Evaluation of
HRD OP
Priority 1
(Employment)
Ankara,
October 2013
Content of this report
Content of this report ......................................................................................................... 2
List of Annexes attached to this report ............................................................................... 4
List of Abbreviations........................................................................................................... 6
A.
Introductory Chapter ................................................................................................ 9
1.
Executive Summary .................................................................................................. 9
2.
Team, Method, Progress .........................................................................................45
3.
B.
2.1
Background of evaluation ................................................................................45
2.2
Evaluation Team ...............................................................................................46
2.3
Methods applied to the evaluation ..................................................................48
Background Analysis ..............................................................................................69
3.1
Socio-economic context of the HRD OP .........................................................69
3.2
Macro-economic Development ........................................................................72
3.3
General Overview of the Development of the Labour Market ........................75
3.4
Unemployment Rates .......................................................................................88
3.5
Unregistered Employment ...............................................................................91
3.6
Labour Market Services ...................................................................................94
Assessment of Key Challenges of HRD OP.................................................................103
1.
2.
3
Strategic Cohesion ................................................................................................104
1.1
National Policies and Strategies ....................................................................104
1.2
EU Policies and Strategies .............................................................................112
1.3
Domestic and Donor Funding ........................................................................120
Horizontal Challenges ...........................................................................................130
2.1
Strengthening Institutional Capacities ..........................................................130
2.2
Reducing Regional and Territorial Disparities..............................................158
2.3
Monitoring, Sustainability ..............................................................................183
2.4
Stakeholder Involvement ...............................................................................192
Employment Challenges .......................................................................................201
3.1
Female Labour Force Participation and Employment Rate .........................203
3.2
Unemployment caused by Agricultural Dissolution.....................................256
3.3
Unemployment of Young People ...................................................................265
3.4
Informal Employment and Registered Employment.....................................308
3.5
Improvement of Public Employment Services and Labour Market
Information Systems .................................................................................................359
3.6
Additional General Observations about Technical Assistance Projects ....371
4.
C.
Programme Management ......................................................................................377
4.1
Application Procedures ..................................................................................377
4.2
Contracting and Advice ..................................................................................382
4.3
Implementation Support .................................................................................384
4.4
Monitoring & Evaluation .................................................................................392
4.5
Mainstreaming ................................................................................................398
4.6
Good Governance ...........................................................................................399
Results and Consequences ..................................................................................402
List of Annexes attached to this report
Annex 1:
Annex 2:
Annex 3:
Annex 4:
Annex 5:
Annex 6:
Annex 7:
Annex 8:
Annex 9:
Annex 10:
Annex 11:
Annex 12:
Annex 12a:
Annex 13:
Annex 14:
Annex 15:
Annex 16:
Annex 16a:
Annex 17:
Annex 18:
Annex 18a:
Annex 19:
Annex 20:
Annex 21:
Annex 22:
Annex 23:
Annex 24:
Annex 25:
Annex 26:
Annex 27:
Annex 28:
Annex 29:
Annex 30:
Annex 31:
Annex 32:
Annex 33:
Annex 34:
Annex 35:
Annex 36:
Annex 37:
Annex 38:
Annex 39:
Annex 40:
Annex 41:
Annex 42:
Annex 43:
Terms of Reference for HRD OP Priority 1 Evaluation
Road Map for 2013 HRD OP Priority 1 Evaluation
Note of Interview with Judit Juhász, TA project
Note of interview with Nurettin Çakıroğlu (I), OS PMU
Note of interview with Gaye Erkan, TA project
Note of interview with Melahat Güray, OS PU
Note of interview with Nurettin Çakıroğlu (II), OS PMU
Note of interview with Hüseyin Ali Âli Tangürek, OS PMU
Note of interview with Gamze Akın, OS PMU
Note of interview with Nesli Urhan, OS PMU
Note of interview with Selin Aytaş, OS PMU
Note of interview with Figen Gültekin et al, CFCU
Note of interview with Özlem Kuşlu, OS IPTA
Interview Guideline for OBs (TA Projects)
Interview Guideline for OBs (GS Projects)
Note of interview with OCU PYE TA
Note of interview with OCU PRE GS
Note of interview with OCU PRE TA
Note of interview with OCU PYE GS
Note of interview with OCU PWE (TA)
Note of interview with OCU PWE (GS)
Note of interview with OCU PES
Note of interview with Michael Gericke (TL PRE)
Note of interview with Geoffrey Fieldhouse (TL PES)
Note of interview with Michael J. Chambers (KE PWE)
Note of interview with Joachim Frede (TL PYE)
Note of interview with Contractors’ Representatives
Note of interview with EU Delegation (I)
Note of interview with TOBB
Note of interview with TESK
Note of interview with KOSGEB
Note of interview with TISK
Note of interview with TBB
Note of interview with HAK-İŞ
Note of interview with EU Delegation (II)
Note of interview with Governorate, Samsun
Note of interview with RDA, Samsun
Note of interview with İŞKUR, Samsun
Note of interview with SGK, Samsun
Note of interview with Governorate, Van
Note of interview with East Anatolian Development Agency, Van
Note of interview with İŞKUR, Van
Note of interview with SGK, Van
Questionnaire for Focus Group meetings with grant beneficiaries
Questionnaire for Focus Group meetings with final beneficiaries
Revised Plan for HRD OP Evaluation Field Trips
Annex 44:
Annex 45:
Annex 46:
Annex 47:
Annex 48:
Annex 49:
Annex 50:
Annex 51:
Annex 52:
Annex 53:
Annex 54:
Annex 55:
Annex 56:
Focus Group Invitation
Notes of Focus Group PWE, Ankara
Notes of Focus Group PRE, Ankara
Notes of Focus Group PYE, Ankara
Notes of Focus Group PWE GB, Samsun
Notes on Focus Group PRE GB, Samsun
Notes of Focus Group PYE GB, Samsun
Notes of Focus Group Final Beneficiaries, Samsun
Notes of Focus Group PWE GB, Van
Notes of Focus Group PYE GB+FB, Van
Notes of Focus Group PRE GB, Van
Notes of Focus Group PWE FB, Van
Questionnaire for Online Survey (PRE, PWE, PYE)
List of Abbreviations
ALMP
BETAM
CIA
ÇASGEM
CFCU
CGMT
CSO
DAKA
DG
DİSK
EC
EES
EIF
EU
EUD
ETF
EUROSTAT
FG
GC
GDP
G-MIS
GS
HAK-İŞ
HEC
HL
HRD OP
IIBK
IKMEK
ILO
IMIS
IPA
IPTA
İŞKUR
IT
JAP
JIM
JVC
KE
KITUP
KOSGEB
LFP
LLL
LMIS
MARA
MBA
MIPD
MoD
MoEU
Active Labour Market Policy
Bahçeşehir University’s Social and Economic Research Centre
Central Intelligence Agency
Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Eğetim ve Araştırma Merkezi (Labour and
Social Security Training and Research Centre)
Central Finance and Contracts Unit
Central Grant Monitoring Team(s)
Civil Society Organisations
East Anatolian Regional Development Agency
Directorate General
Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey
European Commission
European Employment Strategy
European Investment Fund
European Union
Delegation of the European Union
European Training Foundation
Statistical Office of the European Communities
Focus Group
Growth Centre
Gross Domestic Product
Grant Management and Information System
Grant Scheme
Confederation of Trade Unions
Council of Higher Education
Hinterland
Human Resources Development Operational Programme
İş ve İşçi Bulma Kurumu (Job Brokerage and Labour Exchange
Organisation)
Human Resources Development Through Vocational Education And
Training Project
International Labour Organisation
Integrated Management Information System
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance
Information, Publicity and Technical Assistance Unit within OS
Türkiye Iş Kurumu (Turkish Labour Market Institution)
Information Technology
Joint Assessment Plan
Joint Inclusion Memorandum
Job and Vocational Counsellor(s)
Key Expert
Kayıtlı İstihdamın Teşviki için Teknik Destek Projesi (Technical Assistance
for Promoting Registered Employment Project)
Küçük ve Orta Ölçekli İşletmeleri Geliştirme ve Destekleme İdaresi
Başkanlığı (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organisation)
Labour Force Participation
Life-long Learning
Labour Market Information System
Turkish Republic’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Master of Business Administration
Multi-annual Indicative Planning Document
Turkish Republic’s Ministry of Development of the Turkish Republic
Turkish Republic’s Ministry of EU Affairs
MoLSS
MoNE
MoIT
NAO
NGO
NKE
NPAA
NSRD
NUTS II
OB
OCU
OECD
OIZ
OKA
OP
OS
OSC
ÖZIDA
PCM
PEA
PES
PMU
PRAG
PRE
PWE
PU
PYE
PMMEU
QACU
RA
RGMTT
SAR
SCF
SEDI
SEI
SGK
SHCEK
SIDA
SMC
SME
SSI
SV
SVET
SYDGM
SYDV
TA
TAT
TBB
TESK
TISK
TL
TOBB
Turkish Republic’s Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Turkish
Republic
Turkish Republic’s Ministry of National Education
Turkish Republic’s Ministry of Industry and Trade
National Authorising Officer
Non-governmental Organisation(s)
Non Key Expert
National Programme of Turkey for the Adoption of the EU Acquis
National Strategy for Regional Development
Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques (Nomenclature of
Territorial Units for Statistics)
Operation Beneficiary
Operational Coordination Unit
Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development
Organised Industrial Zones
Central Black Sea Regional Development Agency
Operational Programme
Operating Structure
Operation Steering Committee
Özürlüler İdaresi Başkanlığı (Administration for Disabled People)
Project Cycle Management
Private Employment Agencies
Public Employment Service(s)
Project Management Unit within OS
Practical Guide to contract procedures for EU external actions
Promoting Registered Employment through Innovative Measures
Promoting Women Employment
Procurement Unit within OS
Promoting Youth Employment
Programme Management, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit
Quality Assurance and Control Unit within OS
Revenue Administration
Regional Monitoring and Technical Assistance Team(s)
Sectoral Annual Report (Monitoring of the HRD OP)
Strategic Coherence Framework
Socio-Economic Development Index
Support for European Integration
Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu (Social Security Institution, see also: SSI)
General Directorate for Social Services and Child Protection
Swedish International Development Agency
Sectoral Monitoring Committee
Small and Medium Enterprise(s)
Social Security Institution (see also: SGK)
Study Visit
The Strengthening of Vocational Education and Training in Turkey Project
General Directorate of Social Assistance and Solidarity
Social Assistance and Social Solidarity Foundations
Technical Assistance
Technical Assistance Team
Union of Municipalities in Turkey
Turkish Confederation of Tradesmen and Craftsmen
Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations
Team Leader
Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges
ToR
TURKSTAT
/TÜIK
TÜSIAD
TVET
UMEM
UMT
VET
VT
VTC
YES
Terms of Reference
Turkish Statistical Institute
Turkish Industry and Business Association
Technical and Vocational Education and Training
Sectoral Vocational Course(s)
Union of Municipalities of Turkey
Vocational Education and Training
Vocational Training
Vocational Training Course(s)
Youth Entrepreneurship Support
A. Introductory Chapter
1. Executive Summary
A. Background of Evaluation
1. Objectives, scope, methodology
The evaluation of the Employment Priority of the HRD OP is planned as the first one in a
sequence of evaluations that will cover the implementation of the four priorities of the
programme – i.e. employment, education, adaptability and lifelong learning, social inclusion –
in the upcoming years. Its overarching objective was to add value to better delivery of the
measures under the HRD OP.
As an on-going evaluation this report cannot cover the actual impact of the HRD OP. A
fully-fledged impact analysis could only be carried out at a later stage – i.e. with a significant
timely distance from the implementation of grant schemes and contracts. It will therefore
have to be subject of an independent Ex Post Evaluation after the programme will have
expired.
The evaluation has been carried out as an operational evaluation. The evaluation team
reviewed the quality and relevance of the quantified objectives, analysed data on financial
and physical progress and provided recommendations on how to improve the performance of
the OP, e.g. in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. The evaluation also looked after the
functioning of administrative structures and the quality of implementation mechanisms, which
very often have a significant impact on the overall performance of an OP.
The scope of the evaluation hence covered the following elements:

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Starting with the statistical data outlined in the HRD OP launched in 2007, the
evaluation team extrapolated the available data on the socio-economic and labour
market development in Turkey between 2007 and 2012 with a view to analysing if the
basic assumptions behind HRD OP were still valid and relevant. The result was
presented to the programme stakeholders as Background Analysis in April 2013.
Looking after the programme’s environment and its embedment into national and
European Union strategies and policies, the evaluation team updated the analysis
undertaken in the 2007 Ex Ante Evaluation of the HRD OP by extending it to cover
those policy and strategy documents that had been entered into force between 2007
and today.
Following up on this, the evaluation team dealt with the horizontal challenges
presented in the HRD OP and evaluated the performance of the Employment Priority
in relation to overcoming them in the implementation of the four measures under
Priority 1.
The focus of the evaluation was then put on the way HRDOP combats the five
employment challenges displayed in the programme. The evaluation team analysed
the proceedings and the performance of the three grant schemes (PWE, PYE, PRE)
and four Technical Assistance projects (PWE, PYE, PRE, PES) under Priority 1. In
parallel the two supply contracts (PRE and PES) have been a minor subject of the
evaluation.

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With a view to achieving a comprehensive overview on the programme
implementation the evaluation team also looked after the way the HRD OP has been
managed. Programme management decisions and procedures can have a strong
effect on the achievement of programme objectives and the efficiency and
effectiveness of the implementation.
At the end of its activities, the evaluation team has summarised its findings in each
of the sectors described above. On the basis of the findings it formulated the
quintessential consequences of the findings in the form of lessons that have been
learned from the programme implementation. The lessons led to conclusions that
have to be drawn, i.e. the formulation of needs with a view to responding to the
lessons learned. Finally the evaluation team formulated concrete recommendations
to the programme authorities as to how the set-up, the programme implementation
and the programme management might best be revised with a view to improving the
performance of the HRD OP and achieving the envisaged impact.
The evaluation team has – based on the Terms of Reference defining its operations –
developed a methodology which was applied to this evaluation. The methodology consisted
of the following elements:

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
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Desk studies have been carried out in relation to the statistical background of the
HRD OP. The data provided by the programme in 2007 have been extrapolated using
statistical material from various sources, mainly TURKSTAT and EUROSTAT but also
including relevant material from sources such as ILO, OECD or World Bank. The
respective sources have been indicated in the Background Analysis through
footnotes.
Documents have been assessed in order to gain better insight into the labour market
development in Turkey. The team looked at scientific materials as well as reports and
publications made between the launch of the programme and this year. A list of all
the documents assessed by the team has been provided in the methodology chapter.
The evaluation team collected and analysed the available data on the performance
of grant scheme and Technical Assistance projects. Data sources have been the
Grant Monitoring and Information System (G-MIS), the project compendiums which
have been published for each of the grant schemes, project progress reports in
relation to the TA projects, and the financial data made available by the OS in relation
to the projects implemented under Priority 1. CFCU contributed additional data
related to the applications handed in for the three grant schemes. This material
played an important part in the analysis of institutional structures and the regional
distribution of funds.
The team invited all grant beneficiaries to participate in an Online Survey that asked
specific questions related to the preparation, implementation, monitoring and
outcomes of the grant scheme projects. Although it was difficult to address these
issues with a timely distance of one and a half years after the finalisation of the grant
schemes it can be said that the response was very satisfactory. The overall response
rate reached 52.5% which represented – under the given circumstances – a good
result.
In its attempt to gain a comprehensive overview on the implementation of grant
schemes and TA projects, the evaluation team undertook a series of interviews.
Addressees of these interviews were:
o Contract managers within CFCU and the Operating Structure
o
o
o

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Unit Coordinators within the Operating Structure
Operation Coordination Units within the Operation Beneficiary institutions
Technical Assistance Team Leaders responsible for the implementation of TA
projects
o Managing Directors of the contracting companies implementing the TA
contracts
During the operation the team found that several of the stakeholders had particular
influence on the implementation of grant scheme projects. Hence the series of
interviews was extended by holding stakeholder interviews with a focus on the
support provided by them to grant beneficiaries.
With a view to getting in touch with grant beneficiaries directly it was necessary to
organise Focus Group meetings with them. The group meetings were supposed to
give the floor to grant beneficiaries and to learn more about the way they perceived
the HRD OP implementation as well as the management of the programme. Thus,
Focus Group meetings were organised with grant beneficiaries in three different
provinces, i.e. Ankara, Samsun and Van.
Meetings with final beneficiaries were also conducted during the evaluation team’s
field trips to Samsun and Van.
The field trips enabled the team to also undertake interviews with important
provincial stakeholders such as the local branches of İŞKUR and SGK, the
Regional Development Agencies and the Governorate’s EU Coordination Offices.
Regular meetings with the beneficiary made sure that the evaluation always kept
on the right track in relation to achieving its objectives.
2. Background Analysis (Annex A01)
The Background Analysis was supposed to provide an overview on how the demographic
development, the socio-economic progress of the Turkish economy and the development of
the labour market indicators in Turkey might have an effect on the relevance of the HRD OP
and its employment priority. These are the main findings:
In terms of the demographic development the projections on which the HRD OP was built
have mainly become reality. Population growth rate and fertility rate have both slightly gone
down during the economic crisis years 2007-2009 and then increased again so that they
reached almost the level of 2006. As a result the overall population of Turkey is slightly
smaller than predicted in the HRD OP 2007. Particularly the segment of children has grown
slower than predicted while the number of people in pension age (65+) rose faster than
expected. In general it can be said that the demographic development followed the expected
patterns and does not provide new challenges to the Turkish labour market.
The macro-economic development in Turkey reflected the curve induced by the banking
crisis in 2008/2009 – it went down significantly with a negative GDP growth rate in 2009 but
returned immediately to significant growth rates in 2010. It was thanks to activities initiated by
the Turkish government that prevented the economy from overheating in recent years.
Turkey enjoys a steady economic growth throughout all three economic sectors. The
surprising development is that the agricultural sector – which is used to constantly decline in
developed economies – not only remained stable but even slightly increased its share in the
Turkish economy between 2006 and 2012 while the services sector declined in favour of
both agriculture and industry.
Turkey’s labour productivity is still far beyond the average of the OECD total, let alone the
G7 countries. Yet, the productivity increases in sizes unknown to those areas –
notwithstanding showing high amplitudes in both directions.
Overall labour force participation rates – which are traditionally weak in Turkey – have not
shown improvement in general. Yet the female participation rates have grown in recent
years, which is a good signal for the efforts related to promoting women employment. Since
women are still way behind men in terms of labour force participation the focus of
employment policies on this target group still appears to be fully justified.
Strong differences between the regions indicate that the 12 eligible NUTS II regions do not
have mostly similar structures. In terms of labour force participation, TR72 Kayseri, for
instance, has shown the biggest increases between 2006 and 2012 in the whole of Turkey.
The difference between Kayseri’s rate of 50.7% and the one found in TRC2 Şanlıurfa
(28.3%) might indicate that there should be a differentiated approach towards fund
distribution even among the eligible regions if regional disparities are to be overcome.
When it comes to the gender differences the old patterns are still prevalent: How important
the issue of raising female participation rates is might be demonstrated by the fact that still
62.5% of women at working age have no personal income at all as opposed to a minority of
only 5.4% among men.
In relation to employment rates, Turkish men have basically similar rates as the EU
Member States. Women, however, are way behind which strongly indicates again that efforts
for women employment remain necessary.
The evaluation looked also after the structure of the working population in Turkey. Again it
has to be concluded that governmental efforts related to structural changes – also in the
labour legislation and the social insurance area – encouraged more people to work in an
official employment status – which is positive. On the other hand it is obvious that the
status of unpaid family workers which predominantly occurs in the agricultural sector could
not be fenced but – on the contrary – rose significantly. Labour market activities
subsequently have not (enough) been focused on the agricultural sector which still provides
a large part of the Turkish society with work and living.
In terms of educational attainments significant progress could be explored. The share of
persons with tertiary education has grown exponentially by almost 50% in recent years. Yet,
women are still way behind men and deserve further promotion activities.
The Turkish youth has not grown as quickly as expected in 2006. Young people’s
participation in the labour force has slightly increased while unemployment declined. Yet,
unemployment figures among the Turkish youth are still significantly higher in the nonagricultural areas because agriculture still provides a lot of (mainly unpaid) work for those
living in rural areas. It has to be mentioned that the percentage of younger workers (15-29
years of age) in the informal economy still by far exceeds the percentage of adult workers
(30-59 years): namely with 58.8% compared to 43.8%. 39% of the young people in Turkey
are neither in employment nor in education or training. Hence every attempt to promote
youth employment is still very relevant to the Turkish labour market.
Interesting findings have been made in relation to migration patterns in Turkey. The
reported rural-urban migration has lost its drive. Nowadays it is rather an urban-urban
migration that is predominant. It is characterised by people leaving smaller cities (mainly in
Eastern Anatolia) due to shortage of labour demand and emigrating to larger cities (mainly in
the Marmara, Western Black Sea and Istanbul regions). Particularly women often follow men
for familiar reunion reasons and are losers when it comes to employment. Yet, in the
immigration regions it is mainly middle-aged men with higher education who are being forced
out of their jobs by young immigrants. Hence HRD OP measures might also look after
adjusting to this changing scenario.
Turkish unemployment rates have remained fairly low after the economic crisis compared
to the ones in the EU which have been constantly rising since 2007. The fact that only 23.3%
of the registered unemployed persons receive unemployment benefits from the national
employment service İŞKUR indicates, however, that the informal economy still hides a lot of
structural unemployment in Turkey. Youth unemployment still is significantly higher than the
average unemployment which backs the focus of the HRD OP on promoting youth
employment.
It is interesting to see to what extent educational attainments have an effect on
unemployment. Turkish unemployment rates are apparently much less influenced by the
educational attainment than those in the EU; the risk of persons with tertiary education to
become unemployed is as high as the risk of primary education absolvents. This finding
indicates that activities in the scope of Priority 3 (Adaptability) are important for Turkey’s
labour market improvement.
When it comes to unregistered employment the statistics of SGK show a very impressive
decrease from 48.2% in 2005 to 39.0% in 2012. It appears as if the activities of the
government have motivated many employers and employees to register their businesses and
jobs with SGK. On the other hand – as will be displayed later – government statistics appear
to be somehow in doubt, and unregistered employment still remains one of the biggest
challenges of the employment policy in Turkey.
90% of the unregistered employees in Turkey work in micro enterprises with less than 10
employees. 63 % of the staff of micro enterprises works unregistered. The size of the
companies thus is a strong indicator for unregistered employment. Further studies have
revealed that certain branches and certain provinces are particularly prone to unregistered
employment. It would therefore be good if both law enforcement (inspections) and
awareness-raising activities would be concentrated on these target sectors and locations.
In terms of labour market services, the research has shown significant positive
development at the level of public services provided by İŞKUR. Huge increases in staff and
an extension of İŞKUR’s portfolio have had positive effects for instance on the number of
vacancies registered and on the provision of guidance and counselling services to
jobseekers. On the other hand the development of the market share of Private Employment
Agencies has been observed during the previous years. PEAs and İŞKUR, however, do not
seem to compete very much. While private agencies focus on jobseekers with a more
profound educational background as well as on the provision of extra services that İŞKUR
cannot offer, İŞKUR still remains the predominant player in relation to the matching of
jobseekers with low labour market skills. Hence they mostly occupy different market
segments. For the labour market as a whole the existence of public and private labour
market services provides certainly a benefit.
Government initiatives in the previous years have had a substantial positive impact on the
labour market. However, the involvement of stakeholders still appears to be too marginal and
the capacities in relation to planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating employment
policies are still limited. Further efforts towards an improvement in this respect are thus still
welcome and should remain a subject of the HRDOP.
B. Horizontal Challenges
The evaluation followed the patterns of the HRD OP and its section on “Medium Term Needs
– Key Challenges” which distinguishes horizontal challenges from employment challenges.
1. Strategic Cohesion (Annex A02)
The evaluation team based its work on the Ex Ante Evaluation of the HRD OP carried out in
2007. The Ex Ante Evaluation already contained an analysis of the strategic cohesion of
the HRD OP with national and EU policies and strategies. This analysis had to be
updated taking into account new policy and strategy development documents at national
and EU levels.
The first step was to look at the changes the HRD OP had gone through between the Ex
Ante Evaluation and its launch in 2007. It goes without saying that these slight changes were
fully in line with national and EU policies.
The assessment of 2007 had to be extended in order to cover some new policy documents
at national level, namely:

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

Mid Term Programme 2013 – 2015
Pre-Accession Economic Programme 2013 – 2015
İŞKUR Strategic Plan 2013 – 2017
National Programme of Turkey for Adoption of the EU Acquis – NPAA (2008)
Strategic Plan for Fighting Against Unregistered Economy – Action Plan 2011 – 2013
The finding was that the HRD OP is fully in line with the national policy and strategy
documents. These documents and HRD OP complement each other.
In relation to EU policies and strategies the assessment had to include:

Europe 2020 targets and its flagship projects, namely:
o Youth on the Move
o Innovation Union
o Digital Agenda for Europe
o Using natural resources more efficiently
o An industrial policy for the globalisation era
o An agenda for new skills and jobs
o European platform against poverty and social exclusion



European Employment Strategy (EES) with its guidelines 7, 8, 9 and 10:
o G7: Increasing labour market participation of women and men, reducing
structural unemployment and promoting job quality
o G8: Developing a skilled workforce responding to labour market needs and
promoting lifelong learning
o G9: Improving the quality and performance of education and training systems
at all levels and increasing participation in tertiary or equivalent education
o G10: Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty
Multi-annual Indicative Planning Document (MIPD) 2009- 2011
Multi-annual Indicative Planning Document (MIPD) 2011- 2013
It was found that HRD OP was fully in line with the major policy and strategy documents at
EU level. Wherever the Turkish programme had a narrower focus on certain target groups or
issues this was justified by the facts that (a) these target groups and issues constituted a
specific challenge to the Turkish labour market, and (b) in relation to these target groups and
issues the gap between Turkey and the EU was particularly wide.
The evaluation also assessed major initiatives of domestic or donor-related funding which
were related to the topics of the HRD OP employment priority. The finding was that HRD OP
and all the other funding opportunities complemented each other. Hence it can be said that
the HRD OP is fully in line with national and EU employment policies and strategies as well
as related domestic and donor funding opportunities. It fully blends into the framework of
employment policies and strategies pursued in Turkey and the EU as a whole.
2. Strengthening Institutional Capacities
The HRD OP is supposed to strengthen the capacities of the programme authorities, in
particular MoLSS with the Operating Structure (OS) and the two Operation Beneficiaries,
İŞKUR and SGK. Of course, it was also intended to develop capacities on the side of the
grant beneficiaries participating in the employment-related grant schemes.
The evaluation team first checked the development of employment-related policies in the
context of Chapters 19 (Social Policy and Employment) and 22 (Regional Policy and
Coordination of Structural Instruments) of the EU Acquis Communautaire. The findings
taken from the EU Progress Reports on Turkey’s accession to the EU were partly positive
and partly negative:
Chapter Issue
Labour Market Policy
JAP (Joint Assessment Paper)
ESF Preparation
19
Social Inclusion
JIM (Joint Inclusion Memorandum)
Social Protection
Anti-Discrimination
Equal Opportunities
Level of Progress
Steady
None
Steady
Little
None
Little
None
Some
In relation to Chapter 19 the findings were mixed. As far as the development of the country’s
labour market policy and its preparation of the European Social Fund were concerned,
steady progress could be reported. Employment policy development took a significantly
stronger pace than social policy development. The same development can be observed in
the HRD OP implementation: While employment measures have been implemented with a
broad set of activities and strong utilisation of funds, this cannot be said about social
inclusion measures. Yet, social inclusion is not in the focus of this evaluation and will
therefore not be assessed in depth. Such assessment will be subject to additional
evaluations.
The negotiations around the EU-related documents JIM and JAP appear to have been led
very reluctantly. In relation to JUIM this is in line with the slow development of policies. In
relation to JAP the evaluation could not depict what the problem actually was.
Chapter Issue
Legislative Framework
Institutional Framework
22
Administrative Capacity
Programming
Monitoring & Evaluation
Financial Management and Control
Level of Progress
Steady
Steady
Steady
Some
Some
Some
Positive results could be observed in relation to the coordination of structural instruments.
There is steady progress on these issues in Turkey.
In relation to the Operating Structure there is a stable development process to be
acknowledged. During the implementation of HRD OP the OS has constantly followed its
tasks and developed capacities – the climax being the transfer of the tasks of the Contracting
Authority from CFCU to MoLSS in 2012. The staff development also indicates constant
progress but constitutes a challenge as well: The steady influx of newly hired experts
requires continuous training efforts which in turn are a burden for the already high workload
of the staff. Technical Assistance is constantly used in order to support the internal capacity
building of the OS and will be needed at least on a mid-term perspective.
İŞKUR as the country’s public employment service has also faced a radical transformation
during the HRD OP implementation. Numbers of staff went up significantly – in relation to
2007 when HRD OP was launched, staff figures have gone up by more than 150%. The
challenge is to ensure that the speed of capacity building initiatives keeps pace with the
integration of new staff. Along with the staff development, İŞKUR has established a set of
new services which have helped to secure and further develop their market shares. Yet,
there are some conditions that hamper the steady positive development: The newly
established Job and Vocational Guidance counsellors are employed on the basis of shortterm contracts. Many of them are used for other tasks than the ones they were hired for.
Many do not own an office but have to travel almost full time to visit employers. A constant
turnover of staff within İŞKUR also contributes to negative developments: In 2012 alone all
provincial directors have been replaced while at the same time the heads of departments in
the İŞKUR headquarters rotated. Such huge reshuffling of executive staff is not likely to
secure the working capacities of the institution as a whole. Institutional memory is lost which
the team found hard evidence for when interviewing OCUs as well as provincial directorates:
While experienced OCU staff was constantly replaced which hampered the coordination
between the beneficiaries and their Technical Assistance teams newly established provincial
directors could not provide input on grant scheme experience because they did not know
what had happened two years ago. This development needs to be followed up with concerns
and personnel turnover should be at least decelerated.
A different situation was found in relation to SGK. Being a relatively young institution, SGK
revealed a more positive attitude in relation to staff turnover. Of course, replacements could
be observed as well but not at a pace comparable to the one affecting İŞKUR’s capacity
development. As far as the relationship between the Operation Beneficiary and the Technical
Assistance Teams is concerned the evaluation discovered a much more fruitful cooperation
as well as a stronger involvement of the general management into the project development.
It appears as if SGK had a more strategic approach towards utilising TA as İŞKUR although
İŞKUR as an institution possesses much more experience with TA.
Interesting findings were made in relation to the institutional capacity development of grant
beneficiaries. The online survey asked explicit questions related to the extent to which grant
beneficiaries had gained experience, extended their portfolios, enlarged their networks and
improved communication with stakeholders. One would have expected that there would be
unanimous responses to these questions – yet this did not happen. The figures – supported
by interviews in Focus Group meetings – clearly revealed that a significant number of grant
beneficiaries was not really involved into the planning and the implementation of their
projects. Instead, external consultants were hired for the application writing process and
external staff was employed during the funding period with a view to implementing project
activities. Round about 10% of all project beneficiaries thus could not really gain experience
in implementing grant projects.
Only roughly 60% of the grant beneficiaries have reported that their portfolio was enriched
through the grant project activities. This value indicates that around 40% of the beneficiaries
did not continue to implement project activities after the funding ended. This is a negative
hint in terms of institutional sustainability and should be further observed.
Roughly 75% of grant beneficiaries claim to have extended their networks. In turn this means
that in 25% of the cases the partnership approach – which was obligatory in the grant
schemes – did not function in an appropriate way, namely in relation to developing new
partnerships. The amount of grant beneficiaries establishing better communication with
labour market stakeholders was even below 70% and underpins the previous finding. The
expectations towards working in partnerships have yet been fulfilled. The majority of grant
beneficiaries tended to work in small partnership scenarios with not more than two partners
(65% in PWE and PYE, 56% in PRE). The vast majority reported that the expectations
towards the partners had been fulfilled (more than 95%).
Altogether it can be said that institutional development has been a key feature in the grant
schemes – but did not fully unfold its potential. Future grant schemes should therefore put
more emphasis on ensuring that grant beneficiaries actually “own” their projects and prepare
sustainability plans accordingly. Cooperation with new partners representing the other side of
the labour market (supply with demand side and vice versa) should be emphasised more
strongly.
3. Reducing regional disparities
The evaluation team found that the growth centre approach towards distributing the HRD
OP funds has worked in relation to the grant schemes implemented under the employment
priority of the programme. Roughly 60% of the funds were allocated to growth centres and
40% to the hinterlands. That was in line with the respective determinations in the SCF and
the HRD OP.
At the level of the individual grant schemes the distribution was slightly different. In PYE the
share of funds invested in growth centres was higher than the average which can be
explained by the fact that the development of start-up businesses by young people is more
likely to happen in more urbanised environments than in rural hinterlands.
In PRE growth centres were also dominant. Tackling unregistered employment apparently
was an issue for urbanised environments rather than hinterlands. Since the majority of these
projects focused on vocational training it was also necessary to find locations in which a
sufficient amount of trainees could be found.
In PWE, on the contrary, activities promoting women employment were rather focused on the
hinterlands because the female employment rates are particularly low in these areas.
Funding thus followed the actual needs.
Since the Guidelines for Grant Applicants of all three schemes did not foresee a somehow
even distribution of awards between the eligible 12 NUTS II provinces, it was a challenge for
the evaluation team to assess the distribution justice. It was found that there were
significant differences between regions. While some regions were particularly successful
in terms of the amount of awards and the amount of funds directed into their area, other
regions won only very few projects and had a comparably low fund absorption. This could
have to do with three potential reasons:



Either the uneven distribution had to do with the number of applications, or
there needed to be other factors influencing success such as the provision of
support in the application phase, or
Fund distribution followed the neediness of the regions.
The latter turned out to be not true. Some of the neediest regions according to the SEDI
Index performed particularly badly, while some of the least needy regions consumed huge
parts of the funds. As a result it had to be concluded that the neediness of regions had not
played a role in the fund distribution.
An assessment of the application data provided to the team by CFCU revealed that
success rates regarding grant scheme applications varied between 21.5% in Samsun and
3.6% in Kars. Severe differences in the success rates did not have to do with the fact that
only few applications were handed in. Van, for instance, produced almost twice as many
applications as the second best contender. The success rate was relatively low with 6.4% but
the total amount of projects won was 26 which was the seventh best result among the
eligible regions.
Yet, in relation to external support there was a clear finding: Those regions which had
performed particularly well in terms of winning projects had experienced supportive attitudes
from the side of provincial actors. As the team experienced in Van and Samsun, the EU
Coordination Offices assigned to the provincial governorates play an important role.
Whenever these offices as well as Regional Development Agencies provide support offers to
potential applicants in relation to assisting the preparation of good applications, success
rates increase. Whenever such support does not exist and applicants are left alone or
depend on external consultancy, success rates are low.
It thus appears as if the regional distribution of funds strongly depends on the existence of
provincial support in the application phase. Centralised support – by ways of Technical
Assistance – did not exist in the first round of grant schemes apart from Info Days organised
by OS and CFCU. As a result it has to be concluded that grant schemes in which the
regional distribution of funds is not steered by the programme authorities tend to distribute
funds not according to actual needs but favour those provinces with an advantageous
institutional setup while those provinces which cannot offer such structures will be
disadvantaged. The consequence is that HRD OP funding in some respect even has
increased regional disparities by allocating funds without focusing on absorption
capacities. If programme authorities intend to change that they will have to undertake
synchronised efforts with a view to raising absorption capacities in the weakest provinces
such as Kars. It will not be enough to allow only a certain number of awards in each province
since such a procedure (which is planned for the second round of grant schemes) only
tackles the symptoms but does not provide a cure.
As far as the transfer of results and good practice between the eligible regions and the
rest of the country is concerned, the findings are biased. The HRD OP does not include the
relevant tools which are needed in order to organise a substantial transfer of experience from
the eligible regions to the whole country. Despite having prepared grant scheme
compendiums and organised project fairs, the OS and OB have no tools at hand which can
be used accordingly. It is high time to establish a mainstreaming strategy that can organise
this process. The situation is much more positive when it comes to assessing the TA
projects. Both Operation Beneficiaries intend to utilise results and outcomes of the TA
projects nation-wide in their delivery systems and strategies. It has to be seen to what extent
these intentions will actually be fulfilled.
Transfer of experience within the eligible provinces has not been in the focus of the
programme authorities. Neither OS nor OBs have organised opportunities for grant
beneficiaries to meet regularly, exchange experience and learn from each other. Such
opportunities should be provided by OBs in the future grant schemes which might
significantly improve the outcomes of the grant schemes.
A transfer of experience from the more developed Western regions of the country to the
eligible NUTS II regions in the East has not been foreseen in the programme and hence
has not happened apart from a couple of projects initiated by central level institutions in
Ankara and Istanbul. A more strategic approach towards utilising and transferring given
experience from developed to underdeveloped regions should be adopted by the programme
authorities with a view to improving the innovative approach of the grant schemes and the
implementation of projects.
4. Sustainability
The evaluation team looked after the financial, content-related and institutional sustainability
in relation to the three grant schemes under HRD OP employment priority.
Regarding the financial sustainability of the grant scheme projects no negative findings
were made. Audits undertaken during the implementation of the schemes did not unveil any
extraordinary results or mentionable misbehaviour of grant scheme beneficiaries. This is in
line with the self-assessment of the beneficiaries. Only very few of them mentioned
budgetary or financial problems as the biggest challenge their project had to face.
The majority of grant scheme beneficiaries were public or semi-public institutions which have
to follow legal obligations related to the transparency, the management and administration of
their budgets.
Content sustainability is a given once an institution does not restrict its activities to the
limited implementation period of a project but incorporates the experience made and the
activities undertaken into the institution’s portfolio of activities. Funding is supposed to have
an initiating character which should fuel the institution’s own structure to adopt project
contents to its corporate strategies and plans. The evaluation team used the online survey to
ask grant beneficiaries if they continued (some of) their activities after the funding had ended.
59.2% of the responding beneficiaries affirmed that. In turn one can say that roughly half of
the institutions involved into grant schemes as awarded beneficiaries have not ensued that
project contents were internalised after the funding ended. This result speaks volumes about
the lack of a strategic approach in a huge number of beneficiary institutions. It might have to
do with the fact that the three grant schemes did not raise high expectations regarding their
innovative content (as will be discussed in the employment section).
The interpretation of the figures can be biased. It can be seen as a positive development that
half of the grant beneficiaries apparently benefitted from participating in the schemes under
HRD OP and made use of the experience in a way that can be described as organisational
development. Nevertheless, it is also disappointing to see that the other half of the grant
beneficiaries showed so little ambition in relation to utilising their participation in EU-funded
activities with a view to developing their institutional portfolio. Future grant schemes should
therefore put a stronger emphasis on organisational development issues.
When it comes to institutional sustainability the result of the evaluation is unsatisfactory.
One would have expected that 100% of the responding grant beneficiaries would have
affirmed that they gained experience with implementing EU projects – yet only 86% said so.
One would also have expected that 100% would indicate that their staff had gained
experience – but only 81.5% confirmed that assumption. Although all grant projects were
required to work in partnerships only 71.3% of the grant beneficiaries claim that their
networks have been extended. Apparently a large share of the beneficiaries has selected
partners who were well-known and did not provide additional input. Only 61.8% of the grant
beneficiaries said that they had been able to improve communication with labour market
stakeholders.
All these findings are disappointing in relation to the expectations. All projects had to make
an investment in terms of bringing up their own 10% contribution to the project budget
otherwise collected from national and EU funds. One would have expected that they would
create a sense of ownership and commitment to the project which should have improved the
results presented above.
As mentioned before, many beneficiaries have apparently taken the easy way to hire
consultants for the development of the project, hire external staff for the implementation and
laid them of once the project was over. Such behaviour cannot be forbidden but authorities
should try to minimise it by emphasizing the approaches towards sustainability through
different scores in the evaluation of applications.
On the other hand the depicted statements can also be regarded positively:




Almost 9 out of 10 grant beneficiaries are now better skilled in relation to applying for
IPA funds because they have already successfully done it and gained experience.
8 out of 10 have more experienced staff now and will thus be able to perform more
professionally.
7 out of 10 have extended their network, which indicates that they have actually
worked with partners they didn’t cooperate with before the grant project.
6 out of 10 enjoy better communication with other stakeholders of the labour market
now which bears the chance of improving cooperation on local labour markets in the
eligible regions.
Realistically valued one will have to say that in terms of sustainability the effect of having
participated in grant schemes could have been better but still affects the vast majority of
grant beneficiaries. There might be ways to improve the situation in the envisaged future
grant schemes but sustainability certainly does not constitute the biggest challenge for the
programme authorities.
5. Stakeholder Involvement
The participatory approach of the HRD OP had already been reflected in the Ex Ante
Evaluation in 2007. The composition of the SMC vice versa reflected the structure of
institutions involved into the preparation of the programme.
SMC meetings are, of course, the main medium for participation in the programme
administration. They are conducted twice a year and usually included information regarding
the implementation of grant schemes as long as they were implemented. Projects were
introduced and even visited by the SMC members.
The diversity of stakeholders is also reflected in the structure of applicants and grant
beneficiaries. Roughly one third of the winning applicants represent the public sector while
two thirds are from the private sector. Yet many of those institutions are affiliates of centrally
acting institutions such as chambers, associations, or trade unions.
It is interesting to assess the success rates of these institutions. Trade unions – representing
a very small number of applications – had a success rate of 28% which is the best among all
institutional types. The next best among the successful applicant groups were Special
Provincial Administrations (26%), RDAs (25%), foundations (24%), unions (22%) and
chambers (18%). Obviously the success rates of institutions which are represented in
the SMC are particularly high which might indicate that the grade of information that these
institutions enjoy is higher than the one of institutions not represented in the committee. In
the case of the trade unions it has been observed that practically all applications were
handed in by the same institution (HAK-İŞ) which is not only represented in the SMC but also
has a project development and coordination unit in its headquarters which prepares
applications and supports local branches in the implementation – a strategic approach that
apparently works very well.
Associations, on the contrary, have prepared 625 applications under the three grant
schemes – almost double the figure of the next institutional types in that ranking
(municipalities and chambers). But their success rate of only 7% indicates that their
capacities and/or the level of information did not reach a sufficient level. It appears as if being
closer to the HRD OP authorities – for instance by being a member of the SMC – provided
institutions with a better background and a higher level of information so that applying
successfully for the funds was easier for them.
Looking at the same sustainability-related questions of the online survey displayed above in
relation certain types of institutions provides us with some indications as to how strategic
some types of institutions have made use of the grant schemes:

