#ExpandtheField Panel
Supporting youth organizations in line with this purpose means the participation of young people in decision-making mechanisms, and the empowerment of young people. According to the results of the Due Diligence and Needs Analysis of Youth Organizations -2020 research; half of the youth organizations do not have professional employees. However, although they do not have professional employees, these organizations develop projects on a voluntary basis. The primary need of youth organizations was stated as accessing funding sources. During the pandemic period, approximately 40% of the youth organizations participating in the research could not continue their activities. The most important reason for this is the increasing difficulties in accessing funding sources. In addition to the research, interviews with GoFor member organizations also support these results.
In the Final Declaration of the 3rd European Youth Studies Congress, also called the BONN Process and organized to develop and strengthen youth work and policies across Europe, it deems it necessary to make more investments in the funding of the studies in order to meet the increasing demands and expectations, especially in youth work.
In the light of these data, we regard further supporting youth organizations as a necessity in order to support the democratic structure of Turkey; also, through this meeting, we want to bring together youth organizations, youth workers, and young people with their aims to understand the needs of youth organizations and young people, to make visible the demand for support in youth work, to establish a connection between the vision of your institutions and the necessity of supporting young people.
