Policy Reports
Documentation of Education Response in Turkey during the Covid-19 Pandemic and its Effect on Children's Access to and Retention in Education
Education, Covid-19
January 2023
This study aims (i) to understand and document the policies implemented so far, the challenges faced by children, teachers and schools during the extended period of school closures in Turkey and (ii) to estimate the impact of the COVID pandemic on children’s education outcomes and identify risk groups.
The study uses a mixed-methods approach to review and analyse the existing data and documents while also collecting primary qualitative data from stakeholders and experts. The methodological tools that have been used for the study are (i) Desk review, (ii) Quantitative Data Analysis (Analysis of DHS 2018 and PISA 2018 datasets) and (iii) Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis through KIIs with Stakeholders. In the absence of primary data collected regarding the current situation on children’s learning outcomes, dropout rates or engagement in child labour, simulations and estimations on these indicators using existing household level datasets and identifying the characteristics of children who are most at risk are presented to highlight the degree of the problem and the child groups that are likely to be most affected.
📖 Download the Executive Summary
Evaluative Learning Study for Phase III of the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) Assistance for Refugees in Turkey
Refugees, Poverty, Cash transfer
September 2022
The overall goal of this study is to generate an evidence base on refugees’ income sources and the ESSN’s effect on socioeconomic vulnerability as well as people’s capacity to cope. Furthermore, this study will also provide capacity support and strengthening expertise in quantitative and qualitative methodologies and improving metrics for IFRC.In this capacity, this study will rely on i) conducting a desk review, ii) carrying out quantitative data analysis using several existing micro level datasets to understand refugees’ main income sources, socioeconomic vulnerability, and coping strategies pre-COVID and during COVID, iii) carrying out qualitative data analysis using existing data from FGDs that have been conducted by IFRC and TRC to understand the changes in refugees’ income sources pre-COVID and during COVID and to provide in-depth insights into their vulnerability and coping strategies during COVID-19, iv) conducting capacity building workshops to strengthen knowledge and expertise regarding qualitative and quantitative research methods and tools, and to provide useful metrics for the ESSN III programme to track income more reliably in Turkey.
Strategic Mid-term Evaluation of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey
Refugees, Evaluation
June 2021
The Facility for Refugees in Turkey (the Facility) is a EUR 6 billion mechanism designed to share Turkey’s burden of hosting close to four million refugees. Organised in two tranches, it coordinates the EU refugee response, focusing on humanitarian assistance and protection, education, health, socio-economic support and migration management. The evaluation’s scope includes all actions funded and instruments mobilised under Facility Tranche I (EUR 3 billion) between 2015/16 and 2020. The purpose of the evaluation is: (i) To provide an overall assessment of the performance of the Facility to date, focusing on intermediate results measured against its objectives, (ii) To provide lessons learned and actionable recommendations to improve current and future actions and strategy. The Facility includes portfolios of humanitarian and non-humanitarian interventions across four sectors – education; health; socio-economic support; and protection, which the evaluation covers in a series of standalone sector reports. This evaluation was implemented by Landell Mills Ltd. with support from Development Analytics responsible for organizing and executing the fieldwork (accompanied by international experts) in Turkey and providing local expertise through its national experts for this study. Development Analytics also provided quantitative and qualitative data analysis for the sector reports and provided writing support in the preparation of the sector reports, co-leading the sector report for socioeconomic support.
📖 Download the Executive Summary
📖 Download Sector Report (Education)
📖 Download Sector Report (Health)
📖 Download Sector Report (Socio-Economic Support)
Harnessing the Power of Youth: An Analysis of Youth Not-in-Employment, Education or Training (NEET) in Turkey and Policies and Civil Society Models that Promote Active Youth Engagement
Youth
October 2020
This research study was conducted within the scope of the “Enhancing Advocacy Capacities of Youth CSOs in Turkey: Guiding CSOs through Research” project jointly executed by Development Analytics and the Young Guru Academy (YGA). This project is financed within the scope of the second phase of "Civil Society Support Programme" which is supported by EU and coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate for EU Affairs. The report aims to contribute to the analytical and academic evidence base on the issue of youth, not in employment, education or training in Turkey, as well as to provide a stocktake of available models of youth empowerment from existing CSOs and to highlight these models to a policy audience.