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Associations (93%) and vocational high schools (92%) benefited from networking
more than other institutions. On the other hand, only 25% of trade unions stated that
they improved their network. The result reflects to what extent these institutions had
been used to networking before joining the grant schemes.
Universities have been particularly successful in improving their communication and
relations with stakeholders in the field of labour market. This underpins their desire to
initiate employment-related partnerships with a view to opening markets for their
absolvents. On the other hand, foundations are the weakest institutitons in improving
communication and relations with stakeholders. Have they been in relevant networks
already?
In general the figures are – at least partly – disappointing. The required “partnership
approach” should have led grant beneficiaries to an extension of their networks and
to better communication with stakeholders. Particularly municipalities and trade
unions seem not to have extended their networks much. Yet, this might have to do
with the fact that they feel strong enough to work on their own and that both have roof
organisations which provide their members and affiliates with constructive support.
Yet, the chambers – which also received lots of support from their roof organisation –
mostly claim an extension of networks. Apparently they have recognised the chance
of using grant schemes in order to extend their influence on the labour market –
which seems to mark a more strategic approach on their side.
When the evaluation team looked at cooperation between grant beneficiaries and Obs the
findings were biased again. It appears as if those beneficiaries who actively demanded for
support from İŞKUR and SGK received it and were quite satisfied with it. Yet, in general
there was not much to be found in terms of cooperation. Neither has there been a regular
exchange of experience between the OBs and the grant beneficiaries nor have local
directorates spent much time to contact, support, monitor or capitalise on them. That appears
to be a missed opportunity and reflects the fact that none of the OBs could actually formulate
expectations towards a grant scheme in terms of outcomes and their utilisation for the
institution’s policy and strategy. Here lies a huge potential for improvement in future grant
schemes.
C. Employment Challenges
The employment challenges were also outlined in the HRD OP section on Medium Term
Needs – Key Challenges. For most of them, the HRD OP authors have created measures
and activities to tackle them.
1. Female Labour Force Participation
In relation to the promotion of women employment the authorities have contracted

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23.888.026.94€ on grant scheme projects and
2.989.550€ on the TA project
Women employment thus had a share of 35.8% of all funds contracted. The PWE grant
scheme was second biggest behind the PYE and represented 41.7% of all grants under
Priority 1 while the TA contract also was the second biggest and represented 17% of the TA
funds under Priority 1.
The original budget for PWE grants had been 13.7 million €. The actual amount of
contracted funds shows that the interest in this scheme was huge and encouraged the OS to
almost double the original volume.
19 activities had been listed as potential activities in the grant guidelines. Yet, the actual
selection among these activities revealed certain patterns:


77% of all PWE projects implemented training and/or re-training activities on
vocational professions.
56% also included motivational and counselling activities for women.
In total the 131 PWE projects implemented 615 activities out of which 56% represent training
and motivation activities. Only 19% of activities were related to the promotion of
entrepreneurship. However, when it comes to raising awareness and sensitivity for women
employment (9%), providing support services enabling women to take up employment (5%),
undertaking field studies and research regarding female employment (9%) or promoting
social dialogue and partnership (2%), only a minority of grant beneficiaries was active.
Thus, the activity assessment concludes on the fact that apparently grant beneficiaries
favoured well-known and somehow “worn out” pathways into employment for women. Those
activity types that required more skills, enhanced cooperation, innovative ideas or extended
services were yet much less favoured. The fact that the grant guidelines did not indicate any
priorities between the possible activities allowed this to happen. But the choice of activities
by the grant beneficiaries indicates a missed opportunity. The most challenging issues –
the lack of concise studies on women employment, the factors hindering them to take up
employment at all or the establishment of services promoting women employment – were
hardly selected at all.
It would have been good if the authorities had given applicants more direction in relation to
the real needs of the labour market. Yet again, it has to be stated that authorities missed to
formulate expectations towards the grant scheme as such. Neither OS nor İŞKUR told
applicants anything about if and how grant projects were supposed to fit into national policies
and strategies. As a result the activities actually implemented by the projects did not offer
much in terms of experience, best practice or new tools or methods with a potential for
transfer.
In terms of the institutional analysis, 40% of all applications in PWE came from only four
types of institutions: associations, municipalities, chambers and public education centres.
Chambers and municipalities – both institutions with powerful roof organisations providing
support for applicants – were yet much more successful in winning projects than the other
two types who apparently did not have support.
The finding indicates again that it might be useful if OS and Obs would dedicate efforts at
improving the capacities of those institutions which prepare many applications but win only
few projects. Tailor-made approaches in relation to enhancing absorption capacities would
be welcome here.
The assessment of the partnership approach looked after the reasons why partners were
selected. Most of the grant beneficiaries expected partners to actively contribute to the main
activities of their project (83%). When asked for the actual role of partners in the project it
turned out that partners had been most effective in providing access to target groups (64%).
The results of the online survey suggest that partnerships have indeed been very helpful for
the grant beneficiaries and that they overwhelmingly felt satisfied with partners’ contributions
(94%). It can be said that expectations towards partners were relatively low and thus could
be easily fulfilled. In conjunction with the answers related to network and communication
improvement the overall judgement is that the partnership approach has done the projcts
good.
Condition of the partner search was that projects should preferably establish partnerships
with partners representing both the supply and the demand side of the labour market.
That was the recommendation of the guidelines. The evaluation assessed to what extent that
obligation was actually fulfilled.
The finding was that in general grant beneficiaries representing the demand side did not
follow the pattern entirely. Associations for instance tended to team up with other
associations. Municipalities predominantly selected partners also representing the demand
side. Supply side institutions however must have recognised the potential of partnerships
and followed the recommendation of the guidelines. That has to be regarded as a positive
signal.
The evaluation regards the partnership approach as a positive element in the grant
scheme implementation. It has certainly contributed to promoting more cooperation on the
labour market which is traditionally relatively weak in Turkey. The partnership approach
should be subject to closer monitoring in the future in order to gain a more comprehensive
overview on how it works and can best be used.
The evaluation also looked at the regional distribution of PWE projects. Samsun,
Kahramanmaraş and Trabzon had the highest success rates in PWE while Kars, Van and
Şanlıurfa had the lowest rates. There appears to be a connection between low labour force
participation rates of women and low success rates in PWE. Those provinces that enjoyed
higher LFP rates also sported higher success rates. The finding indicates that additional
support should be provided to those provinces with the biggest problems in terms of women
employment – otherwise the existing disparities will even be strengthened.
In terms of sectorial concentration the evaluation did not make significant findings. None of
the grant schemes had made any specifications in that respect – that is reflected in the borad
variety of sectors playing a role in the grant scheme implementation. It can be said that the
focus of training was on professions which are traditionally occupations for women. Insofar it
might be thought about if directions to sectors less occupied by women might increase the
impact of grant scheme projects – although they would certainly be more difficult to access.
When it comes to the outcomes of the PWE scheme answers are difficult to provide.
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There is no doubt that projects were relevant in relation to achieving HRD OP
objectives as well as the objectives outlined in the grant scheme guidelines.
Statements regarding efficiency and effectiveness of the projects and their grade of
achievement can hardly be made because there is a serious lackof reliable data.
Neither G-MIS nor project compendium or progress reports contain comprehensive
data which would allow for a check against the indicators. According to the
statements made by the grant beneficiaries themselves it can be argued that
apparently most of the projects have achieved what they intended to achieve. It is
claimed that targets related to numbers of trainees and numbers of women employed
have been extended. Only the number of women setting up their own businesses
could not be achieved. Yet, it is difficult to judge to what extent these statements are
true or not. Future grant schemes have to make sure that the base of comparable
hard data will be ensured and beneficiaries will be obliged to present such data
regularly and follow up on them after the project’s end. Otherwise it will not be
possible to assess actual employment effects of grant schemes at a mid-term
perspective.
PWE project have certainly been very successful in empowering women in areas
where women employment is the exception rather than the rule. As the team learned
in Focus Group meetings, many women have for the first time left their homes to
participate in training, left their home province to participate in field excursions, or
have acquired labour market related skills that sometimes indirectly led into
employment. This effect may not be underestimated. Raised self-esteem and
improved motivation to actively look for employment are side effects which are very
welcome and may contribute to the dissolution of traditional family patterns in relation
to the treatment of women and their opportunities to participate in the labour force.
Further findings can be found in the respective annex.
The Technical Assistance project on Promoting Women Employment was much closer
related to the needs and requirements of İŞKUR. Other than in grant schemes, TA projects
have a set of detailed activities and results to be achieved which is based on the needs of
the beneficiary institution. The problem is that these needs have been formulated at a time
long before the actual project is being implemented. Hence the needs of the beneficiary will
have (at least partly) changed when the project starts.
This scenario has been observed in basically all four TA projects and led to the need to partly
revise the setup of the project results. As a consequence, all of them had to face delays and
the necessity to extend the implementation duration. Contract addendums were the
administrative consequence.
In the case of PWE, the project was very much focused on İŞKUR as the beneficiary
although some stakeholders in the provinces were to be involved. In regional terms PWE
could not provide services in all eligible provinces. Instead services were concentrated on
selected provinces with a representative character.
The results of the project have mainly been achieved:
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The requested labour market analyses have been produced for five provinces and a
comprehensive report has been produced and distributed.
A Client Referral System model has been developed and introduced to the client. Yet,
it apparently does not fully respond to the beneficiary’s needs outlined in the ToR.
Women’s Job Clubs have been piloted in five provinces and are perceived as a good
vehicle to provide vocational guidance and counselling services to women. The Job
Clubs are supposed to be used as a model for similar activities in other provinces.
Sensitivity on gender mainstreaming of employment policies has been increased
through organising and implementing four study visits as well as 15 gender
mainstreaming conferences.
Grant scheme results have been disseminated via preparing a compendium and
running a national conference. Networking meetings with stakeholders have been
organised. The target was not met but that was due to the closure of some projects
as well as the Van earthquake.
The beneficiary has in general been very satisfied with the results. In particular, the gender
mainstreaming conferences contributed strongly to capacity development within the
institution. Indicators in terms of trainees were all met or exceeded. Only the model requires
revision and adjustment by developing software and ensuring employer commitment and
participation. Hence it can be said that the project has been both relevant and effective.
Efficiency is difficult to assess in terms of figures. The beneficiary reported on minor
difficulties related to the delay of the start of the project, the necessity to extend its duration,
and the sometimes lacking qualification of NKEs. Yet, in close cooperation between OCU,
TAT and contractor these difficulties could be overcome.
The TA project appears to unfold sustainability. The elements indicating it can be described
as follows:




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Local labour market surveys and studies that had been piloted in 5 provinces are
supposed to be rolled out across Turkey.
The Client Referral System – once refined and improved – will be used country-wide.
The beneficiary intends to export the Job Clubs to other provinces.
Concerns have to be raised in relation to the trained Job and Vocational Counsellors.
Their employment contracts are limited and they are not always used according to the
job descriptions. Training would be obsolete if these staff members would be laid off
or quit their jobs due to uncomfortable employment conditions.
The sustainability of gender mainstreaming activities requires further embedment of
training on gender mainstreaming into the beneficiary’s training activities.
All in all it appears as if the PWE project has equipped İŞKUR with new skills and expertise
that might have a positive impact on the way the institution will promote women employment
in the future. It is yet crucial that the institution ensures that the constant turnover of staff
both in the headquarters and the provincial directorates does not make all capacity building
measures obsolete. İŞKUR needs to make sure that the transfer of experience and skills is
organised in a way that the institutional memory of the various departments, units and
directorates will be maintained. Previous experience indicates that this constitutes a severe
challenge to the organisation.
2. Unemployment caused by Agricultural Dissolution
The evaluation team noticed that this challenge – although explicitly named in the HRD OP
chapter on Medium Term Needs and Key Challenges – is the only one to which the
programme does not respond with a separate measure. This treatment already indicates
that the programme authors did not see the necessity to put equal emphasis on this issue as
on the other – apparently more important – employment challenges.
The evaluation found that the topic of agricultural dissolution actually has lost its urgency
over the previous years. Other than predicted, the agricultural sector has not lost
importance. On the contrary, it even slightly increased its share in the Turkish GDP between
2006 and 2011 by 0.2 percentage points. It was also found that migration patterns in Turkey
have changed – as already outlined in the Background Analysis. Rural-urban migration has
given way to urban-urban migration which obviously has an influence on the situation in rural
areas. While agriculture still constitutes the main part of female employment in Turkey, the
government has to take into account that huge parts of that employment belong to the
informal sector. Hence it is rather a challenge to convince people working in agricultural
settings to register with SGK and thus formalise their employment relations.
The evaluation looked after the way unemployment in the agricultural sector was tackled by
the programme. In terms of the grant schemes under the employment priority of HRD OP the
findings were as follows:



The PYE scheme did not mention the word “agriculture” at all. None of the suggested
activities referred to problems in the agricultural sector.
PWE indicated “women formerly employed in agriculture” as a target group. Yet, the
eligible activities did not refer to this area. Hence the projects could target this group
but did not necessarily have to.
In PRE, there was no reference to agriculture. Nevertheless the awareness-raising
activities in that scheme covered predominantly agricultural areas and the evaluation
came across projects which, for instance, aimed at convincing farmers to register
their business and their staff to SGK.
In general it can thus be said that the grant schemes did not take care of the target group
which is subject to this challenge.
As far as the four TA projects are concerned, the assessment came to similar results.


PES and PYE mentioned agriculture and/or agricultural dissolution in the background
description of the projects.
PWE – following the example of the grant scheme – mentioned the target group of
women formerly employed in agriculture. In addition, one of the study visits was
designed with a view to finding good practice in Europe about how to deal with
women who formerly worked in the agricultural sector.
TA projects hence also did not really cover the subject.
The online survey revealed that only one out of 65 responding PWE projects explicitly
targeted “unemployed women leaving their villages”.
It can be concluded that the measures under HRD OP’s employment priority might have
included the target group of women formerly employed in agriculture. We can also say that
the PES and PRE projects have explicitly included awareness-raising activities in rural areas.
But there has certainly not been any strategic attempt at providing support to those who are
unemployed because of agricultural dissolution processes.
Exact data as to the actual involvement of the target group do not exist. Since the challenge
as such seems to have lost its importance it can only be recommended to drop this challenge
in the next version of HRD OP with a view to making the programme measures as a whole
more coherent with the background description.
3. Unemployment of Young People
In relation to the promotion of youth entrepreneurship the authorities have contracted


24.133. 080,98 € on grant scheme projects and
1.947.680 € on the TA project
Youth employment promotion thus had a share of 34.7% of all funds contracted. The PYE
grant scheme was the biggest under Priority 1 and represented 42% of all grants under this
priority while the TA contract was the smallest out of four and represented 11% of the TA
funds under Priority 1.
The original budget for PYE grants had been 21 million €. The actual amount of contracted
funds was slightly bigger which shows that the interest in this scheme and the amount of
quality applications was higher than expected which in turn encouraged the OS to add to the
original volume.
The grant scheme focused on promoting employability and entrepreneurship of young
people. It can be said that both grant scheme and TA project were launched on the basis of
the assumption that entrepreneurship, i.e. the foundation of self-employed businesses by
young unemployed, might provide an appropriate solution to the wide-spread phenomenon of
youth unemployment.
The Activity Analysis provided the team with a similar finding than the one in the PWE
grant scheme. 19 activities had been suggested as eligible which could be clustered into four
groups. Yet, the distribution of these activity groups across the scheme reveals that grant
beneficiaries predominantly selected well-known fields of action:




Job and vocational skill provision (delivery of vocational trainings): 55%,
Promotion and guidance for entrepreneurship: 14%,
Guidance services for youth who are in the school-to-work transition period: 22%, and
Innovation in any field regarding employability of young people: 9%.
The figures indicate that the lack of priorities outlined in the guideline for applicants led
applicants to choose the easiest pathway. Training activities with a view to skill
development are certainly necessary in relation to providing young people with an
opportunity to improve their employment chances; yet, it is also what the Operation
Beneficiary has done for a long time. İŞKUR has been very active in conducting vocational
training for young people over many years. The PYE grant scheme intended to orient grant
beneficiaries in a slightly different direction. Yet without prioritising between activities and by
including the “usual attitude” of providing vocational training in courses into the list of eligible
activities, authorities appear to have made a mistake.
Only 14% of the projects have actually focused on promoting entrepreneurship. And the
share of projects trying to develop innovation in the field of promoting youth employability is
even smaller. Since the authorities knew that they would launch a TA project with the aim of
promoting youth entrepreneurship they missed the chance of connecting grant scheme and
TA project with each other which might have promoted mutual fertilization.
Similar to PWE grant scheme, it seems that grant applicants preferred to implement less
challenging projects which required less innovative skills and expertise. They simply
needed to hire qualified trainers and prepare a training curriculum which somehow
responded to the needs of the economy. It is thus difficult to assess what elements
distinguish the (biggest part of the) grant scheme from the work carried out by İŞKUR
anyway.
The evaluation team also found that concentrating on a small number of activities rather
than diversifying the field of activities made applications more likely to win. As the
geographical distribution shows, those regions in which sound support on the preparation of
applications was available again performed more successful than those without support.
The institutional analysis found that 63% of all applications were handed in by
associations, municipalities, chambers and public education centres. Among them, public
education centres had a bad success rate which seems to indicate that they need
professional support in order to become competitive with the other institutions. Foundations
were particularly successful with a winning rate of 23%. Apparently they have been able to
use their professional knowledge of the problems of young people as their target group
specifically well. Chambers and municipalities received professional support from their roof
organisations. Associations might have been more successful than in PWE because of their
specific knowledge of requirements of enterprises in relation to young staff’s employability
based on the experience with apprentices.
As in PWE, PYE promoted the partnership approach and made it an asset to involve at
least two partners with each one of them representing the supply and the demand side of the
labour market. The findings are basically exactly the same as in PWE.
More than 65% of the PYE projects had at least two partners. Particularly those grant
beneficiaries that represented the supply side took the guidelines serious and selected
mainly partners from the demand side of the labour market. In general, it appears as if the
partnership approach was equally beneficial for the grant beneficiaries than in PWE.
The geographical distribution of PYE funds again did not follow patterns of neediness but
was rather depending on pro-activeness of the actors in a province and the existence of
support services. Samsun and Kayseri regions were again the most successful in terms of
the number of projects awarded. Kars and Erzurum performed the weakest. Kars, Gaziantep
and Kastamonu in addition had funding amounts which lay way below the average. Again the
conclusion is that absorption capacities need to be raised in certain disadvantaged regions if
regional disparities are not to be increased. This is a serious matter for the programme
authorities to discuss.
The sectoral distribution of activities did not reveal any peculiarities.
The activities implemented under PYE have certainly been relevant to fulfilling the HRD OP
objectives. Yet, the trend discovered in the Activity Analysis – namely to follow the worn out
pathways of vocational training activities concentrating on low effort and low innovation
patterns – has been underpinned by the assessment of target groups: The majority of PYE
projects focused on young people with considerable educational attainments which
obviously provides fewer difficulties in the promotion of employment. Other more challenging
target groups such as “young people still at school” or “young women with lower educational
attainments” remained exceptional.
All in all the very broad formulation of targets and target groups in the guidelines of PYE
induced the consequence that the achievement of coherent results and marked progress in
relation to youth employment and/or entrepreneurship were difficult to achieve. More
restrictive guidelines, more guidance in relation to activities and target groups as well as
more innovation would probably have had a positive impact on the relevance of the PYE
projects.
In relation to the project outcomes the evaluation team found a significant difference to PWE.
While the projects on women employment mostly were successful in achieving their
objectives, most of the PYE projects fell behind their own expectations. Particularly in relation
to young people’s participation in guaranteed employment courses, internships and
apprenticeship schemes the success figures remained below the targets. A significant
underachievement had to be noted in relation to actual employment or entrepreneurship of
young people after the projects. Hence – although hard data are not available – the efficiency
and effectiveness of the PYE scheme have to be doubted. The finding is underpinned by the
fact that even the self-assessment of the young participants in PYE projects about the quality
of training delivered to them was significantly worse than that of women in PWE projects.
Additional statements made by İŞKUR highlighted their view that grant scheme training was
more expensive than İŞKUR-funded training but had lower standards. If this statement is true
the justification of implementing the PYE scheme in the way it was designed has to be
critically reviewed. Future activities promoting young people’s employment or
entrepreneurship should therefore follow a stronger guidance, have a narrower focus
regarding activities and target groups and ensure at least the maintenance of equal
standards in relation to İŞKUR training.
The PYE Technical Assistance project – in comparison with the grant scheme – had a
stronger focus on the issue of entrepreneurship promotion. The five results envisaged were
supposed to contributing to four general objectives:




Increasing young people’s capacities for entrepreneurship, i.e. setting up a business
of their own
Enhancing a smooth transition from school to work by ways of new forms of
partnership on the labour market
Enhancing policy making capacities by establishing Youth Employment Action Plans
in five provinces
Spreading good practice from the PYE grant scheme
In terms of the affected institutions, PYE had good conditions in the beginning. Yet, in
particular the involvement of KOSGEB as a key player in terms of promoting
entrepreneurship with initial funding has never been realised in an appropriate way. It was
one of the foundations of the project design that young people who had prepared good
business plans for self-employment would then be handed over to KOSGEB with a view to
being supported in the act of setting up their businesses. Unfortunately, there has never
been a mutual understanding and cooperation between İŞKUR and KOSGEB in the course
of the project which would have enabled the project to achieve these objectives. Instead,
KOSGEB did not undertake any attempts of providing specific support to the young
beneficiaries of PYE. The institution did not even show any interest in the performance of
those institutions they have certified for entrepreneurship training delivery when the
evaluation team tried to figure out what went wrong. In that respect PYE has suffered from a
serious design flaw that could not be overcome by the Technical Assistance Team or the
beneficiary.
In terms of its geographical distribution of services, PYE actually affected all eligible
provinces in relation to organising meetings with employers and providing entrepreneurship
training (in 15 growth centres). In relation to sectoral distribution, the project design did not
contain any sector-specific approaches.
As far as the project outcomes are concerned the evaluation team found the following:





Sectoral reports have been prepared but were not approved by the time the
evaluation team looked for them.
Entrepreneurship Guidelines for Young People have been prepared and published on
DVD.
Entrepreneurship Days have been implemented in 15 growth centres but did not meet
the beneficiary’s expectations.
The requested “Youth Entrepreneurship Support” (YES) model has been finalised
and introduced in pilot provinces. It was planned to sign a protocol with stakeholder
institutions regarding its future utilisation at the final conference. If this will be
achieved remains to be seen. According to İŞKUR it is planned to disseminate the
model and use it country-wide. Yet – as said before – the lack of cooperation with
KOSGEB will do damage to the potential impact of the model.
270 young people out of 500 who started have successfully completed
entrepreneurship training. The best of them received additional coaching.




Companies with the potential to provide internships and on-the-job training to young
people have been identified and meetings with them have been organised in the
provinces.
Agreements with companies appear to have been finally concluded by the TAT in
excess of the project’s targets. Yet, the beneficiary had critical comments regarding
these achievements.
The requested Action Plans have been started to be prepared lately. `Task Forces
have been established in the affected provinces but they appear to function at
different speed and liability. The actual functioning of Action Plans will have to be
subject to future evaluation.
Grant compendium has been published and disseminated.
While the achievement of project objectives is seen as ambivalent, the project has faced a lot
of severe challenges during its implementation which have significantly affected the
outcomes. Among these are:




The replacement of two Key Experts which ended in actually two experts leaving and
only one expert coming in. This led to shortcomings in the fulfilment of tasks.
Problems with the backstopping capacities of the contractor which led to a warning
letter issued by the contract management. Significant efforts were undertaken to
solve this situation but the project has in principle never really recovered from these
conditions in the implementation phase.
Discontinuity on the side of the OCU also spurred a lack of communication and
delays in the implementation. Inactivity on the side of the beneficiary does not
contribute to project progress, and İŞKUR should find other ways of dealing with
disagreement then delaying decisions or not signing timesheets.
The evaluation team observed that there is a kind of misperception of Technical
Assistance in general: TA is not supposed to provide services in a way that the
teams perform certain tasks on behalf of the beneficiary – they should instead assist
the beneficiary in carrying out its tasks. If that was understood more widely the sense
of ownership in relation to project results would grow and communication patterns
would change in direction of a mutual understanding. This was obviously not the case
in the PYE project.
The evaluation team’s lesson from PYE is one of a missed opportunity. Although the
objectives of the grant scheme and the TA project cannot be regarded as misconceptions,
the actual implementation of both has not been entirely satisfactory. Future activities
promoting youth employment or entrepreneurship should therefore be much more focussed
and have a stronger emphasis on innovation if they are supposed to make major
achievements.
4. Informal Employment and Registered Employment
In relation to the promotion of registered employment the authorities have contracted


9.167.133,61€ on grant scheme projects
2.399.500€ on the TA project and

424.366€ on the supply contract.
Registered employment promotion thus had a share of 16% of all funds contracted. The PRE
grant scheme was the smallest under Priority 1 and represented 16% of all grants under this
priority while the TA contract was the third biggest out of four and represented 14% of the TA
funds under Priority 1. In relation to supply contracts, the funds concentrated on SGK as
beneficiary represented 73% of the supplies.
The original budget for PRE grants had been 11.85 million €. The actual amount of
contracted funds was significantly smaller which indicates that the interest in this scheme
which did not have a predecessor attracted applicants not in the same way as the other two
schemes.
The Activity Analysis has to take into account that there never had been any grant scheme
in this area before. Thus the grant guidelines had to suggest a range of activities which might
support the objective of the scheme, namely “to promote formal employment by facilitating
the formalisation processes of sectors, firms and employees. Undeclared work before the
social security law will have priority”.
15 different activities were listed as eligible in the guideline. Among them, the following ones
were selected mostly:




Awareness raising activities for local authorities, employers and employees in order
to develop consciousness regarding unregistered work (76%)
Actions for reduction of undeclared work in an innovative approach (71%)
Establishment and/or using a network within the actors of economic and social actors
with a view to develop and nurture the culture of registered employment (59%)
Vocational training activities with a focus on promoting registered employment
(59%)
One of the biggest obstacles of registered employment is the fact that people do not
understand what benefit it might have to them to be socially insured. Thus any activities
related to raising awareness are most important. The level of knowledge about social
insurance is low among employers and employees particularly in Eastern regions of Turkey.
Hence the focus on awareness-raising is certainly justified.
It was good to see that at least in one scheme innovation was seen as an important topic.
On the other hand, in the absence of previous programmes dealing with the unregistered
employment issue, it was probably easier to develop something with an innovative character.
Networking appears to be very important when a cultural habit or predominant attitude is to
be changed. Hence the choice is also very much justified.
Vocational training, on the contrary, appears to be a vehicle to be used with a view to
transporting messages regarding registered employment. The evaluation team believes that
it was selected mainly by those applicants who did not have many ideas and perceived PRE
as just another grant scheme in which vocational training could be undertaken with the help
of EU funds.
Other suggested activities played minor roles in the design of the PRE projects. The lowest
score was made in relation to “Activities which aim to encourage preventive practices among
certain profession such as accountants and lawyers etc.” with only 7%. Yet, some other
activities which were similar to the ones mentioned above also scored significantly so that
the trend can be regarded as supported.
It can therefore be said that the PRE activities were mostly very relevant in order to achieve
the objectives of the call although applicants tended to opt for activities which required less
expertise and experience than others. In an entirely new grant scheme, however, this should
not be regarded too negatively.
The fact that there was no predecessor scheme subsequently did apparently not encourage
new and inexperienced players to apply for funding. It is therefore not a surprise that the
share of grant beneficiaries in PRE who had previous experience with grant scheme projects
was higher than in the other schemes (33.3% in PRE whereas only 23.8% in PWE and
23.4% in PYE). As the institutional analysis reveals, it was again Associations and
Chambers that handed in the biggest amount of applications. The two types of institutions
share the authorship of more than 50% of all applications under PRE. In terms of success,
chambers were more successful winning 14 projects in relation to associations with 8 which
add up again to more than 50% of the awarded contracts.
The partnership approach was implemented in a similar way to the other grant schemes
while PRE did not formulate such strict conditions as PWE and PYE. Nevertheless, 75% of
the projects had two or more partners. Partnership selection did not follow as clear patterns
as in the other schemes which might have to do with the vague formulation of the guidelines.
In terms of the geographical distribution of projects, Samsun, Kastamonu and Kayseri
regions had the best success rates with Batman (no project at all) and Elazığ at the other
end of the ranking. In PRE, regions like Kars and Van performed better than in the other
schemes. But in general it can be stated again that those regions with higher capacities and
better external support again were advantageous related to the others. The good fund
absorption of institutions from Ankara underpins that statement because they won 6 out of 41
projects covering the third biggest amount of funds.
No particular sectoral concentration was observed in PRE projects. Future schemes might
focus more strongly on sectors particularly prone to unregistered employment as identified in
the TA project.
Only 11% of the grant beneficiaries reported that they had been supported by SGK in the
application phase. A stronger connection with the provincial directorates might have
facilitated the identification of target groups among employers and employees.
In relation to results and outcomes the evaluation team needs to stress again the lack of
coherent and hard data. Yet, it appears as if particularly the awareness-raising activities have
been quite successful which in itself can be regarded as very positive. The majority of grant
beneficiaries have not continued their activities after the ending of the funds which points at a
lack of sustainability – however, as this was the first grant scheme in the area, this does not
come as a surprise. SGK’s involvement into the grant scheme implementation has
unfortunately been relatively low which might have to do with the fact that provincial
directorates were strongly involved into the TA project. It is therefore not really possible to
identify to what extent SGK has analysed the results of the grant projects and intends to
utilise them. A separate assessment of results, anyway, has not been undertaken.
Again it appears as if the lack of comprehensive expectations towards a grant scheme that
should have been raised by the Operation Beneficiary is a reason for not being able to
formulate clear lessons and conclusions from the implementation of the grant scheme. This
attitude should be changed for future grant schemes if a coherent transfer of best practice
into policy and practice is to be made possible.
Future schemes related to unregistered employment should formulate clearer objectives, and
the beneficiary should reflect on how best to make project results operational for its own
benefit.
The TA project on PRE had basically four components with each a different focus:




Training Component focused on massive capacity building activities for the benefit of
SGK and its provincial directorates as well as social partners.
Social Security Component focused on supporting SGK with a view to a paradigm
shift in its strategies from pure law enforcement towards incentives promoting
registered employment.
IT Component aimed at developing a database to be shared with other public
institutions (mainly Revenue Administration) in order to improve the implementation of
SGK tasks.
Awareness Component emphasised the necessity to raise awareness on the
benefits of being registered and the damage done to the society through the informal
economy.
In relation to the institutional setup of the project not only SGK was covered. In particular a
broad range of stakeholders including social partner institutions had to be – and were
actually – included into the activities because without them the project’s objectives would
have been difficult to achieve. Working groups spurred concrete cooperation between these
institutions in the direction of preparing strategic development in the area of unregistered
employment.
In terms of its geographical coverage PRE was very active. Training was delivered in all
eligible regions and 24 different locations. Awareness-raising conferences were held in eight
regions of Turkey even beyond the borders of the eligible regions. Field studies were
undertaken in 6 selected regions/provinces.
As far as the sectorial concentration was concerned, PRE focused its field studies on four
sectors which were regarded as particularly prone to unregistered employment, namely:




Manufacture of bread, pastry goods and cakes
Hotels and accommodation
Restaurants and mobile food service activities
Transportation and storage
As far as the achievement of results is concerned, the evaluation team made the following
findings:

In the Training Component, the requested numbers of trainees were clearly
exceeded. The training received excellent feedback. Only the training of trainers in



relation to developing a trainer corps within SGK has to be seen critical since the
newly trained trainers were never (during the project’s lifecycle) used and it remains
unclear as to how SGK intends to utilise the corps for further training within the
institution.
In the Social Security Component, good results have been achieved:
o Four study visits have been implemented for different target groups. One of
them has initiated follow up activities which are about to establish a new
model of facilitated registration procedures for household workers in Turkey.
o Three working groups have developed input to a Strategy Paper which was
elaborated by the TAT. The paper is supposed to guide SGK in relation to
further development of strategies and even legislative initiatives towards
changes in the social insurance legislation. The paper was regarded as a key
outcome of the project by the beneficiary.
o Field studies have explored the views of employers on unregistered
employment in several sectors and provinces. The material will be helpful for
the development of strategies improving the effect of both law enforcement
measures (inspections) and awareness-raising activities.
o Best practice from EU Member States has been collected and presented in a
report which provides the beneficiary with good inspiration regarding
coordination and cooperation with others in order to combat unregistered and
promote registered employment.
o A model of inter-ministerial (inter-institutional) cooperation has been
developed. Yet, it could not been tested in practice due to delays in the project
implementation. It was also not possible to generate a protocol of cooperation
with RA since this institution argued with data protection rules forbidding the
share of data. Hence the TAT was not able to overcome this problem for
which it cannot be blamed.
o The requested internships/on-the-job training activities could not be
implemented due to the unwillingness of English speaking countries to hoist
them in times of reduced public budgets and the impossibility to find interns
with other language skills. Particularly in the area of labour inspections
(governmental action in the area of law enforcement) it would have been
necessary for interns to speak the language of the host country in order to be
able to follow negotiations, understand documents and communicate with
clients without needing full-time interpretation.
The IT Component realised the establishment of the requested database to be
shared with other public institutions. Yet, delays in the development as well as the
(too) late involvement of the Inspection and Guidance Department of SGK resulted in
disagreements on necessary features of the database. The database has been
officially approved, yet it remains to be seen if it will actually be used according to its
specifications.
The Awareness Component developed new approaches as to raising awareness on
social insurance issues, for instance by targeting school pupils as a vehicle to submit
messages to their parents. Information tools were developed and disseminated, a
national TV spot developed and aired, conferences and media events hosted across
several provinces. The material developed by the project will be utilised by SGK in its
own PR activities and has been distributed to the provincial directorates.
The evaluation team found evidence for the relevance as well as the effectiveness of the
activities undertaken. As for the efficiency there have been some factors decelerating the
project’s speed and acting against its impact. The most important among them are:



The replacement of the original Team Leader which caused serious delays in
particular related to the Social Security Component which could not be entirely
compensated.
The project duration with only 21 months appears to be way too short for such an
ambitious undertaking. The final accession by one month did not help much to
compensate for that. It is a general finding that TA projects did not display a
reasonable relation between the number of project results on the one hand and an
appropriate duration in order to achieve them on the other.
Efforts to intensify cooperation with other public actors – mainly the MoF/RA – cannot
be effectively driven by TATs. They are subject to inter-institutional negotiations
undertaken by high level representatives. It is almost impossible for project actors to
influence progress in that respect.
In terms of sustainability the project has developed good conditions which now have to be
utilised by the beneficiary. To what extent for instance the Strategy Paper is being utilised to
revise the institutional policy or the trainer corps is used for internal training remains to be
decided by the beneficiary’s general management. At the current stage the evaluation team
is not able to present comprehensive findings in relation to such an approach.
Overall the PRE project can be regarded as a success and has been praised by the
beneficiary. It offers good potential to achieve lasting impact on institutional strategies and
the development of policies in the area of social security and labour market policy.
5. Improvement of Public Employment Services
In relation to the improvement of public employment services the authorities have contracted


9.978.000 € on the TA project and
156.228 € on the supply contract.
PES thus had a share of 13.5% of all funds contracted. The PES TA contract was by far the
biggest out of four and represented 58% of all TA funds under Priority 1. In relation to supply
contracts, the funds concentrated on İŞKUR as beneficiary represented 27% of the supplies.
The PES project is regarded as the “flagship” among the TA projects by both the OS and
İŞKUR as beneficiary – a fact that is reflected by the fact that the project consumes more
than half of the total TA budget contracted under the HRD OP employment priority in the first
phase of the implementation. The huge amount of funds available albeit marks the challenge
of the project: It is very difficult to implement such a huge project with so many activities in
the relatively short period of roughly two and a half years. It is therefore no miracle that an
extension was required with a view to making the achievements promised.
The PES project is still under implementation and will only finalise its activities early in 2014.
The evaluation can therefore only offer indicative findings.
Being a very ambitious operation, PES attempts at both strengthening the capacities of
İŞKUR staff at both central and regional levels and making a significant contribution to the
organisational development of the institution.
In relation to capacity building PES aims at



Providing training on the model office approach in all eligible 43 provinces
Improve guidance services through providing intensive training to Job and Vocational
Counsellors
Providing policy development training to leading staff of the institution
As far as organisational development is concerned the project covers





The development of model offices
The improvement of the Labour Market Information System
The development of a model to monitor active labour market policies
Improving the performance of PEVTBs
Increasing the access to İŞKUR services
In relation to its institutional coverage PES is first and foremost a vehicle for the
development of İŞKUR’s capacities. Besides, the MoLSS and PEVTBs partly participate in
project services.
Among the TA projects PES has the widest geographical distribution of services. The TAT
was supposed to deliver intensive training for instance on the model office approach and the
LMIS in all 43 eligible provinces. PEVTBs from all these provinces were also target group of
training activities. In relation to awareness-raising activities the coverage is also including all
eligible provinces. Sectoral concentration is no topic within PES since it mostly aims at
internal institutional development and capacity building rather than focusing on employment
of target groups.
When it comes to an assessment of the (so far generated) achievements of the PES
project, the team made the following findings:








43 Model Office Action Plans have been prepared.
About 600 persons have been trained on their implementation.
A study tour has been implemented in the Netherlands.
Internships face similar problems as observed in the framework of PRE and it is not
yet clear if the requested three of them can be organised.
The foreseen job matching system in the LMIS has in principle been developed. Yet
there is a lack of feedback from the beneficiary as to proposals of the TAT to
accelerate the system. Currently the TAT sees the risk that the result might not be
fully achieved.
In relation to vocational guidance two study visits have been made to Germany and
Austria where well-developed occupational guidance systems were explored.
More than 700 Job and Vocational Counsellors will have received training by the end
of the project. A manual for JVC faces delays due to a lack of feedback from the
beneficiary.
The monitoring system for ALMP is on track and will be achieved according to the TA
Team Leader.





PEVTB performance has been evaluated and found of very different quality.
Comparison with other countries’ experience is extremely difficult since most other
countries do not have any similar institutions. Lack of feedback by İŞKUR keeps
activities on hold. Hence the training for members of PEVTBs across the country
could not yet be conducted by the time of the interview with the Team Leader.
Visibility activities have been very successful. The İŞKUR Bus has travelled all
eligible provinces. In addition films have been produced covering vocational
occupations. All but one has been approved so far. The measures are likely to raise
awareness of İŞKUR’s services and increase its utilisation. Figures providing
evidence for that will remain subject to future evaluations.
12 out of 30 internships on policy development had been implemented by the time of
the interview. Some others had been cancelled by the beneficiary. The target will
hardly be achieved.
Policy development training has been delivered to 125 members of İŞKUR staff
including some participants from MoNE and MoD.
Additional research requests of İŞKUR which had been fixed in the contract
addendum have been outsourced to a sub-contractor. Delays endanger the full
achievement of this activity.
The PES project has high relevance for the institutional development of the Turkish
Employment Service. Its massive training efforts can be regarded as effective and efficient
– yet, in the case of JVCs – it remains to be seen if these members of İŞKUR staff will carry
on working for the institution since they only have limited contracts and there are
contradicting signals regarding their further employment status.
In relation to training all indicators will be exceeded. In other cases – for instance the
placement rates – it will be difficult to measure to what extent the project has influenced
them. Once again the lack of baseline data and hard evidence on project-related effects will
make it difficult to make a sound statement.
In terms of sustainability PES may be seen as a role model for other projects – which, of
course, is supported by the fact that no other TA project is so close to the beneficiary’s most
important institutional development needs. It is likely that the Model Offices, the LMIS, the
usage of JVC and the ALMP monitoring system will be used country-wide. The visibility
material is also supposed to be disseminated everywhere in Turkey.
Shortcomings are mainly based on delays in approval decisions to be made by the
beneficiary. Besides, some other aspects of project management have provided burdens to
the TAT:



Several changes in the TAT (among others two Team Leaders have been replaced)
affected the smooth implementation of the project.
The long duration between planning and implementation of the project made it
necessary to revise results according to the changed needs of the beneficiary which
resulted in the necessity of an addendum and an extension.
The sheer size of the project leads the evaluation team to the conclusion that PES is
indeed more than just one project. Dividing its elements into two or three projects
would probably have been easier to manage. In relation to the size the duration was
much too short. That should have been evident from the beginning.

