The public sector, civil society and United Nations organizations came together at the “Increasing Access of Refugees with Disabilities to Protection Services Workshops”. The workshops were held in Ankara and Izmir within the scope of the “Increasing Access of Refugees with Disabilities to Protection Services in Turkey Project'' implemented by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with the partnership of the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (SGDD-ASAM) and with the financial support of the European Union Humanitarian Aid. The main focus of the workshops has been the needs of refugees with disabilities and the ways to increase their access to rights and services.
Ankara, TURKEY - In Turkey, hundreds of thousands of refugees live with disabilities. Many of them do not have enough information about or access to the rights and services available to them. The workshops were organized in the scope of the "Increasing Access of Most Vulnerable Groups to Protection and Social Services in Turkey Project'' to discuss these challenges and create feasible solutions for them.
Hosted by UNFPA Turkey and SGDD-ASAM on 15 and 17 December in the two project provinces, Ankara and İzmir, the workshops brought together representatives from public institutions, civil society and UN organizations.
In the workshops, the needs of refugees living with disabilities, the barriers they face in accessing rights and services and the steps that can be taken to overcome these barriers were discussed. Participants also exchanged their experiences and lessons learnt regarding the services they provide. Besides, in the workshops, where the current situation was evaluated based on real-life examples from the field, the importance of specialized approaches as well as the viability and sustainability of the solutions were underlined.
The “Increasing Access of Refugees with Disabilities to Protection Services in Turkey Project'' implemented by UNFPA Turkey in cooperation with SGDD-ASAM and with the financial support of the European Union Humanitarian Aid, continues to support refugees with disabilities and their support persons through 2 service units in Ankara and Izmir. With disability-friendly mobile vehicles and protection services, including consultations, information dissemination, psycho-social support, gender-based violence prevention and response services as well as referral and support in accessing other services, the project contributes to increasing the resilience of refugees with disabilities and their support persons and empowers them to have healthier and more equal lives.
