IGAM (Center for Asylum and Migration Studies) held a series of meetings and conferences with Miriam Azar, the regional representative of the Malala Fund for the Middle East.
During these meetings, the difficulties to access education for refugee children were discussed. The nine-year-old Syrian activist Ben Al-Abed, who is known all over the World, and her mother Fatemah Al-Abed shared their first hand experience on this issue in Turkey.
From the 13th and 15th May, IGAM hosted Miriam Azar, the Middle East representative for the Malala Fund. During her visit the difficulties and challenges faced by refugee children in participating in education were presented and new approaches and solutions to this issue were discussed. The nine-year-old Syrian activist Ben Al-Abed together with her mother Fatemah Al-Abed shared her experience on this issue in Turkey.
During the first day of the meeting, which was held at the IGAM Office in Cankaya, the members of the IGAM Malala Fund project in Turkey (Champions Working for Girls Education Project) presented their regional projects to Miriam Azar.
After the opening speech by IGAM’s President Metin Çorabatır and IGAM´s Project Coordinator for the Malala Fund Project, Halime Güner, Ayşe Şule Çağlar presented the current situation on “Education of girls in Turkey”. She focused in particular on the challenges that refugee girls face in accessing education and the difficulties they experience at schools.
During the meeting team members from the Mala Fund Project, presented their achievements on the different milestones of the project. They also outlined how IGAM collaborates with other International Organizations, Governmental Bodies and NGO, to further girls’ education and girls’ rights to access to education. The Project members also discussed the challenges that they faced in the field during the implementation process.
Later on during the day a meeting was held with Ayşenur Bülbül from the Immigration Emergency Office, part of the General Directorate of Life Long Learning, which is under the Ministry of National Education. The team, including IGAM’s Mala Fund Project team members, and Miriam Azar, discussed the possibilities and opportunities of collaborating with the Ministry of National Education. This was followed by a visit to IGAM’s Keçiören refugee information and support hub; here, Miriam Azar got a firsthand impression of the services provided to the refugees in the hub.
On the second day of the visit IGAM participated in a conference, which was part of the QUDRA program, at the Mövenpick hotel. The plenary speakers of this conference were Prof. Dr. Murat Erdoğan from the Turkish-German University and Metin Corabatir, the President of IGAM. The conference was titled “The demographic development of the Syrian refugee population, its possible effects on education, employment and municipal services in the near future”.
After Professor Murat Erdoğan presented his research report, Metin Çorabatir gave his opinion on the subject within the scope of migration law. The conference ended with a panel discussion, which included experts from different organizations and institutions.
9-year-old Syrian activist and mother's experiences…
On the last day of Miriam Azar’s visit, IGAM hosted a round table titled “Education of young refugee girls”. This meeting started with a presentation by Miriam Azar on the Malala Foundation and their projects.
This was followed by a talk from the nine year old Syrian activist Ben al-Abed and her mother Fatah al-Abed Talin, on the difficulties that refugee children face at school.
Fatoş Diker, a teacher at Uluğbey Primary School, gave an account of her experience of working at schools with refugee children. She provided an insight into the affects this has had on her work over the last four years, and her approach to overcome the difficulties. She also presented suggestions for how to improve the general situation. Other participants from UNICEF, UNHCR as well as local NGOs gave an insight to their experiences with refugee girls’ education in Turkey.
The following are the names of participants of the round table meetings entitled “Education of young refugee girls”: Başak Yavçan (TOBB), Jennifer Roberts (UNHCR), Cansu Albayrak (UNICEF), Gökçe Ceyhan (SGDD – ASAM), Güliz Arslan (SGDD – ASAM), Bana Al-Abed, Fatemah Al-Abed, Miriam Azar (Malala Fund Middle East Representative), Halime Erçetin (Flying Broom President / İGAM Malala Fund Project Coordinator), Metin Çorabatır (IGAM President / Gulmakai Champion), Müşerref Saraçoğlu (IGAM Malala Fund Project), Eda Çolak (IGAM Malala Fund Project), Eda Okutan (IGAM Malala Fund Project), Dr. Zakira Hekmat (Afghan Refugees Solidarity),Özge Sönmez (Yuva Association / Gulmakai Champion), Anastasia Pazer (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung), Walter Gros (Konrad Adenauer Stiftung), Fatoş Diker (Uluğbey Primary School)
Meeting with the Deputy Minister of National Education Reha Denemeç
After the roundtable discussion, the team visited the Deputy Minister of MoNE. During the visit to the Deputy Minister of National Education, Reha Denemeç, the current situation on educating Syrian Refugee children, and ways to improve it were discussed. IGAM president Metin Çorbatir and the president of the Yuva foundation Özge Sonmez, one of the Gulmakai Network champions, and Miriam Azar discussed potential strategies to improve refugees’ education Turkey within the scope of the Malala Fund.
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