Communication between TAT, contractor and beneficiary has not always been
handled smoothly. Face to face communication should be the rule and not the
exception between TAT and OCU.
As far as the supply contract is concerned the evaluation team did not go into depth. In
general it can be said that the relatively low budget – in particular when compared to the one
in PRE – makes it likely that not much impact and visibility will be achieved. The beneficiary
representatives made it clear that they saw no healthy relation between the benefits and the
efforts specifically in relation to procurement procedures. Their clear statement was: We
don’t want such contracts any more.
Summarising the impression of the PES project, it can be said that it was (or is) probably the
most successful TA project under priority 1 of the HRD OP in this funding period. Yet, as
mentioned before, this is highly due to the fact that it is the only one which entirely focuses
on the internal development of the beneficiary institution. Thus it is also easier to meet the
client’s needs than in the other projects which mainly aimed at target groups of the labour
market or policy shifts in terms of the PRE project. Nevertheless, PES certainly constitutes a
success story for the HRD OP.
6. Additional Observations on TA Projects
The evaluation team would like to summarise some general observations in relation to TA
projects:




Duration: None of the four assessed TA projects had a duration which was fully
appropriate in relation to the results in question. Two years or little more are too short
for the implementation of ambitious projects. Counting in minimum three months of
inception and three months of wrap-up and reporting, the real implementation of
activities is reduced to less than two years. This appears to be a general problem in
Turkey and should be reconsidered.
Operationalization: None of the four TA projects had a distinctive operationalization
strategy that would indicate how the beneficiary intended to use the results and make
sure that they gained sustainability. Subsequently it cannot be predicted to what
extent the achievements made will actually influence institutional strategies, let alone
policy development in Turkey. Authorities should therefore reconsider asking
beneficiaries for the development of operational plans.
Study visits: If there is one common element in all TA projects it is the desire of the
beneficiary to undertake study visits to EU countries. It has been observed that
several study visits undertaken in the four projects have been successfully explored
and even resulted in follow up activities. In general, yet, it still appears too much
depending on coincidence. It should therefore be thought about a comprehensive
system in which study visits can be thoroughly prepared and the consequences for
the implementation of national policies and strategies be prepared, implemented and
evaluated. Only then will the efficiency of the funds invested be totally justifiable.
Internships: It is understandable why Turkish authorities ask for internship
opportunities in TA projects. It has yet to be clarified how difficult this is to achieve –
all the more since the TAT and contractor cannot really influence the willingness of
potential hosts to accept interns from Turkey. On the other hand it is a must to
provide sufficient skills of the host country’s language if an intern is to be sent abroad
successfully. This requirement should be communicated to beneficiaries very strictly.
D. Programme Management
The evaluation team also looked into the way the HRD OP implementation has been
managed by all the relevant institutions: CFCU, OS, and OBs.
The findings are being presented under the headings of the chapters in the long version of
the evaluation report.
1. Application Procedures
Grant beneficiaries did not have difficulties in receiving the relevant information on grant
scheme calls from the various available sources. Yet, whenever there were additional
sources of information in the provinces, it appears that more and better applications were
submitted. It is therefore not only the obligation of the programme authorities to submit all
relevant information. They should also encourage provincial administrations to collaborate.
Roughly 90% of the grant beneficiaries appreciated the Info Days as being helpful. Yet,
additional support in the application phase was not available but has been provided to the
upcoming grant scheme’s applicants. This should become a general service offer.
Only between 50 and 75% said that the Application Guidelines were easy to comprehend
and showed their appreciation. Thus, a substantial part of the beneficiaries sees the need to
improve these documents. This is a challenge that the OS should take on.
The application form has been criticised particularly because of its sometimes repetitive
character. Being an element of PRAG it can hardly be revised. Nevertheless OS might think
about providing more guidance on how to fill it appropriately.
There is clear evidence that support through external sources has positively influenced the
success rates of applicant institutions – there were both provincial sources of support in
terms of governorate offices and institutional sources in terms of roof organisations providing
help. Whenever there is no such support – particularly in relation to provinces lagging behind
– OS should think about TA-financed activities in relation to raising absorption capacities.
The utilisation of external consultants cannot be forbidden and has been of great benefit to
many applicants – but it often results in lack of ownership and gaps in terms of institutional
sustainability. Programme authorities might therefore think about how to encourage
applicants to make sure that they themselves increase their input and ensure sustainability.
The role of the OBs in the evaluation of grant scheme applications seems to have been too
marginal. The evaluation team heard that many projects OBs were in favour of were rejected
by the evaluation committees anyway. Since OBs are closest to the professional content of a
project proposal they should also have the say when it comes to taking funding decisions.
2. Contracting and Advice
The CFCU had the responsibility for the contracting in the first round of grant schemes. It has
been reported to the evaluation team that – in spite of all efforts undertaken – many
questions and contact attempts undertaken by applicants were not dealt with. This might
have to do with the huge workload. Anyway utmost efforts should be undertaken with a view
to clarifying the issues in question at the earliest stage.
The duration between the launch of the grant schemes and the actual contracting has been
widely criticised. There were cases in which applicant institutions claimed that they had
forgotten about having prepared an application. Hence the duration of the procedures – from
launch of the call via application to contracting – should be shortened.
Final payment procedures are partly on-going. Some grant scheme projects are still in
struggle with CFCU about final payments or the necessity to pay something back. One and a
half years after the end of the projects this appears to be a very lengthy procedure.
Notwithstanding the fact that this can certainly not be entirely blamed on CFCU, authorities
should do everything they can in order to avoid such delays.
3. Implementation Support
Technical Assistance has provided support to the grant beneficiaries during the
implementation phase which has been appreciated well. Nevertheless, the support provided
by the OS using the TATs came at a very late stage of the process and thus lost
effectiveness. Whenever there are plans to provide implementation-related support the
authorities should start the respective training at the earliest stage possible.
Besides support from the side of the programme authorities, regional/provincial institutions
have provided implementation support to beneficiaries which was in general regarded as
very positive. Yet, such support has not been available everywhere but only in some
provinces. HRD OP authorities should therefore encourage those governorates that sofar do
not provide support to launch respective activities.
Most of the grant beneficiaries said that they regarded support provided by the Central and
Regional Monitoring Teams as helpful. Yet, there was also criticism as to the quality and
experience of the team members. In particular it appears as if the OBs were not sufficiently
represented in the Monitoring Teams and hence could not contribute their professional
experience. Other institutions – such as governorate EU coordination offices and RDAs –
appear to have not only the relevant experience but also the capacities to involve themselves
into monitoring procedures. Any plans towards revising the monitoring system of the HRD
OP should therefore take into account the utilisation of these capacities.
The HRD OP Implementation Manual was regarded as useful by most of the grant
beneficiaries. Yet, it also came late in the implementation process and has also faced
criticism. OS might revise the manual early and provide additional information and/or training
in order to reach the full benefit potential of the document.
4. Monitoring & Evaluation
Monitoring has been criticised in relation to projects being visited several times by different
institutions with different monitoring purposes. A better coordination between monitoring
activities undertaken by various authorities might improve the relationship between monitors
and beneficiaries and raise their understanding of the necessities behind monitoring in
general.
The Monitoring Teams should consist of persons who possess the relevant experience with a
view to being able to assess project progress accordingly, but also to support beneficiaries in
important questions of project implementation. Professional skills and experience of OB staff
should be involved in order to improve their performance.
Monitoring in the previous grant schemes has mainly focused on technical issues. Content of
the projects remained left aside. Instead, monitoring should gain a comprehensive view on
both technical issues and content. Both issues cannot be completely understood without
having knowledge of the other. This duality should be kept in mind when making new
arrangements for monitoring.
The G-MIS has not fully unfolded its potential in the first round of grant schemes. Neither has
its utilisation been obligatory nor does the current version contain all necessary data for an
assessment of effectiveness and efficiency. Project outcomes cannot entirely be monitored.
The usage of G-MIS by the grant beneficiaries as a tool for project management has also not
been promoted and should be seen as an asset for the grant beneficiaries. In this direction
G-MIS needs to be further developed and utilised by all parties of the programme
implementation.
Reporting formats used in the first round of grant schemes have been insufficient because
they did not urge beneficiaries to provide necessary information and substantial data on
project outcomes, quality of outputs and result achievement. Report formats should therefore
be improved and reports thoroughly assessed.
The Sectoral Monitoring Committee has followed its tasks accordingly during the grant
scheme implementation. It is not a board that can actually influence important
implementation issues.
No proper assessments in terms of an outcome evaluation have been undertaken for any of
the grant schemes. This is a major shortcoming and should be avoided in future grant
schemes. It is recommended to utilise TA projects – preferably those with similar content in
the beneficiary institution – to undertake such assessments on behalf of the beneficiary.
5. Mainstreaming
Grant schemes should provide substantial input for transfer of results into the practice of the
beneficiaries’ delivery systems, the general practice of institutions working in the field and
into the policy and strategy development at regional and national level. Therefore the
programme authorities need to launch a mainstreaming strategy which defines the terms and
offers tools as to how to achieve this transfer of experience. OS should make sure that such
a strategy is in place before the net round of grant schemes is launched.
6. Good Governance
The evaluation team gained a positive impression as far as the application of good
governance is concerned. With the exception of the missing mainstreaming strategy – se
previous remarks – the programme administration followed all elements of good governance
and can thus not be criticised.
E. Results and Consequences
The evaluation team has made an effort to systematically display its findings, condense them
into lessons learned, formulate the necessary conclusions and develop concrete
recommendations directed to the programme authorities OS and OBs.
The findings, lessons, conclusions and recommendations have been put into a table with a
view to facilitating their assessment and encourage reading. The table summarises the whole
evaluation with a focus on the most important findings. It is displayed at the end of this
report.
2. Team, Method, Progress
2.1 Background of evaluation
The evaluation of the employment priority of the Human Resources Development
Operational Programme (HRD OP) has been undertaken in the framework of the project
“Technical Assistance for implementation of Human Resources Development Operational
Programme” – TR07H4.01/01 – carried out by WYG Türkiye in a consortium with Archidata
s.r.l.
The evaluation has been implemented within the scope of Component 2 of this project (“Full
time consultancy to support operation of the OS for effective management and
implementation of HRD OP”), Activity 2.2 (“Assisting each unit under the OS and
responsibilities derived from IPA implementation regulation, framework agreement, financial
agreement and HRD OP implementation manuals”) and Unit 2.2.4 (“Monitoring and
Evaluation Unit”). The whole exercise was carried out in close conjunction with the
Programme Management, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit (PMMEU) of the operating
Structure (OS).
The evaluation was planned on the basis of the Terms of Reference (ToR) 1 that had been
developed by the TA project’s Team Leader, Mr. Paulo Pedroso, in February 2013. It started
with a Kick-off meeting with the beneficiary on Thursday, 2nd May, 2013. The evaluation team
produced a “Road Map for 2013 HRD OP Priority 1 Evaluation” in May 2013 in which the
main essentials of the work plan were laid out.2 The Road Map clarified the scope and
intentions of the evaluation as follows:
This evaluation can be characterised as an “on-going” evaluation in the sense of Article 48
No. 3 of EC Regulation 1083/2006. It is supposed to be the first in a series of evaluation
exercises which will cover the other priorities of the HRD OP (education, adaptability/lifelong
learning, social inclusion) in the years to follow.
On-going evaluation is a process that follows the needs of decision-makers. Its main
purpose is to follow on a continuous basis the implementation and delivery of an operational
programme and changes in its external environment, in order to better understand and
analyse outputs and results achieved and progress towards longer-term impacts, as well as
recommend, if necessary, remedial actions.
It is also an operational evaluation. It will have to review the quality and relevance of the
quantified objectives, analyse data on financial and physical progress and provide
recommendations on how to improve the performance of the OP, e.g. in terms of efficiency
and effectiveness. The evaluation should also look after the functioning of administrative
structures and the quality of implementation mechanisms, which very often have a significant
impact on the overall performance of an OP.
As an overarching objective, the evaluation should add value to better delivery of the
measures under the HRD OP.
This Road Map was agreed with the beneficiary in the 4th meeting held on 8th May, 2013.
1
2
Terms of Reference are attached to this report as Annex 1.
Road Map is attached to this report as Annex 2.
The Road Map outlined the important questions to be asked (and answered) by the
evaluation team and listed the main sources of information:
The important questions that this evaluation will have to tackle therefore are: Which effects
did the implementation of Priority 1 measures have
At policy level: changes in employment policy to which the evaluated measures provided a
contribution (key word: mainstreaming)
At institutional level: changes in institutions, namely Operation Beneficiaries and Grant
Beneficiaries that result from the actions under the evaluated measure (key word:
institutional sustainability);
At territorial level: changes in the situation of the regions in which projects were
implemented under the evaluated measures (key word: distributive justice);
At target group level: changes related to the target groups in quantifiable terms (i.e. number
of participants employed, number of participants self-employed, etc.) as well as in quality
terms (improvement of the situation of the target groups objectively and in their own selfassessment).
The evaluation will have to build on various sources of information in order to collect the
necessary data that will allow for the analysis of lessons and the drawing of conclusions
which will ultimately lead to the formulation of recommendations regarding the better delivery
of measures under the HRD OP Priority 1. These sources will be:
At policy level: Macro-economic and labour market analysis based on relevant statistics
provided mostly by TURKSTAT but also by the Operation Beneficiaries;
At institutional level: Institutional analysis based on the data compiled in the grant scheme
compendia and the G-MIS in combination with interviews (both with all relevant Operational
Beneficiaries and selected final beneficiaries) and focus groups;
At territorial level: Territorial analysis based on statistical data provided by TURKSTAT, the
Operation Beneficiaries and G-MIS;
At target group level: Quantitative and quality-related analysis of the participants in the
various measures based on project compendia, G-MIS, Operation Beneficiaries and direct
contacts via focus groups.
In relation to all levels there will be documents as well that will help to answer the evaluation
questions.
It also described the methodology and set up a provisional time schedule.
2.2 Evaluation Team
The evaluation team was composed of two senior experts – one of them acting as Evaluation
Pool Leader - and two junior experts. Each of them provided particularly relevant experience
to the implementation of the task in question.
The team composition was as follows:
Table 1: Evaluation team composition
Name
Mr Michael Gericke
Position
Senior
International
Evaluation Expert (Pool
Leader)
Mr Seçkin Hekimoğlu
Senior Local Evaluation
Expert
Ms Gaye Okyay Barış
Junior Local Evaluation
Expert
Ms
Feyza
Tanyeri
Junior Local Evaluation
Expert
Sümer
Ms Şebnem Varlı Canar3
Junior Local Evaluation
Expert
Advantage
Lawyer. Ex Ante evaluator of HRD OP in
2007. Rich experience in programme
monitoring and evaluation as former ESF
officer in Germany and freelance consultant.
MBA. Rich experience as evaluator and in
grant scheme monitoring with İŞKUR
projects.
Sociologist. Strong experience in social
research. Proven experience as project
implementer within HRD OP grant schemes.
Social scientist. Strong experience with data
processing and analysis in field studies as
well as with target groups of HRD OP.
Statistician and industrial engineer. Strong
background in data procession and analysis
related to social research.
In order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, the team was split into two sub-teams, each
consisting of one senior and one junior expert:


Team A: Seçkin Hekimoğlu (senior) and Gaye Okyay Barış (junior) – later replaced by
Şebnem Varlı Canan (junior)
Team B: Michael Gericke (senior) and Feyza Sümer Tanyeri (junior)
The functional responsibility for contracts was assigned as follows:
Graph 2: Functional responsibilities within the evaluation team
• PWE (Promoting Women Employment)
IŞKUR • Grant Scheme
• PWE (Promoting Women Employment)
IŞKUR • Service Contract (TA)
3
SGK
• PRE (Promoting Registered Employment)
• Grant Scheme
SGK
• PRE (Promoting Registered Employment)
• Service Contract (TA)
SGK
• PRE (Promoting Registered Employment)
• Supply Contract
She replaced Ms. Barış as of July 2013.
T
E
A
M
A
• PYE (Promoting Youth Employment)
IŞKUR • Grant Scheme
• PYE (Promoting Youth Employment)
IŞKUR • Service Contract (TA)
• PES (Improving Quality of Public Employment Services)
IŞKUR • Service Contract (TA)
• PES (Improving Quality of Public Employment Services)
IŞKUR • Supply Contract
T
E
A
M
B
Within the sub-teams the junior experts were mainly responsible for the collection and
processing of data related to the grant scheme implementation while the senior experts
focused on the preparation and implementation of the interviews.
The organisation and implementation of the field trips as well as the analysis of the findings,
the formulation of the lessons and conclusions as well as the recommendations were done
by each team together under the coordination of the pool leader.
2.3 Methods applied to the evaluation
Based on the ToR the evaluation team developed a mix of evaluation tools which was briefly
described in the Road Map, agreed upon with the beneficiary and presented to the HRD OP
stakeholders in a Stakeholder Consultation Workshop on 30th May 2013.
The method mix basically contained the following elements:






Desk study related to documents, statistics and reports leading to the elaboration of a
Background Analysis document
Desk study related to all available written information on the three grant schemes and
four TA projects implemented under HRD OP Priority 1 – mainly based on grant
scheme compendia and guidelines for applicants
Data research in the G-MIS operated by the OS
Interviews with all relevant programme and project management actors within the OS
and with CFCU
Interviews with the Operational Coordination Units (OCU) in the two Operation
Beneficiary (OB) institutions (namely İŞKUR and SGK) responsible for the three grant
schemes and four TA contracts
Interviews with contractors of TA contracts and Team Leaders (TL) of the
international Technical Assistance Teams (TAT) of the TA projects related to HRD
OP Priority 1






Interviews with important stakeholders of the HRD OP at central level
Interviews with provincial authorities during the field trips
Field Trips to two provinces with a view to implement Focus Group meetings and
interviews with local/provincial authorities
Online survey reaching out to all grant scheme beneficiaries in the three grant
schemes implemented under HRD OP Priority 1
Focus Group meetings with grant beneficiaries of all three grant schemes in three
provinces
Focus Group meetings with final beneficiaries of all three grant schemes in two
provinces
Besides these methods, the evaluation team maintained close contact to the beneficiary and
organised regular meetings with the team of PMMEU particularly during the first two months
of the work.
2.3.1 Desk Studies
Particularly in relation to the development of the Background Study it was necessary to
assess a wide range of documents and statistics. It was the beneficiary’s wish to extrapolate
the statistical baseline indicators outlined in the HRD OP version of 2007 into the future with
a view to covering the implementation period of HRD OP Priority 1 activities between 2007
and 2012.
During the work related to assessing the socio-economic and labour market related
developments in Turkey between 2007 and 2012, the following documents have been
processed:
Table 3: List of documents utilised by the evaluation team
Author(s)
Accenture
Management
Consulting
Adaman, Fikret &
Ayhan Kaya
Akca, Hasan
Title, Location and Date of Publication
Turkey – Summary of labour market and skills issues. Istanbul, 2012
Social Impact of Emigration and Rural-Urban Migration in Central and
Eastern Europe – Final Country Report Turkey. April 2012
Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) to Turkey: Expectations and
Results. ISSD 2010, p.334-338
http://eprints.ibu.edu.ba/190/1/ISSD2010_Economy_Management_p334-p338
Akın, Melih
Berker, Ali
Buğra, A./YakutCakar, B.
Capar Dirioz,
Sinem
Cetinkaya, Emel
& Sumeyra
Alparslan
Danisman
CFCU
Human Resources Development Operational Programme and Good
Governance. IKG PRO Dergi Magazine, Issue no.3, Ankara, March 2013
The Labor Market Consequences of Internal Migration in Turkey. Working
Paper 1029, TÜSIAD-KOÇ University Economic Research Forum, Istanbul,
October 2010
Structural change, the social policy environment and female employment in
Turkey. In: Development and Change, Vol.41, p.517-538, 2010.
Labour Market Trends and Policies in Turkey. Powerpoint Presentation, 2011
An Investigation on Profiles of Private Employment Agencies in Turkey:
What are their current characteristics? In: Business and Economics Research
Journal, Vol. 2 Number 3 2011, p.173-187
Promoting Registered Employment through Innovative Measures (PYE)
CFCU
CFCU
CFCU
CFCU
CFCU
CFCU
CIA – Central
Intelligence
Agency
Coşkun Durnel,
Josh
Council of
Europe
Dedeoğlu, S. and
Elveren, A.
Delegation of the
European
Commission to
Turkey
Ercan, Hakan
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Commission
European
Training
Foundation –
ETF
European
Grant Scheme – Guidelines for Grant Applicants. Ankara, 2008
Promoting Women’s Employment (PWE) Grant Scheme – Guidelines for
Grant Applicants. Ankara, 2008
Promoting Youth Employment (PYE) Grant Scheme – Guidelines for Grant
Applicants. Ankara, 2008
Terms of Reference, Technical Assistance for Improvement of Public
Employment Services
Terms of Reference, Technical Assistance for Promoting Registered
Employment
Terms of Reference, Technical Assistance for Promoting Women
Employment
Terms of Reference, Technical Assistance for Promoting Youth Employment
The World Factbook.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html
Female Labor Force Participation in Economic Development Process: The
Case of Turkey. Bachelor Thesis NEKK01/VT-10, Lund University, Lund,
Sweden, August 2010
European Social Charter – 4th National Report on the implementation of the
European Social Charter submitted by the Government of Turkey.
Strasbourg, 16 February 2012
Gender and society in Turkey: The impact of neoliberal policies, political
Islam and EU accession. 2012
EU Turkey Review – Focus: Social Policy. Ankara, March-April 2006
Occupational Outlook in Turkey. ILO, Ankara Office, 2011
2011 Annual Report on Financial Assistance for Enlargement (IPA, PHARE,
CARDS, Turkey Pre-Accession Instrument, Transition Facility). Luxembourg,
2012
Joint Assessment of Employment Priorities in Turkey – JAP. Full draft,
Brussels/Belgium, October 2006
Joint Inclusion Memorandum of the Republic of Turkey – JIM.
Brussels/Belgium, November 2006
Multi-annual Indicative Planning Document (MIPD) 2007 – 2009. Decision C
20071835 of 30/04/2007
Multi-annual Indicative Planning Document (MIPD) 2009 – 2011.
Multi-annual Indicative Planning Document (MIPD) 2011 – 2013.
Turkey 2007 Progress Report. Brussels, 6.11.2007
Turkey 2008 Progress Report. Brussels, 5.11.2008
Turkey 2009 Progress Report. Brussels, 14.10.2009
Turkey 2010 Progress Report. Brussels, 9.11.2010
Turkey 2011 Progress Report. Brussels, 12.10.2011
Turkey 2012 Progress Report. Brussels, 10.10.2012
Labour market statistics. Eurostat Pocket Books, Luxembourg, 2011
Turkey – Review of Human Resources Development. Turin, Italy, 2013
Flexicurity Analysis of the Labour Market in Turkey. Turin, Italy, 2011
Training
Foundation –
ETF
Fırat, Seyhan
Gericke, Michael
Global Finance
Gönenç, Rauf et
al
Government of
the Republic of
Turkey
Gtz International
Services
Gültekin, Figen
(CFCU)
Hacettepe
University,
Institute of
Population
Studies
HRD OP
Operational
Structure
HRD OP
Operational
Structure
HRD OP
Operational
Structure
HRD OP
Operational
Structure
HRD OP
Operational
Structure
HRD OP
Operational
Structure
HRD OP
Operational
Structure
Hürriyet Daily
News
People with disabilities in Turkey. Powerpoint Presentation, undated
Promoting Registered Employment. KITUP Strategy Paper, Ankara, June 2012
Turkey Country Report: GDP data and GDP forecasts; economic, financial
and trade information; the best banks in Turkey; country and population
overview.
http://www.gfmag.com/gdp-data-country-reports/157-turkey-gdp-countryreport.html#ixzz2ahvFfXcq
Structural Reforms to Boost Turkey's Long-Term Growth. OECD Economics
Department Working Papers, No. 987, OECD Publishing, 2012.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k92smv7cnjl-en
9th National Development Plan (2007 – 2013). Ankara, 2006
Operational Programme Human Resources Development 2007 – 2009 – Ex
Ante Evaluation. Ankara, August 2007
Management of Grant Contracts. Powerpoint Presentation, Ankara, January
2009
2008 Turkey Demographic and Health Survey. Ankara, October 2009
Değişen Hayatlar Gelişen Türkiye – Changing Lives Developing Turkey. HRD
OP Magazine No. 3, Ankara, March 2013
Sectoral Annual Report on the Implementation of the Human Resources
Development Programme 2007. Ankara, August 2008
Sectoral Annual Report on the Implementation of the Human Resources
Development Programme 2008. Ankara, June 2009
Sectoral Annual Report on the Implementation of the Human Resources
Development Programme 2009. Ankara, June 2010
Sectoral Annual Report on the Implementation of the Human Resources
Development Programme 2010. Ankara, June 2011
Sectoral Annual Report on the Implementation of the Human Resources
Development Programme 2011. Ankara, June 2012
Sectoral Annual Report on the Implementation of the Human Resources
Development Programme 2012. Ankara, June 2013
Literacy gap remains between Turkish men, women. Istanbul, August 27,
2010. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=illeteracy-gap-between-manand-women-remains-the-same-2010-08-26
IBF International
Consulting
ILO
Providing Technical Assistance for the First Interim Evaluation of Human
Resources Development Operational Programme. Interim Evaluation Report.
Ankara, November 2011
Factors that affect women’s labour force participation and suggestions for
provincial employment and vocational educational boards. Ankara,
Gaziantep and Konya, 2010
www.ilo.org/public/english/region/eurpro/ankara/areas/woman/3_rapor/ank_ant_konya_women.pdf
ILO
The youth unemployment crisis: Time for action. Geneva, Switzerland, 2012.
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/--relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_175421.pdf
İŞKUR
İŞKUR
2012 Yılı Faaliyet Raporu. Ankara, 2013
2013 Yılı Performans Programı. Ankara, 2012
İŞKUR
İŞKUR
León, Patricia
Ministry of
Labour and
Social Security
Ministry of
Labour and
Social Security
Müftüler-Baç,
Meltem
Ministry of
Labour and
Social Security
Ministry of
Labour and
Social Security
National IPA
Coordinator
National IPA
Coordinator
OECD
OECD
OECD – Social
Policy Division,
Directorate of
Employment,
Labour and
Social Affairs
ÖZIDA –
Administration for
Disabled People
Özaslan. M./
Dincer, B. /
Özgür. Hüseyin
Peker,
Emre/Candemir,
Yeliz
Prime Ministry,
Investment
Support and
Promotion
Agency
Project
Group/İŞKUR
Project
Group/İŞKUR
Revenue
Administration,
Presidency of
SGK
Špidla, Vladimír
Dünden Bügüne – from past to present, 1946-2011. Ankara, 2011
Provincial Employment and Vocational Education Boards – 2010 Activity
Report. Ankara, 2011
Four Pillars of Financial Sustainability. Volume 2 of the Resources for Success
Series of The Nature Conservancy/USAID. Arlington/USA, 2001
Human Resources Development Operational Programme. Ankara, December
2007
Human Resources Development Operational Programme, Third Version.
Ankara, 2012
Gender Equality in Turkey. European Parliament, Brussels/Blegium, January
2012.
Sectoral Annual Report on the implementation of the Human Resources
Development Operational Programme 2011. Ankara, June 2012
Human Resources Development Communication Strategy and Action Plan.
Ankara, August 2010
Annual Report on the Implementation of the Assistance under IPA –
Republic of Turkey. Ankara, 31/08/2011
Annual Report on the Implementation of the Assistance under IPA –
Republic of Turkey. Ankara, 31/08/2012
OECD Regional Outlook 2011 – Building Resilient Regions for Stronger
Economies. OECD, 2011
OECD Economic Surveys Turkey July 2012
CO3.1: Educational attainment by gender and average years spent in formal
education. In: OECD Family Database, last updated 05/10/2012
The Research on Measurement of Disability Discrimination. Ankara,
November 2010
Regional Disparities and Territorial Indicators in Turkey: Socio-Economic
Development Index (SEDI). 2006
http://ideas.repec.org/p/wiw/wiwrsa/ersa06p858.html
Turkey’s economic growth slows sharply. The Wall Street Journal, New York,
USA, April 1, 2013.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323296504578396200677967468.html#
Labor Force and Employment in Turkey. Ankara, July 2010
Technical Assistance for Promoting Youth Employment – Grant Scheme
Programme Compendium (undated)
GENÇ İSTİHDAMININ DESTEKLENMESİ OPERASYONU - HİBE PROGRAMI
PROJELER ÖZETİ
Action Plan of Strategy for Fight against the informal economy (2008-2010).
Ankara, April 2009
www.kayitliekonomiyegecis.gov.tr
Organisational Structure of Social Security Organisation. Ankara, undated
Empowering Women in Turkey: A Priority in the Pre-Accession Process. In:
Turkish Policy Quarterly 2007, http://www.turkishpolicy.com/images/stories/2007-01womeninTR/TPQ2007-1-02-vladimirspidla.pdf
State Planning
Organisation
(SPO)
TAT ikg hit
Strategic Coherence Framework. Ankara, 2007
Survey evaluation report “Project Outputs Fair 1”. Ankara, 04.07.2011
TAT ikg hit
TAT PES
TAT PRE
TAT PWE
TAT PYE
Taymaz, Erol &
Şule Özler
Turkish Statistical
Institute
Turkish Statistical
Institute
Turkish Statistical
Institute
Turkish Statistical
Institute
Turkish Statistical
Institute
Turkiye İş
Kurumu
www.inflation.eu
Survey evaluation report “Project Outputs Fair 2”. Şanlıurfa, 13.10.2011
Interim Report IV, Reporting period: 8th July 2012 to 7th January 2013.
Ankara, 2013
Final Report. Ankara, December 2012
Draft Final Report. Ankara, February 16, 2013
2nd Interim Report (Final). Ankara, September 26, 2012
Labour Market Policies and EU Accession: Problems and Prospects for
Turkey. METU Economic Rseearch Center, March 2004
Seasonally adjusted main labour force indicators, January 2005 – January
2010. Press release No. 7, Ankara, April 30, 2010.
Main labour force indicators by province, 2009. Press release No. 112,
Ankara, June 24, 2010
Household labour force, January 2013. Press release No. 13483, Ankara, April
15, 2013
Household labour force survey results, September 2011. Press release No.
8658, Ankara, December 15, 2011
General explanation about household labour force survey. Annex to press
release No. 8658, Ankara, December 15, 2011
İŞKUR Annual Reports, 2010-2011-2012
Historic harmonised inflation Turkey – HICP inflation.
http://www.inflation.eu/inflation-rates/turkey/historic-inflation/hicp-inflation-turkey.aspx
WYG
Türkiye/Sosyal
Güvenlik Kurumu
Yazır, Suleyman
2.3.2
Yenilikçi Yöntemlerle Kayıtlı Istihdamın Tesvik Edilmesi Hibe Programı
(undated)
The profile of the unregistered employment and suggestions for the active
employment policy. Field work report. Turkish Communication Workers Union,
Ankara, 2011
Data research in G-MIS
The evaluation team was granted the right to access the Grant Monitoring and Information
System (G-MIS) with the user ID of a staff member of the PMMEU. Yet, the usefulness of the
system for the purpose of the evaluation was turned out to be limited.
The G-MIS has been modernized, renovated and updated to support the needs of running
grant schemes under various priority axes of the HRD OP. However the initial software
design – which had been undertaken before the Technical Assistance Projects in the OS
were launched – had not envisaged the handling of service or supply contracts nor did it
foresee a multilingual architecture. PMU had also requested numerous improvements,
particularly related to the functionality and reports to be introduced to the G-MIS system. The
inclusion of other types of contracts would have been wishful, new templates for documents
and reports and various statistical tools which warrant further development would have been
of great benefit.
The main problem for the evaluation was that the data available in the system are
incomplete. For the first round of grant schemes implemented mainly in 2011 there was no
obligation for the grant beneficiaries to fill in their data into G-MIS. Hence the quality of
information which can be retrieved from the system differs strongly.
In the upcoming second phase of grant scheme implementation beneficiaries will be obliged
to use the system and it can be expected that G-MIS will successively develop into a stage in
which it will be able to fulfil the expectations directed at it.
The evaluation team examined all relevant data in G-MIS related to 131 projects under PWE,
127 projects under PYE and 41 projects under PRE. In the scope of these projects, G-MIS
provided information on the issues listed below:








General project information including beneficiary institution, partners, main activities,
expected results
Monitoring reports
Interim reports
Final reports
Budgets
Courses including lists of participants
Activity plans
Performance indicators
These data were cross-checked against the available information of the Financial
Department of the OS as well as the data publicised in the three project compendia.
Unfortunately these data are not always in line with each other – instead they tend to display
– in some cases very strong – differences. The issue has been discussed with PMMEU and
the evaluation team was advised to put utmost faith into the financial data.
Another opportunity to cross-check the G-MIS data was the implementation of the grant
beneficiary online survey. The team was able to use contact information from G-MIS for that
purpose. However, parts of that information proved to be outdated.
The online survey will be described in section 2.3.8.
2.3.3
Interviews within OS and with CFCU
The evaluation team conducted a set of interviews with those staff members within the
Operating Structure who directly had to do with the preparation, selecting, contracting,
implementation, management and monitoring of the grant schemes and TA contracts. The
interviews aimed at assessing the Operational Structure’s view on the success and progress
of the TA projects as well as the handling of project management as undertaken by the OS.
Another issue was the preparation and support given to grant scheme applicants and
beneficiaries by the OS utilising the project “Technical Assistance for Potential Operation and
Grant Beneficiaries (HRD OP 5.2), Information and Publicity (HRD OP 5.3)”. In relation to
CFCU the interview was about the handling of grant scheme applications, the contracting
phase, and the support given to grant scheme beneficiaries throughout the implementation
phase.
The following interviews have been held and thoroughly reported upon:
Table 4: Interviews within Operating Structure (OS)4
Date
Interviewee, Unit
May 31
Ms. Judit Juhász, TL TA project 5.2
4
Topic
 Synchronicity of GS and TA
 Monitoring of GS projects
 Training to GS beneficiaries
Notes of these interviews are attached to this report as Annexes 3-12a
June 05
and 5.3





Mr. Nurettin Çakıroğlu, Contract
Manager PMU

June 05
Ms. Gaye Erkan, KE Grant Scheme
Management in TA project 5.2 and 5.3
June 11
Ms. Melahat Güray, (previous) Unit
Coordinator PU










June 11
Mr. Nurettin Çakıroğlu, Contract
Manager PYE and PES in PMU
June 12
Mr. Hüseyin Ali Âli Tangürek, Unit
Coordinator PMU
June 12
Ms. Gamze Akın, Contract Manager
PWE in PMU
June 12
Ms. Nesli Urhan, PMU
June 12
Ms. Selin Aytaş, Contract Manager
PRE in PMU
 Ms. Figen Gültekin, Coordinator
Grant Schemes, CFCU
 Mr. İzzet Gelen, Contract Manager,
CFCU
 Mr. Saygın Tozlu, Contract
Manager, CFCU
July 18






















Aug 14
Ms. Özlem Kuşlu, Unit Coordinator
IPTA


Training to GS applicants
Support to G-MIS
Info Days
Absorption Capacity
Content, progress, management and
implementation of PYE TA project
Content, progress, management and
implementation of PES TA project
Performance of TAT, beneficiary, contractor
Supply contract management
Training provided to GS beneficiaries
Monitoring of GS
Training provided to Monitoring Teams
Responsibility of PU
Preparation of guidelines for grant
applicants
Ownership by OBs, strategy
Preparation of applicants
Role of PMU in the management of grant
schemes
Task distribution between OS and OB
Future monitoring scenario
Connection between GS and TA
Operational Agreements
Reporting
Monitoring
Timing
Budgets
Operational Strategies
Assessment of TA contracts and OB
Content, progress, management and
implementation of PWE TA project
Monitoring system applied to GS projects
Monitoring system in the future
Implementation Manuals
Training to GS beneficiaries on G-MIS
utilisation
Content, progress, management and
implementation of PRE TA project
Info Days and support to applicants
Support on project implementation and
monitoring of GS projects
G-MIS
Recent financial situation regarding GS, TA
and supply contracts
HRD OP Communication Strategy and Plan
Utilisation of TA project for communication
purposes
IPTA’s relation to GS and TA projects as
regards support and/or utilisation of visibility
activities
General visibility and communication
activities coordinated and implemented by
IPTA
2.3.4
Interviews with OCUs
Interviews were conducted with those members of the OB staff within SGK and İŞKUR who
formed the Operational Coordination Units in these institutions, i.e. those people who
maintained the day-to-day contact with the TATs and managed the implementation of the TA
projects. The aim of these interviews was to find out about



The embedment of the TA projects into the institutional and national strategies
The view of the beneficiaries on the implementation of the projects, the performance
of the teams, and the achievement of results
Any ideas related to the utilisation of project results after the end of the projects
There were also interviews with those people in the OBs who were responsible for the grant
scheme projects’ implementation. The aims of these interviews were similar to the ones
described above.
Interviews followed two draft guidelines that had been prepared by the team beforehand5.
The following interviews have been held and thoroughly reported upon:
Table 5: Interviews with Operational Coordination Units (OCUs) in beneficiary institutions6
Date
Interviewee, Unit
June 17
Mr. Hakan Öz & Ms. Kıvılcım Sara,
OCU for PYE, Dept. of Foreign Affairs,
İŞKUR
June 18
Mr. Varol Dur, OCU for PRE, SGK (GS
+ TA)
June 19
Mr. Ercan Aktepe, Altındağ Branch &
Mr. Hacı Bayram Veli Yılmaz, Legal
Consultancy Unit, İŞKUR (both of them
former OCU for PYE GS)
June 19
Ms. Nazan Kahraman, former Member
of OCU, Training Expert in Employment
Services Department
5
6
Topic
 Preparation of service contract
 Selection of contractor and relevance of
results
 Implementation
 Monitoring
 Communication and Public Relation
 Preparation of service contract
 Selection of contractor and relevance of
results
 Implementation
 Monitoring
 Communication and Public Relation
 Preparation of GS operations
 Selection of grant beneficiaries
 Implementation
 Monitoring
 Communication and Public Relation
 Sustainability
 Assessment of GS result
 Identification of best practice
 Strategic approach and operationalization of
results
 Synergies between GS and TA
 Preparation of GS operations
 Selection of grant beneficiaries
 Implementation
 Monitoring
 Communication and Public Relation
 Sustainability
 Assessment of GS result
 Identification of best practice
 Strategic approach and operationalization of
results
Interview guidelines are attached to this report as Annexes 13 and 14.
Notes of interviews are attached to this report as Annexes 15 to 19.
July 10
2.3.5
Ms. Elif Şahin, Unit Coordinator,
Ms. Nihal Güneyli, OCU staff &
Mr. Uğur Tunç, Junior Employment
Expert (all from OCU PES, İŞKUR)






Synergies between GS and TA
Preparation of service contract
Selection of contractor and relevance of
results
Implementation
Monitoring
Communication and Public Relation
Interviews with Contractors and Technical Assistance Teams
Having talked to the contract management and to the beneficiaries of TA contracts it was
only natural to also give the Technical Assistance Teams (TAT) a voice and listen to their
view on the progress of their projects and the results achieved but also on the way that the
cooperation with the beneficiary and with the contractors worked out.
Since the PRE and the PWE project had already been finalised when the evaluation was
launched it was not easy for the evaluation team to conduct these interviews
comprehensively. Yet, in case of PRE, the evaluation’s Pool Leader had been the Team
Leader of the PRE TA project. It was agreed with the beneficiary that he would not
participate in the evaluation of the PRE operation but provide his insight view in an interview
as former TL. In case of PWE, the team was able to get in touch with two of the former Key
Experts of that project. One of them provided the team with documents; another one was
ready to participate in a Skype interview with the team. Both persons provided valuable
information.
The following interviews have been conducted:
Table 6: Interviews with Technical Assistance Teams (TAT) of TA projects7
Date
Interviewee, Unit
June 13
Mr. Michael Gericke, former TL of the
PRE project
June 18
Mr. Geoffrey Fieldhouse, TL of the
PES project
June 19
Mr. Michael J. Chambers, former KE of
the PWE project (via Skype)
July 12
Mr. Joachim Frede, TL of the PYE
project
Aug 15
Mr. Levent Ergen, Managing Director of
7
Topic
 Progress in relation to achieving the results
and objectives of the PRE project
 Cooperation with contractor and beneficiary
 Strategic embedment of PRE results in the
SGK strategy
 Mainstreaming impact of the project on
future social insurance legislation
 Progress in relation to achieving the results
and objectives of the PES project
 Cooperation with contractor and beneficiary
 Progress in relation to achieving the results
and objectives of the PWE project
 Cooperation with contractor and beneficiary
 Main
problems
of
the
project
implementation
 Progress in relation to achieving the results
and objectives of the PYE project
 Cooperation with contractor and beneficiary
 Application and contracting process for TA
projects PWE, PYE, PRE and PES
Notes of the interviews are attached to this report as Annexes 20 to 24.
WYG Türkiye
Mr. Deniz Tekeli, Operation Manager,
Project Group





2.3.6
Implementation of the four projects
Cooperation with CFCU
Cooperation with OS
Cooperation with the beneficiaries İŞKUR
and SGK
Assessment of performance of TATs
Interviews with Programme Stakeholders (Ankara)
During the team’s work at the procession of data from G-MIS and the grant scheme
compendia it became clear that there were findings that required further research. The
analysis of the distribution of grant scheme projects by institutions, for instance, revealed that
some types of institutions were significantly more successful than others in winning projects.
As far as these types of institutions had roof organisations in Ankara it suggested itself to talk
to them in order to find out about their roles. Likewise the territorial distribution of projects
revealed that there was no real distribution justice such as a – somehow – even distribution
across the 12 NUTS II regions. The team suspected that there had been particular influence
by institutions in those provinces which were more successful than others. Hence it was
justified to talk to institutions having an influence on those provincial actors and/or talk to
such actors during the field trips.
In Ankara, the evaluation team conducted a series of interviews with roof organisations
representing those types of institutions which had either been particularly successful or
significantly unsuccessful in the application period. In addition, it paid a visit to the EUD in
order to discuss their views and their own monitoring activities related to grant scheme
projects under the HRD OP.
The following interviews have been conducted:
Table 7: Interviews with HRD OP Stakeholders in Ankara8
Date
Interviewee, Unit
June 20
EU Delegation to Turkey
Ms. Zeynep Aydemir, Task Manager
June 25
TOBB – Union of Chambers and
Commodity Exchanges of Turkey
Mr. Mustafa Bayburtlu, Head of EU
Department
Mr. Werner Gruber & Ms. Belgin
Yılmaz, EU Projects Directorate
June 25
TESK – Turkish Confederation of
Tradesmen and Craftsmen
Ms. Elif Güliz Bayram, Lawyer
Ms. Zeynep Ercan, Expert
June 26
8
KOSGEB - Republic of Turkey’s Small
Topic
 HRD OP Priority 1 evaluation plans
 GS beneficiary survey
 Monitoring of GS projects directly by EUD
 Stakeholder consultation
 Chamber organisation and distribution
 Development
of
external
funding
opportunities
 Particular challenges of HRD OP funding
 Preparation of chambers as applicants
 Observations in relation to general funding
conditions
 Organisation and distribution of Craftsmen
Chambers,
municipal
unions
and
occupational federations in Turkey
 Development
of
external
funding
opportunities
 Particular challenges of HRD OP funding
 Preparation of potential applicants for GS
 KOSGEB’s mission and tasks
 Support of entrepreneurs in Turkey
Notes of the interviews are attached to this report as Annexes 25 to 32
and Medium Enterprises
Development Organisation
Mr. Yusuf Keskin, Head of SME
Research Department
Mr. Okan Saldoğan, SME Expert




June 26
June 28
TISK – Turkish Confederation of
Employer Associations

Ms. Esra Belen, Research, Training
and External Relations Department




TBB – Union of Municipalities in
Turkey


Ms. Berrin Aydın, Director International
Relations Department
Ms. Duygu Dalgiç Uyar, Senior Expert



August
5
August
16
HAK-İŞ (Confederation of Turkish
Trade Unions)

