The Etkiniz EU Programme has hosted civil society organisations (CSOs) working in the field of human rights at this year’s Forum, which was the third of Etkiniz forums. Nearly 200 participants from 36 provinces discussed the concept of “intersectionality” in human rights. 

Day 1

The Forum, which took place on June 4th-5th, 2022, in Seferihisar, İzmir, commenced with speeches by Ayça Haykır, Etkiniz EU Programme Team Leader and Esther Bouma, The EU Delegation to Turkey Deputy Head of Civil Society, Fundamental Rights, Judiciary and Home Affairs Section. With the debate on intersecting rights fields being held at the Forum, specific examples were provided from the gender, poverty and climate headings.

Speakers in the first session centred around the question #WhatWeDoNotMonitor were Hacer Foggo, founder of the Deep Poverty Network and Veronica Yates, representative of Child Rights International Network (CRIN). Foggo emphasised that while poverty is one of the most significant human rights issues of the present, work on poverty in monitoring human rights remained inadequate. Yates drew attention to how crucial it had become to protect human rights and dignity during the pandemic.

Representatives of various human rights organisations and international mechanisms took the stage in another session held in the form of a panel. At the panel looking to answer the question #HowShouldWeMonitor, the debate centred around points at which different right fields intersect in human rights monitoring work. Moderated by Murat Çekiç, Etkiniz Civil Society Capacity Building Key Expert, the session, in turn, featured İlknur Üstün of the Women’s Coalition, Murat Köylü of Kaos GL and Baskut Tuncak, former Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights. At the four simultaneous meetings on the theme of #Intersections held after the panel, participants discussed their experiences in the field.

Day 2

The only panel held on the second day on the question #WhoShouldWeTell drew attention to the difficulties CSOs experience with accessing international human rights mechanisms. The session, moderated by Etkiniz Human Rights Monitoring and Advocacy Key Expert Adem Arkadaş-Thibert, featured Baskut Tuncak, former Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Human Rights, Feray Salman of the Human Rights Joint Platform and Gülsun Kanat of the Purple Roof Women’s Shelter Foundation. The Forum included alternative activities such as a concert, tour of the town, film session and conversations with representatives of organisations providing support to civil society.

The Etkiniz EU Programme was initiated by the European Union Delegation to Turkey in 2019 to support the monitoring of compliance with the International Human Rights Framework by CSOs, networks, platforms and civilian initiatives. Etkiniz also supports the capacity-building and networking skills of civil society through forums, training and dialogue events.

To download the Forum booklet and photos:https://bit.ly/etkiniz-press-kit

To download the Etkiniz EU Programme logo:https://etkiniz.eu/blog/etkiniz-ab-programi-gorunurluk-materyalleri/