Project name: Swiss-UN (S-UN) Fund for Youth Project

Budget: USD 750.070

Timeline: April 2008 – April 2010

What’s the situation? 

The Human Development Report on Youth in Turkey points out the window of demographic opportunity facing Turkey, which can provide a huge impetus for the country to achieve its development objectives within the near future. In this context, remarkable dynamism, diversity and mobility of Turkish youth increase the opportunities ahead. However, the same characteristics also pose a set of challenges, through creating risk of exclusion among young people who are immensely mobile and constraining the capacity of the receiving areas to provide for the needs of a young migrant population.

Therefore, realizing the full potential of Turkey’s youth and managing the multiple layers of opportunities and constraints require greater programmatic support, in order to empower the youth to manage their own integration within the context of Turkey’s development policies and programs.

What’s our mission?

The Country Program Action Plan (2006-2010) of the UNDP which is aligned to the 9^th Development Plan of the Government of Turkey specifically designates the youth as a priority target group for UNDP interventions, and foresees the establishment of a Youth Fund.

The S-UN Fund for Youth, which is entrusted to UNDP by the Swiss Development Cooperation Agency (SDC), is a direct UNDP response to the Government’s plans to support young people’s social integration in a way which centralizes the UN core values of tolerance, dialogue and cooperation.

In the strategic context, the S-UN Fund empowers youth to improve their chances in life treating them as partners and right holders, in line with the SDC’s Youth Policy in which migrant youth and social inclusion is targeted.

How we’re doing this?

The S-UN Fund for Youth is a grant and technical assistance fund that supports young people to develop and implement their projects, which focus on the opportunities created by culture and tourism sectors while utilizing information and communication technologies and demonstrating commitment to the core UN values.

The S-UN Fund for Youth Project has been launched in three pilot provinces, Konya, Muğla and Kocaeli, which are marked with abundant cultural and touristic resources, active youth potential and institutionalized structures of existing Youth Centers, as well as being among the cities that have received the highest amount of migration in the past 20 years.

Young people who have migrated from rural to urban areas and face difficulties of social integration due to human development deprivations experienced during childhood forms the specific target group of the Fund, whereas equal participation of young women and men is encouraged throughout the Fund’s operation.

How will Turkey benefit?

Young women and men from 18 to 24 age groups are direct beneficiaries of the S-UN Fund for Youth. Forming project teams, young people will gain project management learning and experience, whereas the funded projects will benefit targeted communities. Apart from these direct gains, the ultimate benefit of project will be measured in terms of policy impact through generating workable models for the inclusion of youth.

The expected situation at the end of the project completion is the acknowledgement by the Government (especially the State Planning Organization which is responsible for the overall coordination of the Youth Programs) of the experience of the S-UN Fund and incorporating its lessons learnt in a way which helps them further foster social inclusion results among the youth, in line with the Government’s relevant policies.

Who are our partners?

The Youth Services Department under the General Directorate of Youth and Sports is the national partner for implementation of the project and responsible for provision of technical assistance and mentoring to young people, whereas UNDP is responsible for day to day monitoring of the project activities and provision of services for project management. The youth organizations and institutions and youth platforms established in these pilot provinces will are the local partners of the project.