Mr. Şahin Serim, Project Coordinator
Mr. Recep Atar, Project Expert


EU Delegation to Turkey




Ms. Zeynep Aydemir, Task Manager
Mr. Mustafa Aydın, Project Monitor
2.3.7
Entrepreneurship training certified by
KOSGEB
Additional support services
Connection between KOSGEB and the PYE
TA project and grant scheme in relation to
further funding offered to successful
participants of HRD OP activities
Organisation and distribution of employer
associations
Women employment and assessment of
PWE
Observations regarding PRE and PES
Labour market analysis in general
Sustainability
Organisational setup and membership of
TBB
Services offered to member municipalities
by TBB
Preparation and support of HRD OP funded
projects
Utilisation of international partnerships for
capacity development
Participation of municipalities in those
partnerships
HAK-İŞ’s role in the implementation of the
HRD OP grant schemes as supporter and
beneficiary
Content and effects of projects implemented
by HAK-İŞ
Relevance of the grant schemes
Lessons
learned
from
the
GS
implementation
Quality of project monitoring
HRD OP evaluation – report structure
Monitoring experience of EUD
Inspiration for the evaluation report
Interviews with Provincial Stakeholders (Field Trips)
The evaluation team conducted two field trips during the data collection phase. Both trips
were undertaken in the first week of July. It was not possible to undertake more trips like that
because of a lack of incidentals.
The main purpose of the field trips was to implement Focus Group meetings with grant
beneficiaries and final beneficiaries (see 2.3.9 and 2.3.10). However, the team also felt the
need to conduct interviews with provincial stakeholders in order to find out more about the
support provided by local and provincial authorities to potential project applicants and/or
grant beneficiaries. It was also aimed at identifying to what extent the local branches of the
OB institutions – İŞKUR and SGK – knew about the grant scheme projects in their area, how
much they supported them and capitalised on them in relation to their own policies.
The following interviews have been conducted:
Table 8: Interviews with HRD OP Stakeholders in the provinces9
Date
Interviewee, Unit
July 4
Governorate of Samsun
Mr. Hakan Kubalı, Deputy Governor
July 4
Central Black Sea Regional
Development Agency (OKA),
Samsun
Mr. Mustafa Güler, Head of
Programming Unit
July 4
İŞKUR – Provincial Agency Samsun
Mr. Hasan Kılıçaslan, Provincial
Director
July 4
SGK – Provincial Agency Samsun
Mr. Selami Göz, Provincial Director
July 4
Governorate of Van – EU
Coordination Centre
Mr. Sinan İmamoğlu, Head of the
Coordination Centre
July 4
East Anatolian Development Agency
(DAKA)
Ms. Bade Altunel, Expert
July 4
İŞKUR – Provincial Agency Van
Mr. Mehmet Salih Serçe, Director
July 4
9
SGK – Provincial Agency Van
Topic
 Success of Samsun Province in acquisition
of EU funds
 Support services offered to potential project
applicants
 Monitoring of grant schemes
 Organizational structures providing support
and sustainability
 Background for fund absorption capacity in
Samsun
 Synergy between the EU and OKA
programmes
 Contributions of OKA in to the project
absorption capacity of Samsun
 OKA’s view on the success of the GS
projects in Samsun.
 Potential role in monitoring projects in the
region
 Involvement in promotion and development
and monitoring activities for the PWE, PYE
GS
 Monitoring and implementation support in
Samsun
 Synergy between İŞKUR’s ALMPs and
PWE and PYE
 Adoption of best practices in İŞKUR’s VT
programmes at local level
 Involvement in promotion and development
and monitoring activities for the PRE GS
 Roles in implementation support and
monitoring
 Organization of the monitoring function and
its success in Samsun
 Existing situation in Samsun in terms of
unregistered employment
 Success of Van Province in acquisition of
EU funds
 Support services offered to potential project
applicants
 Information network established in Van
 Monitoring of grant schemes
 Observation of grant scheme projects in the
province
 Linking HRD OP projects to other initiatives
 Monitoring of grant schemes
 Shortcomings in relation to institutional
capacities in Eastern Anatolia
 Labour market situation in Van
 Particular problems regarding women
employment
 Youth entrepreneurship training
 Job and Vocational Counsellors
 Structure of businesses in Van and
implications of earthquake
 ALMP provided by PES in Van
 Support for Van fish-burger project
 This meeting did not produce any tangible
Notes of the interviews are attached to this report as Annexes 33 to 40
results
Mr. Mehmet Yüce, Director
2.3.8
Online Survey
The evaluation team conducted an online survey reaching out to all grant beneficiaries in the
scope of the quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Three questionnaires were
designed for different grant schemes: PWE, PYE and PRE. The questionnaires for PWE and
PYE included 55 questions and PRE included 58 questions. Open-ended questions were
included to the questionnaires, because there were no sufficient data in G-MIS on several
important issues. Even though the analysis of answers to open-ended questions is
comparatively difficult, the evaluation team preferred to ask open-ended questions in order to
allow grant beneficiaries to explain their implementation challenges and achievements in
their own words.
The questionnaires of PWE and PYE were to some extent congruent. However, the
evaluation team considered the different objectives, priority issues and the expected outputs
in the scope of the grant scheme programmes by asking specific questions as well.
The team’s original plan was to conduct another survey covering the final beneficiaries of the
three different grant schemes. Such a survey had been foreseen in the ToR. However, it was
not possible to create a representative sample of final beneficiaries. Neither the G-MIS nor
the project compendia or the respective project reports contained comprehensive lists of final
beneficiaries.10 Moreover, most of the grant beneficiaries did not follow up on their
participants’ progress after having benefitted from project activities which meant that no
address data were kept by them. Hence it was not possible to generate a final beneficiary
survey in the framework of this operation.
The online survey for grant beneficiaries was facilitated through a programme called ‘Survey
Monkey’. The junior evaluation experts uploaded the questionnaires to the internet and
monitored the progress. It turned out to be a problem that the address data stored in the GMIS and published in the grant scheme compendia were outdated. Each grant beneficiary
was provided with the link to the questionnaire and a password. When the feedback at the
deadline was poor the team started to call all those beneficiaries who had not entered data
into the online questionnaire. During these calls, address data such as postal addresses,
telephone numbers and e-mail addresses were revised and updated.
The following graph displays the progress in answering the questionnaires before and after
the calls. The graph exemplifies that without the one-by-one calls it would not have been
possible to reach a representative sample of grant beneficiaries with the survey.
:
10
The G-MIS contained names and ID numbers of 46.858 training participants in five HRD OP grant schemes by 31 st
December 2011 but it is not possible to build a representative sample because data are not complete – see IPA Annual
Implementation Report, 31 August 2012, p.85
Graph 1: Progress of online questionnaire completion
The following graphs display the relation between questionnaires completed before and after
the one-by-one calls. They reveal how important it was to start such an activity:
Graph 2: Relation of feedback to online survey before and after calls (PWE)
Graph 3: Relation of feedback to online survey before and after calls (PYE)
Graph 4: Relation of feedback to online survey before and after calls (PRE)
In order to underpin the necessity of the calls the team wants to highlight the number of calls
and the follow-up in terms of revised e-mail addresses alone (not covering new addresses,
contact persons, etc.). All together, the calls per grant scheme can be summarised as
follows:



109 calls to PWE grant beneficiaries led to the revision of 36 addresses (= 33%)
120 calls to PYE grant beneficiaries led to the revision of 63 addresses (= 52.5%)
34 calls to PRE grant beneficiaries led to the revision of 23 addresses (= 67.6%)
As far as the overall response to the online survey is concerned, the number and the ratio of
answered questionnaires is very satisfactory: 157 questionnaires have been filled in by
representatives of the 299 grant scheme beneficiaries – that equals a response rate of
52.5%.
The following table shows the response per grant scheme:
Table 9: Response to online survey per grant scheme
Grant Scheme
PWE
PYE
PRE
TOTAL
No. of Projects
131
127
41
299
No. of Questionnaires
65
65
27
157
Response Rate
49.6%
51.1%
65.8%
52.5%
The results of the questionnaires have been analysed by the evaluation team. The results
will be shown by graphs and charts in the relevant sections under Section B of the report.
2.3.9
Focus Group meetings with grant beneficiaries
Focus Groups (FG) provide a valuable opportunity for evaluators to get in touch directly with
grant beneficiaries as well as final beneficiaries. Yet, in the case of HRD OP Priority 1 it was
a problem that the implementation of the grant scheme projects had been finalised more than
a year ago. Hence it was very difficult to identify appropriate participants for Focus Group
meetings.
According to the ToR, the team was supposed to do the following:
One focus-group of 10 to 12 Beneficiary Entities should be organized per each grant
scheme, including the diversity of type of entities and of approach to programme (size of
entity, size of grant received, geographical diversity, etc.).
One focus-group of 10 to 12 persons per each grant scheme that benefited from the actions
should be organized, including the diversity of approach to programme (gender, age,
urban/rural, etc.).
That would have meant to organise and implement three FG meetings (one for each of the
schemes: PYE, PWE, PRE) with grant beneficiaries and another three meetings (with the
same set-up) for final beneficiaries.
The team’s original plan to visit four different provinces had to be boiled down due to
contractual reasons. It was not possible to use incidentals in order to provide grant
beneficiaries from the hinterlands with a reimbursement of travel expenses for a trip to the
next growth centre. Thus, the involvement of grant beneficiaries from the hinterlands turned
out to be impossible – organising FG meetings in hinterland provinces would not have been
possible because of the lack of a “critical mass” of projects.
The evaluation team therefore had to take decisions on FG locations mainly based on issues
like the total number of awarded projects, the existence of a sample of projects covering all
three schemes and the actual availability of a “critical mass” of project representatives who
were willing to participate in these meetings on a voluntary basis. All three conditions were
not easy to find:




There are lots of provinces in which the number of awarded projects is too small in
order to generate a meaningful sample of participants in a FG meeting.
There are lots of provinces in which awarded projects only cover one or two of the
grant schemes.
Since the implementation of the grant schemes was long ago there were many cases
in which the contact information for grant beneficiaries was outdated. Addresses had
changed, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses did no longer exist, contact
persons had left the institutions.
It is very likely that the eligibility of a procedure that allowed for taking over travel and
accommodation expenses of grant scheme beneficiaries would have significantly
increased the number of FG participants.
The final decision of the evaluation team was to conduct FG meetings in three different
provinces:



Ankara because a significant amount of applications (103) had been submitted by
institutions based in Ankara out of which 19 had actually been awarded and covered
all three grant schemes. Ankara based projects also offered the opportunity to cover
a sample of different provinces since they were all implemented in a variety of the
eligible provinces in the 12 NUTS II provinces. On the other hand, these projects
were mainly implemented by nation-wide acting institutions which operate a network
of local members or affiliated institutions.
Samsun because this province represents one of the economically better-off
provinces at the Black Sea coast that provided a sample of 28 projects from all three
grant schemes – no other province in Turkey has won more projects than Samsun.
The area is the most developed industrial region at the Black Sea.
Van because this province represents the lesser developed Eastern Anatolian area.
Van is Turkey’s no.2 province in acquiring EU donor money which is reflected by the
fact that no other province has even produced half as many applications (namely:
242) than Van. In addition 13 projects had been awarded across all three schemes.
The earthquake of 2011 added particular problems to the implementation of projects
in the area which is particularly weak for instance in relation to women employment
and provides mainly agricultural employment opportunities.
The evaluation team produced a set of questions which was mainly formulated around three
major issues to be covered:
A. Project development, application and selection
B. Project implementation
C. Outputs and results
Focus group meetings were finally held in the three provinces as indicated below:



Ankara between 27th-28th June for three grant scheme programmes with 12 grant
beneficiaries.
Samsun 2nd-3rd July for three grant scheme programmes with 31 grant beneficiaries.
Van 2nd-3rd July for three grant scheme programmes with 11 grant beneficiaries.
Results will be displayed in the respective grant scheme related chapters in Section B.
2.3.10 Focus Group meetings with final beneficiaries
According to the ToR, the team was supposed to do the following:
One focus-group of 10 to 12 persons per each grant scheme that benefited from the actions
should be organized, including the diversity of approach to programme (gender, age,
urban/rural, etc.).
Focus Groups (FG) provide valuable information to measure the effects and sustainability of
the grant projects when providing final beneficiaries with the floor to tell about the outcomes
of the projects they participated in and their employment-related situation afterwards.
However, it turned out that the problems described above were even more difficult to solve in
relation to final beneficiaries.
It was very difficult to reach them. There was no contact information of final beneficiaries in
GMIS. Thus, the evaluation team requested lists from GBs to send them by e-mail or bring
the lists to focus groups organized for GBs. Yet, in many cases the grant beneficiaries did
not follow up on their participant and hence could not provide the evaluation team with
names and addresses.
Even more difficult was it to access PRE final beneficiaries since these projects did not have
unemployed persons as target groups but rather businessmen, employers, companies or
self-employed people who – having to run their businesses – did not have the time nor did
they feel an obligation to participate in such meetings. In addition, many of the final
beneficiaries live in rural areas far away from the province capital. Thus even the help of the
grant beneficiaries did not motivate them to come. As a consequence no PRE FG meeting
for final beneficiaries could be held.
During the FG meetings in Ankara the team did not foresee any meeting for final
beneficiaries since the projects had not been implemented in Ankara but in the 12 eligible
NUTS II regions. Hence it would have been necessary to pay travel expenses for
beneficiaries to come to Ankara from various far away regions – which was not possible.
During the field trips the situation was different. According to the plan on the provincial visits,
focus group meetings with final beneficiaries should be held in the afternoon of the second
day. These FGs were carried out in Samsun and Van as follows:


Samsun 3rd July for two grant scheme programmes (PWE and PYE) with 11 final
beneficiaries.
Van 3rd July for two grant scheme programmes (PWE and PYE) with 16 final
beneficiaries.
The evaluation team had produced a set of questions which was mainly formulated around
three phases to be covered:
A. Situation before the training
B. Participation in the training
C. Finding job / establishing business after the training
Results will be displayed in the respective grant scheme related chapters in Section B.
2.3.11 Regular meetings with the beneficiary
The evaluation team worked together closely with the PMMEU as the unit which was
responsible for this evaluation. Particularly in the first two months of the work it was of utmost
importance to maintain a very close connection with the Unit Coordinator, Mr. Melih Akın,
and his colleagues in order to make sure that the team was on track. The meetings were
used as a platform to present and discuss the project progress, explain initial results and
findings, receive advice from PMMEU on particular issues whenever requested, and to take
decisions on the work procession.
From the start of the field trips which were followed by the advent of the Ramadan month,
meetings were no longer held regularly but rather on demand.
The following beneficiary meetings have been held:
Table 10: Beneficiary meetings11
Date
May 2
Number of meeting
Kick-off meeting
May 3
2nd meeting
May 6
3rd meeting
May 8
4th meeting
May 13
5th meeting
May 17
6th meeting
May 21
7th meeting
May 22
May 27
May 28
8th meeting
9th meeting
10th meeting
May 31
11th meeting
June 4
12th meeting
11
Main Topics
 Expectations of the beneficiary
 Preparations by the contractor
 Pool of experts
 Methodological questions
 Conflict of interest
 Team composition
 Expectations of the beneficiary
 Stakeholder consultation
 Team composition
 Background analysis
 Data acquisition
 Scope of the evaluation
 Methodological approach
 Mobilisation
 Team composition
 Availability of data on grant scheme implementation
 Road Map
 Team composition
 Assessment of grant schemes
 Background analysis
 Achievement Book
 Background analysis
 Stakeholder consultation
 Presentation of grant scheme related work
 Achievement Book
 Background analysis
 Data consolidation
 Stakeholder consultation meeting
 Stakeholder consultation meeting
 Stakeholder consultation meeting
 Background analysis
 Stakeholder consultation meeting presentations
 Speaking note
 Stakeholder consultation meeting – Feedback
 Work planning
 Plans for the field work
 Grant beneficiary survey
 Interview guideline for OB meetings
All meetings have been duly reported and reports been sent to the beneficiary. Hence it is not necessary to attach these
minutes to this report.
June 7
13th meeting
June 14
14th meeting
June 21
15th meeting
July 8
16th meeting
July 30
17th meeting
August 16
18th meeting
September
17
19th meeting
September
26
20th meeting







































Focus group questionnaires
Team composition
Grant beneficiary survey
Interview guideline for OB interviews
Arrangements for next week
Team composition
Week review
Preparation of focus groups
Field trips
Academic feedback
Decisions
Revision of plans for field trips
Online survey for grant beneficiaries
Additional meetings in Ankara
Interviews within OS and with OBs
Replacement of one junior expert
Academic workshop
Holiday plan
Introduction of new team member
Online survey for grant beneficiaries
Review of interviews with stakeholders
Review of Focus Group meetings: Ankara, Samsun, Van
Review of interviews with local stakeholders: Samsun, Van
Next steps
Effects of HRD OP at policy level
Gender mainstreaming approaches
Good governance approach
Assessment of the view of final beneficiaries
Next steps
Presentation of the Report Structure
Schedule of Activities
Agreement on Progress
Translation
Relation to Achievement Book and Mainstreaming Strategy
Presentation of the draft evaluation report
Discussion of findings
Discussion of next steps
Discussion of report shaping
Stakeholder Consultation Preparation
3. Background Analysis
3.1 Socio-economic context of the HRD OP
3.1.1 Demographic development - Fertility and Annual Growth Rates
In the years preceding the launch of the HRD OP, there had been a constant decline of the
fertility rate although the population growth rate was still significant. In 2006 the population
growth rate lay at 1.24% while the fertility rate was 2.18. According to TURKSTAT the
predictions for 2010 and 2013 were12:
Table 11: Fertility Rate and Annual Growth Rate of Population predicted in 2006
Year
2010
2013
Fertility Rate
2.12
2.07
Annual Growth Rate of Population (%)
1.11
1.01
The actual development of these figures shows that the predictions assumed a further
decline which has in fact been much less fast and can even be compared with the rates valid
at the programme launch.13
Table 12: Fertility Rate and Annual Growth Rate of Population by years
Issue
2005
2006
Fertility Rate 2.19 (1,94) 2.18 (1,92)
Annual
Population
Growth Rate 1.26 (1,09) 1.24 (1.06)
3.1.2
2007
1.89
2008
1.87
2009
2.08
2010
2.06
2011
2.02
2012
2.13
1.04
1.01
1.31
1.27
1.24
1.20
Demographic development - Population Growth related to Age Groups
Before HRD OP was launched Turkey faced a (very) rapid population growth. Projections
predicted an increase of the population segment in working age (25-64 years) by almost 50%
between the years 2000 and 2020.14
Table 13: Population Projections for Turkey (million persons)
Age Groups
0-4
5-14
15-24
25-64
65+
TOTAL
12
2000
7.152.000
13.056.000
13.456.000
30.134.000
3.622.000
67.420.000
HRDOP 2007, Table 2, p.11
TURKSTAT and CIA World Fact Book
14
HRDOP 2007, Table 3, p.12
13
2010
6.626.000
13.696.000
12.975.000
38.411.000
4.797.000
76.505.000
2020
6.485.000
13.067.000
13.619.000
44.594.000
6.537.000
84.301.000
2025
6.442.000
12.932.000
13.110.000
47.353.000
7.919.000
87.756.000
Until the end of 2012, the Turkish population actually grew as follows:15
Table 14: Total population by years and age groups
Age
Groups
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
0-4
5.793.906
5.998.258
6.155.321
6.178.723
6.199.824
6.198.957
5-14
12.848.485
12.790.329
12.704.013
12.699.859
12.686.751
12.658.222
15-24
12.397.606
12.441.662
12.514.737
12.545.094
12.542.174
12.591.641
25-64
34.546.084
35.393.428
36.103.827
36.971.576
37.804.805
38.496.561
65+
5.000.175
4.893.423
5.083.414
5.327.736
5.490.715
5.682.003
TOTAL
70.586.256
71.517.100
72.561.312
73.722.988
74.724.269
75.627.384
More comprehensive data related to 2012 show the following actual situation:16
Graph 5: Demographics of Republic of Turkey, 31 December 2012
Demographics of Republic of Turkey
1961–2010
Population:
75,627,384
(31 December 2012)
Growth rate:
1.2% (2012)
Birth rate:
17.0 births/1,000
population (2012)
Death rate:
5.0 deaths/1,000
population (2012)
15
16
Life expectancy:
74.5 years (2011)
–male:
72.0 years (2011)
TURKSTAT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Turkey, 15 May 2013
–female:
77.1 years (2011)
Fertility rate:
2.08 children born/woman (2012)
Infant mortality
11.6 deaths/1000 infants (2012)
rate:
Age structure
0-14 years:
24.5% (2013)
15-64 years:
67.8% (2013)
65-over:
7.7% (2013)
Sex ratio
At birth:
1.05 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Under 15:
1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
1.03 male(s)/female
65-over:
0.84 male(s)/female
These figures allow for the following conclusions:




In absolute figures, the population of Turkey was at least one million smaller by the
end of 2012 than it had been predicted for 2010. Although the population growth rate
is actually bigger than predicted the increase of the population has apparently been
slower than predicted. This might have to do with the fact that the fertility rates
decreased during the years of the economic crisis.
As far as the population in working ages (15-64 years) is concerned, the increase is
likewise slower than expected. 51.088.202 people were in that age group by the end
of 2012 which is almost the figure predicted for 2010 (51.386.000).
The figures for children (0-14 years) are significantly smaller than predicted
(18.857.179 by the end of 2012 against 20.322.000 predicted for 2010), while the
number of old people (65+) is slightly higher than expected.
Altogether it can be said that – most likely due to the recession in the years 2008 and
2009 – the growth of the Turkish population has in general decelerated which
supposedly should have a positive impact on the labour market situation as well.
3.2 Macro-economic Development
3.2.1 GDP Growth Rates and Related Data
The macro-economic development of the Turkish Republic reflects the ups and downs of the
world economy following the banking crisis in the years 2008 and 2009. Hence the
amplitudes are huge.17
Table 15: Annual GDP Growth Rate (%)
EU 27
Turkey
2006
3,3
6,9
2007
3,2
4,7
2008
0,3
0,7
2009
-4,3
-4,8
2010
2,1
9,0
2011
1,6
8,8*
2012
-0,3
2.2*
*forecasts
The figure for 2012 has been confirmed by TURKSTAT. The steep drop in economic activity
was largely engineered by Turkey's central bank, which dramatically tightened policy after
Turkey's breakneck expansion averaging 9% in 2010-2011 spurred investor fears that the
economy was overheating.18
At an individual level, GDP per capita rates in Turkey also reflected the economic situation.
They slightly went down during the crisis and have since then grown again:19
Table 16: GDP per capita ($)
GDP
2006
7.586
2007
9.240
2008
10.438
2009
8.559
2010
10.022
2011
10.466
2012
10.504
This development is reflected by the development of the inflation rate which remained
relatively stable with the exception of the crisis year 2008:20
Table 17: Annual Inflation Rates (%)
Turkey
2006
9,26
2007
8,79
2008
10,44
2009
6,28
2010
8,59
2011
6,45
2012
9,00
3.2.2 Sectoral Data
Although previous years have seen a structural shift of the Turkish economy from agriculture
to industry and services, the share of the different sectors in Turkey’s economic growth
reveals that it is still the industry which is the main engine of the economy while services
enjoyed an unbroken growth even during the crisis:21
Table 18: Sectors’ Growth Rates in GDP (%)
Agriculture
17
2006
1,4
2007
-6,7
2008
4,3
2009
3,6
2010
2,4
2011
5,3
EUROSTAT statistics,
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=tec00115
18
The Wall Street Journal, 1st April 2013,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323296504578396200677967468.html#
19 TURKSTAT
20 http://www.inflation.eu/inflation-rates/turkey/historic-inflation/hicp-inflation-turkey.aspx
21 OECD Country Profile Turkey, http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/country-statistical-profile-turkey_20752288-table-tur
Industry
Services
8,3
10,3
5,8
8,3
0,3
6,8
-6,9
6,3
12.8
5,7
9,2
7,7
Turkey’s industry has benefitted from urbanisation, privatisation schemes and global growth
in the competitive sectors. These remain to be clothing and textiles, cement, iron and steel
and vehicles manufacturing in the industrial sector as well as the agribusiness in the primary
and tourism in the tertiary sector.22
It is interesting to observe that the shares of the three sectors in the GDP remained
relatively stable. Industry has even increased its share at the expense of the services:23
Table 19: Sectors’ Shares in GDP (%)
Agriculture
Industry
Services
2006
9,0
24,5
66,4
2008
8,5
27,2
64,3
2011*
9,2
26,9
63,9
*estimates
Overall, the figures demonstrate a stable economic growth which is usually significantly
stronger than in the Member States of the EU.
In the view of the OECD, this development can be traced back to Turkey’s efficient macroeconomic and structural policies following the global crisis, accompanied by strong job
creation. Since mid-2011 the economy faces a slowdown which supports it from
overheating.24
Altogether it can be said that the macro-economic framework of the HRD OP has not gone
through significant changes in the period since the start of the programme’s implementation.
The government’s structural policy has actively promoted growth. It remains to be seen to
what extent this positive development is reflected on the labour market.
Yet, it is reasonable to have a closer look at the development of individual branches with a
view to identifying those which might offer better opportunities for more employment. The
development is again looked upon the previous six years.25
Table 20: Sectoral Share of GDP by Economic Activities
Economic
Activity
Agriculture,
hunting, forestry
Fishing
Mining
and
quarrying
Manufacturing
Electricity, gas
and
water
supply
22
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
8.0
7.4
7.4
8.1
8.3
7.8
7.8
0.2
1.2
0.2
1.2
0.2
1.4
0.2
1.5
0.2
1.4
0.2
1.5
0.2
1.5
17.2
1.8
16.8
1.9
16.2
2.2
15.2
2.4
15.7
2.3
16.2
2.2
15.6
2.3
Accenture: Turkey – Summary of labour market and skills issues, 2012, p.5
HRDOP, Table 8, p.15, TURKSTAT and CIA World Fact Book, http://www.gfmag.com/gdp-data-country-reports/157-turkeygdp-country-report.html#axzz2TMO2kvh0
24 OECD Economic Surveys Turkey July 2012, p.4
25 TURKSTAT
23
Construction
Wholesale and
retail trade
Hotels
and
restaurants
Transport,
storage
and
communication
Financial
intermediation
Ownership and
dwelling
Real
estate,
renting
and
business
activities
Public
administration
and
defence;
compulsory
social security
Education
Health
and
social work
Other
community,
social
and
personnel
service activities
Private
households with
employed
persons
Sectoral total
Financial
intermediation
services
indirectly
measured
Taxes,
subsidies
GDP
(Purchaser’s
Price)
4.7
12.5
4.9
12.2
4.7
12.2
3.8
10.9
4.2
11.0
4.5
12.0
4.4
12.2
2.2
2.3
2.2
2.5
2.3
2.3
2.4
13.7
13.9
14.2
13.4
13.1
13.5
14.0
2.9
3.2
3.5
4.5
3.7
3.1
3.3
9.8
10.8
11.2
12.3
11.2
10.0
9.7
3.7
4.1
4.3
4.7
4.8
4.7
5.0
3.9
3.8
3.8
4.3
4.2
4.0
4.3
2.8
1.6
2.9
1.6
2.9
1.6
3.3
1.7
3.3
1.6
3.3
1.5
3.5
1.5
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.7
1.6
1.6
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
0.2
88.1
1.4
89.5
1.5
89.9
1.6
90.8
2.3
89.2
1.8
88.7
1.3
89.2
1.6
13.2
12.1
11.7
11.5
12.5
12.7
12.4
100,0
100,0
100,0
100,0
100,0
100,0
100,0
According to these figures, some conclusions can be drawn:



Traditionally important sectors have slightly decreased in their importance for the
Turkish economy: Manufacturing -1.6, construction -0.3, wholesale and retail trade 0.3.
Other areas have gained significantly: Real estate +1.3, public administration +0.4,
education +0.7, transport +0.3, hotels and restaurants +0.2.
Yet, no specific trends can be analysed except the general shift from industry to
services while industry nevertheless has strong importance for the GDP.

Obviously, the sectors with increases appear to require more skills than those on the
decline. Hence the development towards more specific skills is likely to continue.
3.2.3 Labour Productivity
A final indicator for the macro-economic development is a country’s labour productivity. The
OECD figures for Turkey were last published in 2011:26
Table 21: Breakdown of GDP per capita in its components, 2011
Component
GDP per head of population in $
GDP per head of population as % of USA
(USA=100)
GDP per hour worked, current prices, $
GDP per hour worked as % of USA (USA=100)
Gap in labour utilisation with respect to the US (in %
points)
Hours worked per head of population
Gap in GDP per capita with respect to the US (in %
points)
Gap in GDP per hour worked with respect to the
USA (in % points)
Gap in hours worked per capita with respect to the
USA (in % points)
G7 countries
40.939
73
OECD total
35.058
85
Turkey
17.468
36
53.3
88
-3
44.6
74
-1
28.1
47
-10
769
-15
786
-27
621
-64
-12
-26
-53
-4
-1
-22
Table 22: Labour Productivity Annual Growth Rate
G7
Eurozone
OECD total
Turkey
2006
1.3
2.2
1.5
4.5
2007
1.2
1.4
1.7
4.7
2008
0.2
-0.2
-0.1
-0.9
2009
0.5
-1.2
-0.3
-4.3
2010
2.3
2.0
2.1
3.1
2011
1.5
1.2
1.5
2.5
The figures reveal that Turkey’s labour productivity is still far beyond the average of the
OECD total, let alone the G7 countries. Yet, the productivity increases in sizes unknown to
those areas – notwithstanding showing high amplitudes in both directions.
3.3 General Overview of the Development of the Labour Market
3.3.1
Labour Force Participation
Labour force participation rates are a traditionally weak point of the Turkish economy.
Compared to Western countries, the participation rates have always been extremely low –
the lowest among all OECD countries27. For the age group 15+, the original labour force
26
OECD Statistics; http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DatasetCode=LEVEL
ILO: Factors that affect women’s labour force participation and suggestions for provincial employment and vocational
educational boards: Ankara, Gaziantep and Konya, 2010; p.6
www.ilo.org/public/english/region/eurpro/ankara/areas/woman/3_rapor/ank_ant_konya_women.pdf
27
participation rates have slightly gone up in recent years – after having dumped in the crisis –
without reaching the 2006 rate again:28
Table 23: Labour Force Participation Rate (Original) – Age Group 15+ (non-institutional population)
Turkey
Male
Female
2006
51,1
69,9
26,7
2007
46,2
69,8
23,6
2008
46,9
70,1
24,5
2009
47,9
70,5
26,0
2010
48,8
70,8
27,6
2011
49,9
71,7
28,8
2012
50,0
71,0
29,5
As far as the gender gap is concerned the situation has not really changed. While the male
participation rates in the previous years have constantly been around 70%, the female rates
rose slowly but remained underneath the 30% barrier which reflects the cultural habit that the
breadwinner in Turkey is still the man while women have to a high extent to carry the
responsibilities for household works and care related to children or the elderly. This role
model is somehow promoted by the design of the Turkish welfare system that supports the
perception that women’s contribution to the household is by being the recipient of welfare
benefits and thus creates a cultural belief that women should not engage in formal
employment.29 Slight progress in the women participation rates, however, cannot be denied.
Nevertheless, the overall importance of the agricultural sector in relation to female
employment is still reflected by the statistics:30
Table 24: Sectoral share in men and women employment (%), 2010
Sectors
Agriculture
Industry
Services
Men
17
31
52
Women
42
15
42
Within Turkey it is obvious that strong regional disparities exist in terms of the economic
power and the employment and unemployment situation. This has been the reason for
concentrating the funds dispersion on the least developed NUTS II regions in Turkey during
the first years of the HRD OP implementation. In the upcoming years this will change and the
more developed regions will also have their share of funds.
Nevertheless it is worthwhile to look at the question to what extent the regional disparities
might have changed during the implementation of the HRD OP.
It can hardly be expected that the HRDOP with its somehow roundabout 300 employmentrelated grant scheme projects would have had a significant impact on the development of the
labour force participation in the 12 NUTS II regions in which projects were eligible. Moreover,
the government has other means of funding at its hand in relation to regional development.
Yet, the programme should take into account the different level of development across the
NUTS II regions when it comes to developing selection criteria for future grant schemes
28
EUROSTAT
Buğra, A., Yakut-Cakar, B.: Structural change, the social policy environment and female employment in Turkey, in:
Development and Change, Vol.41, p.517-538, 2010; see also Coşkun Durnel, J.: Female labour force participation in economic
development process: The case of Turkey, 2010, p.31
30 See 14
29
which might have to decide between the diverging poles of a preferred regional distribution
justice or the primate of quality as most important criterion.
The following table shows the development of the labour force participation rates of the
NUTS II regions in Turkey in the previous years:31
Table 25: Labour Force Participation Rates (%) by NUTS II Regions
Region
TR10
Male
Female
TR21
Male
Female
TR22
Male
Female
TR31
Male
Female
TR32
Male
Female
TR33
Male
Female
TR41
Male
Female
TR42
Male
Female
TR51
Male
Female
TR52
Male
Female
TR61
Male
Female
TR62
Male
Female
TR63
Male
Female
TR71
Male
Female
TR72
Male
Female
TR81
31
EUROSTAT
2006
44,2
67,6
19,9
54,3
77,1
30,4
50,8
71,8
30,6
42,8
64,5
20,8
50,7
71,3
30,5
47,5
69,9
25,5
48,8
70,3
26,7
43,3
67,0
19,0
42,8
65,1
20,6
40,0
66,9
14,1
55,4
75,3
34,7
40,8
63,6
18,7
40,9
61,7
22,0
45,0
66,3
25,0
37,3
63,9
11,9
50,7
2007
43,9
67,3
19,8
52,3
74,0
30,0
53,5
73,2
34,0
45,2
66,3
24,0
49,1
69,3
29,2
45,5
67,8
23,2
49,1
70,8
26,5
43,6
68,0
19,1
43,4
66,6
20,2
43,6
70,5
17,6
56,3
75,6
36,6
42,6
65,6
20,2
40,4
62,7
20,1
42,9
66,5
20,5
39,5
65,8
14,2
49,7
2008
44,2
66,8
20,7
51,7
71,0
31,8
49,0
69,1
28,8
43,5
64,1
23,3
49,7
69,4
30,1
43,8
67,5
20,2
48,1
71,1
24,6
45,5
68,5
22,5
43,1
65,4
21,0
49,4
73,2
25,9
55,7
75,0
35,8
41,9
63,9
20,4
40,6
63,1
20,2
37,9
63,4
14,6
38,5
64,3
13,5
54,5
2009
41,5
63,0
19,6
51,3
70,4
31,3
50,1
69,4
31,3
42,7
61,3
24,9
51,0
69,3
32,7
45,2
66,8
24,1
45,3
65,7
24,6
44,7
66,6
22,8
42,0
62,7
21,7
51,1
73,2
29,3
53,2
71,5
34,4
42,8
62,7
23,2
40,5
62,6
19,8
39,9
61,6
18,8
39,0
62,3
15,8
56,7
2010
43,9
65,9
21,5
53,6
72,7
33,6
50,3
68,4
32,1
46,8
65,6
28,5
52,6
70,3
34,9
49,4
70,7
28,5
45,9
66,6
24,8
46,5
67,6
25,1
44,1
65,4
23,2
50,6
73,2
28,7
55,4
73,1
37,5
46,9
66,4
27,7
45,2
65,6
26,3
45,4
66,9
25,2
42,1
64,7
19,9
51,1
2011
46,3
68,9
23,3
54,8
75,9
32,5
51,3
70,4
32,4
50,2
70,5
30,1
54,8
71,6
38,2
55,4
74,8
35,9
48,7
70,1
27,1
51,0
70,9
30,7
46,2
68,5
24,5
49,8
73,5
26,8
57,2
75,0
39,7
49,5
70,1
29,3
46,2
66,4
27,3
46,6
69,6
24,3
48,4
68,6
28,2
56,5
2012
48,5
69,9
26,6
55,2
76,1
33,6
51,6
69,3
33,6
49,6
69,3
30,1
57,7
73,0
42,3
57,9
76,1
39,4
49,5
70,6
27,9
51,5
71,7
30,7
47,1
69,4
25,4
49,8
73,8
26,2
57,0
75,5
38,9
47,9
69,3
26,8
45,9
67,0
26,3
47,2
69,8
25,6
50,7
70,7
30,5
58,0
Male
Female
TR82
Male
Female
TR83
Male
Female
TR90
Male
Female
TRA1
Male
Female
TRA2
Male
Female
TRB1
Male
Female
TRB2
Male
Female
TRC1
Male
Female
TRC2
Male
Female
TRC3
Male
Female
69,0
33,4
56,1
76,6
36,0
51,2
69,9
34,4
61,0
72,2
50,0
48,2
68,9
28,7
50,7
74,1
30,9
38,7
59,1
20,0
39,6
64,4
19,1
35,4
64,0
8,2
29,0
53,9
5,5
26,2
49,8
4,1
65,3
34,6
51,7
71,2
33,0
53,5
71,7
36,1
58,8
68,9
48,8
44,0
67,2
22,1
49,3
70,0
32,8
39,3
60,2
20,2
37,5
62,6
15,9
35,4
61,7
10,5
27,8
51,4
5,7
25,2
50,2
-
68,0
41,2
54,0
71,1
37,6
54,9
72,4
38,8
61,5
73,2
49,8
50,6
69,1
32,8
51,0
70,3
34,5
38,7
62,6
16,6
34,6
59,5
11,7
38,7
62,1
15,6
28,6
51,1
8,1
26,7
52,1
3,6
70,1
43,3
51,3
68,0
35,2
55,2
70,9
40,8
61,3
72,3
50,3
51,2
69,2
34,1
49,1
68,8
30,5
40,2
61,4
20,1
36,1
59,3
13,2
37,1
60,3
14,1
29,3
51,2
8,3
28,5
53,8
4,8
64,7
37,6
57,2
72,7
42,5
51,2
69,4
34,2
58,6
69,5
47,5
53,1
71,6
35,1
48,2
68,7
29,2
44,2
65,5
24,5
38,0
60,8
15,8
41,8
66,1
17
30,6
52,5
9,9
33,8
59
10,2
69,4
44,2
61,6
76,2
47,6
53,9
71,2
37,3
57,6
69,6
45,7
50,9
71,4
30,4
51,2
69,7
32,2
45,8
68,0
24,4
43,0
65,5
21,4
38,8
64,7
13,3
31,5
56,2
8,1
31,6
57,2
7,7
70,9
45,2
56,9
71,7
42,7
50,1
68,0
32,9
56,7
67,9
45,8
49,1
69,9
28,6
53,8
71,5
34,9
48,4
66,7
30,7
43,4
65,2
21,8
40,8
67,3
15,3
28,3
50,5
6,9
29,2
53,5
6,5
Looking at the total labour force participation figures we can draw the following conclusions
for the previous seven years:




The strongest development in regions can be observed in TR72 Kayseri with +13,4
percentage points, then TR33 Manisa with +10,4 and TR52 Konya with +9,8.
Some regions, however, have suffered a negative growth. Most significantly this can
be stated for TR90 Trabzon with -4,3 points, then TR83 Samsun with -1,1 and TRC2
Şanlıurfa with -0,7.
The best performance in 2012 was shown by TR81 Zonguldak with a participation
rate of 58,0% followed by TR32 Manisa with 57,9% and TR32 Aydın with 57,7%.
The lowest performers are located in TRC2 Şanlıurfa (28,3%) followed by TRC3
Mardin (29,2%) and TRC1 Gaziantep (40,8%).
As far as male labour force participation is concerned the situation is as follows:


The strongest development in regions can be observed in TRB1 Malatya with +7,6
percentage points followed by TR52 Konya (+6,9) and TR72 Kayseri (+6,8).
Some regions, however, have suffered a negative growth. Most significantly this can
be stated for TR82 Kastamonu (-4,9) followed by TR90 Trabzon (-4,3) and TRC2
Şanlıurfa (-3,4).


