that behind this statistical ranking, there is a lot of human suffering. UNHCR Geneva Representative Claire ROBERTS LAMONT mentioned that different partners come together and produce solutions on social cohesion in the “Global Compact on Refugees Platform” and stated that municipalities should be within the framework of a longer-term, inclusive approach in programming their projects.

After the session, the fair area was visited, where examples of good practices put forward by the municipalities were exhibited. Many city/district municipality representatives introduced their projects by exhibiting at the stands.

"Innovative Entrepreneur Women" realized by Istanbul Sultangazi Municipality in cooperation with WALD and UNHCR, Adana Seyhan Municipality's "Producing Women Cooperative" and Hatay Metropolitan Municipality's "GIZ Qudra Volunteer Firefighting" projects were among the projects that attracted attention.

The second day of the event continued with the "Interinstitutional Coordination" session. Ahmet ÜNVER from UNHCR Inter-Agency Coordination Unit talked about the “Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP)”. In his presentation, he shared information about UNHCR's work in the fields of basic needs, protection, access to livelihoods, education and health. İpek MİSCIOĞLU from UNHCR Istanbul Inter-Agency Coordination Unit also stated that they support the work in Istanbul and the Marmara Region together with UNHCR Istanbul and WALD. She stated that the fact that the municipalities are the most important decentralized units that also provide services in the cities for refugees was documented in the international arena with the "Istanbul Declaration" created in 2018, and a starting guide was created with the signatories of the municipalities from the Marmara Region, the TBB and international organizations.