Gaziantep Child-Centered Disaster Risk Reduction Workshops
23 May 2025 - 24 May 2025
Gaziantep
The Child-Centered Disaster Risk Reduction Action Plans for Municipalities Project, implemented by TESEV with the support of UNICEF and in cooperation with the Union of Municipalities of Turkey, aims to support municipalities in Türkiye in developing data-driven, child-centered disaster risk reduction actions. To this end, a full-day internal and external stakeholder workshop was held in Gaziantep, one of the project’s pilot provinces, on May 23, 2025. Experts and personnel from Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, representatives from CSOs operating in Gaziantep, and central government participated in the event. Following the opening remarks by Görkem Güner, UNICEF Social Policy Officer, Gökçen Yılmaz Tokgöz, UNICEF Program Specialist, explained fundamental concepts of disaster risk reduction. Görkem Güner then presented on municipalities’ legal obligations regarding disasters in light of relevant legislation. After the lunch break, Gizem Fidan Kaya, TESEV Project Manager, presented on Child-Centered Disaster Policies and Data. Finally, Prof. Dr. Murat Güvenç introduced participants to the Child-Centered Disaster Risk Maps he prepared using age and market price data for Gaziantep’s neighborhoods. Following the presentations, during the afternoon sessions, participants were divided into groups and developed action proposals on topics such as children’s and families’ disaster awareness, a child protection-centered approach in the post-disaster recovery phase, and disaster governance. The event concluded with each group presenting their action proposals and a Q&A session.
A full-day Gaziantep Child-Centered Disaster Risk Reduction Children’s Workshop was held on May 24, with the participation of children and young people who are members of the Gaziantep Youth Advisory Council. Through sessions led by the UNICEF team, children were briefly informed about disaster risks and the duties and responsibilities of municipalities in this regard. The meeting continued with a workshop conducted by UNICEF Gaziantep field experts. The workshop allowed children to contemplate potential disasters in Gaziantep, exchange ideas on measures that could be taken against them and share their experiences after February 6 earthquakes. Divided into groups, the children presented their child-centered risk reduction action proposals at the end of the day. The proposals developed by the children during the event will be compiled by TESEV to be included in the action plans.