The best performance in 2012 was shown by TR21 Tekirdağ and TR33 Manisa with
each 76,1% followed by TR61 Antalya with 75,5%.
The lowest performers are located in TRC2 Şanlıurfa with 50,5%, then TRC3 Mardin
(53,5%) and TRB2 Van (65,2%).
In relation to the female labour force participation we can observe the following:






The biggest leap was achieved by TR33 Manisa with +13,9 percentage points,
followed by TR52 Konya (+12,1) and TR32 Aydın and TR81 Zonguldak with each
+11,8 points.
Particularly remarkable was the development in TR72 Kayseri where women’s
participation rate was almost tripled from 11,9 to 30,5%.
Negative growth also occurred in some regions. The most negative development is
shown in TR90 Trabzon with -4,2 points, then in TR83 Samsun (-1,5) and TRA1
Erzurum (-0,1).
The best performance in 2012 can be observed in TR90 Trabzon with a female
participation rate of 45,8% followed by TR81 Zonguldak (45,2%) and TR82
Kastamonu (42,7%).
At the low end are located TRC3 Mardin with only 6,5%, then TRC2 Şanlıurfa with
6,9% and TRC1 Gaziantep with 15,3%.
How important the issue of raising female participation rates is might be
demonstrated by the fact that still 62.5% of women at working age have no personal
income at all as opposed to a minority of only 5.4% among men.32 More measures
related to improving female participation rates are therefore urgently needed.
Some regions show surprisingly high differences in the development related to men and
women:


In TR82 Kastamonu the male rate went down by 4,9 points while the female rate rose
by staggering 6,7.
In TRA2 Ağrı the male rate decreased by 2,6 points and the female rate increased by
4 points.
In general it can be said that the majority of regions has faced a positive development
through the past seven years. The decision of the government to extend the coverage of the
HRD OP to the whole country is certainly justified if the situation across the country is being
compared. Istanbul for example has almost the same participation figures as Hatay region:
48,5% compared to 45,9%, male rate 69,9% to 67,0%, female rate 26,6% to 26,3%. There is
a growing cohesion trend in the participation rates across the country which fully justifies the
decision to let the Western regions of Turkey participate in the future HRD OP measures.
3.3.2
Employment Rates: General Employment Rates and Employment Status
Employment rates had declined in Turkey after the end of the 1980s and stood at 45.9% in
2006 before the HRD OP was launched. In the following years there has been a significant
increase which even surpassed the figures which were valid when the decline had begun:33
32
Dedeoğlu, S. and Elveren, A.: Gender and society in Turkey: The impact of neoliberal policies, political Islam and EU
accession (2012), p.68
33 EUROSTAT
Table 26: Employment Rates in % (age 15-64) by sexes
Employment Rate (%)
EU-27
Male
Female
Turkey
Male
Female
2005
63.4
70.7
56.0
45.9*
68.2*
23.7*
2006
64.3
71.6
57.1
44.6
66.9
22.7
2007
65.3
72.4
58.1
44.6
66.8
22.8
2008
65.7
72.7
58.8
44.9
66.6
23.5
2009
64.5
70.6
58.3
44.3
64.5
24.2
2010
64.0
70.0
58.1
46.3
66.7
26.2
2011
64.2
70.0
58.4
48.4
69.2
27.8
2012
64.1
69.6
58.5
48.9
69.2
28.7
* (age group 20-64)
The increase as far as women are concerned is particularly high. The efforts of the Turkish
government that stressed the promotion of women employment appear to have been
successful. In parallel, it can be assumed that the government’s activities related to
promoting registered employment have participated to the rising employment figures. More
and more people in Turkey prefer to register with the Social Security Institution in order to
participate in social insurance schemes. According to latest reviews the figure for
unregistered employment have for the first time undercut the 40% mark and reached an alltime low of 36.2% in January 2013.34
In relation to the EU27 statistics, however, the differences are still significant. Turkish
employment rates have certainly increased while the EU ones more or less stagnated – yet,
Turkey is still far behind the EU employment levels.
Another pattern that could be observed is the rising capacity of cities to absorb low-skilled
workers migrating from rural areas (urbanisation). It contributes to employment rate rises but
has also significant impact on the unemployment rates and the informal sector employment.35
A closer look at the employment status of those in employment allows for a wider set of
conclusions.36
Table 27: Employment according to employment status
Employment
Status
Total
Wage Earner
Employer
Self-Employed
Unpaid family
worker
Agriculture
Wage Earner
Employer
Self-Employed
Unpaid family
worker
NonAgriculture
Wage Earner
Employer
34
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
20.423.000 20.738.000 21.194.000 21.277.000 22.594.000 24.110.000 24.821.000
12.028.000 12.534.000 12.937.000 12.770.000 13.762.000 14.876.000 15.619.000
1.162.000 1.189.000 1.249.000 1.209.000 1.202.000 1.244.000 1.238.000
4.555.000 4.386.000 4.324.000 4.429.000 4.548.000 4.687.000 4.695.000
2.678.000
4.907.000
428.000
92.000
2.183.000
2.628.000
4.867.000
403.000
78.000
2.195.000
2.684.000
5.016.000
434.000
104.000
2.212.000
2.870.000
5.240.000
454.000
85.000
2.286.000
3.083.000
5.683.000
527.000
95.000
2.418.000
3.303.000
6.143.000
623.000
99.000
2.554.000
3.268.000
6.097.000
606.000
78.000
2.590.000
2.205.000
2.190.000
2.266.000
2.416.000
2.643.000
2.866.000
2.823.000
15.516.000 15.871.000 16.177.000 16.037.000 16.911.000 17.967.000 18.724.000
11.601.000 12.131.000 12.503.000 12.316.000 13.235.000 14.253.000 15.013.000
1.070.000 1.112.000 1.145.000 1.124.000 1.108.000 1.144.000 1.160.000
TURKSTAT, http://www.turkstat.gov.tr/Gosterge.do?id=58979&metod=IlgiliGosterge
World Bank: Turkey Labour Market Study, 2006; http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTTURKEY/Resources/3616161144320150009/Labor_Study.pdf
36 TURKSTAT
35
Self-Employed
Unpaid family
worker




2.372.000
2.190.000
2.112.000
2.143.000
2.129.000
2.132.000
2.105.000
474.000
438.000
417.000
454.000
440.000
437.000
446.000
As far as the total figures are concerned, the number of employers and self-employed
has more or less stagnated.
The number of wage owners has increased by about 25% while the number of unpaid
family workers rose slightly.
In the non-agricultural sector we find a strong increase at wage earner level while
unpaid family workers decreased, the number of employers remained stable and the
amount of self-employed people went down remarkably.
In the agricultural sector the situation is different: The number of employers has
decreased while the number of self-employed increased significantly.
Again we have to conclude that governmental efforts related to structural changes – also in
the labour legislation and the social insurance area – encouraged more people to work in an
official employment status. On the other hand it is obvious that the status of unpaid family
workers which predominantly occurs in the agricultural sector could not be fenced but – on
the contrary – rose significantly. Labour market activities subsequently have not (enough)
been focused on the agricultural sector which still provides a large part of the Turkish society
with work and living.
It is worthwhile to have a look at those people who declare themselves as “self-employed”
since that group might be a particular target group for support in relation to the mostly
precarious economic situation in which they live. The following data show the development of
self-employment in relation to overall employment:37
Table 28: Self-employment to total employment by sexes
Self-employment
Rate (%)
Turkey
Male
Female
2005
43.0
40.0
51.7
2006
41.1
38.3
49.2
2007
39.6
36.8
47.6
2008
39.0
36.1
46.8
2009
40.0
36.6
48.9
2010
39.1
35.1
49.3
2011
38.3
34.2
48.4
2012
N/A
N/A
N/A
As the figures above reveal, the share of self-employed among the employed has
continuously gone down in recent years. Yet, it is still close to 40%. The figures for women
have remained relatively stable and imply that almost 50% of all women employed in Turkey
are self-employed (which is currently more than 14 percentage points more than Turkish
men). Again, the conclusion has to be that support activities with a special focus on women
are necessary and justified in order to reduce these figures with a view to creating less
precarious employment conditions.
3.3.3 Interdependence of employment and educational attainments
In an age of increasing technical specification of work and technological progress requiring
for professional skills, work places for unskilled workers are on the decline. As a
consequence, employment often depends on the educational attainments a person has
37
OECD, Country Statistical Profile Turkey, 2013
achieved. It is therefore reasonable to have a look at employment rates related to
educational attainments.38
Table 29: Employment Rates by Educational Attainments
Employment Rate by Educational Attainment (25-64 years of age)
2006
2007
2008
2009
EU-27
Primary education
56.5
57.1
56.5
54.4
Secondary education
70.6
71.5
71.8
70.4
Tertiary education
83.2
83.8
83.8
82.9
Turkey
Primary education
43.3
43.1
43.0
42.7
Secondary education
54.6
54.6
54.8
52.3
Tertiary education
71.8
72.0
71.7
70.6
2010
2011
2012
53.4
69.9
82.3
53.0
69.9
82.1
52.2
69.7
81.9
45.1
54.0
72.0
47.3
55.8
72.8
47.6
55.9
72.9
The figures reveal the welcomed trend that employment rates went up across all three
groups in previous years while the group of persons with primary education only even was
particularly successful – yet, of course, starting from a relatively low level of employment.
In comparison, the EU countries have performed less good during the crisis. Their
employment rates are generally higher but struggle to get back to the level they already had
before the crisis. None of the three groups has reached that level again.
Nevertheless, there are still clearly defined target groups on the Turkish labour market that
deserve further activities. These groups include women and young people but also, for
instance, the still relatively large group of illiterate people out of which only less than 20%
participate in the labour force.39
In order to find out about the chances of a particular group on the labour market it is
worthwhile to have a look at the development of educational attainments in general. The
figures for Turkey look as follows:40
Table 30: Share of population by educational attainments and sexes
Share of population by Educational Attainment
2006
2007
Turkey - all
Primary education
71.7
70.8
Secondary education
19.9
20.4
Tertiary education
8.4
8.8
Total
100.0
100.0
Turkey - male
Primary education
65.9
65.0
Secondary education
24.0
24.4
Tertiary education
10.2
10.6
Total
100.0
100.0
Turkey - female
Primary education
77.4
76.5
Secondary education
16.0
16.5
Tertiary education
6.6
7.1
Total
100.0
100.0
38
and Sexes
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
70.6
19.9
9.5
100.0
70.8
19.2
10.0
100.0
70.7
18.8
10.5
100.0
70.0
18.7
11.3
100.0
68.5
19.1
12.4
100.0
65.0
23.8
11.2
100.0
65.7
22.7
11.6
100.0
65.6
22.2
12.3
100.0
64.8
22.0
13.1
100.0
63.4
22.4
14.2
100.0
76.1
16.1
7.7
100.0
75.9
15.7
8.4
100.0
75.8
15.4
8.8
100.0
75.0
15.5
9.5
100.0
73.6
15.9
10.6
100.0
EUROSTAT, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=de&pcode=tsdec430&plugin=1
Capar Dirioz, Sinem (Ministry of Development): Labour market trends and policies in Turkey, 2011, slide 11.
40 EUROSTAT
39
The development shows that:




In general the share of tertiary education is growing at the expense of primary and
secondary education.
The share of persons with tertiary education has grown exponentially by almost 50%.
Men usually still have a higher education on average than women. In 2012, 36.6% of
Turkish men had secondary or tertiary education attainments while the share among
women was 26.5% only.
Yet, in principle Turkish women are going to make better educational attainments
continuously. In relation to tertiary education the share of women is only five years
behind the development of men.
3.3.4 Employment of Particular Target Groups
The employment rates of women have already been scrutinized with the result that they still
lag behind the male rates which results in a clear justification of employment measures
aiming particularly at promoting women’s employment.
Since the HRD OP also puts a strong focus on the promotion of youth employment it is
worthwhile to have a more specific look at the situation of youth employment in Turkey.41
Table 31: Labour Force Status of Young People (aged 15-24)
Status
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Population 15-24 11.670.000 11.583.000 11.490.000 11.513.000 11.548.000 11.534.000 11.574.000
Labour Force
4.365.000 4.364.000 4.381.000 4.454.000 4.426.000 4.529.000 4.422.000
Employed
3.533.000 3.493.000 3.484.000 3.328.000 3.465.000 3.697.000 3.647.000
Unemployed
832.000
871.000
897.000 1.126.000
961.000
832.000
775.000
Labour Force
Participation Rate
(in %)
37,4
37,7
38,1
37,7
38,3
39,3
38,2
Unemployment
Rate (in %)
19,1
20,0
20,5
25,3
21,7
18,4
17,5
Non-agricultural
unemployment
rate (in %)
22,5
23,3
24,2
29,8
25,9
22,1
20,9
Employment Rate
(%)
30,3
30,2
30,3
28,9
30,0
32,1
31,5
Not in Labour
Force
7.305.000 7.218.000 7.109.000 7.059.000 7.122.000 7.005.000 7.152.000
The following observations can be made for the lifecycle of the HRD OP:


41
The number of members of this target group has surprisingly decreased
insignificantly. Hence the supply to the labour market from this group has not been
higher year by year as expected.
Young people’s participation in the labour force has slightly increased while
unemployment declined.
TURKSTAT Household Labour Force Survey


Yet, unemployment figures among the Turkish youth are still significantly higher in the
non-agricultural areas because agriculture still provides a lot of (mainly unpaid) work
for those living in rural areas.
It is a good sign, however, that the overall number of young people who don’t
participate in the labour force is on the decline. Yet, it has to be mentioned that the
percentage of younger workers (15-29 years of age) in the informal economy still by
far exceeds the percentage of adult workers (30-59 years): namely with 58.8%
compared to 43.8%. The share of young workers in the informal economy in Europe
as a whole is only at 17% compared to 7% for adult workers.42 39% of the young
people in Turkey are neither in employment nor in education or training while the
EU27 average is at 16.5%.43 Hence there is still a lot to do for the Turkish
government.
Child labour is still regarded as a problem in Turkey, particularly in the less developed areas
of the country’s Eastern provinces. It is therefore justified to look at the development in that
area with a view to assessing the need to undertake specific measures for this target group.44
Table 32: Development of Child Labour by years, age, sex and branches of economic activity
Children engaged in economic activities by age group, sex and branch of
economic activity, 2006 and 2012
Branch of economic activity
Age group
and sex
Total
2006
2012
Agriculture
2006
2012
Industry
2006
2012
Services
2006
2012
(Oct.-Nov- (Oct.-Nov- (Oct.-Nov- (Oct.-Nov- (Oct.-Nov- (Oct.-Nov- (Oct.-Nov- (Oct.-NovDec.)
Dec.)
Dec.)
Dec.)
Dec.)
Dec.)
Dec.)
Dec.)
TURKEY
Total (1.000)
6-14
15-17
Male
6-14
15-17
Female
6-14
15-17
890
285
605
601
190
411
289
95
194
893
292
601
614
185
430
279
108
171
326
152
174
172
89
84
154
63
90
399
200
198
236
117
118
163
83
80
275
50
225
189
31
158
85
19
66
217
40
178
168
30
138
49
9
40
289
83
206
240
71
169
50
12
37
277
52
225
210
37
173
67
15
52
31
11
20
19
8
12
11
3
8
232
44
188
159
28
132
73
17
56
162
30
132
127
23
104
35
7
28
226
58
168
188
49
139
38
9
29
208
38
170
156
26
130
51
12
40
368
43
56
63
69
URBAN
Total (1.000)
6-14
15-17
Male
6-14
15-17
Female
6-14
15-17
490
120
370
362
88
274
128
32
96
400
79
322
302
57
246
98
22
76
32
17
14
14
11
3
17
6
11
RURAL
Total (1.000)
42
400
493
294
ILO: The youth unemployment crisis: Time for action, 2012, p.16; http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/--relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_175421.pdf
43 EUROSTAT (2010); http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/statistics/search_database
44 TURKSTAT
6-14
15-17
Male
6-14
15-17
Female
6-14
15-17
165
235
239
103
137
161
63
98
214
279
312
128
184
181
86
95
134
160
158
78
80
136
57
79
189
179
216
109
107
152
80
72
6
37
30
3
27
13
3
10
10
46
42
7
34
14
2
11
25
38
51
22
30
12
3
9
15
55
54
11
43
15
3
12
The conclusions that can be drawn from the statistics are:







In general, child labour has only marginally risen over a period of 6 years (+3.000).
While child labour decreased significantly in urban areas (-90.000) it increased
dramatically in rural areas (+93.000).
Male child labour slightly rose (+13.000) while female rates went down (-10.000).
Child labour rose significantly in agriculture (+73.000) while it decreased in industry (58.000) and remained almost stable in the services’ sector (-12.000).
Male children are increasingly misused for work in the agricultural sector (+64.000).
There is a clear trend that more male children in rural areas are being misused for
work (+58.000 in 6 years). As a consequence one might think about extending the
school enrolment activities from girls only to boys in rural regions of Eastern Turkey.
If the family situation in rural areas forces the families to use child labour instead of
sending the children to schools the government should think about more and targeted
initiatives that would help to ensure decent family incomes in agriculture.
Illiterate people are mainly dealt with under the Lifelong Learning priority of the HRD OP.
Apparently the illiteracy rate has gone down in Turkey in recent years. According to results of
the census in the year 2000, HRD OP 2007 referred to an illiteracy rate of 12.6% among the
population older than 15 years.45 Newest research undertaken by Bahçeşehir University’s
Social and Economic Research Centre, or BETAM, fixes the number of illiterate people in
Turkey at 5.674.000 which is close to 8% of the population.46
The development of the employment status of illiterate people can be revealed from
TURKSTAT statistics as follows:
Table 33: Employment Status of Illiterate People in Turkey (in 1.000 and %)
Status
LFP Rate
Labour Force
Employed
Unemployed
Unemployment
Rate
2006
18.7
1.115
1.062
53
4.8
2007
18.1
1.045
990
55
5.2
2008
18.1
1.025
960
64
6.3
2009
18.8
1.089
1.002
87
8.0
2010
19.8
1.151
1.082
69
6.0
2011
10.5
1.203
1.147
56
4.6
2012
19.7
1.164
1.119
45
3.9
The figures reveal that illiterate people have improved their employment status over the six
years (LFP Rate: +1%, unemployment rate: -0.9 points). Nevertheless the low labour force
participation rate means that not even every fifth illiterate person in Turkey is involved into
45
HRD OP 2007, p.61
Hürriyet, 27th August 2010; http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=illeteracy-gap-between-man-andwomen-remains-the-same-2010-08-26
46
the labour market. Hence there is plenty of room for more activities dedicated at improving
their skills (LLL) and their employment status.
Disabled people have particular problems in being integrated into the labour market. As a
target group they are difficult to describe since the disabilities cover a wide range of different
handicaps. Often disabled people have also been disadvantaged by not achieving
educational attainments in the same way as non-disabled groups.
TURKSTAT has undertaken a survey on disabled people which highlighted their educational
attainments:47
Table 34: Educational attainments by sort of disability (age 6+) in %
Sort
disability
of
Seeing
disabled
Hearing
disabled
Speaking
disabled
Orthopedically
disabled
Mentally
disabled
Psychologically
disabled
Chronic
illnesses
Multi disability
TOTAL
Share
among all
disabled
persons
Illiterate
8.4
32.1
Literate but
not
graduated
from
a
school
11.8
5.9
31.6
0.2
Primary
school
Secondary
school
High
school
and over
29.0
12.5
14.6
23.0
17.9
16.4
11.1
33.6
38.6
10.7
11.0
6.1
8.8
26.4
10.9
32.9
13.4
16.4
29.2
57.5
28.9
4.6
8.2
0.7
3.9
24.0
12.7
33.0
15.2
15.1
25.6
32.2
12.8
34.9
10.2
9.9
18.0
100.0
48.5
41.6
15.3
18.2
32.9
22.3
8.0
10.7
5.3
7.7
Conclusions are clear:



47
41.6% of the disabled persons in Turkey are illiterate, another 40.5% are literate but
have not finished more than primary school level, i.e. only 18.4% have a secondary or
tertiary education attainment. That is far below the Turkish average.
There are significant differences between the various sorts of disabilities. As regards
the finalisation of secondary and/or tertiary education, orthopedically disabled
persons score at 29.8%, psychologically disabled even at 30.3% while speaking
disabled only score 17.1% and mentally disabled less than 9%.
Obviously, the Turkish society needs to do a lot in order to support disabled persons
– particularly those with a bodily rather than a mental disability – with better
educational opportunities.
TURKSTAT, Survey on Problems and Expectations of Disabled People, 2010
When it comes to employment, recent research suggests that 54.8% of the disabled
population have been in employment somehow in the previous five years.48 Of those
employed, 59.6% have been employed in the public sector where legal obligations are a
strong driver for the employment of disabled persons. That is much less the case in the
private sector. According to data published by the Administration for Disabled People only
about 22% of the disabled participate in the labour force - 78% don’t. Efforts related to
promoting employment of disabled people therefore are fully justified both in terms of social
inclusion but also direct employment promotion.
Another interesting target group particularly for social inclusion but likewise also for
employment measures would be internal migrants. Unfortunately it is very difficult to collect
empirical data about their situation. The latest data sets available refer to the population
census in 2000, i.e. way before the HRD OP was launched. Hence it is only possible to
check on migrants’ situation by way of looking at research studies.
The most important statements on this target group from a research study undertaken in
2010 are as follows:49


Internal migration in Turkey is earmarked by three phases: (a) Rural-urban migration
between 1950 and the mid-1960s following certain push and pull factors; (b)
consolidates rural-urban migration accompanied by the new phenomenon of urbanurban migration between the mid-1960s and the late 1970s; (c) urban-urban
migration as prevailing movement phenomenon between 1980 and today
(constituting 70-72% of total internal migration in Turkey) due to low-skilled work
supply and demand in smaller cities while bigger cities offered better jobs for people
with higher skills. Subsequently the current urban-urban migration follows similar
patterns as the original rural-urban migration.
The main migration routes have remained stable throughout the three phases
explained above: They are either East-West (mainly from Eastern Anatolia to Istanbul
and the Marmara region) or North-West (from the Black Sea region to Istanbul and
Marmara). The latest development sees also Western Black Sea region as a gaining
region.50
Table 35: In-migration and out-migration by selected provinces
Regions
TR1
TR2
TR3
TR4
TR5
TR6
TR7
TR8
TR9
48
1975-1980
Net
Rate
(1000)
(‰)
289
73.4
-9
-4.3
123
24.1
124
42.2
39
10.5
60
6.3
-81
-30.5
-83
-21.1
-98
-39.1
1980-1985
Net
Rate
(1000)
(‰)
298
60.5
-3
-1.4
84
14.4
101
29.3
26
5.9
84
7.5
-76
-26.2
-107
-24.9
-106
-39.3
1985-1990
Net
Rate
(1000)
(‰)
657
107.6
8
3.4
183
27.4
179
45.2
43
9.5
131
10.7
-184
-52.6
-225
-49.2
-201
-73.5
1995-2000
Net
Rate
(1000)
(‰)
407
46.1
68
26.1
184
22.9
82
15.9
91
15.9
3
0.2
-95
-24.9
-232
-50.3
-76
-26.1
2007-2010
Net
Rate
(1000)
(‰)
169
4.3
57
6.1
52
1.8
162
8.1
91
4.4
30
1.1
-88
-7.7
-81
-6.0
-27
-3.5
ÖZIDA: The Research on Measurement of DIsability Discrimination, 2010, p.96. The latest official TURKSTAT data relate to
the 2002 Disability Survey and are therefore no longer of much use.
49 Berker, Ali: The Labour Market Consequences of Internal Migration in Turkey, Working Paper 1029 of TÜSIAD-KOÇ
University Economic Research Forum, 2010, p.10-12, 33-35..
50 Adaman/Kaya: Social Impact of Emigration and Rural-Urban Migration in Central and Eastern Europe; Final Country Report
Turkey, 2012, p.16
TRA
TRB
TRC

-151
-109
-104
-80.7
-48.4
-33.3
-130
-90
-81
-64.6
-36.0
-21.9
-270
-176
-144
-123.2
-63.5
-32.1
-113
-110
-210
-49.8
-33.4
-36.2
-121
-106
-138
-18.3
-9.7
-6.2
Reasons for migration have been threefold: In general these are (a) work or jobrelated, (b) family-oriented, or (c) based on other reasons such as education,
earthquakes or security due to turmoil in eastern Turkey.
Table 36: Internal migration by reasons and sexes
Reasons for internal
migration (%)
Turkey
Male
Female



Work/Jobs
33
47
17
Marriage/Family Reunion
39
32
56
Others (Education,
Earthquakes, Security)
28
21
27
Influx of migrants has a significant negative impact on the employment ratio of the
male native population. Particularly affected are people with advanced ages and
higher education while younger men with low skills have less to fear.
It is most likely that native male workers will have to accept lower wages due to the
migration or transit into the informal sector.
In general, regions with in-migration have LFP rates around the national average. Yet
they also show higher unemployment rates than the average regions because of a
stronger push effect as explained above.
The conclusions are that



Social inclusion and employment promotion scenarios should no longer focus on rural
urban but rather on urban-urban migration forms,
Further skills training might be an important issue in regions gaining from internal
migration with a specific focus on male natives who are otherwise being pushed out
of their jobs,
Additional employment promotion activities should aim at offering opportunities to
women who migrate from their home provinces for familiar reasons.
3.4 Unemployment Rates
In order to understand the development of unemployment rates in Turkey one has to look at
the situation that prevailed when the HRD OP was launched.
The unemployment rate which was approximately 8 % in the 1988-1995 period, had
decreased to 7 % on average in the 1995-1999 period and to 6.7 % in 2000. Following the
economic crisis of 2000, unemployment rates had increased and stayed almost constant for
the years until 2006. Although the average unemployment rate had been slightly higher than
EU(25) averages, unemployment rates outside agriculture, that had been 12.7 % on
average, 11.4 % for men and 18 % for women in 2006, had been much higher than EU
averages.51
51
See HRD OP 2007, p.41
Again a look at the following years’ statistics reveals that the Turkish labour market suffered
heavily during the years of the economic crisis but has recovered somehow. Yet, it took until
2012 until the unemployment rate in Turkey went below the 2006 level.52
Table 37: Unemployment Rates (%) of persons age 15+
Unemployment Rates (%) age group 15 +
2006
2007
2008
EU-27
8.3
7.2
7.1
Turkey
8.7
8.8
9.7
Male
8.6
8.7
9.6
Female
9.1
9.1
10.0
Urban
12.2
12.0
12.8
Male
11.0
10.8
11.6
Female
16.4
16.1
16.6
Rural
6.2
6.8
7.2
Male
7.4
8.3
8.7
Female
3.9
3.8
4.3
2009
9.0
12.5
12.5
12.6
16.6
15.3
20.4
8.9
10.7
5.3
2010
9.7
10.7
10.4
11.4
14.2
12.6
18.7
7.3
8.7
4.6
2011
9.7
8.8
8.3
10.1
11.9
10.2
16.5
5.8
7.0
3.6
2012
10.5
8.1
7.6
9.4
11.1
9.4
15.5
5.5
6.5
3.5
Conclusions can be drawn as follows:






The steady economic growth following the crisis years has levelled unemployment
rates down to the average numbers seen before HRD OP was launched.
In comparison, the EU 27 unemployment has steadily grown even after the end of the
crisis. The advantage of the Turkish figure, however, has to be seen in the context of
the high informal sector rates that are likely to hide unemployment.
The previous statement is underpinned by the fact that only 23.3% of the registered
unemployed persons receive unemployment benefits from the national employment
service İŞKUR.53 These people obviously have to look for alternative financial
resources in order to make their living.
Male unemployment has decreased significantly in relation to 2006 (1 percentage
point) while female unemployment still has not reached the level it had before the
crisis.
Urban unemployment increased dramatically during the economic crisis but went
below the 2006 figures from 2011 onwards.
Rural unemployment followed the same trend but is generally significantly lower than
in urban areas which might have to do with the higher rate of participation in the
informal sector. Female rates in rural areas are significantly lower than male
unemployment rates which might have to do with the breadwinner/family divide and
the majority of women in rural areas working as unpaid family members in agriculture.
Youth unemployment has been considered a particular problem of the Turkish labour market
which led to the decision to dedicate one of the employment priorities of HRD OP to young
people. It is therefore necessary to look at youth unemployment rates in particular.54
52
TURKSTAT
European Training Foundation (ETF): Turkey – Review of Human Resources Development, 2012, p.9 (data refer to 2010)
54 EUROSTAT
53
Table 38: Unemployment Rates (%), age group 15-24
Unemployment Rate
(%)
Turkey
Male
Female
2005
19.9
19.5
20.5
2006
19.1
18.3
20.6
2007
20.0
19.6
20.8
2008
20.5
20.1
21.2
2009
25.3
25.4
25.0
2010
21.8
21.0
23.0
2011
18.4
17.1
20.7
2012
17.5
16.3
19.9
The result shows that unemployment among young people prevails to be significantly higher
than the general unemployment figures. Turkey’s government therefore still has to look for
appropriate methods of dealing with that problem.
The question as to what extent the educational attainments influence the unemployment
rates, has to be examined as well. It is interesting to look at the European comparison:55
Table 39: Unemployment Rates (%) related to educational attainment
EU-27
Primary education
Secondary education
Tertiary education
Turkey
Primary education
Secondary education
Tertiary education
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
10.0
7.2
4.1
9.2
6.1
3.6
9.8
5.6
3.5
12.8
7.2
4.5
14.2
7.8
4.9
14.8
7.6
5.1
16.8
8.2
5.6
7.2
7.8
5.9
7.2
7.9
5.9
8.3
8.0
6.5
11.1
11.3
8.1
9.2
10.1
7.0
7.4
8.0
6.8
6.7
7.6
6.7
As a consequence it can be said that



Turkish low-skilled workers coped with the crisis much better than those in the EU;
Turkish unemployment rates are apparently much less influenced by the educational
attainment than those in the EU;
The risk of persons with tertiary education to become unemployed is as high as the
risk of primary education absolvents.
Another important indicator is the situation of long-term unemployed persons. What is the
share of persons who are unemployed for longer than a year?
Table 40: Long-term Unemployed (%) aged 15+ by sexes
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Male
Female
3.7
3.5
4.1
3.1
2.9
3.4
2.6
2.4
2.8
3.0
2.9
3.1
3.9
3.9
3.8
4.1
4.2
4.1
4.6
4.6
4.6
Male
Female
2.7
2.3
3.6
2.3
2.0
3.1
2.3
2.0
3.1
2.8
2.5
3.8
2.8
2.3
3.9
2.1
1.6
3.2
1.8
1.4
2.7
EU-27
Total
Turkey
Total
55
EUROSTAT LFS statistics
Again, the Turkish figures appear significantly better than the ones for the EU-27 member
states. The rate of long-term unemployment among men is less than a third of the one in the
EU while the one among women is slightly more than half the size of the EU rate. It appears
that the Turkish government undertakes satisfactory efforts in re-integrating unemployed
persons back into the labour market before the first year of unemployment ends.
3.5 Unregistered Employment
Unregistered and under-registered employment remains a serious problem for the Turkish
economy although recent figures show that – according to SGK – the grey economy seems
to diminish. The development in the years following the launch of the HRD OP can be
described as follows:
Table 41: Unregistered employment by sexes, age 15+
Unregistered
Employment (%)
Turkey
Male
Female
2005
48.2
42.4
64.9
2006
47.0
41.4
62.9
2007
45.4
40.1
60.7
2008
43.5
38.1
58.4
2009
43.8
38.3
58.3
2010
43.2
37.2
58.5
2011
42.0
35.6
57.8
2012
39.0
32.7
54.2
As the figures reveal, the rate of people not registered to social security authorities has
constantly declined over the past years with significant differences again between men and
women. The female unregistered employment – which is mostly happening in rural areas – is
much higher than the male rate. Male breadwinners seem to be more inclined to register with
social insurance than wives. However, it has to be mentioned that the Turkish figures mainly
depend on household surveys in which people are asked if they work registered or
unregistered. It may be doubted to what extent the answers will be honest. The other
prevailing problem is the under-registration of workers at minimum wage levels whereas
receiving higher wages in reality. That particular phenomenon cannot be exhibited in
statistics.
In the context of the HRD OP financed Technical Assistance project “Promoting Registered
Employment”, field studies have been carried out with a view to identifying the sectors which
are particularly prone to unregistered employment. The field studies were undertaken in six
provinces, namely in Erzurum, Gaziantep, Kars, Sanlıurfa, Samsun and Trabzon. Interviews
were carried out mainly with employers in four sectors which were selected on the basis of
existing evidence about the likeliness to find unregistered employment as a prevailing
problem as well as the high turnover and the low skills level required in these professions,
namely:




Manufacturing of bread, pastry goods and cakes
Hotels and accommodation
Restaurants and mobile food service activities
Transportation and storage
Results from desk studies and field surveys can be summarised as follows:
Graph 5: Registered and unregistered employment according to sectors
Total
80.00
Transportation, 60.00
communication 40.00
20.00
(20.00)
(40.00)
Accomodation
(60.00)
Agriculture
Total
Mining
Unregistered
Registered
Trade
Industry
Construction


Above figure shows that the highest increase in registered employment is in the
agriculture sector and construction sector with almost 80 %, while there was a
decrease in the transportation sector.
As for unregistered employment there is an increase in three sectors: agriculture (20
%), construction (12 %) and transportation (7 %) while there is a dramatic decrease in
mining (42 %), trade sector and accommodation sector (18 %) and industry (10%).
Graph 6: Registered and unregistered employment according to age groups
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
50+
25-49
10-24
1-9
Unregistered

Registered
Total
On average 90 % of the unregistered employees work in micro enterprises with 1-9
employees, while 63 % of the employees of micro enterprises work unregistered.
Graph 7: Registered and unregistered employment according to company sizes
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
Registered
40%
Unregistered
30%
20%
10%
0%
1-9









10-24
25-49
50+
Total
Above figure shows that in micro enterprises 63 % of employees work unregistered,
in the enterprises with 10-24 employees the ratio is at 24 %, in the enterprises with
25-49 employees 13 % and in the enterprises with 50 and more employees in Turkey
5.5 %. Conclusion: The size of an enterprise is a strong indicator for unregistered
employment: The smaller the enterprise, the higher the risk of finding unregistered
employment.
As for unregistered employment in selected provinces, except Samsun and Trabzon,
the average of unregistered employment is higher than the average of Turkey as a
whole. However, in Trabzon, unregistered employment in micro enterprises is also
higher than the country average.
As for the survey responses, respondents were optimistic about competitor’s action in
terms of unregistered employment.
According to survey results, 47 % of the respondents did not have enough
information about social security promotions and 85 % of them had not used these
opportunities. Conclusion: There still is a lot of room to improve promotional activities
of SSI in relation to spreading the necessary knowledge of social insurance rules and
regulations.
Generally (54 %) very small enterprises with employees less than 5 did not have
information about these promotions at all, another 28 % of them had only little
information. Conclusion: Promotional activities need to be concentrated on micro
enterprises.
In Gaziantep 60 % of the respondents did not have information about employment
promotions at all while this ratio was only 30 % in Trabzon. Conclusion: Promotional
activities need to be concentrated in Eastern Turkish provinces.
In transportation sector 60 % of the respondents did not have information about
promotions at all while this ratio was at 30 % in restaurants. Conclusion: Promotional
activities should be focused on sectors with the lowest level of knowledge such as the
transportation sector.
According to respondents, high level of taxes and high level of insurance premiums
affected employing unregistered employees with more than 90 % response.
Conclusion: There appears to be a general feeling in Turkey that premiums and taxes
are too high. Hence the government should think about either reducing these burdens
or improving the cost-benefit relation (the latter in particular as far as social insurance
contributions are concerned).
60 % of respondents believed that their competitors employed unregistered
workforce. In Trabzon, Sanlıurfa and Erzurum this ratio was at 70 % and in the





remaining 3 selected provinces this ratio was at 50%. Especially in the bakeries
sector, 80 % of respondents believed that their competitors employed unregistered
workforce. Conclusion: The sector of bakeries appears to be particularly prone to
unregistered employment and should be subject of further audits.
Around 45 % of the respondents believed that their competitors had raised their
unregistered employment activities. In Sanlıurfa and Gaziantep this figure exceeded
50 % of the respondents. In bakeries and transportation sector, the ratio of
respondents who believed that their competitors had raised their unregistered
employment activities was particularly high with 50%. Conclusion: The mentioned
provinces and sectors should be in the focus of future audits.
Respondents believed that 60 % of their competitors showed the fee of their
registered employers lower than their real fee. Generally enterprises with 5-20
employees believed that more than 60 % of their competitors showed the fee of their
registered employers lower than their real fee. According to respondents in bakeries,
even more than 75 % of their competitors acted that way. Conclusion: Inspectors and
controllers should have an eye on these areas in particular.
40 % of respondents believed that there were enough audits within the scope of
combatting unregistered employment. In Gaziantep, this ratio was 50 % and in
transportation sector it was around 25 %. Conclusion: If even employers in the
transportation sector generally think that there are not enough audits, this should be
reflected when planning sectorial audit activities.
Less than half of the respondents believed that if the number of audits increased,
unregistered employment would decrease. Conclusion: Audit activities cannot be the
only means to fight unregistered employment. Education activities will have to be
increased.
More than half of the respondents declared that the most important risk of employing
a worker without insurance was work accidents; the second was the penalty if caught
by the government with 25 % and the last one was to have to give account of it in the
next world with around 20 %. Conclusion: The number of audits or the coverage of
the sectors prone to unregistered employment cannot be sufficient and needs to be
improved.
As the results of the field studies clearly reveal, the HRD OP activities related to promoting
registered employment should cover a wider scope of eligible activities than within the first
respective grant scheme.
3.6 Labour Market Services
While in the process of harmonizing Turkish labour market regulations with those of the EU,
the government realised in 2003 that the services offered by the public employment
organisation (at that time: IIBK) were not sufficient when it came to meeting labour market
needs of employers and employees. Thus, Job Brokerage and Labour Exchange
Organization (IIBK) was abolished and the Turkish Employment Organization (İŞKUR) was
established by Law No. 4904 in 2003 with a view to following developments on technology
and labour markets both in Turkey and all over the world, carrying out the functions of
modern employment organizations and being able to apply active labour market policies.
In parallel, private employment agencies (PEA) had been established already in the 1980s
that worked without any legal statute until 1990. With the Law No. 4904, PEAs were legally
acknowledged and licences were issued to them from 2004
When reviewing the development of labour market services it is therefore necessary to
distinguish public from private employment services. Hence this chapter will have separate
looks at İŞKUR and at PEAs.
3.6.1 Public Employment Services (İŞKUR)
The Turkish Employment Organisation İŞKUR had been established by Law No. 4904 in the
year 2003 and replaced the previous Turkish Job Placement Agency (IIBK). The legislation
brought about radical changes and a broad extension of the tasks of the public employment
service in Turkey.
In institutional terms, the most important changes were


The abolition of the previous Regional Directorates and the establishment of
Provincial Directorates which ensured a country-wide coverage of offices and
branches that were close to the customers, and
The establishment of tripartite management entities, namely the General Board, the
Executive Board and the Provincial Employment Boards – all of them with the
participation of representatives of employers and employees. Nowadays, the General
Board (General Assembly) of İŞKUR consists of 79 individuals out of which 46
represent the social partners while 33 were nominated by governmental institutions.
The Provincial Employment Boards faced two revisions in the years 2003 and 2006 – most
importantly they were merged with the Vocational Training Boards and now existed as
Provincial Employment and Vocational Training Boards (PEVTBs). These boards are chaired
by the provincial governorate and have mainly contributed to a decentralisation and
delegation of decision-making tasks from the central level to the provinces.
İŞKUR, the public employment service, has the same status as the Social Security Institute
and the National Qualification Agency. These affiliated organisations function under the
political responsibility of the Minister of Labour and Social Security. İŞKUR has 81 regional
offices and some sub-provincial offices are also in operation, dependent on the size of the
local workforce. In September 2011, these offices had a total of 3,500 staff but plans were in
place for a considerable staff increase to 7,500 in two-years’ time, 4,000 of whom were
supposed to deliver career guidance services. Given that there were 1,415 million registered
unemployed in 2011, this will still imply a high client to staff ratio and will result in a very high
caseload.56
Expenditure on Active Labour Market Policies has been extremely low in the past, at 0.003%
of GDP in 2008 against an EU-27 average of 0.45%, but levels of spending increased
considerably in 2010 and 2011. The development of modern, state-of-the-art job placement
and referral systems was seen as a matter of some urgency and importance, as this one
thread should constitute the core business of any public employment service. Only about
20,000 people received individual counselling services in 2010.
56
European Training Foundation (ETF): Turkey – Review of Human Resources Development, 2013, p.54
Yet, the service offers made by İŞKUR have increased both in numbers and in quality during
the years after 2007. Prominent examples are:57








The establishment of sector-related Employer Representatives within the staff. These
individuals ensure close contacts with the employers in their area, visit companies
and thus make sure that the needs of the employers are appropriately acknowledged
when it comes to organising placements, planning and implementing vocational
training, etc.
Local service points were established from 2010 onwards when contracts were
signed with 844 municipalities across Turkey. Their intention is to bring the İŞKUR
services closer to the citizens. Municipal staff having gone through training by İŞKUR
staff mans the service points where IT services can be used free of charge. By the
end of 2013 all municipalities are planned to provide such services to employers and
employees in the whole country.
Mobile service devices (İŞKUR Buses) have been introduced to serve the needs of
particularly disadvantaged groups. The service has started with providing support to
disabled people. The buses are manned with a psychologist, an occupational adviser
and an officer and can thus provide comprehensive consultancy services to the target
group.
An Action Plan related to bringing employment services closer to the group of social
welfare recipients has been launched in April 2010. The various forms of Social Aid
often constitute a barrier to registration for social insurance and for taking up
employment because they are economically (more) attractive. The Action Plan allows
İŞKUR to organise placement services and training for those who receive social aid
benefits and hence to try to bring them back to the regular labour market.
Two major Employment Packages in the crisis years 2008 and 2009 have
significantly raised İŞKUR’s resources to invest into vocational training courses with a
view to adapting the skills of the work force to the occupational needs of the
employers.
Since 2009 İŞKUR organises and implements entrepreneurship courses with a
certificate in the end which allows participants to transfer into further support
prepared by KOSGEB.
Training opportunities for employees of companies have been strengthened and
centralised with the Ministry’s ÇASGEM centre from early 2011.
26 specific Job and Occupational Consultancy Services have been established within
provincial Vocational Training Centres and thus significantly strengthened the delivery
of occupational consultancy across the country.
The development went hand in hand with an increase of İŞKUR staff in previous years that
led to an increase in the demands for services from the side of the employers as well as
growing placement rates.58
The following table highlights the development of service indicators during the previous
years:59
57
IŞKUR: Dünden Bügüne – from past to present, 1946-2011
European Training Foundation (ETF): Turkey – Review of Human Resources Development, 2013, p.91
59 IŞKUR statistics, table 62
58
Table 42: Development of General Activities of İŞKUR by years
Domestic Services
Abroad Services
Year
Application
Vacancies
2006
564.388
2007
656.969
2008
Workplace
Visits
Number of
Applications
Number of
Referrals
Placement
Unemployed
151.794
85.882
1.061.853
19.117
480
81.379
186.922
111.375
696.538
40.379
320
70.024
1.275.674
178.620
109.595
987.840
35.939
2.564
58.602
2009
1.435.024
165.890
118.278
1.689.349
33.978
1.339
59.479
2010
1.217.936
368.636
205.231
1.414.541
42.025
896
54.847
2011
1.398.355
660.623
363.672
1.844.965
70.505
838
52.491
2012
2.296.325
991.804
556.587
2.372.262
183.373
1.465
57.953
As the table reveals, the additional staff and the institutional development activities have had
consequences:




While the number of applications went up by about 400% in six years the number of
vacancies rose by more than 500%. Hence more vacancies attracted more
applications.
The number of placements went up by more than 600%. This could be an indicator
for better skills in the labour force which would facilitate placement. It could also
indicate improved selection processes on the side of the employment service. Most
likely, however, it has to do with the fact that the number of workplace visits has been
increased by almost 1000%. Between 2011 and 2012 alone the number of workplace
visits could be increased by more than 150%. The figures seem to indicate that
employers have now better opportunities to have close contacts with the employment
service and make themselves better understood as to what kind of skills are needed
for certain positions.
The number of visits also explains why the number of vacancies rose significantly
between 2011 and 2012, namely by ca. 50%. The active acquisition activities
undertaken by İŞKUR contributed to this development.
Nevertheless, business by numbers still is not necessarily effective. In order to place
556.587 employees, İŞKUR had to present 3.262.375 persons to the employers.
Subsequently it took almost six such proposals on average in order to achieve one
placement.60
The next table reveals the enormous amount of efforts undertaken by İŞKUR with a view to
increasing their job counselling and vocational consultancy activities:61
Table 43: Job counselling and vocational consultancy activities by years
Activi
-ties
2006
60
61
Number
Of
Work
Places
Number Of
career
training
places
Career
Job
Visited
researched
Counselling
Counselling
1.425
IŞKUR statistics, table 2
IŞKUR statistics, table 52
39
Individual Interviews
796
1.328
Number
Of
Schools
601
Number
Of
Classes
1.335
Number
Of
Students
67.223
2007
1.232
38
1.098
1.502
726
-
90.015
2008
966
82
919
3.235
1.372
-
128.243
2009
1.495
7
1.598
5.255
665
-
53.279
2010
1.499
10
3.649
16.075
-
675
53.795
2011
5.495
3
4.504
160.607
-
886
58.675
2012
151.403
2
36.236
805.257
-
2.300
277.393
The table again demonstrates the enormous efforts undertaken since 2012 through which
the public employment service tries to diversify and complete its service offers. Apparently and reading the two previous tables together provides evidence to this – the rising efforts in
relation to job counselling and TVET promote placement activities and attract companies
across the country to utilise İŞKUR’s services more often.
All in all, it can be said that particularly the very recent development of İŞKUR services has
resulted in an enormous increase in relation to several performance-related indicators. To
what extent this new approach will last remains to be seen. Yet, it cannot be denied that the
institution has made a significant step forward in direction to becoming an undisputed first
class service provider on the labour market.
3.6.2 Private Employment Services (PEAs)
According to ILO Convention No. 181, PEAs are described as “Any enterprise or person,
independent of the public authorities, which provides one or more of the following labour
market functions: (a) services for matching offers and applications for employment; (b)
services for employing workers with a view to making them available to a third party (“user
enterprise”); and/or (c) other services relating to job-seeking, such as the provision of
information, that do not aim to match specific employment offers and applications”. The main
principle of these offices is to provide services for free to unemployed people in search of
jobs. PEAs earn money by charging employers a commission.62
In general, PEA activities can be divided into three categories, each of them providing five
services:
a) Intermediaries are the offices which aim at matching both supply and demand of the
labour market. The five categories of intermediaries can be listed as follows:
 Fee-charging employment agencies,
 Overseas employment agencies,
 Agencies for the recruitment and placement of foreigners,
 Executive search agencies,
 Training and placement institutes.
b) Skill providers provide employment opportunities for skilled employees in other
companies the ones they work in. The five categories of skill providers can be listed
as follows:
 Temporary work agencies,
62
The following paragraphs are based on: Cetinkaya, E. and Danisman, S.A.: An investigation on profiles of private
employment agencies in Turkey: What are their current characteristics?, in: Business and Economics Research Journal, 2011,
p.173-187




