Young People Should Be Supported on All Platforms

In the “Women, Youth, Future” symposium where women's rights, young people's future concerns and their role in non-governmental organizations in Turkey were discussed, it was emphasized that young people should be supported in all platforms.

In the symposium organized by Avcılar Municipality and Rumeli Balkan Women Association, Ph.D. student of Ege University Gülbahar Kurtuluş started her speech titled “Young People’s Future Concerns” by saying: “We’ve talked about violence, equity and injustice against women here, but now I will talk about merit and mobbing. Because two of the most important problems of young people are merit and mobbing.”
Stating that she did not know the meaning of the word merit before the start of her career, Kurtuluş said: “Since we are not relatives of important people, we cannot get the education we deserve and the wages we are worth. But we know that no one can get our diplomas from us. Another issue is mobbing. It is a situation we encounter especially in business life. As a victim of mobbing, I had to leave an institution where I worked for 3.5 years. We are also faced with mobbing at the academy. Despite all the merit and mobbing, we, as young people, should support each other on every platform.”

“Volunteering Provides Social Integration Along With Personal Development”

Speaking on the role of young people in civil society organizations, Abdullah Pehlivan started his speech by defining the concept of volunteering. Describing volunteering as a work to be done without any expectations, Pehlivan emphasized that it has an important role in strengthening the social structure.

Stating that the participation of young people in voluntary activities will provide social integration as well as personal development, Pehlivan said, “In the most basic sense, there is no material interest in the concept of volunteering, and there are no coercion and oppressive factors other than one’s own will. Non-governmental organizations gain importance at this point and form the basis of an individual’s voluntary activities. Hence, when this is evaluated specifically for Turkey, there are many non-governmental organizations doing volunteer activities ranging from education to health. I would like to mention Turkish Education Volunteers Foundation as an example. They carry out their activities in the field of education with voluntary support. In 2014, they supported many children in education with their work around Turkey.” 

“Activities are Carried Out with Limited Means”

Stating that young people are the dynamic force when it comes to voluntary activities, Pehlivan said, “Young people play a leading role in this field as in many other fields. Both in Turkey and in many other countries, young people take part in voluntary activities, thus they support both their personal development and the development of the community. In this way, volunteering activities which spread over a wide range of areas such as education, health, and environment thanks to their human resource, these activities provide services to the needy areas with limited means. Therefore, volunteer youth, especially united under the umbrella of non-governmental organizations, take the role of completing the deficiencies of the society and facilitate the activities.”

Referring to a study on volunteering, Pehlivan said: “Among the expectations of young people, the study shows that being responsible is the focus when it comes to conducting voluntary activities. In addition, young people’s continuity in their activities, feeling of belonging, providing spiritual satisfaction and being energetic are among the answers to the research questions. In the responses given about the reasons why young people engage in volunteering activities, study also shows that socialization has positive effects on their personal development due to their social responsibility.”