Locally-led learning was in action in Hatay, Türkiye as Pikolo Association – an organisation established in Ordu, Türkiye led a one-day capacity strengthening workshop on Intervention Strategies for Child Labor in Seasonal Agricultural Work.
The workshop focused on transfer of experience within the framework of localisation; sharing lessons learned from projects by Pikolo carried out within the scope of child labour, child protection and holistic well-being, including the general situation of children in Hatay after the earthquake.
30 participants from government, local as well as international NGOs working in Türkiye attended. The workshop was supported by Save the Children Türkiye and the Humanitarian Leadership Academy MENA team.
Speaking on organising, planning and executing the workshop Rim Eda Renda, a Psychologist at Pikolo said:
“It is very nice to have different organisations together. We learn who is doing what in the field. We can stay up to date about the projects. We learned each other’s strengths. There has been solidarity between the public and NGOs and our sympathy for each other has increased. We also learned about how the public sector works on the child labour issue. We also learned things we did not know about child labour in the presentations.”
Rising from identified need while providing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and child protection programmes, the Pikolo team curated the workshop as a learning/ideas exchange to share experience on implemented projects. The workshop also covered Introduction of Minimum Standards in Child Protection and Violations of Rights in Child Labor.
Public authorities and institutions, local NGOs, child protection specialists and high-level officers in family, education and social affairs in the region were fully engaged in the workshop as there was a heavy focus on collaboration towards solutions, coordination and partnership to prevent child labour in the province and throughout Türkiye.
Gizem Yıldırım, MHPSS Coordinator at Pikolo said:
“The participation of the public sector was very valuable. We were very happy that the public representatives listened to us. We were able to quickly learn the information we obtained by conducting a needs analysis from the mouths of public officials.”
This locally led initiative helped to spread the word about child labour in addition to inspiring attendees to partner and collaborate.
Lale Nesil, a participant from Habitat said:
“It was a very important and useful meeting, especially in [the context of} Antakya. We as Habitat were very happy that there were people from the Ministry of Education and different public institutions.”
Mehmet Kurt from ACTED also expressed that:
“Associations are aware of each other thanks to these meetings. We have the opportunity to think about what we have done or what we can do. We learn about each other’s projects and it allows us to establish partnerships in the future.”
Save the Children Türkiye Country Office supported the design and implementation of this training – being the first of its kind in the region– initiated by a local organisation, co-designed with Save the Children, and supported by HLA.
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to organise and participate in the workshop.” – Başak Atalay, Partnership Officer, Save the Children Türkiye
Başak Atalay, Partnership Officer at Save the Children Türkiye expressed:
“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to organise and participate in the workshop. The event was very important, bringing together diverse organisations and public sector representatives to share knowledge and best practices.
As Save the Children Türkiye Country Office, while continuing to support our partners under the localisation strategy, the collaboration of Humanitarian Leadership Academy (HLA) has truly enhanced our efforts to combat child labour.
With active participation from NGOs and public institutions, we had a rich exchange of ideas that improved our intervention strategies with effective follow-up systems and referral mechanisms. The rich engagement and coordination built during this workshop have strengthened our network, enabling us to better identify and address the immediate and long-term needs of children, especially in the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Southeast of Türkiye. Thanks to HLA for supporting our efforts.”
Bdour Ghousheh, HLA MENA Regional Lead shared:
“HLA’s core pillars are to support leadership, strengthen community resilience and strengthen technical expertise. This workshop organised and run by local organisations for improving learning and sharing experiences covers all three pillars and is in line with HLA’s mission to support locally led learning.
We are proud to support this work and look forward to seeing the seeds sown flourish across the region in addressing children’s needs. Thanks to all the organisations that participated in the workshop, to Pikolo for this initiative and to Save the Children Türkiye Country Office for continued strengthened partnership.”
The workshop outcomes will feed into future strategy for Save the Children Türkiye Country Office. With further support and identified need, the workshop could be replicated in other provinces across the region.