Staff leasing agencies,
Job shops or cooperatives,
Career management agencies,
Employment companies or intermediary associations.
c) Suppliers of direct services provide educating and consulting services in addition to
services for supply and demand of labour to meet directly. The five categories of
direct service offices can be listed as follows:
 Outplacement agencies,
 Job-search consultancies,
 Personnel management agencies,
 Employment advertising agencies
 Computerized job database agencies
In Turkey, PEAs work with a licence issued by İŞKUR for three years. Originally, they were
not allowed to work in any other fields as just brokering for labour and occupation. But this
limitation was lifted in August 2008 due to a private employment agencies regulation.
Following this development, PEAs can now provide services in labour markets, employment,
human resources and brokering for labour and occupation in and out of Turkey – with the
exception of not being allowed to offer paid services to public institutions. Hence they can
 Provide services for brokering labour and occupation in and out of the country,
 Work toward increasing employment, decreasing unemployment and providing
education and training programs about efficiency,
 Consult with firms about human resource management,
 Provide online matching services with the help of websites.
Current statistics provided by İŞKUR demonstrate the development in this economic
segment. In 2012, 312 agencies existed across Turkey – yet with a geographical spread that
was very dense in the big metropolis regions but very scarce in rural regions.
Following the official introduction of PEAs to Turkey, many foreign – and partly even globally
acting – players have opened representations in Turkey. According to Cetinkaya and
Danisman63, the number of licenced PEAs in 2009 was 271 out of which 191 participated in
the survey. 159 (83.2%) were local agencies while 32 (16.8%) were global agencies.
Out of the 191 agencies, 95.8% provided recruitment and selection services, 38.2% also
offered training and development-related services. Less frequently offered were_
 Payroll services
 Job identification and analysis services
 Job evaluation and wage services
 Performance management systems
 Career services
According to İŞKUR, PEAs have achieved overall 250.000 placements in the years between
2004 and 2011 which would mean an estimate of roughly 35.700 placements per year. The
63
See Cetinkaya and Danisman, Table 3
majority of those placements applied to persons with more than a secondary school
education while blue collar workers played only a marginal role.
When the efficiency of PEAs on placement is investigated, it is possible to see placement of
19.789 employees in 2006 and placement of 90.524 employees in 2007 as an appreciable
increase. But the number of employees placed had been decreased in 2008 such as 43.852
and in 2009 21.391.64 It is possible to emphasize the effect of global crisis on the decreased
placement performance of PEAs. After that crisis, figures have started to grow again.
Age surveys show that most of the people placed by PEAs were young adults.
All available figures demonstrate that there has been a strong development of PEAs during
the years since the law established their official participation in the labour market exchange.
The main conclusions that can be drawn are the following:








In relation to the geographical distribution of PEAs it can be said that agencies have
been established where the needs are and where the economic power exists.
Istanbul accounts for 70.2% of all active PEAs in the country, Ankara for 9.6%, Izmir
for 7% and Antalya for 3.8% - four metropolitan areas therefore have more than 88%
of all PEAs in Turkey (283 out of 312). Subsequently the remaining 29 agencies are
scarcely spread across the rest of the country with several provinces not having any.
Local agencies apparently focus mainly on recruitment and placement as well as
training and development issues while the global players generally offer a wider
range of services and rather qualify as a full-scale human resources development
services provider.
PEAs place considerably more men than women (almost twice as many).
85.6% of all placements made by PEAs cover the age segment between 15 and 34
which illustrates that Peas seem to be particularly attractive for younger people and
companies looking for younger employees (since they have to pay for the placement
service).
60.2% of all placements were made with persons owning more than a secondary
education level qualification.
The occupational table reveals that PEAs have a strong focus on jobs which require
certain skill levels (if not academic levels). Only 5.1% of all placements were made for
non-qualified workers.
Obviously, PEAs cannot compete with İŞKUR in relation to the number of placements
but they have also made considerable achievements in placing people in jobs.
The conclusion is that the average client of PEAs’ placement services is male, younger than
35 years old and holds a sound vocational qualification. It appears obvious that the segment
of low-skilled workers is being managed by the public employment services while PEAs care
for those with higher ambitions. In turn, these are the placements companies are willing to
pay for. Subsequently it can be said that the competition between İŞKUR and PEAs is only
marginal because they actually have their strengths in different job market segments.
If the roughly 35.700 placements per year are divided by an average of, say, 200 agencies
across the country, we arrive at an average rate of 178.5 placements per agency per year.
64
Cetinkaya and Danisman, p.178
That sounds like a negligible quantity but it is the additional services offered by most of the
agencies which make business with them attractive for companies.
Hence we can say that PEAs have conquered a market segment which clearly distinguishes
their services form those of İŞKUR which mainly focuses on low-skilled blue collar workers
when it comes to placements. The consequence for the HRD OP is that putting a focus on
upgrading the capacities of the public employment service obviously is justified. On the other
hand it has to be stated that that sort of activities has been implemented for a long time now
under several programmes apparently without too much effect.
3.6.3 Additional Government Initiatives
The Government of Turkey has made a serious attempt at facilitating new employment by
establishing two so-called “employment packages” during the years 2008 and 2009. The first
employment package consisted of the following measures:65








Reducing labour market costs by cutting employers’ contributions to social insurance
by 5 percentage points
Providing incentives for the employment of women and young people by subsidizing
the social insurance premiums of newly employed women as well as unemployed
people between 18 and 29 years of age for 5 years using the unemployment
insurance
Promoting the employment of disabled persons by taking over the social insurance
premiums through the Treasury
Revoking the obligations of companies with more than 50 employees to employ
previously convicted persons
Increasing the budget for active labour market policies
Facilitating the establishment of private employment agencies
Regulating the relation of sub-employers’ status
Reducing bureaucratic barriers for the establishment of new enterprises
The second employment package was introduced a year later. The 2009 package contained:





Increasing the resources for community work programmes and TVET
Reducing labour costs towards additional employment
Improving training and consultancy for new and would-be entrepreneurs
Increasing the periods of short-time working benefits
Supporting trainee programmes of companies
Among the results the following success stories can be reported:




28.000 enterprises and almost 67.000 unemployed benefitted from the subsidies for
insurance premiums
Almost 36.000 disabled persons benefitted from employment incentives
More than 839.000 firms enjoyed the 5 point decrease of social insurance
contributions
96.000 beneficiaries in public work programmes in 2009 and 2010
In 2011, the government has further increased its efforts to encourage employment by:
65
Capar Dirioz, Sinem (MoD): Labour Market Trends and Policies in Turkey, 2011





Taking over health insurance premiums for beneficiaries of vocational training
Ensuring unemployment insurance for part-time workers
Ensuring that green card owners do not lose their rights when participating in
vocational training
Increasing the amount and scope of short-time work benefits
Increasing the scope of subsidies related to social insurance premiums
Another important step was to introduce an Action Plan in 2010 that aimed at improving the
linkage between social assistance and employment services with a view to encouraging
social assistance beneficiaries to avoid the shadow economy and take up registered work or
training.
Unfortunately, the long awaited National Employment Strategy of Turkey – a draft of which
has long been existing – still has not been published. Its publication would shed more light on
the government’s efforts and the stakeholders’ obligations towards a more coherent and
coordinated approach at promoting employment.
Nevertheless it can be stated that in terms of public institutions in general, Turkey has a
range of government organisations and boards in place at national and provincial levels, and
work is underway with social partners and NGOs in the relevant fields. However, the
consultation processes should be strengthened to include stakeholders at local levels as well
as higher numbers of social partners. Finally, further strengthening of capacities for the
planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of employment policies is of paramount
importance at all levels, with regular scheduling of policy and programme evaluation. The
implementation of the HRD OP under IPA might be one important cornerstone in this
development.
B. Assessment of Key Challenges of HRD OP
In this section the report will follow the outline of Medium Term Needs – Key Challenges that
have been presented in the HRD OP 2007. Since this evaluation is concentrating on the
Employment Priority of the programme it goes without saying that the Key Challenges
covered in the report will be those which have been related to as “horizontal” and
“employment” ones. These challenges have been displayed as follows:66
As a result of those assessments, a set of medium-term needs and objectives for Turkey
can be identified as follows:
Horizontal
- Strengthening institutional capacities for designing and implementing policy actions
and measures in HRD through effective participation of social partners and civil
society organisations
- Reducing regional and territorial disparities
- Developing monitoring and impact analysis on policy implementation in order to
ensure sustainable policy development
- Increasing the involvement of all stakeholders
Employment
- Increasing labour force participation of women
- Increasing female employment rates in line with the Lisbon Strategy
- Tackling unemployment caused by agricultural dissolution
- Decreasing unemployment rate especially for the young
- Decreasing the share of informal sector in the economy and employment
- Increasing registered employment
- Improving quality and extension of public employment services
- Developing and coordinating regular systematic labour market analyses
Within Section B the evaluation looks first (Chapter B1) at the strategic embedment of HRD
OP objectives with national and EU policies and strategies as well as its complementarity
with national funding and other donor-related funding.
Chapter B2 and B2 will then deal with the horizontal and employment challenges.
Chapter B4 describes in depth how the programme implementation has been managed and
how this management has been perceived by the beneficiaries during the various stages of
the project cycle.
66
HRD OP 2007, p. 100
1. Strategic Cohesion
This chapter will be based on the observations that have been made in the Ex Ante
evaluation of the HRD OP. Yet, policies and strategies at national and EU level have been
revised, adjusted or newly formulated since the HRD OP was launched in 2007. Hence it will
be necessary to update the respective assessments.
1.1 National Policies and Strategies
In this respect the Ex Ante Evaluation has already provided an analysis. The following table
was originally incorporated in the Ex Ante Evaluation report and has been revised and
focused on the employment priority of the HRD OP, thus leaving out the other priorities.
Whenever the formulation of HRD OP content has been revised after the submission of the
Ex Ante report, those changes are highlighted in red.
Table 44: Coherence of HRDOP in relation to national key policy and planning documents (only related to employment
priorities)
Main Objectives,
Name of
Year
Document
Strategies,
Priorities
and Intervention
related to HRD
Cohesion with HRD OP
Areas
HRDOP
2007
-
2009
9th
2007
National
2013
Development Plan
-
PA 1: To attract and
retain more people in
employment by
increasing labour
force participation
particularly for of
women and
decreasing decrease
unemployment rates
especially for young
people


Increasing
employment,
Strengthening
the human
development and
social solidarity
1.1 To promote the
participation of women
women’s participation
into the labour market
and increase female
employment, including
those formerly employed
in agriculture.
1.2 To increase
employment of young
people
1.3 To support the
employability of the
workers , particularly of
women, formerly
employed in agriculture
and support their reintegration into the labour
market promote
registered employment
1.4 To develop, expand
and increase improve
the quality of public
employment services
- improve labour
market conditions
- establish a better
linkage between
education and labour
Two priority axes of the NDP have
been taken into consideration within
HRDOP’s P1. “Increasing
Employment” and “Strengthening
the Human Development and
Social Solidarity” define the overall

Medium
Term Programme
2007
2009
-
Increasing
quality and
efficiency of
public services
Improvement of
Human Resources
and Increasing
Employability
Good Governance in
the Public Sector
market
- develop the active
labour market policies
In vocational training,
efforts for transition to
a modular and flexible
system necessary for
the training of the
manpower required by
the market will be
accelerated, life-long
learning will be
prepared.
The training of human
resources required for
information and
communication
technologies will be
supported, particularly
enabling employment
of the unemployed,
educated young
population, by means
of using distant and
non-formal education
opportunities.
Active labour market
policies, aimed at
improving
employability by
increasing the quality
and the skill level of
labour will be
disseminated and the
resources devoted to
these policies will be
increased
The employability of
the poor, who have
migrated to urban
areas, shall be
increased and their
integration to the
society shall be
enhanced.
Women’s participation
in economic and social
life shall be secured,
and
necessary
measures shall be
taken to remove their
disadvantageous
status, particularly in
education
national framework on human
resources policies.
Majority of the main aims of the
Medium Term Program have been
addressed in HRDOP P1. The aim
of “Improvement of Human
Resources and Increasing
Employability” has been addressed
directly under the Priority Axes 1, 2,
3 of HRDOP.
The aim of good governance was
an underlying principle for the
management of the programme.
Efforts to close the gap between
market needs and skills provision
through training have been made in
activities 1.1 and 1.2 through the
formulation of eligible activities.
IT-related skills have been a natural
part of the potential skills to be
provided through training since they
were needed by the market in
relation to several professions.
Hence they have been included as
training contents.
Migrant people were not specifically
addressed by Priority 1 but internal
migrants could, of course, be
involved into any of the P1 activities
provided they were part of one of
the target groups addressed.



Medium
Term
2013
2015

Programme


Information
Society
Strategy
2006
Increasing
employment
opportunities
Reducing
unemployment
Enhancing
labour market in
a competitive
economic
structure
Training labour
force in
accordance with
the quality and
quantity required
by the labour
market
Raising quality of
services towards
increasing the
effectiveness
and
dissemination of
active labour
market programs
including job
creation,
trainings focused
on increasing the
competence of
labour market
Increasing the
effectiveness of
public
employment
services mainly
related to
vocational
counselling.
In order to secure the
sustainability of an
economic and social
development and to
heighten social
welfare, an
information-oriented
holistic
transformation

To prevent
informal
employment
 To reduce rigidities
in labour market
by deliberating
social partners
 Amendments in
the field of social
dialogue, collective
labour law and
subcontracting
 Supporting policies
towards groups,
particularly youth,
women and
disabled
 The quality of
vocational
education will be
increased
 Regulations will be
made to provide
active participation
of private sector
and business
organizations both
in the
administrative and
financial process
of vocational
education.
 Active labour
market programs
will be expanded
in line with the
national, regional
and sectoral
labour demand
surveys
 The studies for
improving the
institutional
capacity of İŞKUR
will be continued,
 the collaboration of
ISKUR with private
sector and related
vocational
institutions will be
strengthened
- Widespread usage of
computer and internet
- To narrow the
numerical gap
- Utilization of
information and
communication
technologies in the
formal and mass
education as much as
Majority of the main aims of the
Medium Term Program 2013-2015
have been addressed in HRDOP
P1.
The aim of “Enhancing labour
market in a competitive economic
structure and training labour force
in accordance with the quality and
quantity required by the labour
market” has been addressed
directly under the Priority Axes 1, 2,
3 of HRDOP.
Operations to improve the
effectiveness of the public
employment services have been
addressed under the Measure 1.4
of the Priority Axes 1 of HRDOP
HRD OP P1 supported this
strategy. The training foreseen for
the target groups of women (1.1)
and young people (1.2) principally
encompassed the provision of ITrelated skills.
Measure 1.4 supported the
development of labour market
information systems which are
through global
competitiveness will
be achieved by 2010.
Joint
2006
Inclusion
Fight against poverty
and social exclusion.
Memorandum
(JIM)
- draft -
possible
- Cultivation of
qualified manpower
through information
and communication
technologies and the
workforce serving for
the information
technologies sector.
- Low coverage of the
compulsory social
insurance for unpaid
family workers, selfemployed and daily
waged employees
whose income is lower
than the minimum
wage
- High incidence of
poverty among the
employed
- Low labour force
participation rate for
women
generally based on IT solutions
JIM is the key document setting out
the current situation, outlining the
key challenges and short-term
priorities in fight against poverty
and social exclusion. Many of them
have been addressed by HRDOP.
Since HRDOP strongly focused on
labour market-related issues and
problems in accordance with the
rules of the IPA regulation and in
line with the European strategy
documents, not all the challenges
outlined in the JIM could be
covered by HRDOP. The decision
to streamline the programme to
labour market-related issues cannot
be questioned.
Social insurance-related questions
were partly covered by Measure 1.3
(and have been tackled with the
respective TA project).
The low participation rates of
women in the labour market formed
the justification for the
establishment of measure 1.1

Joint
Assessment
Plan
(JAP)
2007
- Attract more people
in Employment,
increase labour
supply and
modernise social
protection systems

- Increase
investment in human
capital through better
education and skills

- Good governance

- draft -

Declining trend in
the labour force
participation
Low level of labour
force participation
and employment
particularly among
women
Deterioration of
the situation for
the youth to the
access to
employment
Modernisation and
strengthening of
labour market
institutions,
notably
employment
services
Creating
alternative
employment
HRDOP is coherent with the JAP to
a great extent.
 Labour force participation rates
were tackled particularly in
measures 1.1 and 1.2 as well
as 1.3 (indirectly)
 Women and youth were
addressees of activities under
1.1 and 1.2
 Modernisation of employment
services were key to Measure
1.4
 Linkage problems between
education and employment
(although mainly subject of P2)
were partly addressed under
1.1 and 1.2
 New skills were part of the
scope of the activities under 1.1
and 1.2
 The administrative capacities of
İŞKUR were addressed under




Strategic
Coherence Framework
(SCF)
2007
To attract and retain
more people in
employment by
increasing labour
force participation
particularly for
women, and
decreasing
unemployment rates
especially for young
people

To enhance human
capital by increasing
the quality of
education, improving
the linkage between
education and labour
market and raising
enrolment rates at all
levels of education
especially for girls
(To increase
adaptability of
workers, enterprises
and entrepreneurs, in
particular by
promoting lifelong
learning and
encouraging
investment in human

1.4. As far as SGK is
concerned, Measure 1.3 helped
them to re-define strategies and
mechanisms.
opportunities for
the rural
population
Highly segmented
nature of the
employment
Weak linkage
between VET and
labour market
Responding to
new needs, key
competencies and
future skills
requirements
(improve definition
and transparency
of qualifications,
effective
recognition,
validation of nonformal and
informal learning
Administrative
capacity for policy
planning, delivery
and
monitoring
(structures,
mechanisms, staff)
Effectiveness,
quality and
widespread
implementation of
ALMP will be
enhanced to
increase resources
and to develop the
capacity of ALMP
providers,
especially İŞKUR.
Job creation will
be promoted
through training,
direct and indirect
support for selfemployment and
start-up
businesses to
mitigate the
negative effects
arising from labour
force movement to
non-agricultural
sectors.
Female labour
force participation
will be increased
through facilitating
women's access to
new jobs, fostering
women
The four main Priority Axes on
dealing with the problems of
Human Resources Development
also constitute the main framework
of HRDOP.





Priority Axis 1 is mirrored by
HRD OP measures 1.1 and 1.2.
The linkage of education and
employment is tackled in
measures 1.1, 1.2 and 1.4 (the
latter mainly in relation to the
development of occupational
guidance services).
Unregistered employment
issues are being covered under
measure 1.3.
Adaptability issues are, of
course, subject of HRD OP
Priority 3 which is not in the
focus of the evaluation.
Anti-discrimination in the labour
market refers to certain
particular target groups which
are mainly dealt with under
Priority 4. Yet, women also
belong to the target groups
threatened by discrimination.
Hence measure 1.1 also
reflects this priority of the SCF.
Altogether it can be said that HRD
resources)
To promote an
inclusive labour
market with
opportunities for
disadvantaged
people in terms of
their sustainable
integration into the
labour force and
combat with all forms
of discrimination in
the labour market


entrepreneurship
and accompanying
measures with
equal
opportunities.
Education and
trainings will be
improved to
integrate young
people into the
labour market.
Policy initiatives
should focus on
active labour
market programs,
apprenticeship
training,
entrepreneurship
supports and work
experience
programs for
young people.
Unregistered
employment will
be reduced
through economic,
social and
administrative
tools such as
inspection
mechanisms and
education.
Quality of
education and
enrolment rates in
all levels of
education will be
increased through
various efforts
such as improving
qualifications of
teachers, updating
the curricula,
improving
occupational
guidance and
consultancy
services, investing
in educational
infrastructure and
modernizing
structure of MoNE.
Moreover, in
provinces in which
drop-out rates are
high and rates of
transition from
primary education
to secondary
education are low,
awareness-raising
activities and
OP clearly reflects and
operationalizes the SCF. In all of
the areas mentioned above,
activities have pursued the
objectives outlined in the SCF.

Pre-
2013-
Accession
2015

Economic
Pro-

gramme

Enhancing the
vocational and
job counselling
service capacity
of İŞKUR
Enhancing the
labour market
monitoring
capacity of
İŞKUR and
proper use of the
information
collected.
Finalizing the
National
Employment
strategy



İŞKUR
2013-
Strategic
2017
Plan

Diversify the
employment
services through
labour market
demands and
take an active
role in job
placement


necessary
measures to
increase
enrolment rates
especially for girls
will be taken.
Especially
in
growth
centres,
vocational training
and education that
meet the needs of
labour demand will
be improved by
taking account of
local needs in
order to promote
linkage
between
education system
and
labour.
(etc.etc....)
Additional 1201
job and occupation
consultants will be
employed by
İŞKUR in addition
to 2799
consultants hired
in 2011 and 2012
Labour market
research
conducted by
İŞKUR since 2007
need to be
reviewed to
contribute the
design and
implementation of
active labour
programme in
accordance with
the needs of
market at national
and local level.
National
Employment
Strategy is
planned to be
completed by the
end of 2012 with
the coordination of
MoLSS and
contribution of
social partners
Increasing the
mediation role of
İŞKUR in
employment
compared to the
previous years.
Increasing the
effectiveness of
Operations to enhance the
vocational and job counselling and
labour market search capacity of
İŞKUR have been addressed under
the Measure 1.4 of the Priority Axis
1 of HRDOP.
Measures 1.1 and 1.2 have
specifically addressed the
improvement of services to women
and young unemployed under the
same priority axis.
National Employment strategy has
not been published yet. There still
is only a draft version which is kept
confidential.
The strategies adopted are all in
line with the Measure 1.1, 1.2 and
1.4 of the Priority Axis1 of the HRD
OP.
Particularly the Technical
Assistance contracts PES and PYE
contribute to the objectives outlined
by the plan.


Developing,
disseminating
and maximising
efficiency of
ALMPs for
increasing
employability
Establishing a
strong
institutional
structure

National
2008

Programme of
Turkey for
Adoption
of the EU
Enhancing
capacity to
access and
monitor labour
market and
social
development at
national, regional
and local level


Acquis
(NPAA)

Strategic
2011-
Plan
2013
for
Fighting


Strengthening
the inspection
capacity
Raising public
awareness

the
entrepreneurship
programmes;
increasing the
number of
unqualified
unemployed
benefiting from onthe-job training
programmes;
increasing the
coverage of
vocational and job
counselling
services provided;
to provide job
search training to
all participants of
vocational training
programmes of
İŞKUR.
Establishing
Management and
Labour Market IS;
monitoring labour
market trends;
adopting
operational
standards
Establishing
Vocational
Guidance Centres
in Provincial
Directorates of
İŞKUR, functioning
in EU standards
Increasing
institutional
capacities in 81
provincial
directorates of
İŞKUR to identify,
analyse, and plan
activities in human
resources
development.
Setting
occupational
barometers and
labour force
profiles at local
and regional
levels; monitoring
the developments
and changes in
labour market
"Electronic
business audit
book" and
"electronic
business
The strategies adopted in NPAA
are all in line with the Measure 1.1,
1.2 and 1.4 of the Priority Axis 1 of
the HRD OP.
Particularly the PES project
(Measure 1.4) pursues these
objectives.
The strategies adopted in fighting
against the unregistered
employment as the major
component of the unregistered
economy have been addressed
Against
Unregistered
Economy

Action
Plan


registration centre"
will be formed for
the sole use of
inspection officers
Social Security
Institution will
increase the
number of
inspection officers
to 1500 during the
Action Plan.
With the
cooperation
between Social
Security Institution
and Revenue
Administration,
efficiency will be
provided by
combining the
inspection forms
and business
assessment
records.
Inspections will be
carried out in
electronic
environment.
Promotional
activities via media
organs will be
carried out to raise
awareness of the
public, regarding
the fight against
unregistered
(employment/)
economy
under Measure 1.3 of the Priority
Axis 1 of the HRD OP.
The TA project on PRE which was
run in parallel to the establishment
of the strategy and Action Plan has
taken them into account and used
in the formulation of a major
Strategy Paper for SGK.
The cooperation between SGK and
Revenue Administration has been
started but has yet to be worked out
further. The project was not able to
initiate the ratification of a contract
between SGK and RA.
As a conclusion it can be stated that the HRD OP is generally fully in line with the national
strategies and policies.
1.2 EU Policies and Strategies
This chapter evaluates the cohesion of the HRD OP with the main strategy documents of the
EU which are Europe 2020 and the European Employment Strategy (EES).
1.2.1
Europe 2020
Europe 2020 is a multi-faceted strategy that follows a set of inter-linked targets. Among these
targets there are four which are related to the content of the Turkish IPA HRD OP:


Employment rate of 75%
Early school leaving rate of 10%


Tertiary education attainment rate of 40%
Reduction of population at risk of poverty or social inclusion to 20 million in the EU
While the second and third targets refer to HRD OP Priority 2, the last one is covered by
Priority 4.
As far as the Priority 1 of the HRD OP is concerned, employment rate in Turkey has been at
48.9% in 2012 (62.9% among men, 28.7% among women). There is a long way to go in
order to reach the EU 2020 target but the issue has been addressed by the programme in
Priority 1 when the programme aims at “implementing employment policies aiming at
achieving full employment”. Bringing more women and youngsters into employment which is
the objective of measures 1.1 and 1.2 addresses the employment rate directly. There is no
particular measure aiming at the male employment rate which is also way below the EU
average and the Europe 2020 target; but the programme has at least tackled the issue as
such, and it cannot be expected to reach the EU target with just one programme.
Besides the targets mentioned above, EU 2020 is manifested in seven different Flagship
Initiatives:
a. Youth on the Move: will contribute to better education and training, making it easier to find a
job, and help young Europeans study, train or work abroad.
b. Innovation Union: It aims to improve conditions and access to finance for research
and innovation in Europe, to ensure that innovative ideas can be turned into products
and services that create growth and jobs
c. Digital Agenda for Europe: It promotes technical innovation like larger coverage of
regions with broadband internet connections but also increases in internet usage and
improvement of e-governance solutions.
d. Using natural resources more efficiently: Among other objectives the strategy
promotes creating jobs through using resources more efficiently.
e. An industrial policy for the globalisation era: It favours faster industrial innovation and
a more favourable business environment, the modernisation of existing and creation
of new jobs.
f. An Agenda for new skills and jobs: It promotes a smoother labour market through
better conditions and services, but also better skills, new jobs and improved working
conditions.
g. European platform against poverty and social exclusion: It promotes better access to
labour markets, better social protection and education and tries to improve social
inclusion and fight discrimination.
Although the flagship projects have only been established after the Turkish HRD OP had
been launched and started to be implemented, it can be argued that the programme
contributes to most of its components.
In general, the following statements can be made:
a. PYE is in line with Youth on the Move as far as it promotes tailor-made and needs
oriented skill training and re-training (thus contributing to better training) and as far as
it improves vocational guidance services (thus making it easier to find a job). PES
also contributes to the latter objective. Career guidance is also in the focus of PWE
where it is named as one of the potential activities.
b. As far as the Innovation Union is concerned, PYE promotes the provision of financial
guidance services with a view to creating new businesses which in turn will create
new jobs. Indirectly all efforts related to establishing new forms of employmentdirected cooperation (as is in the focus of both PYE and PWE) at local level also
contribute to fulfilling the Innovation Union’s objectives.
c. PES pursues a result related to improving the Labour Market Information System
(LMIS). It aims at establishing an electronic job matching system as well as labour
market related databases at provincial level. These activities clearly contribute to the
Digital Agenda’s objectives related to e-government and enhanced utilisation of
internet services.
d. The improved usage of natural resources is hard to support by HRD measures. Yet,
none of the grant schemes would somehow oppose this objective. The new
businesses and jobs that should be created and the new skills that ought to be
trained within PWE and PYE can encompass “green start-ups”, “green jobs” and
“green skills” as well since there is proof for stating that environmental protection
does not destroy but create new jobs.
e. New jobs and businesses as they are promoted within PYE and PWE also contribute
to the Industrial Policy for Globalisation objectives. A more favourable business
environment is particularly necessary in the sector of small and medium-sized
enterprises. All grant schemes aim at facilitating and improving the matching process
between employers and employees which will make it easier for SMEs and other
firms to find appropriate and well-skilled new staff and thus push their business
opportunities.
f. The Agenda for new skills and jobs can be regarded as being fully in line with the
Turkish HRD OP measures under Priority 1. PWE and PYE promote new job
opportunities, new skills and new jobs while PES aims at improving labour market
services and thus creating a smoother labour market exchange.
g. The fight against poverty and social exclusion is, of course, mainly subject of HRD
OP’s Priority 4. However, as far as better access to labour markets is concerned,
PWE and PYE as well as PES have something to offer: PWE and PYE both support
better job matching services and try to eliminate barriers between young people and
women and the labour market in various ways. PES aims at improving the
performance of the Turkish public employment service by establishing model offices,
improving the LMIS and setting up job and vocational counselling services. All these
elements look after a better access to the labour market and are thus in line with the
European 2020 objectives.
1.2.2 European Employment Strategy (EES)
The EES has first been established following the Essen Summit in 1997 when the EU
Commission started to establish a new system of a coordinated approach towards tackling
labour market challenges across the Member States. Applying the so-called “Open Method
of Coordination” a process has been outlined in which the EC and the Member States jointly
develop employment targets, the Member States then translate these targets into National
Employment Plans and report back about their achievements which then leads to the
readjustment and/or revision of employment targets.
The current version of the EES has been outlined in the Council Decision of 21 October 2010
(2010/707/EU). Since the EES has been incorporated in the Europe 2020 strategy, its
guidelines are part of the overall catalogue of targets. Hence the employment-related
guidelines are numbered 7, 8, 9 and 10.
The following table indicates the linkage of Turkey’s HRD OP to the EES.
Table 45: Cohesion of HRD OP with the current European Employment Guidelines
Guideline 7
Content
(quotations)
HRD OP
Content
(quotations)
HRD OP
Content
(quotations)
HRD OP
Guideline 8
Content
(quotations)
HRD OP
Content
(quotations)
HRD OP
Increasing labour market participation of women and men, reducing
structural unemployment and promoting job quality
Activation is key to increasing labour market participation. Member States should
therefore introduce a combination of flexible and reliable contractual arrangements,
active labour market policies, effective lifelong learning, policies to promote labour
mobility, and adequate social security systems to secure labour market transitions
accompanied by clear rights and responsibilities for the unemployed to actively
seek work.
As outlined before, the PWE and PYE schemes aim at increasing the labour force
participation and employment rates of women and young people – both target
groups having particularly low levels of activity in relation to the general Turkish rate
and – even more so – in relation to the EU average rates.
The combination of
 promoting local networking involving the key players of the labour market
 offering particular support at the threshold between school and / or education
and labour market
 improving the employment-relevance of training activities
 improving the matching processes related to the labour market and
 establishing new and better employment services
 is fully in line with the guideline’s statements.
Member States should step up social dialogue and tackle labour market
segmentation
with
measures
addressing
precarious
employment,
underemployment and undeclared work. Professional mobility should be rewarded.
The quality of jobs and employment conditions should be addressed. –
Employment services play an important role in activation and matching and they
should therefore be strengthened with personalised services and active and
preventive labour market measures at an early stage. Such services and measures
should be open to all, including young people, those threatened by unemployment,
and those furthest away from the labour market.
PRE (grant scheme and TA) promotes registered employment which combines the
issues of fighting unregistered and under-registered as well as promoting registered
employment, i.e. a strategy combining law enforcement with incentives.
PES aims at more personalised and better services, in particular related to young
people leaving the school and education system. Hence it tackles exactly the area
of challenges outlined in the guideline.
Member States should promote active ageing, gender equality including equal pay,
and the integration in the labour market of young people, people with disabilities,
legal migrants and other vulnerable groups.
Some of the target groups outlined here are subject of Priority 4 of HRD OP. Young
people, however, are the target group of Measure 1.2.
Developing a skilled workforce responding to labour market needs and
promoting lifelong learning
Member States should promote productivity and employability through an adequate
supply of knowledge and skills to match current and future demand in the labour
market. Quality initial education and attractive vocational training must be
complemented with effective incentives for lifelong learning for those who are in
and those who are not in employment, thus ensuring every adult the chance to
retrain or to move one step up in their qualification and overcome gender
stereotypes, as well as by opportunities for second-chance learning and by
targeted migration and integration policies.
Skills upgrades are in the main focus of Measures 1.1 and 1.2 and the respective
PWE and PYE grant schemes. As far as education and life-long learning are
concerned, HRD OP offers respective solutions under its Priorities 2 and 3.
In particular, efforts should focus on supporting those with low and obsolete skills,
increasing the employability of older workers, enhancing training, skills and
experience of highly skilled workers, including researchers and women in scientific,
mathematical and technological fields.
These target groups do not play a role in the HRD OP. Yet there is good reason for
it. Since Turkey’s employment rates are way behind the EU average it is absolutely
Content
(quotations)
HRD OP
Guideline 9
Content
(quotations)
HRD OP
Content
(quotations)
HRD OP
Guideline 10
Content
(quotations)
justified to focus on those target groups which face the biggest barriers in relation
to labour market access. Once their situation has been significantly improved,
Turkey might tackle the skills of better qualified employees – but that is subject to
future efforts.
In cooperation with social partners and firms, Member States should improve
access to training, strengthen education and career guidance. These improvements
should be combined with the provision of systematic information on new job
openings and opportunities, the promotion of entrepreneurship and enhanced
anticipation of skill needs. – To support young people and in particular those not in
employment, education or training, Member States, in cooperation with the social
partners, should enact schemes to help those people find initial employment, job
experience, or further education and training opportunities, including
apprenticeships, and should intervene rapidly when young people become
unemployed.
Particularly PYE aims at improving young people’s access to training and work
opportunities for instance by ways of internships, on-the-job training etc.
Entrepreneurship training is both in the focus of the grant scheme and – even more
centrally – the TA project. HRD OP is therefore fully in line with the efforts
demanded by the EES.
Improving the quality and performance of education and training systems at
all levels and increasing participation in tertiary or equivalent education
In order to ensure access to quality education and training for all and to improve
educational outcomes, Member States should invest efficiently in education and
training systems notably to raise the skill level of the EU’s workforce, allowing it to
meet the rapidly changing needs of modern labour markets and society at large. In
line with the lifelong learning principles, action should cover all sectors (from early
childhood education and schools through to higher education, vocational education
and training, as well as adult learning) taking into account also learning in informal
and non-formal contexts.
This area is mainly subject of HRD OP Priorities 2 and 3.
Reforms should aim to ensure the acquisition of the key competencies that every
individual needs for success in a knowledge-based economy, notably in terms of
employability in line with the priorities mentioned in guideline 4. International
mobility for learners and teachers should be encouraged. Steps should also be
taken to ensure that learning mobility for young people and teachers becomes the
norm. Member States should improve the openness and relevance of education
and training systems, particularly by implementing national qualification frameworks
enabling flexible learning pathways, and by developing partnerships between the
worlds of education/training and work. The teaching profession should be made
more attractive and attention should be paid to the initial education and the
continuous professional development of teachers. Higher education should become
more open to non-traditional learners and participation in tertiary or equivalent
education should be increased. With a view to reducing the number of young
people not in employment, education, or training, Member States should take all
necessary steps to prevent early school leaving.
Measures 1.1 and 1.2 and the respective grant schemes pursue the skills upgrade
of the target groups in the same way outlined here. There is a strong focus on
employment-related skills in order to improve the employability of the target groups.
The rest of the requirements is clearly dealt with under HRD OP Priority 2.
Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty
Efforts should concentrate on ensuring equal opportunities, including through
access for all to high quality, affordable, and sustainable services, in particular in
the social field. Public services (including online services, in line with guideline 4)
play an important role in this respect. Member States should put in place effective
anti-discrimination measures. Empowering people and promoting labour market
participation for those furthest away from the labour market while preventing inwork poverty will help fight social exclusion. This would require enhancing social
protection systems, lifelong learning and comprehensive active inclusion policies to
create opportunities at different stages of people’s lives and shield them from the
risk of exclusion, with special attention to women. Social protection systems,
including pensions and access to healthcare, should be modernised and fully
HRD OP
deployed to ensure adequate income support and services — thus providing social
cohesion — whilst remaining financially sustainable and encouraging participation
in society and in the labour market.
Equal opportunities are at the core of the activities related to Measures 1.1 and 1.2
of the HRD OP with a focus on women and young people.
Public services’ improvement is the main focus of Measure 1.3 – as far as the
coverage of social insurance and the performance of the Social Security Institution
are concerned – and Measure 1.4 – as far as the performance, coverage and
market-orientation of the public employment services are concerned.
Active inclusion policies are subject to HRD OP’s Priority 4.
1.2.3 MIPD – Multi-annual Indicative Planning Document (updates)
The MIPD at the time of the launch of the HRD OP was the version 2007-2009. In the
meantime the document has been revised twice so that there are now the versions 20092011 and 2011-2013. The two versions are very different from each other: While the 20092011 document follows the usual patterns established by earlier MIPD versions, the latest
document changes the direction and is based on lessons learned from the previous funding
operations. It just formulates some objectives related to social development and indicators
with a view to measuring it.
MIPD 2009-2011 reflects the measures outlined in the HRD OP. In addition, it formulates
results which should be achieved through HRD OP activities by 2014. These results are
divided into those at system level and those at the level of final beneficiaries.67
The following table shows to what extent these results can actually be achieved by the
Employment priority measures of the HRD OP:
Table 46: MIPD 2009-2011 and its relation to HRD OP
Requested Results by 2014
At System Level
HRD OP Response
Modernisation and strengthening of public
employment services able to effectively
implement quality and widespread active labour
market policies throughout the country.
The issue has been tackled particularly by
Measure 1.4 and the subsequently launched TA
project on PES. The development of Model
Offices, the establishment of Job and Vocational
Counsellors and the wide-spread training
activities for staff of İŞKUR pursue the objectives
outlined in the MIPD.
The supply contract for the benefit of İŞKUR adds
to that development by equipping provincial
offices of the institution with the necessary
furniture.
Strengthening of policies for the social integration
67
MIPD 2009-2011, p.39-40
The MIPD formulation is not entirely clear. If it is
through employment and further training of
women of vulnerable persons.
about women who belong to (other) vulnerable
groups there is no clear relation to the HRD OP
sice the target group outlined in the PWE grant
scheme guideline is aiming at women who are
either unemployed due to care obligations or live
in urban areas (including those who were formerly
employed in agricultural settings.
If women themselves are regarded as a
vulnerable group, then the PWE grant scheme
was a valuable tool to tackle the issue
Improvement
of
the
coordination
and
effectiveness of social services providing
education, training and employment opportunities
to particularly disadvantaged people, including
day-care for children and the elderly, in order to
facilitate women participation in employment.
This is mainly the description of activities
belonging to the area of social inclusion related
activities. Nevertheless, it also includes specific
measures aiming at facilitating women’s
employment which has been pursued within the
PWE grant scheme.
Strategic approach to regional disparities in the
fields of labour market, education and training
and social inclusion policies.
The growth-centre approach which was adopted
by the SCF and the HRD OP specifically aims at
decreasing regional disparities. It will be a subject
of the evaluation to find out if that approach
actually worked.
At the level of final beneficiaries
Increase of participation rates in employment,
particularly for women
This objective is the rationale of HRD OP
Measure 1.1.
Reduction of the level of undeclared employment.
This is one of the two objectives of Measure 1.3.
Reduction of unemployment rates, particularly for
young people.
This is being reflected in HRD OP Measure 1.2.
Better access to training and active labour market
initiatives in both rural areas and those urban
areas with more needs (gecekondu), particularly
for unskilled labour force migrated from rural to
urban areas.
The concerns of disadvantaged persons have
been regarded as a horizontal issue which has to
be observed in all measures of the HRD OP. To
what extent disadvantaged people have played a
role as final beneficiaries under the Employment
priority will be subject to evaluation in Section B3.
The core set of activities following this objective,
however, has been established under Priority 4
and is therefore not subject to this evaluation.
The relation between MIPD 2011-2013 and the HRD OP will be displayed in the next table.
Table 47: MIPD 2011-2013 Sector Objectives and Indicators related to HRD OP
MIPD Sector Objectives and Indicators
HRD OP Response
Bringing Turkey closer to the EU policies and
parameters of the Europe 2020 strategy, (…) in
terms of strengthening employment and human
resources development as well as building
institutional and administrative capacity
The HRD OP tackles both issues by providing
skill enhancing activities to target groups (in
particular women and young unemployed) as well
as strengthening institutional capacities (both at
the level of grant beneficiaries and operation
beneficiaries) and administrative capacity – the
latter related at the Operating Structure within
MoLSS, but also İŞKUR and SGK. Indirectly the
issue of capacity building is also pursued in
relation to strengthening the capacities of the
social partner institutions for instance by opening
training to SGK staff to participation of social
partner representatives.
Reduction of unemployment (particularly among
youth in rural areas), reduced level of undeclared
employment and increased participation rates in
employment, particularly for women (including
those formerly employed in agriculture).
These indicators are being tackled by the
Measures 1.2, 1.3 and 1.1 respectively.
Modernised and strengthened public employment
services able to effectively implement quality and
widespread active labour market policies
throughout the country as well as a strategic
approach to regional disparities in the fields of
labour market, education and training and social
inclusion policies.
The PES project under Measure 1.4 directly
offers answers to this request.
Improved coordination and effectiveness of social
services providing education, training and
employment opportunities, day-care for children
and the elderly, in order to facilitate women
participation in employment.
The grant schemes under Measures .1, 1.2 and
1.3 all aim at a better coordination of the work of
various institutions on the labour market. The
schemes promote the establishment of
“partnerships” in which the beneficiary and other
institutions are supposed to develop adequate
solutions together making use of their different
skills and resources.
Better functioning and coordination among the
institutions and mechanisms in the field of the
labour market and social protection, particularly in
order to facilitate the integration of disadvantaged
persons in the labour market.
Here again it is the partnership approach which is
dominating the Measures 1.1 and 1.2 that will
respond adequately to this request a far as the
Employment Priority is concerned. The integration
of disadvantaged people into the labour market is
mainly subject of Priority 4 (Social Inclusion).
When it comes to a strategic approach to tackle
regional disparities, HRD OP (and SCF) have
established the growth centre approach (see
Chapter B2.2.
1.2.4 Conclusion
Without foreclosing any results of future evaluations related to the other priorities of the HRD
OP it can be safely stated that the programme is fully in line with the major manifestations of
the EU policies on social cohesion as outlined in the Europe 2020 targets and the European
Employment Strategy as well as other relevant policy documents.
Turkey’s focus on a smaller set of target groups (compared to the slightly broader approach
of the EU and its Member States) is based on the gap between their major performance
indicators. A country with such a low employment rate does good not to tackle all target
groups of the labour market at the same time. It had already been outlined in the Ex Ante
Evaluation that an approach that tried to support all possible target groups would lead the
programme into a status of arbitrariness. Only by putting a clear focus on selected – and
particularly important – target group can the programme expect to unfold a significant impact
on the domestic labour market.
Hence the decisions taking by the Turkish government in the drafting of the programme are
completely justified and nevertheless in line with the European policy framework.
1.3 Domestic and Donor Funding
There are several projects/programmes that have been implemented including activities
increasing employability of the women and young people directly or indirectly. The
projects/programmes outlined in the tables below and briefly explained thereafter have
similar, if not the same, objectives, activities and target groups with the PWE and PYE
Programme. There is no such programme related to PRE because that has been the first
grant scheme ever related to the combat of unregistered and the promotion of registered
employment.
The PWE and PYE Programmes have anticipated the linkage and the complementariness
with the projects previously implemented and on-going as shown in the tables below.