📖 Download the Report / the Summary (English)
📖 Download the Report / the Summary (Turkish)
Estimating the Impact of COVID-19 on Child Poverty in Georgia using a Micro-Simulation Model
Poverty, Impact of COVID-19, Microsimulations, Cash Transfers
August 2020
COVID-19 pandemic, apart from the health-related challenges, has a serious socio-economic impact on households. The pandemic is predicted to cause the worst economic recession in decades with a forecasted 5.2 percent contraction in global GDP. ILO recently estimated that the pandemic would cause job losses equal to 195 million full-time jobs. Due to the contraction in economic activities, globally, an estimated 42-66 million children could fall into poverty.
Georgia is forecasted to experience a significant recession because of the pandemic and given high rates of vulnerability to poverty in the country; this will have a substantial impact on overall poverty and child poverty rates. This study aims to provide estimates of the effects of COVID-19 on household and child poverty in Georgia, through its impact on the labour market. The study, apart from estimating the poverty impact of the COVID crisis, also estimates the poverty-reducing impact of several cash transfer scenarios targeting different groups in the population and at varying benefit levels. One of the outputs of the study will be an interactive simulation model that will enable policymakers to look at the poverty impact and cost of varying levels of the cash benefit under different scenarios.
ESSN Mid-term Review Report
Refugees, Cash Transfers
February 2020
The World Food Programme (WFP) Turkey Country Office on behalf of the ESSN stakeholders commissioned this mid-term review of the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN), funded by the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO). The first phase of the ESSN (ESSN 1) ran from September 2016, with roll-out starting in early 2017; while ESSN 2 commenced in January 2018 and will run until March 2020. This review covers the period from May 2018 to November 2019. The intended users of the review include WFP; TK; the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Family, Labour, and Social Services (MoFLSS), and DG ECHO; as well as other organizations providing assistance to refugees in Turkey.
Turkey currently hosts more refugees than any other country in the world. There are 4 million registered refugees in Turkey, of whom 3.6 million are Syrian refugees. The ESSN launched in December 2016 with the objective of stabilising or improving living standards of the most vulnerable out of camp refugee households. The ESSN was designed in conjunction with the Government of Turkey and is implemented through a partnership between WFP, TK, the Ministry of Family, Labour, and Social Services (MoFLSS), and Halkbank.
Life in Transition Survey- Gender Analysis and Gender Modules
Gender, Civic Participation, Women’s Empowerment
March 2019
Gender Analysis using the Life in Transition Survey (LITS III) deals with a number of gender-related issues for 34 countries where the survey was collected. The study focuses on gender differences in four key areas: (i) employment and entrepreneurial activity (ii) asset ownership (iii) the burden of care in the household and attitudes towards its need and provision and (iv) norms on gender roles and attitudes towards the gender balance in household decision making. The Life in Transition Survey (LITS III) was conducted jointly by the World Bank and EBRD and is a combined household and attitude survey. The third round of LITS was implemented in 2015-2016 in 34 countries, with an average of 1,500 households per country. The survey consists of a number of modules covering a broad range of individual and household attributes. Crucially for the present study, and in contrast to previous implementations of the survey, two key changes were made to LITS III permitting the gender analysis outlined above. Firstly, new questions were added relating to asset ownership, care demand in the household, and gender norms. Secondly, the responses to the asset and employment modules were expanded to include those from a secondary respondent of the opposite sex.
