Support to Harmonization in Turkey Project

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Turkey has achieved commendable economic and social development results since the early 2000s, raising it to the world’s 17th largest economy and establishing it as a global presence. Macroeconomic stability, broad social and economic reforms, closer economic ties with the European Union (EU), and a transformation of a significant part of the economy away from agriculture into manufacturing and services were core contributors to Turkey’s growth. Despite being hit by adverse shocks in 2016, the economy has shown notable resilience: growth in 2017 was at 7.4 percent, supported by a substantial fiscal and monetary stimulus. However, the economy entered a challenging period in mid-2018 with output contracting, unemployment rising, and inflation at close to 20 percent. Tight monetary policy and the release of a New Economic Program (NEP) in September 2018 provided some confidence to investors after a period of intense market volatility. But the economy remains vulnerable to market sentiments and the focus now is on implementation of critical reforms to sustain Turkey’s development achievements. Turkey’s current Government was formed in July 2018, following national elections held in June 2018. In September 2018, the Government launched the NEP, which sets out Turkey’s macro-fiscal and structural reform strategy and is a comprehensive statement of the Government’s policy intent for the near-term. In parallel, the parliament approved Turkey’s 11th Development Plan for the 2019-2023 period, which sets out the longer-term structural Reforms needed to address Turkey’s development challenges, such as improving productivity, tackling energy supply security and energy efficiency to ensure sustained growth, and building the skills of its population to reap the benefits of greater global integration.Turkey is both a transit and target country for migrants and refugees. Globally, the country hosts the highest number of refugees seen in the recent years. As a result of the crisis in its southern border with Syria, Turkey has been hosting an increasing number of refugees and foreigners seeking international protection. In addition to hosting more than 3.6 million Syrians under temporary protection, there are an estimated 400,000 asylum seekers and refugees from other nationalities. The country’s policy response has been progressive and provides a model to other countries hosting refugees, but the magnitude of the refugee and migrant influx continues to pose challenges for displaced persons, host communities, and the country at large. The efforts of the government and international partners have been geared primarily towards facilitating refugee access to basic services and economic opportunities, while strengthening the capacity and responsiveness of public institutions at the national and local levels. As of October 2019, more than 3.6 million Syrian refugees (97.5 percent) were living among host communities [Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM), 2019]. Approximately 63,000 refugees remained in seven temporary accommodation centers (TACs) located in five provinces. The government’s policy is to provide accommodation primarily for refugees who have special assistance needs.In 2019, the government introduced the country’s first framework on refugee inclusion, namely the National Harmonization Strategy Paper and Action Plan. The strategy identifies priorities for ministries, central government agencies, municipalities, and non-governmental organizations on inclusion of Syrians in municipal services, education, healthcare, social services, and local economies. The strategic approach is focusing on harmonization of refugees, migrants and host communities based on six priority areas: social cohesion, information, education, health, labor market, and social services. The government is aiming to standardize information and counselling services with new tools and processes and establish face-to-face counseling capacity to ensure provision of reliable information and guidance for migrants and refugees.Refugees in Turkey are generally not aware of their rights and responsibilities and lack knowledge about the services they are entitled to and/or how to access them. They have limited information about life in Turkey as they do not have first-hand experience with the local systems, services and procedures. While the refugees’ social networks are well-established in Turkey, often the existing social environment cannot provide accurate information to help them navigate in an unfamiliar socio-economic context. The absence of such can create gaps between the host communities and have a negative impact on socio-economic situation of the host communities. Most refugees in TACs have lived in camp-settings since 2012 and lack psychological readiness, sufficient information and life skills to cope with independent living and pursue their inclusion in Turkish society. They also have limited access to training and counselling to enhance their livelihoods skills and effectively pursue independent life in Turkey. Their main challenges include (i) lack of information on available support services outside of TACs, (ii) finding affordable housing, (iii) accessing livelihoods opportunities and jobs, (iv) falling victim to fraud and financial abuse while searching for housing and jobs, and (v) lack of basic life and social skills suited to the Turkish context. There is a high demand among Syrians in Turkey to receive information and counselling services, including psycho-social support. The project is aligned with the overall objective of the World Bank Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Turkey (FY18-21) to assist the country to achieve more sustainable and inclusive growth. The project will support the transition of refugees from camps and help them pursue their socio-economic inclusion in host communities through provision of information, counselling and referrals to basic services and economic opportunities. The project will also provide psycho-social support and contribute to social cohesion between refugees and host communities. Accordingly, the project aligns with CPF Focus Area 2: Inclusion, which seeks to support better integration of women, youth and Syrians under Temporary Protection. With its focus on female-headed refugee households and refugee women and girls, the project will also have a strong gender aspect which is considered a key area in the CPF. The project is consistent with the World Bank’s twin goals of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Project beneficiaries will include some of the poorest refugees in provinces that are highly impacted by refugee presence in the country. The World Bank’s development response to forced displacement aims to help refugees and host communities offset the impact of displacement through socio-economic development in the host communities. The proposed project aligns well with the provisions of Turkey’s 11th Development Plan. The plan sets out the longer-term structural reforms to be pursued in order to address Turkey’s development challenges. Within this context, the plan contains provisions to improve refugees’ socio-economic inclusion and access to services, particularly focusing on access to education, social and cultural harmonization (of children and youth) and improving skills and readiness to promote access to economic opportunities.In this context, the proposed project will (i) provide information, counselling and referral services to refugees and (ii) refer refugees to available mainstream socio-economic support services. The Project will primarily target (a) refugees living in Adana (Sarıçam TAC), Hatay (Altınozu and Yayladağı TACs), Kahramanmaraş (Merkez TAC), and Kilis (Elbeyli TAC) who want to relocate to communities in target provinces and (b) refugees who have recently relocated from TACs to target project provinces. The preliminary assessments and consultations with refugees and key sta