PWE and PYE operations have provided sustainability and consistency with the
previous projects and complement the gaps which still exist.
Some of the outputs and experiences that gained in the previous and on-going
projects have been used as inputs in the PWE and PYE operations.
PWE and PYE operation has functioned as a glue ensuring coordination and
complementary between different institutions both at national and local level.
The majority of the funding sources of projects/programmes that are implemented in parallel
to the Operations were funded by the EU or the World Bank. There are few projects funded
by foreign governments, development institutions and foundations.
Similarly, İŞKUR has organized a large number of vocational training programmes under the
adopted active labour market strategy of the institution during the implementation period of
PWE and PYE operations. The courses and the programmes organized by İŞKUR in 201111-12 are also given in a table below.
1.3.1
Technical Assistance for Promoting Youth Employment
Table 48: Projects/programmes financed by the EU and other external assistances both directly and indirectly related
to youth employment
Beneficiary
Project Name
Period
The Source of
Assistance
İŞKUR
Active Employment Measures and
Support to Turkish Employment
Organization at Local Level
2007-2009
EU
MoNE
Human
Resources
Development
Through Vocational Education And
Training Project (IKMEK)
2007-2009
EU
Privatization Social Support Project
2002-2005 (I)
World Bank
HEC
İŞKUR
2006-2008
(II)
İŞKUR
Rosetta Plan
2006
EU
İŞKUR
Active Labour Market Strategy
2003-2006
EU
MoNE
The
Strengthening
of
Vocational
Education and Training in Turkey Project
(SVET)
2002-2007
EU
PYE operation has provided sustainability and consistency with the previous projects and
complemented the gaps which still exist. Some of the outputs and experiences that gained in
the previous and on-going projects have been used as inputs in the PYE operation
Brief information on the projects/programmes in Table 53:
1. Active Employment Measures and Support to Turkish Employment Organization at Local
Level:







Objectives: the projects are also related with the employability of the young people.
Improving the existing capacity to design, develop and implement policies and
programmes in order to contribute to human resource development aligned with
European Employment Strategy in Turkey will contribute to improved employment
policies targeted on young people as well.
Implementing more efficient active employment measures according to labour market
needs at local level.
Target groups: Young people and women
Project had two components:
Institutional capacity building
Grant scheme : €16,000,000
o Targeting women and young unemployed.
o It is aimed to support actions tailored to boost local employment in 28
provinces, which some of them are also in region covered by PYE.
o
Approximately 100 grant projects were implemented to increase employability
of women and young.
Relation to PYE: The activities to increase entrepreneurship and employability of the young
people under the PYE operations were aimed at ensuring complementary among operations
to serve the sustainability on the supporting policies.
2. Human Resources Development through Vocational Education and Training Project
(IKMEK):

Beneficiaries: MoNE and Council of Higher Education (HEC)

Supported by the EU 2006 Instrument Pre-Accession (IPA) Programme

Duration: two years

Objectives:

o
Promoting the development of human resources through modernizing and
increasing the quality of vocational education in the view of lifelong learning by
assuring association between the labour market and secondary and postsecondary vocational education and training schools.
o
Providing training for entrepreneurship and SMEs in the perspective of lifelong
learning is aimed under this project.
o
Modernizing initial VET and thus equip VET students with better qualities.
Activities:
o
Vocational training activities for the young unemployed.
o
Conducting labour market analysis in the chosen 8 provinces, developing
modular education programs in line with sector-specific needs
o
Supporting vocational education centres and organizing entrepreneurship
programmes
Relation to PYE: PYE operation has created a synergy with this operation particularly
through upgrading VET system. The outcomes of the activities of this project, such as labour
market analysis has provided some inputs for the action plans and workshops for the young
people.
The project was implemented in 8 growth centres (Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Erzurum, Antep,
Kahramanmaraş, Malatya, Şanlıurfa, Van).
3. Privatization Social Support Project:







Funded by the World Bank
Objectives: mitigating the economic and social effects of privatization.
Project Phases: The first phase 2005 and the second phase 2008
Beneficiary: İŞKUR in coordination with KOSGEB for the entrepreneurship activities.
Activities: payment of compensation, training/retraining by İŞKUR.
The main target group: the people became unemployed resulting from privatization
including young people.
Results:
o In 2006, 433 young people out of 1265 participated to the trainings were
employed.
o Furthermore, at the end of the first phase of the project, 414 new SMEs have
been established and 1230 people were recruited in these companies.
Relation to PYE: The partnership approach between KOSGEB and İŞKUR has been
continuing in the PYE operation and later as regards the entrepreneurship activities.
4. Rosetta Plan:

Funded under the Community Programme for Active Employment Measures,

Implemented in 2005-2006 under the name “the Kick Off for Youth-Rosetta Plan
project”

The objective: to analyse the Rosetta Plan in Belgium that is considered to be one of
the best practices to increase youth employment and to seek the applicability of this
plan in Turkey.

Beneficiary: İŞKUR. Social partners also took place in the debate regarding the
applicability of the Rosetta Plan in Turkey.

Result: an action plan was submitted to the MoLSS.
Relation to PYE: The PYE operation has also paved the way for innovative active
measures to promote youth employment by considering best practices of youth
employment schemes and projects in Europe.
5. Active Labour Market Strategy:

Implemented in the period 2003-2006

The objective: to assist İŞKUR to design, develop and implement effective
employment policy measures and services aligned with the European Employment
Strategy.

The project had two components:


o
The grant scheme, € 32 Million
o
Institutional building, €10 Million
o
Modernization of İŞKUR offices, €8 Million
Activities:
o
25 labour market analyses were conducted
o
A business plan for İŞKUR and a strategy of human resource development of
Turkey was prepared.
o
Renovations took place in pilot provinces in order to modernize public
employment services.
Results:
o
Approximately 50 thousand unemployed people were provided with trainings
o
9 thousand of them were employed at the end of the trainings.
o
Under the Grant scheme of the Project, the target group in 37 out of 245
projects was young people.
o
ISKUR has gained substantial knowledge for improving its services, as well as
on project management.
o
İŞKUR staff had the opportunity to develop their skills through study visits and
trainings.
o
İŞKUR staff responsible for monitoring grants has gained substantial
experience and knowledge on monitoring projects.
o
The visibility of the organization has increased significantly by the means of
local and national media.
o
The project brought about a nation-wide dynamism in the field of labour
market policies.
Relation to PYE: The strategic outlook, as well as increased capacity in both public
employment services and grant implementation, has been an asset for the implementation of
the PYE operation.
6. The Strengthening of Vocational Education and Training in Turkey Project (SVET):




Implemented in the period 2002-2007 in a total of 145 pilot institutions in 30 provinces
by maintaining close cooperation with ISKUR.
The objective: to strengthen the VET system in line with the socio-economic needs
within a lifelong learning approach and the EU standards.
The activities:
o Developing standards for vocational training
o Developing VET modules to training school principals, teachers as well as
students
o Establishing VET Information Centres.
Outputs:
o Preparation of the Handbook on Turkey's Local Labour Market,
o Enterprise Survey for 31 Provinces of Turkey,
o Turkey’s Labour Market Report,
o Labour Market and Skill Needs Survey,
o Labour Market Analyses and Lifelong Learning Strategy Paper.
Relation to PYE: The outputs of this project have been used as an instrument in designing
the PYE operation and catalysed in increasing the success of the PYE operation in the way
that a well-functioning VET system is necessary to tackle youth unemployment.
1.3.2
Technical Assistance for Promoting Women Employment
“The Promotion of Women Employment” was the continuation of ALMP I and II projects with
a concentration on women as target group and geographical concentration in the 12 NUTS II
regions. There are several projects/ programmes that are implemented and on-going in line
with the PWE with similar and other funding for the same target groups and the similar
objectives.
The PWE Programme has also targeted to be complementary in the previous and on-going
projects and specifically with the ALMP I and II in terms of sustainability and consistency.
Outputs and experience that were gained in the previous projects has been used as inputs.
Table 49: Projects/programmes financed by the EU and other external assistances aiming at women employment both
directly and indirectly
Beneficiary
Project Name
Period
Source of
Assistance
TESK
Support to Women Entrepreneurship
through Training Centres and Relays in
2007-2009
EU
Turkey
MoLSS
Strengthening Social Dialog for
Innovation and Change in Turkey
2006-2008
EU
MoNE
Support to Human Resources
Development through the Vocational
Education and Training
2007-2009
EU
İŞKUR
Privatization Social Support Project
2002-2005 (I)
World Bank
2006-2008
(II)
ISKUR
The Active Employment Measures for
Development of Social Integration and
Participation with Special Focus on
Gender Problems Project
2005-2006
European
Training
Foundation
TESK
Development of Incubators for
Supporting Women Entrepreneurship
2007-2009
EU
İŞKUR
Active Labour Market Strategy
2003-2006
EU
İŞKUR
Active Employment Measures and
Support to Turkish Employment
Organization at Local Level
2007-2009
EU
MoLSS
Technical Assistance for Potential
Operation and Grant Beneficiaries,
Information and Publicity (5th Priority of
IPA IV: TA)
2010-2013
EU
İŞKUR
Active Labour Market Policies towards
Realizing Gender Equality Through
Maintaining Worth Job Opportunities
2009-2010
SIDA (Sweden
International
Development
Agency)
KOSGEB
ILO
(*) SYDGM: General Directorate of Social Assistance & Solidarity; SYDTF: Social Solidarity
Fund; SYDV: Social Solidarity Foundations
Source: ToR for PWE TA
Brief information on the projects/programmes in Table2 (other than the ones that were
already in Table 1):
1. Support to Women Entrepreneurship through Training Centres and Relays in Turkey:


Objective: Increase the level of participation of women in Turkey’s economic life
through promoting entrepreneurship among women and enhance their role in the
society.
Activities: Establishment of 9 training centres and 16 training relays in different
regions of Turkey; train and provide consultancy to more than 5000 women.
Relation to PWE: The grant scheme also supported activities promoting women to start
their own business and could thus benefit from this programme’s results.
2. Strengthening Social Dialog for Innovation and Change in Turkey:


Objective: Improving conditions for an active and autonomous social dialog in Turkey.
Activities: Pilot activities and surveys were developed for the reconciliation between
working and family life under the TA and grant scheme contracts.
Relation to PWE: PWE also promoted approaches reconciling work and family life and
could thus build on experience made in this programme.
3. Human Resources Development through Vocational Education and Training Project
(IKMEK):

Please see the same heading in PYE Section above for brief information on the
project
Relation to PWE: The outcomes of the activities of this project, such as labour market
analysis has provided some inputs for the action plans and workshops for the women.
4. Privatization Social Support Project:

Please see the same heading in PYE Section above for brief information on the
project
Relation to PWE: PWE grant scheme also supported activities promoting women to start
their own business and could thus benefit from the results of the entrepreneurship
activities implemented by partnership between İŞKUR and KOSGEB under the project.
5. The Active Employment Measures for Development of Social Integration and Participation
with Special Focus on Gender Problems Project


Objective. To develop a model for disadvantaged groups’ participation in the labour
market.
Target group; young girls from orphanages.
Relation to PWE: There is no such activity in PWE but the grant scheme also promoted in
general all activities enabling women to access the labour market or at least employment
services.
6. “Supporting Women Entrepreneurship Project” Development of Incubators for Supporting
Women:

Components/ activities: Entrepreneurship training (TESK); incubation centres for
women entrepreneurs (KOSGEB-Çorum, Kütahya, Hacıbektaş, Pendik)
Relation to PWE: The grant scheme built on these experiences by generally promoting
one-to-one guidance services, providing career guidance and supporting the identification
of external financial opportunities relevant for start-ups.
7. Active Labour Market Strategy:

Please see the same heading in PYE Section above for brief information on the
project
Relation to PWE: Increased capacity in both public employment services and grant
implementation has been an asset for the implementation of the PWE operation.
8. Active Employment Measures and Support to Turkish Employment Organization at Local
Level:

Please see the same heading in PYE Section above for brief information on the
project
Relation to PWE: PWE grant scheme were built on the experiences gained under
Programme which were targeting women and young unemployed with a grant scheme of
€16.000.000 and 100 projects.
9. Technical Assistance for Potential Operation and Grant Beneficiaries, Information and
Publicity (5th Priority of IPA IV: TA)


Objectives: Enhancing the capacity of the potential beneficiaries for developing
tangible project ideas under the HRD OP.
Activities: Providing technical assistance, information and promotion to potential
operation beneficiaries and grant beneficiaries.
Relation to PWE: The programme supported grant beneficiaries of PWE for better
implementation and enhancing the efficiency of the PWE Grant Scheme.
1.3.3
İŞKUR funding for similar objectives, activities and target groups as PWE and
PYE
İŞKUR is organizing vocational training courses that are demanded by the labour market for
the disadvantageous groups who are vulnerable of being unemployed; namely: youngsters,
women, disabled, ex-convicts, long-term unemployed, unemployed under unemployment
benefit.
The major programmes of İŞKUR are Vocational Training Courses (VTC), Sectorial
Vocational courses (UMEM) and entrepreneurship trainings in terms of number of courses
opened and number of attendance.
The table below presents the figures for no. of courses/programmes, and participants
organized by İŞKUR for the years 2010-2011-2012 during which the PWE and PYE
programmes were implemented. The number of people attended in VTC has reached high
figures. The distribution of attendants by gender shows that the number of women
attendance is higher than that of men. Although there is no classification for young
attendance, the share of youngsters might be quite high.
Despite the UMEM training are not reaching the level of VTC in number of participants it has
become one of the major active labour market programmes of İŞKUR together with the
entrepreneurship programme. UMEM programme has a component focused in the South
Eastern Anatolian region in the NUTS II region where the PWE and PYE programmes were
implemented.
Table 5568 provides figures on the VTCs organised under the grant schemes for the years
2010 and 2011. VTC programmes under the GS have not reached the levels of UMEM.
68
Source: İŞKUR Annual Reports, 2010-2011-2012
During the focus group interviews, few of the grant beneficiaries mentioned that they have
organized similar training after the end of their project for İŞKUR VTC Programme while they
commented on the sustainability issues.
Table 50: İŞKUR- Active Labour Market Programmes for the years 2010-11-12
Type of
Courses/Programmes
Vocational Training for
Employed
GAP-II
GAP II
Entrepreneurship
GAP II UMEM
(Sectorial Vocational
Training CentersUzmanlaşmış Meslek
Edindirme Merkezleri)
GAP II UMEM IEP
(On- the- Job Training)
Entrepreneurship
Vocational Training
Courses (İşgücü
Yetiştirme)
On-the-Job Training
Programmes (IEP)
UMEM
UMEM İEP
Number of Courses
2010 2011 2012
Men
2010
2011
297
430
370
2.134
3.918
284
166
138
3.027
1.866
..
34
21
..
603
..
24
66
..
..
11
56
319
872
6.348
2012
7.410
Women
2010
2011
2012
Total
2010
2011
2012
416
1060
1.043
2.550
4.978
8.453
2.852
2.204
1.992
5.789
4.070
3.342
323
..
228
199
..
831
522
421
843
..
110
284
..
531
1.127
..
137
465
..
0
235
..
137
700
900
4.707
13.002
12.804
3.599
10.312
12.149
8.306
23.314
24.953
3.864
6.140
60.481
35.559
57.063
71.674
52.121
93.407
132.155
87.680
150.470
1.796
2.658
8.108
2.643
2.593
9.060
2.028
2.918
9.510
4.671
5.511
18.570
..
1.746
2.359
..
19.453
25.963
..
7.856
15.091
..
28.309
41.054
..
3.180
3.333
..
7.744
8.486
..
3.001
4.017
..
10.745
12.503
1.350
2. Horizontal Challenges
As mentioned in the beginning of this section, the HRD OP outlines a set of horizontal
challenges and needs that required to be tackled by the programme and its priorities and
activities. These horizontal challenges are:




Strengthening institutional capacities for designing and implementing policy actions
and measures in HRD through effective participation of social partners and civil
society organisations
Reducing regional and territorial disparities
Developing monitoring and impact analysis on policy implementation in order to
ensure sustainable policy development
Increasing the involvement of all stakeholders
This chapter will follow the outline of the horizontal challenges and report to what extent the
HRD OP has contributed to fulfilling them.
2.1 Strengthening Institutional Capacities
This chapter will look after issues related with the development of institutional capacities and
the issue of participation. The development of institutional capacities is an important issue in
relation to several programme actors since the cooperation of these actors is foreseen to
contribute to the improvement of the labour market in Turkey.
Participation, on the other hand, is a crucial issue when it comes to the development of
solutions for challenges outlined in the HRD OP since it is an important objective to develop
civil society structures through the programme implementation. Hence it is important to
assess if the institutional diversity of actors foreseen in the programme has been achieved.
This means to assess the structure of applicants, of beneficiaries and of partners.
This chapter will therefore have to answer questions related to:


Institutional development of the OS
Institutional development of the OBs
The following table provides an overview on institutional development related to the whole
range of HRD OP issues. The information was derived from the EU Progress Reports for
Turkey.69
69
See Progress Reports for Turkey 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012
Table 51: Institutional Progress in relation to Chapters 19 and 22
Issues
Ch.19
Labour Market Policy
Progress Level
Marked by
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Progress
(1) Employment
Package I with
focus on women,
youth, disabled
(2) Private Placement
Agency regulation
liberalizes the
labour market
exchange
Some
(1) Employment
Package II with
focus on
community work
and reduction of
labour costs
(2) Extension of shortterm work duration
(3) Action Plan against
informal economy
(4) İŞKUR implements
entrepreneur-ship
training to
unemployed
Some
(1) National
Employment
Strategy under
preparation;
(2) ALMP extended;
(3) Work against
undeclared work
intensified
(4) Action Plan to
improve linkage of
social assistance
and employment
services
Some
(1) Upon recruitment
of unemployed
persons, the
employers' share
of these workers'
social security
premiums will be
subsidised by the
state until the end
of 2015.
(2) The application of
the short term work
fund was extended.
(3) Further resources
have been
allocated from the
unemployment
fund for active
labour market
measures.
(4) Part time workers,
certain
occupational
groups and those
who work less than
ten days a month
have
been granted the
right to benefit from
unemployment
insurance.
(5) İŞKUR has
recruited new staff
(6) SGK has recruited
Some
(1) The unemployment
rate declined to 9%
(2) Youth
unemployment has
fallen significantly
(3) Overall
employment and
labour force
participation
have increased
(4) İŞKUR recruited
job counsellors to
provide
individualised
public employment
Services
(5) İŞKUR raised
workplace visits by
150% and
collected 50%
more vacancies
(6) Turkey has
adopted a second
Action Plan to Fight
the Informal
Economy (2011–
2013)
JAP
ESF Preparation
Progress Level
Marked by
None
-
None
-
None
-
Progress Level
Marked by
Good
(1) HRDOP adopted
(2) MoLSS established
management
structures, hired
staff
(3) Awareness raised
Good
(1) MoLSS recruited
and trained staff
(2) DIS finalised,
financial
agreement signed
Some
(1) HRD OP OS
increased
capacities
(2) Award procedures
launched, contracts
signed
2750 new auditors
(7) Training
opportunities for
employees of
companies have
been strengthened
and centralised
with the Ministry’s
ÇASGEM centre
(8) Green card owners
do not lose their
rights when
participating in VET
None
-
Progress
(1) OS recruited 24
new staff
(2) Capacity building
continues for old
and new staff
None
General comment on
co-operation:
Policy debate between
the EU and Turkey on
employment policies
has continued but
needs to be more
clearly structured and
further enhanced.
Some
(1) MoLSS has been
accredited for
tendering,
contracting and
financial
management of
relevant EU-funded
operations.
(2) In 2011, no funds
were lost through
the automatic decommitment rule.
Social Inclusion
Progress Level
Marked by
Limited
Social Insurance and
General Health Social
Insurance Law in force
Little
Little
(1) Amendment of
constitution on
positive
discrimination
(2) Action Plan on
linking social
services and PES
(3) Better work
opportunities for
disabled in public
institutions
Limited
(1) A new Ministry of
Family and Social
Policies has been
established,
merging a number
of institutions
responsible for
social protection,
social assistance,
women, children,
the disabled and
family issues, in an
effort to overcome
the institutional
fragmentation in
this field.
(2) The free social
assistance helpline
has increased
accessibility and
speed of services
provided.
(3) The 2011-2013
Strategy and
Action Plan on
Care Services,
which provides for
the improvement of
home based care
services for
children and
people with
disabilities, have
been adopted.
(4) The number of
social services
units run by the
Social Services
Little
(1) Efforts by the
Ministry of Family
and Social Policies
to provide more
efficient social
services under a
single roof have
continued.
(2) However, a clear
policy framework
for social
assistance and
poverty alleviation
has not yet
emerged.
(3) The protocol of
cooperation signed
between relevant
ministries is a
positive step in this
direction
JIM
and Child
Protection Agency
(SHCEK) is on the
increase.
(5) Turkey started to
cover health
expenses of
children of lowincome families
and of those not
covered as
dependents by the
social security
system.
Social Protection
Progress Level
Marked by
None
-
None
-
None
-
None.
-
None
See JAP
Some
SSI established
decentralised one-stop
services for disabled
None
(1) Decline of people
covered by social
security
(2) No adoption of
draft law on social
assistance
Little
(1) Circular on season
migrant agricultural
workers
(2) Helpline on social
assistance
launched
(3) Extension of
general health
insurance scheme
improved
Some
(1) The number of
people actively
insured rose by
more than 1.6
million between
January 2010 and
January 2011,
widening the
coverage of the
social security
system to 84%.
(2) Health insurance
coverage has also
been extended.
Some
(1) The number of
people actively
insured rose by
more than 9%
between May 2011
and May 2012. The
coverage of the
social security
system rose from
84% to 86% in the
same period.
(2) The mandatory
General Health
Insurance System
fully entered into
force as of January
2012. The new
system extends the
coverage of health
Antidiscrimina
tion
Equal Opportunities
Progress Level
Marked by
Limited
Preparations in antidiscrimination field
started
Progress Level
Marked by
Limited
Women’s employment
rates among the lowest
in Europe
None
(1) Acquis not
transposed
(2) Terms not defined
(3) Equality Body not
established
Some
(1) Parliamentary
Commission on Equal
Opportunities for Men
and Women
established;
(2) National action
plan for
gender equality for
2008-2013;
(3) Equality Body
under preparation
None
(1) Acquis not
transposed
(2) Terms not defined
None
A comprehensive
antidiscrimination law
has not been adopted
yet.
Some
Some
(1) Constitutional
(3) The 'package law'
amendment
adopted in 2011
stipulates that
incorporates
measures taken to
several
achieve
amendments
substantive
concerning
equality between
parental rights,
men and women
particularly for civil
cannot be deemed
servants.
contrary to the
(4) Parliamentary
principle of equality
Committee on
(2) Circular issued by
Equal
the Prime Minister’s
Opportunities for
Office to mainstream
Men and Women
gender issues into
issued several
implementation of,
reports drawing
among other things,
attention to
employment-related
women's issues,
legislation and
including bullying
policies, workplace
at work, violence
inspections, strategic
against women and
plans and in-service
early marriages.
training
insurance to the
whole population,
with contributions
to be paid by the
individual or the
state, based on
results of a means
test.
None
The draft legislation
does not address all
grounds of
discrimination covered
by the Acquis.
None
(1) The female
employment target
in the draft national
employment
strategy (35%) is
less than
ambitious.
(2) Measures on
improving the
work-life balance
are not fully in
place, and the
existing ones
mainly focus on
women rather than
a gender
mainstreaming
approach.
(3) Full enforcement of
the principle of
equal pay for equal
value of work
needs to be
stepped up, also in
those sectors not
covered by the
labour law.
(4) The equality body
required by the
acquis has not
been created.
Issues
Ch. 22
Legislative framework
Progress Level
Marked by
2008
2009
2010
Progress
(1) Law on
Development
Agencies came
into force
(2) Regarding IPA, the
Competent
Accrediting Officer
and the Audit
Authority were
designated and
the IPA
Framework
Agreement with
Turkey was signed
Some
(1) Framework
agreement entered
into force
(2) Implementing
legislation on
support for
projects and
activities from
development
agencies entered
into force
Some
(1) Prime Minister’s
Office issued a
circular on the
official appointment
of institutions under
IPA
(2) Formal appointment
of the strategic
coordinator under
components III and
IV
2011
None
(1) Draft law on IPA
has not been
adopted
(2) Further horizontal
legislation will be
necessary
2012
Some
(1) By-law on
restructuring of
MoLSS established
current
organisational
setup
(2) Prime Minister’s
circular amended
Some limited
(1) SPO started
playing a
coordinating role in
the IPA context
(2) Operating
Structures were
designated for four
OPs
(3) Cooperation
agreement signed
to divide tasks
between CFCU
and OSs
Progress Level
Marked by
Limited
(1) Capacity built by
training for Oss
through TA at
central level
(2) Yet regional
capacities are very
low
Administrative
capacity
Institutional framework
Progress Level
Marked by
Progress
(1) Institutional setup
and procedures for
implementation of
components III
and IV of IPA
finalised
(2) Management of
both components
conferred to
Turkey
(3) SPO established
technical
committee on IPA
(4) Development
Agencies
established in all
NUTS II regions
with national
budget
Limited
(1) NAO office was reorganised and
staffed
(2) Training and TA
continued
(3) Lack of
cooperation
between CFCU
and OSs
Progress
(1) SPO’s technical
committee on four
OPs meets regularly
(2) Regional
Development
committee yet to be
established
(3) İŞKUR started
establishing local
service points in 844
municipalities
Some
(1) High Council of
Regional
Development and
the Regional
Development
Committee (RDC)
set up
(2) Secretary
Generals
appointed for all
26 RDAs, staff
employed
(3) Regional Plans
prepared for 24
regions
(4) Progress on
accreditation of
OSs
Some
(1) Intensive staff
increase within
İŞKUR related to
establishment of
Job and Vocational
Counselling
activities
(2) Hand-over of
CFCU tasks as
Contracting
Authority for IPA IV
to MoLSS
Progress
(1) Training and TA
continue
(2) Set-up of
management and
control systems
advance
(3) High staff turnover
in DIS institutions
(4) Capacity of CFCU
not sufficient
Some
(1) Progress on taking
over procurement
functions and
contracting from
CFCU slower than
expected
(2) Ministry of EU
Affairs increased
staff and
capacities
(3) NAO re-organised
and better staffed
Some
(1) During the
restructuring of the
public
administration, a
by-law concerning
improvement of the
remuneration
system for the staff
employed in IPA
projects was
adopted
(2) MoLSS qualified
through a
Commission
decision for taking
over procurement
and contracting
Good
(1) Strategic
Coherence
Framework
prepared by SPO
(2) Four OPs
prepared and
submitted
Some
(1) Project pipeline
established only for
Environment
(2) Calls launched also
under HRDOP
Some
Improvement of
pipelines in employment
area of HRD OP
Some
(1) Identification,
preparation and
appraisal of
projects under IPA
IV
(2) However, progress
with the
preparation of
tender documents,
publication of
tenders and
contracting is still
not sufficient
(3) HRD OP amended
Progress Level
Marked by
Progress
(1) Sectoral
Monitoring
Committees set up
for the OPs
(2) Joint IPA
Committee
established
(3) Programme
coordination and
implementation
centres
established by
Limited
(1) Further work at GMIS by SPO and
Oss
(2) Continuing work of
SMCs
Some
(1) Working Groups
between OS and
SPO
(2) Progress on G-MIS
Some
(1) IMIS operational
but monitoring still
at early stage
(2) Working groups
set up under
Ministry of EU
Affairs on further
improving
monitoring
systems
(3) Interim Evaluation
was carried out
Monitoring &
Evaluation
Programming
Progress Level
Marked by
functions from the
CFCU for the
HRDOP
Some
(1) progress was
made in the
preparation of
tender documents,
publication of
tenders and
contracting
(2) Preparations
continued on the
National Strategy
for Regional
Development
(NSRD), which
aims to create a
general framework
and guidance for
the regional and
local plans and
strategies
Some
(1) The Integrated
Monitoring
Information System
has been further
developed and is
now partly
operational
(2) Monitoring is still at
an early stage due
to limited
implementation
Financial management and
control
Progress Level
Marked by
OSs
Some
Establishment of
relevant systems and
procedures under IPA
III and IV
Limited
(1) Financial
management and
control units
established in OSs
(2) Yet, training needs
to be enhanced
Some
But deadline for
conferral of CFCU
duties to HRD OP OS
had to be extended to
2011
Some
Comprehensive action
plan set up to address
all remaining
weaknesses in the
management and
control systems
Some
(1) CFCU has
delivered training in
the area of
rejection rate
tracking and
reporting
(2) A by-law was
adopted in 2011
which ensures that
the Audit Authority
also has a legal
basis for auditing
EU-funded projects
in particular in line
with the
Framework
Agreement and
Financing
Agreements and
with the
international audit
standards
The table clearly reveals constant progress in terms of the adaptation of Turkey to the EU Acquis related to employment and social policies. The
following sub-chapters will look in detail at some of the most important institutions and then analyse the institutional setup of the HRD OP grant
schemes.
2.1.1
Institutional development of the Operating Structure (OS)
The OS started its existence with a very small group of young EU experts in the pre-launch
period of the HRD OP and developed the structures and the content of the programme as
well as the implementation and management structures.
This sub-chapter will look after the development related to the implementation of the
programme but also after the institutional set-up and development of man-power within the
OS.
The following table reflects the development milestones in the HRD OP preparation and
implementation between 2007 and 2012:70
Table 52: Development milestones of HRD OP implementation by years
Year
HRD OP Development Milestones



HRD Technical Committee was established for the preparation of the HRD OP.
First draft HRD OP was prepared and provided to European Commission.
A first four operations were identified for the measures:





2007












2008


70
Measure 1.1: Public Employment Agency
Measure 1.3: Social Security Institution – Guidance and Inspection Board
Measure 3.1: Ministry of National Education
Measure 4.2: Social Security Institution – DG on Non Contributory Payments
Technical Assistance Team started to prepare the OIS and the Terms of
Reference for each operation.
Implementation Manual of HRD OP was prepared.
Inter-ministerial Working Group was established.
Irregularity Officer was recruited.
Internal Audit Unit was established.
Risk Management System was set up.
Training Needs Analysis study was conducted to increase the institutional
capacity of OS for each unit.
Sectoral Monitoring Committee (SMC) was established and first SMC meeting
was held in 2007.
Second and third SMC meeting was held in 2008 including 24 members from
the public Institutions, 7 members from social partners which were trade unions
confederations and employer organizations, 13 members from the 12 NUTS II
regions and several NGOs working in the scope of the HRD OP.
Human Resources Development Operational Programme Implementation
Manual (HRD OP PIM) was completed.
The first Sectoral Annual Report on the implementation of HRDOP 2007 was
prepared.
Cooperation Agreement was signed with CFCU.
Framework Contract was implemented to increase the knowledge and skills of
the staff working in the HRD OS.
Two framework contracts were finalized under Support for European Integration
(SEI) to provide support to operation beneficiaries in preparation of tender
documents of operations under 2007 financial allocations of the HRD OP.
Technical Assistance Plan was finalized and presented in the third SMC on the
implementation of technical assistance priority axis.
Sectoral Annual Reports for 2006 to 2012









2009









2010

Mini Accreditation Strategy was prepared by QACU as requested by MoLSS for
operations and operation beneficiaries.
Operation Coordination Units were established in Operation Beneficiaries to
implement Operational Programme
Operation Beneficiaries prepared “Risk Management Plans” by support of
QACU.
Grant Implementation Manual was prepared for the grant schemes under HRD
OP.
Draft Communication Action Plan was prepared and presented in the third SMC.
Central and regional grant information teams including 4 experts at the central
level and 139 personnel from each operation beneficiary at the regional level
were established to increase the capacity of potential applicants.
HRD OP website was designed.
The forecast notices of the service component were published for Promoting
Women’s Employment Operation (PWE), Promoting Youth Employment
Operation (PYE), Promoting Registered Employment through Innovative
Measures Operation (PRE) and Improving The Quality of Public Employment
Services Operation (PES).
The calls for proposals for the grant applications were published for PWE, PYE
and PRE.
Forecast notices of supply contracts for PRE and PES were published.
Fourth and fifth SMC meeting was held in 2009.
Regional Grant Monitoring and Technical Assistance Teams (RGMTTs) were
established in 12 growth centres.
Mini Accreditation Strategy was approved by NAO.
13 grant information days were organized and approximately 2500 potential
grant applicants were informed in July 2009 under the 2008 Programming
Period.
Grant contracts were signed under Lifelong Learning Operation (LLL- I),
Promoting Registered Employment Through Innovative Measures (PRE- I),
Promoting Women’s Employment (PWE- I), Promoting Youth Employment- I
(PYE- I) and Increasing Enrolment Rates Especially for Girls (IER- I).
Four service contracts were signed, namely “Technical Assistance for
Implementation of HRD OP and TA Human Resources Development
Operational Programme (TA 5.1)”, “Technical Assistance for Potential Operation
and Grant Beneficiaries, Information& and Publicity (TA 5.2 & 5.3)”, “Improving
The Quality of Public Employment Services Operation (PES) and “Promoting
Registered Employment Through Innovative Measures Operation (PRE)”.
Sixth and seventh SMC meeting was held in 2010.
21 new staff was recruited and after the recruitment of new staff, the institutional
structure of IPA MD was revised. The IPA MD consisted of six units listed
below:
 Programming Unit
 Contract Management Unit
 Financial Management Unit
 Quality Assurance and Control Unit
 Information, Publicity and Technical Assistance Unit
 Monitoring and Evaluation Unit
Training needs analysis was conducted and training programme was prepared
including the different types of trainings listed below:
 Basic level trainings/introductory trainings for newly recruited staff
 Advanced level cross-cutting trainings directed to all employees in the
Department
 Advanced unit based trainings tailored to the specific needs of the Units
in the Department
 On-the-job trainings related to specific work processes involved in IPA
HRD OP management
 Other trainings, e.g. Integrated MIS, PCM, etc.



Theoretical trainings were delivered to the new staff on the subjects listed
below:
 EU Legislation, EU Institutions
 Free Movement of Workers, Goods and Services
 Employment, Social Policy and Occupational Health and Safety Chapter
 Labour Law, Collective Bargaining Agreement, Strike and Lock-out Law
 ILO Agreements and European Social Chart
 Anti-discrimination and Gender Equality
 PROGRESS
 JIM and JAP
 PCM
 Preparation and Check of Procurement Documents
In the scope of the TA Project, called “Providing Technical Assistance to
Increase the Administrative Capacity of the MoLSS for the Implementation
phase of the HRD OP under IPA”, training programme was designed for newly
recruited staff and consultants delivered trainings on the subjects listed below:
 Introduction to EU (Background, Treaties, Basic Principles, Institutions,
Legal Instruments, Enlargement, Accession Process)
 Development of EU Social Policy / Acquis Communautaire
 Development of Turkey-EU Relations
 Free Movement of Workers in EU
 Social Dimension of Turkey-EU Association and European Court of
Justice Judgements
 Labour Law (Working Conditions, Protection of Workers, Information /
Consultation)
 Health and Safety, Social Dialogue
 Alignment of Turkish Legislation on Labour Law / Health and Safety
 Gender Equality, Anti-Discrimination
 Employment Strategy, Social Inclusion Strategy
 Screening Process, European Social Fund, EU Structural Funds

Auditors from European Commission (EC) visited the EU Coordination
Department in 2011 to observe current situation of HRD OS in the scope of the
accreditation process.
5 grant schemes under 5 Operations have been finalized by the end of 2011.
Service contracts for Promoting Women’s Employment (PWE), Promoting Youth
Employment (PYE), Increasing Enrolment Rates Especially for Girls (IER) and
Promoting Lifelong Learning (LLL) and supply contracts for PRE, LLL and PES
have been signed.
The institutional structure of IPA MD was revised. The IPA MD consisted of
seven units listed below:
 Programme Management, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit
 Procurement Unit
 Project Management Unit
 Service and Supply Section
 Grants Section
 Financial Management Unit
 Financial Planning and Control Section
 Payment Section
 Accounting Section
 Quality Assurance and Control Unit
 Information, Publicity and Technical Assistance Unit
 Administrative, IT and EU Affairs Unit
The Training Strategy of the HRD OS including introductory, advanced level
cross-cutting trainings and advanced level unit based trainings was prepared.
Eighth and ninth SMC meeting was held in 2011.

The decision on the conferral of tendering, contracting and financial



2011


2012
management powers relating to the HRD Component to the EU Coordination
Department was adopted.
Based on the Training Strategy, introductory training, advanced level cross
cutting training and advanced level unit based training was delivered to the staff
of OS on the subjects listed below:
 EU Employment and Social Policy
 IPA HRD OP Management
 Eligibility of Expenditures
 Grant Management Manual
 PRAG Rules
 PCM
 "Filing& Archiving of IPA-files"
 Irregularities and Risk Management
 DMS, Project Management Tools and Back-up Policy
 Grant Procurement Process Simulation (1st session)
 Services Procurement Process
 Service & supply tender evaluation
 Grants Procurement Process
 Grant Tender Evaluation
 Framework Contract Evaluation
 PRAG 2013
 Grants Management Process
 Service/Supply Contract Management
 Management Verification Techniques
 Unit based Training for Monitoring and Evaluation Unit
 Mainstreaming Strategy for PMMEU
 Business Development
 Impact Evaluation
 Sampling Methodologies
 Monitoring Indicators
 Financial Planning and Expenditure Verification
 Financial Engineering Instruments I
 EIF Knowledge Sharing Seminar on FEI II
 Financial Engineering III
 Smart Indicators for QACU
 Budget and Accounting for IPTA
 Training on Web Portal/Design
 Irregularities
 Internal Audit-Financial Management
 Risk Based Auditing for Internal Auditors
 Unit based Training for Internal Audit
 IT Internal Audit
 Investigation Techniques for Internal Audit
 Internal Audit-Tendering Procedures
There is a clear and continuous development in relation to the preparation and
implementation of the HRD OP that can be observed within the OS. This development can
be highlighted year by year using the following key terms:



2007: Programme is approved and designation of MoLSS’s EU Coordination
Department as Operating Structure is carried out by Turkish government.
2008: Delay of Financial Agreement on IPA IV results in delay of programme start so
that the year is earmarked by preparation activities for TA and GS.
2009: Concrete steps are taken towards the realisation of TA projects and GS but
actual start of activities is delayed.



