Within the scope of sharing experiences with civil society in Western Balkans, TACSO supported a study visit to Croatia with the aim of examining the mechanisms for participation of disadvantaged groups in the constitution building process. There will be a follow-up meeting in Turkey to share the Croatian experiences in civil participation. Representatives of ÖZEV (Turkey Disabled Education and Solidarity Foundation), Öz-Ge Der (Association for Solidarity with Freedom-Deprived Juvenile) and Kapadokya Kadın ve Gençlik Derneği (Cappadocia Women and Youth Association) as well as an child rights activist and legal assistant to an MP who is a member of the Constitutional Commission in Turkey attended the study visit.

The study visit was designed as a part of the project “The Disadvantaged as an actor in the Constitutional Process” which is planned to be executed with the collaboration of ÖZEV, Öz-Ge Der and Cappadocia Women and Youth Association with the objective of ensuring the active participation of women, children and people with disabilities to the constitutional process and related laws / regulations / statutes on a common platform.

The visit took place on 25-27 April 2012 in Zagreb and meetings were held with some important CSOs working on relevant areas: member organizations of the Human Rights House and the Office of Ombudsmans for Children, People with Disabilities and Gender Equality. In order to disseminate the outcomes of the study visit, a follow-up meeting with a broad participation is planned in Ankara in September.

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