Decentralised Evaluation of the ECHO funded Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) in Turkey
Refugees, Cash Transfers
April 2018
Turkey has the largest refugee population of any country in the world with 2.8 million Syrian refugees currently residing in Turkey. The Emergency Social Safety Net Programme (ESSN) will provide at least 1 million refugees with an unconditional and unrestricted cash transfer of 100 TL per month making it the largest ever EU-supported humanitarian cash transfer programme. The programme is available to all foreigners with refugee status who live off-camp and are under temporary protection or international protection. The programme is funded by the European Commission through European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and is implemented through the Turkish government social welfare system by means of an ATM cash card. The WFP is a key stakeholder in the project and worked closely with ECHO to design and implement the programme. The interim evaluation assesses the first year of the programme’s implementation and is aimed to be used to inform decision-making in the second year. In collaboration with Oxford Policy Management, Development Analytics was involved in organising fieldwork, carrying out focus group discussions and key informant interviews, and conducting qualitative data analysis.
Education of Disadvantaged Children in the OIC: the Key to Escape from Poverty
Education
October 2017
This report focuses on access to education among disadvantaged groups in the member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The report provides an overview of the current status and recent trends in education focusing on access to quality education by poverty status, location, gender, spoken language /ethnicity, and disability status of children as well as policies and programmes to improve access among disadvantaged groups. The main focus is on primary and lower secondary education. The report consists of four parts. i) An outline of the conceptual framework used in analysing the state of education in OIC countries. ii) A summary of the state of education across OIC member states. This includes an analysis of trends across and between countries as well as an assessment of which groups are most disadvantaged with respect to access to education. iii) Case studies for the member states Jordan, Pakistan, Senegal, and Turkey provide a more detailed assessment of factors affecting education provision in these countries. iv) Policy recommendations to increase access to education among disadvantaged groups. These include both general recommendations but also country-specific recommendations that take into account the local context.
📖 Download the Report and the Infographic
📖 Download the Infographics of Pakistan Jordan Senegal
Supporting Access to and Retention in Employment for Women by Enhancing Child Care Services in Turkey
Agence Française de Développement
May 2016
Female labour force participation remains low in Turkey compared to other OECD countries and labour market attachment is particularly low among women with children. In recent years, government policy has focused on the expansion of childcare services as a means to support women’s participation in employment. Yet there are significant gaps in the provision of flexible quality childcare services and demand remains constrained by social norms, practices, and affordability issues. Childcare and preschool services are mostly organized by public providers. Legislation that aims to encourage businesses to set-up childcare services for their employees lacks enforcement mechanisms to be effective. Greater public investment in the private provision and regulation changes could result in more affordable private provision for families and encourage the development of private sector provision, including in Organized Industrial Zones. Municipalities could also play a stronger role in providing childcare services.
Supply and Demand for Child Care Services in Turkey: A Mixed Methods Study
The World Bank and Ministry of Family and Social Policy of Turkey
September 2015
Despite increases in the availability of centre-based child care and preschool services in Turkey over the last decade, both the supply of services and utilization remains low. There are regional disparities in availability and the majority of children and households remain unserved in terms of childcare and preschool services. This report has collected and assessed information on the supply and demand for childcare services in Turkey with the objective of identifying key constraints and opportunities to expand the quality and affordable access. The analysis in this report shows that the current utilization of childcare services cannot be construed as a lack of demand for services, but rather as a lack of demand for services at existing cost and price-quality structures. Existing services that respond to the needs of working mothers are mainly private services and tend to be more expensively priced than the willingness and ability to pay of the average household. For most women the difference between earnings and the cost of care is too low to justify joining the labour force and their willingness to pay for care does not cover the current median prices for childcare and kindergarten services.
