The First Beneficiary Steering Committee of the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey Under the Multi-Country Programme was held on 10 March 2020 in Ankara.

The first Beneficiary Steering Committee of the Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye under the Multi-Country Programme was held on 10 March 2020 in Ankara.

During the meeting, the following actions, which are currently implemented under the Horizontal Facility programme, were discussed:

• Supporting the implementation and reporting on the Action Plan on Human Rights in Türkiye
• Strengthening the human rights protection of asylum seekers, migrants and victims of human trafficking in Türkiye
• Fostering a comprehensive institutional response to violence against women and domestic violence in Türkiye

The Directorate for EU Affairs as the secretariat of the National IPA Coordinator manages the implementation of the Multi-Country Programme in Türkiye.

Representatives of the Beneficiary Institutions, Council of Europe, Delegation of the EU to Türkiye, civil society organizations, academicians and all relavant stakeholders have participated to the meeting.

In the introduction and conclusion of the meeting,  the Head of the Department forPolitical Affairs Ms. Çağrı ÇAKIR focused on the current priorities regarding fundamental rights, the impact and complementary aspect of projects under the Horizontal Facility programme on Türkiye’s accession process. Ms. Çakır has also presented an overview regarding current and future projects on fundamental rights.

During the meeting, beneficiary institutions and Council of Europe experts had exchanged views concerning the implementation of three project under Horizontal Facility and importance of participation, sustainability, ownership and monitoring/evaluation were underlined.