Improving access to education and strengthening protection for refugee children and vulnerable children in Türkiye

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With more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees and around 320,000 registered non-Syrian refugees and asylum seekers, including at least 140,000 children, mostly of Afghan, Iraqi and Iranian nationality, Turkey is home to the largest refugee population in the world. The gross enrollment rate of refugee children in the Turkish public school system is only 64.4%. Over 400,000 refugee children in Turkey have no access to education and are acutely exposed to numerous protection risks, including isolation, discrimination, economic exploitation and various forms of violence. The project helps to improve the opportunities for refugee children and vulnerable children and young people in Turkey to exercise their rights to protection and education. This is to be achieved through various measures that increase access for vulnerable children, young people and their families to educational opportunities, early childhood education and protection services, such as prevention of gender-based violence (GBV) and psychosocial support. The project is aimed at the most vulnerable children and young people in Turkey, including their families. These are primarily refugee children, including Afghan refugees, but also vulnerable Turkish children. The project is preventive and is in the context of a possible additional influx of refugees from Afghanistan to Turkey. It is being implemented by UNICEF together with the Turkish Ministry of Education (MoNE), the non-governmental organization Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants (ASAM), and the Ankara Municipality.