📖 Download the Report in (English) / (Turkish)
Improving Basic Services Delivery for the Poor in the OIC Member Countries
Ministry of Development of Turkey, COMCEC Coordination Office
September 2015
A lack of access to basic services such as education, healthcare, and basic infrastructure constitutes factors of multidimensional poverty as well. Unfortunately, around the world, basic services often fail to reach the people in material poverty leading to a vicious cycle where the material poor lacks access to services, and those lacking access stay in material poverty. This usually occurs due to the failures in the accountability relationships between the citizens, the State, and the service providers. The report prepared for the COMCEC Poverty Alleviation Working group gives an overview of basic service delivery across five sectors in 57 OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) member countries focusing on current levels of access, service delivery models, financing methods, and commonly observed challenges. These sectors that the report focuses on are education, health care, water, sanitation, and electricity. Problems with service delivery were found, to some degree, across all OIC countries irrespective of their income level. Yet, problems are definitely more pronounced among low-income member countries. The report underlines the fact that member countries should focus on strengthening the accountability relationships between actors in the delivery chain to get better value for money invested and to provide better access to the poor.
Turkey on the Way of Universal Health Coverage Through the Health Transformation Program (2003-13)
The World Bank Group
September 2014
Beginning in 2003, Turkey initiated a series of reforms under the Health Transformation Program (HTP) that over the past decade have led to the achievement of universal health coverage (UHC). The progress of Turkey’s health system has few — if any — parallels in scope and speed. Before the reforms, Turkey’s aggregate health indicators lagged behind those of OECD member states and other middle-income countries. The health financing system was fragmented, with four separate insurance schemes and a “Green Card” program for the poor, each with distinct benefits packages and access rules. Both the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and Ministry of Health (MoH) were providers and financiers of the health system, and four different ministries were directly involved in public health care delivery. Turkey’s reform efforts have impacted virtually all aspects of the country’s health system and have resulted in the rapid expansion of the proportion of the population covered and of the services to which they are entitled. At the same time, financial protection has improved. For example, (i) insurance coverage increased from 64 to 98 percent between 2002 and 2012; (ii) the share of pregnant women having four antenatal care visits increased from 54 to 82 percent between 2003 and 2010, and (iii) citizen satisfaction with health services increased from 39.5 to 75.9 percent between 2003 and 2011. Despite dramatic improvements, there is still space for Turkey to continue to improve its citizens’ health outcomes, and challenges lie ahead for improving services beyond primary care. The main criticism of reform has so far come from health sector workers; the future sustainability of reform will rely not only on continued financial support to the health sector but also on the maintenance of service provider satisfaction.
Impact Evaluation of UN-Women Father Training for Violence-Free Families Project
Gender-Based Violence
March 2014
The project evaluated the impact of a 3-year project funded by the UN- Women Trust Fund for Reducing Gender-Based Violence and implemented in Turkey by the Mother-Child Education Foundation (AÇEV). The Father Training for Violence-Free Families Project (FTVFFP) aims to prevent violence against women and girls (VAW/G) by engaging men in a comprehensive and community-based violence prevention program. Throughout the three-year project, fathers and their wives were trained in a program that aims to foster democratic, anti-violent, and gender-sensitive attitudes and behaviours within the family. The impact evaluation study used a mixed-methods methodology using both quantitative surveys and qualitative focus groups and key informant interviews.
The evaluation aimed (i) to measure improvements and changes in outcomes as a result of the trainings, in terms of the fathers’ attitudes towards their children and wives, and the mothers’ awareness of violence and the existing legal structure in Turkey for protecting against VAW/G, (ii) to describe the external and contextual factors that may have also been at play and influenced the factors measured during the evaluation, (iii) to identify the strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and trends in the project activities that have implications for strengthening its future administrative, programmatic and strategic directions.
Good Jobs in Turkey
The World Bank Group
November 2013
This joint study, by the World Bank and the Turkish Ministry of Development, explores the status and effects of good jobs in Turkey's current economy. After a brief account of economic events, it examines the relationship between growth and employment in Turkey, with particular regard to the participation of different social groups in the labour market, such as women and youth. It then analyzes where jobs are being created and which activities are the most productive for the Turkish economy, and assesses if jobs have moved to more productive activities in recent years. Finally, the report proceeds to measure the impact of different types of jobs on the welfare of an entire household and on the households relative position in the overall income distribution.
