Organized cooperatively by Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) and Raoul Wallenberg Institute (RWI), “Human Rights Cities Project” Education Programs for the project’s member municipalities were completed. The programs took place in two stages; first program was held on 18-20 July 2018 and the second was held on 19-21 September 2018 in Istanbul.
The managers of the related units from the member municipalities of the project; Mersin Metropolitan Municipality, Altındağ, Çankaya, Maltepe, Muratpaşa, Şahinbey and Zeytinburnu Municipalities participated to the education programs.
The main aim of the education programs was to raise awareness of the municipalities’ activities in the areas of children, disabled, refugees, women and elderly. During the education program, human rights were discussed in a conceptual point of view and expected human rights practices to be carried out by the municipalities were taught by the academics and trainers of Yereliz Association (Association of Local Monitoring Researching and Practicing).
In the first stage of the program in July, the conceptual framework of human rights, international conventions on human rights, and women, children, elderly, disabled and refugee rights which are five themes of the project were explained for three days. In the second stage of the program in September, the strategic and action plans of municipalities, preparation process of these plans and how the five themes of the project can be implemented in the action and strategic plans of the municipalities were clarified. In addition, participants from the member municipalities conducted a group work on the basic indicators to be a human right city and after the discussion of the sets of indicators the program was completed.
