‘Dialogue week’ to see like a child
See like a Child project, launched by Faculty of Communication, Izmir University of Economics (IUE) to eliminate the negative discourse on refugee children, is now making its voice heard also in European universities. The Project received “European Union Erasmus +KA347 Structured Dialogue Projects Grant”. 90 students from Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Turkey came together to find solutions for refugee children at the “Dialogue Week” initiated as part of the support program.
Students will have the opportunity to come together with refugee children throughout the week as part of the project supported by Izmir Chamber of Commerce, UNICEF, Konak Municipality, and Maya Foundation. Students will come up with solution recommendations for basic rights such as “equal opportunities”, “education”, and “health” specified in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Report to be prepared at the end of the meetings will be shared with the national and international decision makers.
‘There are 3 million 600 thousand Syrian refugees in Turkey’
In her opening speech, IUE Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Çiğdem Kentmen, stated that Turkey, alone, hosted over 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees due to severe conditions in Middle East since 2010. Prof. Dr. Çin said, “1.5 millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey are underage. They are in a different country and they do not know the language and the culture of the country they live in. They are trying to adjust to living here. There are biased opinions, negative discourses. Institutions inspire debate on social issues. They promote civil society find solutions to social problems. We focused on how to stop these or minimize the effects.”
‘Solution recommendation for problems of refugee children will be sought’
Prof. Dr. Ebru Uzunoğlu, Dean of IUE Faculty of Communication, pointed that the Project, which ranked in first place at “Facebook Peer to Peer Global Digital Challenge”, became more meaningful with students from Europe. Prof. Dr. Uzunoğlu said, “Making our students graduates who are aware of both domestic and global advances, who question social issues and take action, is our top priority. This social issue, regarding refugee children, is not an issue of Turkey only it is a worldwide issue. Throughout various activities during the Dialogue Week, solution recommendations will be provided for issues experience by refugee children.”
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sema Misçi Kip, Head of IUE Department of Public Relations and Advertising, stated that university students from different countries would discuss the issues faced by refugee children during the Dialogue Week.
