Attachments
General Highlights
Turkey was one of five co-convening countries of the Global Refugee Forum which took place on 16-18 December in Geneva. The Turkish delegation was headed by the President of Turkey, several Ministers and high-level officials who participated in plenary sessions, high level dialogue discussions, spotlight sessions and speaker’s corners. Some 50 good practices were shared from Turkey in all areas of refugee response, primarily in education, protection, registration, health, access to self-reliance, social cohesion and support to Syrian youth to participate in higher education. Pledges in education, micro-credit solutions, statelessness, refugee rights and youth activities were announced.
The Directorate General of Migration Management was supported by UNHCR in closing six and decongesting four temporary accommodation centres by providing relocation grants to refugees opting to relocate to host communities, and transportation assistance to those opting to transfer to other temporary accommodation centres.
The Turkish version of the Handbook for Parliamentarians, A Guide to International Refugee Protection and Building State Asylum Systems was published in June and presented at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara. The handbook, which was published by UNHCR in collaboration with the InterParliamentary Union Group of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, was disseminated to parliamentarians as a guide to international refugee protection and the role of state asylum systems.
In July, a Conference on Higher Education for Students under International Protection was organized by the Presidency for Turks Abroad (YTB), UNHCR, TRT World Research Centre, and TRT World Citizen. The conference brought together 150 stakeholders in higher education and provided a forum to share experiences of students under international protection in Turkey. It also permitted to showcase the importance of access to higher education of refugees, where 33,000 Syrian students are enrolled in universities in Turkey, double the average global enrolment rate of refugees in tertiary education.
Support for Turkey’s refugee response is coordinated and consolidated through the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) in response to the Syria crisis; a platform bringing together 46 appealing UN and civil society organizations, co-lead by UNHCR and UNDP. By December 2019, the 3RP Turkey Chapter had raised USD 1.03 billion (63 per cent) out of a total financial requirement of USD 1.65 billion.
The vital role of municipalities in Turkey’s refugee response was evident at the International Municipal Forum held on 26-27 November in Gaziantep. The Municipal Forum provided a platform to share experiences of mayors around the world in supporting refugees and displaced people in their communities in line with the objectives of the Global Compact on Refugees. The resulting Gaziantep Declaration outlines pledges to promote and replicate efforts to transition from emergency to resilience in responding to complex refugee and migration situations.
The Turkish Court of Accounts and UNHCR signed a Letter of Understanding in April to strengthen oversight for UNHCR’s support to Turkish public institutions. The Turkish Court of Accounts (TCA) is the supreme audit institution of Turkey mandated to conduct audits, produce reports and take final decisions on the accounts and transactions of public administrations to serve efficiently and effectively in compliance with laws and public resources. The cooperation allows UNHCR to receive detailed audit reports for the support provided to government partners. In November, UNHCR received the audit reports for funds provided by UNHCR to the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities, the Directorate General for Migration Management and the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services Provincial Directorate of Ankara, presented by the TCA.