2010: Emphasis is put on the development of the accreditation package which is sent
to the NAO. In the meantime the first grant and service contracts are signed.
2011: The programme enters into the actual implementation phase of TA and GS
projects while the HRD OP is being revised. Grant scheme implementation is
finalised.
2012: EU Coordination Department is accredited and takes over CFCU tasks as
Contracting Authority for IPA IV. Comprehensive training programme for OS staff is
implemented. Preparation starts for second phase of HRD OP implementation
The delays that somehow hampered programme progress between 2007 and 2009 can be
regarded as a relatively normal stage in the process of adopting EU regulations in a
candidate country. In general, the development and progress of task implementation within
the OS can be seen as positive.
The following table will show the development of building man-power capacities and
developing the necessary skills within the Operating Structure:
Table 53: Staff development in HRD OP OS by years
Year
Capacity Building Development
No. of Staff
2007
Under the IPA Management Department including 30 staff, 5 units were
established as listed below.
 Programming Unit
 Technical Implementation Unit
 Monitoring and Evaluation Unit
 Quality Assurance and Control Unit
 Information, Publicity and Technical Assistance Unit
30
2008
2009
Five new assistant EU experts were recruited in the reporting period, 2008. In
IPA Management Department, there were 35 staff members including Head of
the Unit, 24 experts/assistant experts and 10 support/administrative officials.
The new Assistant EU Experts received theoretical trainings and on- the- job
trainings on the subjects listed below.
 MoLSS and related Turkish legislation: 7 trainings were
delivered by the experts of MoLSS.
 European Union, Acquis Communautaire and Negotiation
Process: 3 out of 15 trainings were delivered by the experts of
EU Coordination and IPA Management Department.
 Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA): 4 trainings
were delivered by the experts of EU Coordination and IPA
Management Department.
Five new Assistant EU Experts were recruited in December 2009. The total
number of staff of IPA Management Department was 38 including the Head of
the Unit, 26 EU Experts/Assistant EU Experts/other IPA staff/ new Assistant
EU Experts and 11 support/administrative officials. These new Assistant EU
Experts received theoretical trainings and on-the-job trainings as well based on
coaching system.
In the scope of the framework project, called “Providing Technical Assistance
to Increase the Administrative Capacity of the MoLSS for the Implementation
phase of the HRD OP under IPA”, the trainings on below mentioned subjects
were delivered to IPA Management Department:
 Programming, Monitoring and Evaluation
 Internal Audit, Quality Assurance and Irregularities
 Tendering, Contract and Financial Management
35
38
2010
2011
2012
2013
21 new Assistant EU Experts were recruited. Several trainings were organised
for the new staff in the scope of 5.1 Technical Assistance Project, called
“Technical Assistance for Implementation of Human Resources Development
Operational Programme”. The total number of staff of IPA Management
Department was 57.
In 2011, Chief Social Security Inspector and 7 Assistant EU Experts left the
institution and 1 EU Expert left for maternity leave. 4 new Assistant EU Experts
were recruited for the Administrative, IT and EU Affairs Unit. After the
recruitment of new staff, the EU Coordination Department has reached to 58
staff.
The number of staff in EU Coordination Department increased to 89 including
80 permanent staff and 9 contracted staff at the end of 2012.
The number of staff will have increased significantly by the end of the year.
Besides additional 20 assistant experts there will be a recruitment of 20 new
staff with a view to employing them as monitoring experts.
57
58
89
~ 130
As the development indicates, the number of staff went up significantly when actual
implementation tasks started in the OS. Considering the primary objectives of the HRD OP
for Turkey, OS is still in the process of enhancing the organisational abilities in the field of
tendering, contracting and financial management of EU funded operations under IPA
Component IV.
OS has not yet reached its target state in terms of numbers of staff. The intensity of training
also puts pressure on the staff since – for instance in autumn 2012 – there were introductory
training sessions for newly hired staff that lasted for more than a month covering half days
from Monday to Thursday.
Nevertheless the OS staff is well-skilled and equipped to carry out the tasks in question.
Institutional capacities appear to be at top level as far as that is possible when new staff is
continuously being hired and has to be enabled to fulfil the tasks. The evaluation team has
no doubt about the OS’s capacity to manage and implement the HRD OP appropriately.
2.1.2
Institutional Development of Turkish Public Employment Agency (İŞKUR)
The institutional development of İŞKUR has already been explicitly described in the
Background Analysis.71 This sub-chapter will therefore just add some information.
İŞKUR’s administrative structure encompasses the headquarters in Ankara with the
Directorate General, 81 provincial offices and 44 branch offices or service centres. Within
Directorate General, there are 13 departments listed below:
71
See Section A, Chapter 3.6.1













Employment Services Department
Active Labour Market Services Department
Job and Vocational Counselling Department
Labour Market and Statistics Department
Foreign Relations and Projects Department
Unemployment Insurance Department
Fund Management and Actuary Department
Internal Auditing Department
Legal Consultancy Department
Strategy Development Department
Human Resources Department
Support Services Department
Information Technologies Department
The institution is led by the Directorate General in Ankara and managed by tri-partite boards,
namely


“General Board” consisting of 79 members and the
“Executive Board” consisting of 6 members
In recent years İŞKUR has done a lot in order to intensify its relations with local and
provincial authorities and to establish service centres in the municipalities as a means to
bring services closer to the clients. The following table shows the amount of service centres
that has been established up to now:
Table 54: Number of protocols signed between İŞKUR and Municipalities
Total numbers
Number of Protocols
Category of Municipalities
Metropolitan Municipality
16
7
Provincial Municipality
65
21
Metropolitan sub-provincial
municipality
District Municipality
143
112
749
543
Town Municipality
1977
752
Total
2950
1435
The following table shows the development of staff recruitment within İŞKUR. The number of
staff has gone up continuously over the previous years:
Table 55: Staff development in İŞKUR by years
Civil Servant
Contracted
employees
Total
2007
2458
2008
2519
2009
2579
2010
2582
2011
3961
2012
3897
7
7
248
607
22
2639
2465
2526
2827
3189
3983
6536
By the end of 2012, 20% of the staff worked in headquarters and 80% worked in provincial
offices based on the Performance Programme reports.
The next table reveals the plans about the target amount of staff that the institution is aiming
at:
Table 56: Current staff structure in İŞKUR by the end of 2012
Position
Civil Servant
Occupied
3897
Open vacancies
2427
Total
6324
Contracted employees
2644
2121
4765
Total
6541
4548
11089
As the development between 2011 and 2012 clearly indicates, the mass recruitment of Job
and Vocational Guidance Counsellors has had a massive impact on the staff size of the
institution – and likewise, of course, on the working relations with both employers and
employees. The figures displayed in the Background Study demonstrate in particular, to what
extent the contacts with employers have been intensified through this measure. A similar
development is demonstrated in relation to job seeking individuals by the following table:
Table 57: Job and vocational counselling services provided by İŞKUR between 2007 and 2012
Years
Job
Counselling
Services
(individual
interviews)
1502
No. of
Students
benefited
from the
services
90.015
No. of Persons
benefited from
Occupational
Info Centre
No. of
meetings with
parents
2007
Career
Counselling
Services
(individual
interviews)
1089
61.909
276
2008
919
3235
110.445
62.562
215
2009
1598
5255
133.950
70.653
291
2010
3576
16.058
163.501
54.499
307
2011
4502
160.603
155.220
48.071
162
2012
54.049
741.691
138.336
12.417
37
The significant increase of staff as well as the enormous increase of both company visits and
individual counselling interviews have been closely accompanied by the HRD OP funded
PES project. This TA project provided intensive training to the newly hired staff and is
supposed to provide the beneficiary with a sort of monitoring and performance management
system for the new counsellors. HRD OP activities have thus had a significant impact on
increasing institutional capacity within the public employment service as well as on enlarging
the range of services provided to employers and employees in Turkey.
On the other hand it has to be mentioned that constant staff turnover hampers progress
within the institution in relation to building capacities. Interviews conducted by the evaluation
team in the İŞKUR headquarters and with the TA projects revealed that staff in the OCUs
has been replaced almost on regular terms. It is very difficult to establish a close working
relation and partnership once OCU staff is replaced during a project’s life cycle. In some
cases this has led to a somehow awkward type of communication. One of the TA projects
communicated with the OCU – which was located in the same building and actually on the
same floor – almost entirely by e-mail. Although both sides stressed the fact that this way of
cooperation did not have negative effects on the project progress it can certainly not be
denied that a lack of personal face-to-face communication expresses a lack of faith and
mutual understanding. During the interviews with OCU staff the evaluation team learned that
many of the OCU staff members had been moved to different positions. It appears that
İŞKUR runs the risk of losing a lot of experience and faces a loss of institutional memory by
doing this. There seems to be no “handover” of tasks and no real transfer or recording of
experience that would enable incoming staff to benefit from previous lessons. İŞKUR should
therefore adopt a more suitable system of recording experience and allow incoming staff to
learn from outgoing staff before new responsibilities in relation to HRD OP TA projects or
grant schemes are handed over.
The fact that in previous TA projects different departments have been involved into the
establishment of OCUs might play a role in creating this shortcoming. It has been reported to
the evaluation team that in the future all TA projects within İŞKUR will be under the
responsibility of the Foreign Relations and Projects Department. This is a certainly a step in
the right direction. Nevertheless will it be of utmost importance to closely involve the
professionally affected departments as well. In the past there have been working groups with
representatives of these departments that worked with the OCU. But apparently this
construction has not prevented major delays in giving a sufficient feedback to TAT in several
cases. Hence it will be necessary to think about how the cooperation between OCU and
responsible departments within İŞKUR can be improved.
The involvement of key staff (Directorate General) of the beneficiary into the TA projects was
described as a given by the OCU staff of İŞKUR. It was claimed that whenever an
involvement was needed it happened and that DG staff was always well-informed about the
proceedings. Yet, there are several cases in which project outcomes were delivered and
there was no feedback from the beneficiary or the feedback came with a significant delay
that resulted in severe time constraints for the TAT to achieve the respective results. Such a
development could in particular be observed within PYE (in relation to visibility issues) and
PES (in relation to provincial labour market databases, to the monitoring and performance
management system for JVCs, to the evaluation of PEVTBs and to the sub-contracting of
research tasks).
In addition, the evaluation team overheard a conversation during the Stakeholder
Consultation Meeting by the end of May 2013 in which the representatives of İŞKUR
expressed their view that “there has never been a Technical Assistance project from which
İŞKUR has had any benefit”. The evaluation team would like to stress its hope that this
perspective is not the general view of İŞKUR’s management. The institution has been
beneficiary of TA projects for more than 10 years now and there are plenty of institutional
development issues which are closely related to – if not entirely initiated by – TA support. If
İŞKUR’s view really was like the statement quoted above, the institution should subsequently
refrain from participating in such projects any longer. However, this would certainly be a
major mistake.
The evaluation team has also noticed that İŞKUR has replaced all provincial directors in
2012 as well as all the heads of departments in its headquarters. İŞKUR is a public
administration but not a policy making body. Hence it is hard to understand why such a major
personnel turnover has been carried out and how the institution expects to carry on its duties
without major setbacks. During the interviews with provincial İŞKUR directors the evaluation
team has been able to experience the loss of institutional memory such a turnover can
induce. In Van, for instance, it was not possible to discuss experience of İŞKUR with the
local grant scheme projects since the provincial director had been established only in 2012,
did not know much about them and had not undertaken any efforts to get informed by his
staff.
2.1.3
Institutional Development of the Social Security Institution – SGK
According to the Article 3 of the Law No. 5502, Social Security Institution, which has been
established with the objective of the realisation of a social security system at the
contemporary standards to provide services in the field of social insurance and universal
health insurance, has major duties as listed below:72





Implement the social security policies by taking into consideration the national
development strategies and policies as well as annual implementation
programmes,
Inform natural and legal persons for whom it serves with regard to their rights and
obligations and to facilitate the exercise of these rights and fulfilment of these
obligations,
Follow the international developments, to collaborate with the European Union
and International organizations, to undertake the necessary studies with regard to
social security agreements,
Provide coordination and collaboration among the public agencies in the field of
social security.
Carry out the duties assigned to the Institution by this Law and other laws.
The central organisation is composed of 5 main service units, 4 advisory units and 3
support service units.
Main Service Units:
1. General Directorate of Pension Services
2. General Directorate of Insurance Premiums
3. Presidency of Guidance and Inspection
4. General Directorate of Service Provision
5. Department of the Actuarial and Fund Management
Advisory Units:
1. Presidency of Strategy Development
2. Law Consultancy
3. Department of Internal Audit
4. Media and Public Relations Consultancy
72
Art. 3, Law No. 5502
Support Service Units:
1. Human Resources Department
2. Support Services Department
3. Department of Construction and Premises
The SGK, with approximately 26,000 employees, now has service networks all around the
country. In addition to provincial directorates in 81 cities, more than 300 social security
centres were opened, so that citizens can access nearly all services without needing to travel
to the provincial directorates or headquarters.73 It is the plan to finally have 473 of these
centres (435 Insurance social security centres and 38 Health social security centres) across
the country.74
Table 58: Distribution of Staff in Social Security Institution - SGK – by years
Organisation
Headquarters
Provincial
Offices
Total
Civil Servants
2010: 2.402
Contracted Staff
2010: 122
Workers
2010: 27
Total
2010: 2.551
2013: 2.516
2013: 184
2013: 21
2013: 2.721
2010: 21.402
2010: 671
2010: 140
2010: 22.213
2013: 23.480
2013:
3
2013: 106
2013: 23.589
2010: 23.804
2010: 793
2010: 167
2010: 24.764
2013: 25.996
2013: 187
2013: 127
2013: 26.310
Starting in 2006 – when SGK was formed by merging three previous institutions providing
social insurance services – the Turkish authorities introduced important new social security
legislation:
 The Social Security Institution Law, and
 The Social Security and General Health Insurance Law.
The reforms undertaken aimed at unifying the administration and management of social
insurance, tackling the financial deficit, and creating a sustainable and sound social security
system for future generations. Studies to prepare the legislation had started in 2002 with the
Government’s “Emergency Action Plan”, and experts from all stakeholder groups were
invited to participate. Throughout the reform process, suggestions, criticisms and
contributions from social partners, public institutions, non-governmental organizations and
the media were taken into account and reflected in the legislation.75
Over the previous years, SGK has gone through a stable development of its services for
customers:


In 2008, decentralised one-stop services have been established for disabled people.
In 2010 the extension of the general health insurance scheme was improved.
73
Source: SGK Monthly Statistical Bulletins, Staff Statistics
74
SGK: Organizational Structure of Social Security Institution, p.31
International Social Security Institution: Modernizing the social security system in Turkey
75



By 1st January 2011 the number of people with social insurance was more than 1.6
million higher than one year earlier which brought the coverage of the social security
system to 84% of the population.
By May 2012, the coverage rate had reached 86%.
The mandatory General Health Insurance System had fully entered into force by the
beginning of 2012 and covered the entire population.
An EU-funded Technical Assistance Project at the central level and 41 grant projects at the
provincial level under HRD OP (Measure 1.3) provided support to SGK in increasing
institutional capacity. In particular, the TA project has





Provided intensive training to staff of SGK’s provincial branches;
Equipped SGK headquarters with comprehensive information on models of incentives
related to the promotion of registered employment;
Developed a database to be jointly used by SGK and the Revenue Administration;
Undertaken four study tours to EU countries for SGK staff representing both
administrative levels with a view to providing them with an insight view on the
organisation, management and implementation of inspection services and social
insurance administration;
Helped SGK raising awareness among the Turkish population of the benefits of social
insurance, the advantages of registering and the damages caused by informal
employment.
The grant projects have also supported awareness-raising efforts of SGK and established
new forms of cooperation between labour market actors in the provinces.
The following table will show the significant increase on the revenue and expenditures of SSI
between 2007 and 2010:76
Table 59: Turkish Social Security Revenue and expenditure between 2007 and 2010
Year
2007
Revenue
(TL)
56.874.830
Rate of
Increase
5.7%
Expenditure
(TL)
81.915.401
Rate of
Increase
14.0%
Deficit (TL)
-25.040.571
Compensation
Rate
69.40%
2008
67.257.484
18.3%
93.153.462
13.7%
-25.901.978
72.20%
2009
78.072.788
16.1%
106.775.443
14.6%
-28.702.655
72.80%
2010
94.679.381
21.3%
121.403.499
13.7%
-26.724.118
78%
It can be assumed that the activities of grant scheme projects (implemented in 2011) and the
TA project (implemented between 2010 and 2012) have had a significant capacity building
influence on both provincial branches and the SGK headquarters.
In comparison with the conditions within İŞKUR, SGK has assured a more stable relationship
with the TA project – but, of course, it has to be mentioned that SGK had only one whereas
İŞKUR had to manage three of them. The OCU maintained a very close and faithful
relationship with the TA project which lasted until the OCU’s head was replaced. The
76
See 73
replacement affected the cooperation negatively as far as a reliable cooperation was
concerned. According to the TA project, the TAT and OCU had agreements which were later
unilaterally been regarded as “discussions” which led to serious problems in achieving parts
of the results foreseen in the ToR. These problems would have been avoidable once there
had been a more faithful cooperation.
In relation to SGK’s provincial branches it has been reported by the TAT that the cooperation
was very good and fruitful. Nevertheless, SGK has seen similar replacements of provincial
directors in 2012. During the field visit to Van, the evaluation team could not learn anything
from the interview with the local director who did not answer a single question in 90 minutes
of talks. The experience was yet so awkward and singular that the evaluation team does not
intend to regard it as one that would be typical for other provinces as well.
In relation to the upper management of SGK the TAT reported about a very good relationship
in particular with the Presidency of Strategy Development that was very interested in
discussing strategy development issues. The Strategy Paper prepared by TAT was seen as
a very important output of the TA project and its outlines were intensively discussed between
TAT and the Presidency’s head. Hence it is very likely that the TA project has been able to
support the strategy development of the institution significantly.
2.1.4
Institutional Capacity – Grant Beneficiaries
As mentioned in section A.2.3.8, the evaluation team has conducted an online survey
reaching out to all grant beneficiaries in the scope of the quantitative and qualitative data
collection methods. The grant beneficiaries were asked specific questions about the effects
of the implementation of projects on their institutional capacity. The evaluation team looked
for indications what effects the implementation of grant scheme projects had on the individual
institution and its portfolio of activities.
Capacity built in the scope of the three grant schemes is likely to enhance future absorption
capacities of grant beneficiaries. The fact that all grant schemes urged grant beneficiaries to
work in partnerships raises the expectation that all of them should have reported benefits in
terms of extended networks, gained experience and maybe even enhanced activity
portfolios. The evaluation team tried to find out if these expectations have been met.
The following graphs display the answers of GBs in the scope of all three grant scheme
programmes (PWE, PYE, and PRE).
Graph 8: Institutional capacity of GBs under PWE
What has been the contribution of
implementing this Project to the institutional
capacity of your organization?
100.00%
93.30%
90.00%
90.00%
75.00%
80.00%
76.70%
66.70%
70.00%
61.70%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%



We have improved our communication
and relations with stakeholders in labour
market.
We have improved our network.
We could use the equipment and
materials for further similar activities.
Members and staff of our institution
gained experience.
The coverage of our activities was
enlarged.
We have now experience in implementing
EU grant projects.
0.00%
Regarding the experience in implementing EU grant projects, all grant beneficiary
institutions were expected to answer positively. However, only 93.30% of the grant
beneficiary institutions achieved the expected result. This might indicate that the rest
of the grant beneficiaries used external support during the implementation of the
projects which would explain that the institution as such did not gain experience. This
assessment is underpinned by findings from some focus group meetings in which
some of the GB institutions explicitly admitted that they have been provided support
in the implementation of the projects.
90% of the PWE grant beneficiary institutions claimed that their members and staff
gained experience. This also points at external support received by the GBs. In order
to keep the know-how within the institution on development and implementation of the
projects, permanent staff of the institutions need to be involved in the projects.
2/3 of the GBs claimed that they enlarged their activity portfolio. This is one of the
most important achievements for the grant beneficiary institutions in the scope of the
services provided by them in the field of employment. After the implementation of the
projects, they can provide more and different labour market-related services which
might contribute to increasing the rate of employment in their areas.


The fact that “only” 3 out of 4 projects say that they have extended their networks is
disappointing. The grant scheme pushed applicants towards working in partnerships
from which both sides should benefit. Apparently about 25% of the grant beneficiaries
have only worked with institutions they already cooperated with before the project.
Only 61.7% indicate that their communication with stakeholders in the labour market
has improved. Working in partnerships should have generated a more positive
“cooperation climate”. It appears as if the partnership rules outlined in the guidelines
for applicants need to be formulated more explicitly and comprehensively if they are
supposed to fulfil the objectives behind.
Graph 9: Institutional capacity of GBs under PYE



In relation to PYE the comments on PWE apply – with the difference that all
answers from PYE grant beneficiaries scored even a little bit lower than those in
PWE.
The reason for the aberrations might be due to the fact that PYE – compared to
PWE – at least made an attempt to cover new areas like youth entrepreneurship
in which it might be even more difficult to find appropriate cooperation partners.
Hence the only value in PYE which is higher than in PWE – the score on
improvement of stakeholder communication – appears justified because grant
beneficiaries were forced to look for and deal with unfamiliar partners.6
Graph 10: Institutional capacity of GBs under PRE
What has been the contribution of
implementing this Project to the institutional
capacity of your organization?
100.00%
90.00%
81.50%
77.80%
80.00%
77.80%
70.40%
70.00%
55.60%
60.00%
55.60%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%



We have improved our communication
and relations with stakeholders in labour
market.
We have improved our network.
We could use the equipment and
materials for further similar activities.
Members and staff of our institution
gained experience.
The coverage of our activities was
enlarged.
We have now experience in implementing
EU grant projects.
0.00%
The rate of the answers regarding the enlargement of project activity portfolio is quite
low, which is 55.6%. It would not be wrong to say that enlargement of activities in the
field of registered employment requires different expertise. Additionally, the
complexity of design and implementation of different activities may prevent the grant
beneficiaries. When comparing to the vocational trainings, implementation of the
activities are distinctive and multi-lateral on registered employment. The PRE scheme
did not have a predecessor and therefore grant beneficiaries could not build that
much on previous experience and connections as in the two other schemes.
Using the equipment and materials for further similar activities is one of the less
favourable options for the PRE grant beneficiaries. Most of the activities under PWE
and PYE grant schemes were vocational trainings where the usage of materials for
further activities is easy. However, that is not the case for PRE. Because most of the
activities are related to awareness-raising, networking, development of models and
social dialogue, not much in terms of materials or equipment could be purchased
during the implementation of projects.
Comparing to other grant beneficiaries, the highest amount of answers on improving
network is from PRE grant beneficiaries (77.8%). It can be stated that the

implementation of the projects enhanced the cooperation with unfamiliar partner
institutions. The problem on unregistered employment includes many parties. Thus,
considering the multidimensionality of the problem, it is very pleasing to see all
relevant parties involving into the issue. New forms of cooperation will also push the
implementation of the government’s Action Plan against the Informal Economy. It is
important for the Operation Beneficiary, SGK, to utilise the newly established
networks and capitalise on them in terms of coordination in the combat of
unregistered employment.
Improving networking issue should be reviewed with the partnership approach for all
grant schemes. The following table will show the number of partnerships conducted
under PWE, PYE and PRE.
Table 60: Percentages of numbers of partners according to three grant schemes
Partners
PRE
PWE
PYE
1
32%
31%
34%
2
24%
34%
31%
3
24%
18%
22%
4
7%
13%
7%
5
5%
4%
3%
6
2%
2%
2%
7
5%
0%
0%
8
0%
0%
1%
As shown above, 12% of the PRE grant beneficiary institutions established partnerships with
more than five partners. However, PWE and PYE beneficiaries tended to having (much)
smaller networks. In addition to total number of partners, the fulfilment of expectations
towards partners is also very high for PRE grant scheme beneficiaries. The bar chart below
displays the positive answers regarding the expectations from partners’ sides.
Graph 11: Fulfilment of expectations from the partners for three grant schemes
102
100
100
98
96
93.8
94
92.31
92
90
88
PRE
PWE
PYE
Another light might be shed on the grant beneficiaries’ achievements in terms of capacity
building when looking at another question raised in the online survey. The evaluation team
asked the grant beneficiaries to name the major achievement of their project.



In PWE, 11.6% saw institutional capacity as the major achievement and 6.6%
mentioned cooperation and network.
In PYE, 7.9% indicated institutional capacity as the major achievement.
In PRE, 11.1% highlighted the newly created cooperation culture.
The answers show that many projects – despite focusing on content-related issues such as
women employment, youth employment or registered employment – regarded the effects of
the grant scheme participation on their own institutional capacity and environment as the
most rewarding outcome. That is a result which can be seen as promising.
The evaluation team’s general finding is: Apparently the implementation of grant scheme
projects has had a significant capacity building influence on grant beneficiary institutions at
different levels – however not to the extent that was envisaged. Nevertheless, the increasing
capacity of grant beneficiary institutions should fuel the absorption capacity for EU funds at
the local level. Grant beneficiaries are likely to apply again. But it is most important that they
make use of their newly gained experience in their every-day business. In that respect the
answers to the online questionnaire are encouraging because it is widely claimed that new
activities enrich the institutions’ portfolios. Newly established contacts with other
stakeholders and institutions on the (local or provincial) labour market need to be maintained
and stabilised with a view to promoting new activities and new forms of cooperation. Further
Ex Post evaluations should try to reveal if these expectations will be met by the grant
beneficiaries.
2.2 Reducing Regional and Territorial Disparities
2.2.1
Approach for distributing funds: The Growth Centre Approach
It goes without saying that the government’s decision to concentrate HRD OP funds on those
12 NUTS II regions which produce less than 75% of the average GDP is likely to address
regional disparities. A significant amount of funds will be directed to those regions which are
the neediest in Turkey. On the other hand, it is difficult to assess what kind of sustainable
effect such a concentration of funds will have on a mid-term – let alone a long-term –
perspective. Such an assessment might be subject to evaluation at later stage.
However, the eligible regions in the east of the country are also not homogenous in terms of
their development gaps. In addition, it is obvious that directing the funds only into the poorest
regions might be counter-productive since such regions are likely to have lower absorption
capacities than those regions where a certain infrastructure, a broad economic set-up and an
understanding of development initiatives can be found. Hence a government has to adopt a
strategy as to how funds should be distributed in order to gain maximum effects.
The Turkish government and the European Union have agreed on a specific way of
distributing funds with a view to reducing territorial disparities through the HRD OP. This
approach has been highlighted in the Strategic Coherence Framework (SCF) and in the HRD
OP as “growth centre approach”.
Chapter 3.3 of the HRD OP described this approach as follows:77
According to geographical concentration principle in the MIPD, the HRD OP will concentrate
the resources on the 12 NUTS II Regions having a per capita income below 75 % of Turkish
national average. According to the SCF, the majority of geographical concentration will be on
15 Growth Centres which are selected among these 12 NUTS II Regions. In this context "15
growth centres" refer to the 15 cities which have been selected first in the SCF, whereas the
expression "hinterlands" refer to the areas, within the 12 NUTS II regions, outside these 15
cities: i.e. all the territory, both rural and urban areas, which is not part of this list of 15
designated cities. The geographical concentration will be provided by a financial allocation
that will aim at providing:
• up to 20 % of the overall OP funding for actions at National Level;
• 45 – 55 % of funding will target the 15 Growth Centres and
• 25 – 35 % of OP funding will target the "hinterland" areas of the 12 NUTS II regions outside
the 15 growth centres.
The method on how to identify growth centres has been explicitly described in the SCF and
does not need to be repeated here.78 Based on this method, 11 cities have been identified as
growth centres. In addition, four more cities achieved the status of a growth centre following
77
78
HRD OP 2007, p.163
SCF, Chapter 3.1.2, p.36-39
a study that established a scoring system with a view to identifying those places in regions
without an identified growth centre that fulfilled most of the 32 qualification criteria outlined in
the identification methodology.
As a result the following list of eligible regions and growth centres was established 79:
Table 61: Eligible NUTS II Regions and Growth Centres
NUTS II
Region
Provinces in the Region
Growth Centre(s)
TRA2
Ağrı, Kars, Iğdir, Ardahan
Kars
TRB2
Van, Muş, Bitlis, Hakkari
Van
TRC3
Mardin, Batman, Şırnak, Siirt
Batman
TRA1
Erzurum, Erzincan, Bayburt
Erzurum
TRC2
Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır
Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır
TRC1
Gaziantep, Adıyaman, Kilis
Gaziantep
TR72
Kayseri, Sivas, Yozgat
Kayseri, Sivas
TR90
Trabzon, Ordu, Giresun, Rize, Artvin, Gümüşhane
Trabzon
TRB1
Malatya, Elazığ, Bingöl, Tunceli
Malatya, Elazığ
TR82
Kastamonu, Çankırı, Sinop
Kastamonu
TR83
Samsun, Tokat, Çorum, Amasya
Samsun
TR63
Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Osmaniye
Kahramanmaraş
The map of eligible NUTS II regions (marked in green) shows where each of them is located:
NUTS II regions having an income per capita
above 75% of the Turkish average
79
SCF, p.39 (table 18), source: EUROSTAT
NUTS II regions having an income per capita
below 75% of the Turkish average
15 Growth Centres
Of course one will have to count together the expenditure for grants, service and supply
contracts when looking at the distribution of funds. Yet – as a general statement – the growth
centre approach should have been realized once the grant distribution would (at least to a
large extent) follow the patterns outlined above. A respective statement was made by the
OS: “The geographical concentration principle will be implemented for all measures by taking
the financial allocation into account in the project selection phase. The OS will announce on
the call for proposals the indicative allocation for funds for each measure and project
promoters shall ensure how much funds will be used at national level, in growth centres and
in the hinterland areas by showing clear links with activities and funds usage.”80
The TA projects (service and supply contracts) can be regarded as “national level” funding
although the regions benefit from them as well – either in terms of activities implemented
there (for instance training sessions, awareness-raising events, etc.) or in terms of
equipment provided to provincial branches of İŞKUR and SGK.
Those grant projects that have been awarded to institutions in Ankara and Istanbul were only
funded because the activities were actually implemented in the eligible areas. Nevertheless
the funding went to institutions at the central level as well as to international institutions
having their central administration for Turkey in the capital. This report will therefore regard
them as “national level” funding as well.
2.2.2 Regional Distribution of Funds in the Grant Schemes
The following table displays how the funds have been distributed across the eligible NUTS II
regions, the growth centres and hinterland provinces in total and as per grant scheme (PWE,
PYE and PRE).
80
2007 Sectoral Annual Report on the Implementation of the HRD OP, section 5, p.24-25
Table 62: Projects awarded and amount of funds distributed by provinces and per grant schemes (GC = Growth Centre, HL = Hinterland)
Status
Province
Total
Awards
Region
GC
A2
Kars
3
0
359.083,42
2
0
202.508,74
1
0
HL
HL
Ağrı
Iğdir
2
0
202.508,74
2
0
202.508,74
0
0
HL
Ardahan
1
Region
B2
26
GC
Van
13
HL
Muş
4
HL
Bitlis
2
HL
Hakkari
7
C3
7
GC
Batman
2
HL
HL
Mardin
Şırnak
4
0
HL
Siirt
1
Region
A1
11
GC
Erzurum
5
HL
Erzincan
4
HL
Bayburt
2
C2
17
GC
Diyarbakır
13
GC
Şanlıurfa
4
C1
8
GC
Gaziantep
7
HL
HL
Adıyaman
Kilis
1
0
Region
Region
Region
Amount in €
PYE Awards
Amount in €
0
4.064.695,45
2.032.698,28
703.920,48
312.867,66
1.015.209,03
1.492.152,50
359.498,86
894.062,32
10
238.591,32
1.838.374,64
628.087,03
824.803,05
385.484,56
3.462.326,74
2.874.506,76
587.819,98
1.133.053,27
969.760,89
163.292,38
1
4
3
1
2
4
2
1
0
2
1
1
1
1.319.194,45
485.393,91
428.197,48
155.659,31
249.943,75
805.186,24
359.498,86
207.096,06
10
238.591,32
391.313,18
151.377,54
239.935,64
0
0
9
7
2
4
3
1
0
PWE Awards
5
1
1
3
3
156.574,68
3
0
6
2
3
4
2
2
3
3
0
0
PYE Awards
Amount in €
0
0
0
0
156.574,68
1.779.117,98
899.122,04
275.723,00
157.208,35
447.064,59
686.966,26
0
1
1.528.512,02
1.241.457,71
287.054,31
476.327,74
313.035,36
163.292,38
Amount in €
0
6
4
966.383,02
648.182,33
0
0
2
318.200,69
0
0
686.966,26
0
0
0
1.003.308,68
223.716,88
584.867,41
194.724,39
767.119,67
466.354,00
300.765,67
457.203,55
457.203,55
3
2
443.752,78
252.992,61
0
1
4
4
190.760,17
1.166.695,05
1.166.695,05
0
1
1
0
0
199.521,98
199.521,98
72
48
GC
Kayseri
26
GC
Sivas
19
HL
Yozgat
3
90
37
GC
Trabzon
15
HL
Ordu
4
HL
Rize
8
HL
Giresun
4
HL
Artvin
Gümüş
hane
2
7.478.409,20
4.214.664,28
2.955.048,89
308.696,03
5.170.369,97
2.206.980,60
596.911,61
898.223,85
573.202,94
235.228,27
4
659.822,70
B1
27
GC
Elazığ
11
GC
Malatya
5
HL
Bingöl
8
HL
Tunceli
3
8
GC
82
Kastamon
u
4.669.951,30
2.125.582,92
836.248,00
1.233.901,09
474.219,29
981.880,65
4
525.121,73
HL
HL
Çankırı
Sinop
4
0
456.758,92
0
0
83
58
22
GC
Samsun
28
HL
Tokat
9
HL
Çorum
7
HL
Amasya
14
Region
63
Kahrama
nmaraş
28
9.507.157,30
4.942.062,15
1.405.382,83
1.014.987,29
2.144.725,03
4.900.580,64
Region
Region
HL
Region
Region
Region
GC
6
900.920,94
0
1
3.334.046,91
1.846.125,55
1.284.627,32
203.294,04
2.598.333,03
781.063,82
437.893,15
553.628,26
259.278,19
126.939,73
0
3
439.529,88
21
10
10
1
14
8
1
3
2
2.959.282,58
1.337.789,40
1.516.091,19
105.401,99
1.940.272,30
1.122.733,50
159.018,46
344.595,59
313.924,75
3
1.430.495,18
946.992,03
152.702,01
242.570,54
88.230,60
326.707,73
3
326.707,73
8
4
1
2
1
11
3
2
6
16
4
3.266.578,59
1.711.645,32
422.256,94
262.942,36
869.733,97
2.399.756,58
504.529,87
22
12
8
2
20
6
3
5
2
18
7
3
6
2
3
3.030.656,78
1.178.590,89
474.746,65
991.330,55
385.988,69
313.976,43
0
5
4
1
1.185.079,71
1.030.749,33
154.330,38
0
3
1
631.764,64
303.183,28
0
0
0
1
108.288,54
1
220.292,82
1
208.799,34
0
1
208.799,34
0
0
2
341.196,49
1
198.414,00
3
0
313.976,43
1
0
142.782,49
27
4.064.140,15
1.455.687,45
983.125,89
640.297,61
985.029,20
2.208.047,89
9
2.176.438,56
1.774.729,38
10
6
4
7
11
1
103.614,90
7
0
1
1
1
1
111.747,32
289.961,86
292.776,17
292.776,17
HL
Hatay
20
HL
Osmaniye
2
TOTAL
22
Ankara
19
Istanbul
3
Addition
al
3.724.045,18
275.614,52
10
2
1.619.612,19
275.614,52
10
12
3.932.034,90
476.166,88
10
2
1.838.963,50
352.765,99
2.104.432,99
0
0
4
6
3
1
538.345,53
123.400,89
As a result, the following table reveals the share of funds between growth centres and hinterlands:
Table 63: Amount (€) and share (%) of funds per GC and HL by grant scheme
Status
GC
HL
TOTAL
Status
GC
HL
Total Amount €
26.159.001,31
18.742.459,09
44.901.460,40
Total Share %
58.26
41.74
Status
GC
HL
Status
GC
HL
PYE Amount
€
10.457.008,74
6.589.126,59
17.046.135,33
PYE Share %
61.35
38.65
Status
GC
HL
Status
GC
HL
PWE Amount €
9.471.618,72
10.927.873,29
20.399.492,01
PWE Share %
46.43
53.57
Status
GC
HL
Status
GC
HL
0
PRE Amount €
6.230.373,85
1.382.033,89
7.612.407,74
PRE Share %
81.84
18.16
6
0
1.554.725,87
As far as the grant schemes are concerned, the growth centre approach has apparently
worked – the relation of 58 to 41% in general across the schemes is mostly in line with the
provision made in SCF and HRD OP (not taking into account the national level funding which
will reduce both shares so that everything is in line with the conditions).
The significant differences between the grant schemes are justifiable:



2.2.3
The PYE scheme promoted young people’s entrepreneurship. It is much more likely
that start-ups will be likely to be launched and to survive when they are promoted in a
more urbanized environment instead of rural hinterland scenarios. Hence the share of
growth centres in PYE had to be expected to be above the average rate.
The PWE scheme, on the other hand, aimed at promoting women’s employment
which is particularly low in rural areas.81 Hence it does not come as a surprise that the
majority of PWE projects focused on hinterlands rather than on growth centres. The
projects were launched where the biggest needs existed.
In the PRE scheme, however, the need to tackle unregistered employment was
mainly seen in urban areas which made the rate for growth centres so high. It cannot
be questioned that there is also a big need for – particularly awareness-related –
activities in rural areas but apparently that sort of activities was not in the focus of
most of the awarded projects.82 It has also to be mentioned that the share of PRE in
the total amount of grant scheme projects is relatively low (41 implemented projects in
relation to 127 in PYE and 131 in PWE).
Approach for distributing funds: Competition-based application procedure
In the first round of grant schemes under HRD OP Priority 1, CFCU and the Operating
Structure have organised the application procedure as an open competition:


81
Within PYE, the only restriction for applicants was that no applicant could be awarded
more than two grants under the scheme while being allowed to hand in as many
applications as wanted.83 There was no provision of specific arrangements with a
view to ensuring a certain justice of distribution between the provinces.
Within PWE, there was an indicative allocation of the grants foreseen with a ratio of
65% for growth centres and 35% for hinterlands. Yet, the CFCU also clarified that
budget reallocation among regions “may be considered depending on the absorption
capacity and quality of the submitted projects”.84 In addition, the same rule as for PYE
also applied for PWE scheme applicants, namely that it was not possible to have
more than two grants awarded.
See Table 29 in the Background Analysis on Labour Force Participation Rates by NUTS II Regions to see that female
participation rates are particularly low in rural hinterland areas.
82 See the respective chapter on the PRE grant scheme under Chapter B3.
83 CFCU: Guidelines for Grant Applicants, Measure 1.2: Increase of employment of young people, section 2.1.3, p.13. Ankara,
2008
84 CFCU: Guidelines for Grant Applicants, Measure 1.1: Promote women’s participation into the labour market, and increase
female employment, including those formerly employed in agriculture, sections 1.3, p.5 and 2.1.3, p.12. Ankara, 2008

In the PRE scheme, the rules were similar to PYE. The CFCU clarified that no
applicant was allowed to submit more than three applications out of which maximum
two could be awarded.85
Hence the programme authorities took into account that there was no way to influence the
number of applications coming from the provinces. There was also no provision to ascertain
that the projects awarded after the selection process would somehow be evenly distributed
across the 12 NUTS II regions.
As a result, the distribution across the 12 NUTS II regions looked as follows:
Table 64: Awarded projects across NUTS II regions by grant scheme
Status
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
85
Province
A2
Total
Awards
3
PYE
Awards
2
PWE
Awards
1
PYE
Awards
0
Kars
Ağrı
Iğdir
Ardahan
B2
0
2
0
1
26
0
2
0
0
10
0
0
0
1
10
0
0
0
0
6
Van
Muş
Bitlis
Hakkari
C3
13
4
2
7
7
4
3
1
2
4
5
1
1
3
3
4
0
0
2
0
Batman
Mardin
Şırnak
Siirt
A1
2
4
0
1
11
2
1
0
1
2
0
3
0
0
6
0
0
0
0
3
Erzurum
Erzincan
Bayburt
C2
5
4
2
17
1
1
0
9
2
3
1
4
2
0
1
4
Diyarbakır
13
7
2
4
Şanlıurfa
C1
4
8
2
4
2
3
0
1
Gaziantep
Adıyaman
Kilis
72
7
1
0
48
3
1
0
21
3
0
0
22
1
0
0
5
Kayseri
26
10
12
4
Sivas
19
10
8
1
CFCU: Guidelines for Grant Applicants, Measure 1.3: Promote Registered Employment, section 2.1.3, p.10. Ankara, 2008
Yozgat
90
3
37
1
14
2
20
0
3
Trabzon
Ordu
Rize
Giresun
Artvin
Gümüşhane
B1
15
4
8
4
2
4
27
8
1
3
2
0
0
8
6
3
5
2
1
3
18
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
Elazığ
11
4
7
0
Malatya
Bingöl
Tunceli
82
5
8
3
8
1
2
1
3
3
6
2
3
1
0
0
2
Kastamonu
Çankırı
Sinop
83
4
4
0
58
3
0
0
22
0
3
0
27
1
1
0
9
Samsun
Tokat
Çorum
Amasya
63
28
9
7
14
28
11
3
2
6
16
10
6
4
7
11
7
0
1
1
1
Kahramanmaraş
Hatay
Osmaniye
6
20
2
4
10
2
1
10
0
1
0
0
Additional
TOTAL
Ankara
Istanbul
22
19
3
12
10
2
4
3
1
6
6
0
GRAND
TOTAL
300
127
132*
41
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
* 1 PWE project cancelled
As the table clearly reveals, there were severe regional differences when it comes to the
distribution of projects. While Region TR83 (Samsun) achieved 58 awards and Region TR72
(Kayseri, Sivas) 48 there were other regions which were almost entirely cut off the
participation in the grant schemes: Region TRA2 (Kars) with just three projects in two grant
schemes being the most disadvantaged one.
In terms of the amount of grants the following table contains the relevant information:
Table 65: Awarded grants’ amount across NUTS II regions by grant schemes
Status
Province
Region
Growth
Center
A2
Kars
Hinterland
Hinterland
Ağrı
Iğdir
Hinterland
Ardahan
Total
Amount in €
PYE
Amount in €
359.083,42
202.508,74
202.508,74
202.508,74
PWE
Amount in €
PRE
Amount in €
156.574,68
Region
Growth
Center
B2
4.064.695,45
1.319.194,45
156.574,68
1.779.117,98
Van
2.032.698,28
485.393,91
899.122,04
Hinterland
Muş
Hinterland
Bitlis
Hinterland
Hakkari
703.920,48
312.867,66
1.015.209,03
1.492.152,50
428.197,48
155.659,31
249.943,75
805.186,24
275.723,00
157.208,35
447.064,59
686.966,26
359.498,86
359.498,86
894.062,32
207.096,06
686.966,26
238.591,32
1.838.374,64
238.591,32
391.313,18
1.003.308,68
443.752,78
628.087,03
151.377,54
223.716,88
252.992,61
239.935,64
C2
824.803,05
385.484,56
3.462.326,74
1.528.512,02
584.867,41
194.724,39
767.119,67
190.760,17
1.166.695,05
Diyarbakır
2.874.506,76
1.241.457,71
466.354,00
1.166.695,05
Şanlıurfa
587.819,98
287.054,31
300.765,67
1.133.053,27
476.327,74
457.203,55
199.521,98
969.760,89
313.035,36
457.203,55
199.521,98
163.292,38
163.292,38
C3
Region
Growth
Center
Batman
Hinterland
Hinterland
Mardin
Şırnak
Hinterland
Siirt
Region
Growth
Center
A1
Erzurum
Hinterland
Erzincan
Hinterland
Bayburt
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
C1
Region
Growth
Center
Gaziantep
Hinterland
Hinterland
Adıyaman
Kilis
966.383,02
648.182,33
318.200,69
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
72
7.478.409,20
2.959.282,58
3.334.046,91
1.185.079,71
Kayseri
4.214.664,28
1.337.789,40
1.846.125,55
1.030.749,33
Sivas
2.955.048,89
1.516.091,19
1.284.627,32
154.330,38
Hinterland
Yozgat
90
308.696,03
5.170.369,97
105.401,99
1.940.272,30
203.294,04
2.598.333,03
631.764,64
Trabzon
2.206.980,60
1.122.733,50
781.063,82
303.183,28
596.911,61
898.223,85
573.202,94
235.228,27
659.822,70
159.018,46
344.595,59
313.924,75
437.893,15
553.628,26
259.278,19
126.939,73
439.529,88
108.288,54
220.292,82
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Ordu
Hinterland
Rize
Hinterland
Giresun
Hinterland
Artvin
Hinterland
Gümüşhane
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
B1
4.669.951,30
1.430.495,18
3.030.656,78
Elazığ
2.125.582,92
946.992,03
1.178.590,89
836.248,00
152.702,01
474.746,65
208.799,34
1.233.901,09
474.219,29
981.880,65
242.570,54
88.230,60
326.707,73
991.330,55
385.988,69
313.976,43
341.196,49
525.121,73
326.707,73
Malatya
Hinterland
Bingöl
Hinterland
Tunceli
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
82
Kastamonu
Çankırı
Sinop
198.414,00
456.758,92
313.976,43
142.782,49
83
9.507.157,30
3.266.578,59
4.064.140,15
2.176.438,56
Samsun
4.942.062,15
1.711.645,32
1.455.687,45
1.774.729,38
1.405.382,83
1.014.987,29
2.144.725,03
4.900.580,64
422.256,94
262.942,36
869.733,97
2.399.756,58
983.125,89
640.297,61
985.029,20
2.208.047,89
111.747,32
289.961,86
292.776,17
900.920,94
504.529,87
103.614,90
292.776,17
3.724.045,18
275.614,52
1.619.612,19
275.614,52
2.104.432,99
3.932.034,90
476.166,88
1.838.963,50
352.765,99
538.345,53
123.400,89
Hinterland
Tokat
Hinterland
Çorum
Hinterland
Amasya
Region
Growth
Center
208.799,34
63
Kahramanmaraş
Hinterland
Hatay
Hinterland
Osmaniye
Additional
TOTAL
Ankara
Istanbul
1.554.725,87
Table 65 underpins the assumption that the distribution of funds in the three HRD OP Priority
1 grant schemes across the eligible NUTS II regions did not happen in an even way.
While Region TR83 (Samsun) managed to acquire 9.5 million € and Region TR72 (Kayseri,
Sivas) acquired almost 7.5 million €, there were two regions with an overall acquisition of
less than 1 million €, Region TRA2 (Kars) being the most disadvantaged one with roughly
just 350.000 €.
Such significant differences might be justifiable once there were a clear distinction in the
economic performance between these regions. That assumption will be subject of the next
sub-chapter.
2.2.4
Regional neediness based on economic performance
The differences in the amount of projects and the amount of funds allocated to the eligible 12
NUTS II regions might be in congruence with their economic profiles. It is therefore
necessary to have a look at the economic performance of the regions in question.
The criteria used here are twofold:

Firstly, the GDP per capita is looked at (based on 2007 data in constant 2000
international dollars).86

Secondly, we use the Socio-Economic Development Index (SEDI) which is based on
58 variables selected from social (demographic, employment, education, health,
infrastructure, other welfare) and economic (manufacturing, construction, agriculture,
financial) spheres.87 The index shows to what extent the provinces in question are
located below the average of the socio-economic development of Turkey.
Table 66: Socio-economic ranking of eligible NUTS II provinces
Region
City
GDP (2007)
TRC1
SEDI Index
Gaziantep
3,260
-0,315
TR63
Hatay
3,581
-0,338
TR72
Kayseri
4,132
-0,376
TR83
Samsun
4,262
-0,417
TR90
Trabzon
3,990
-0,559
TRB1
Malatya
3,342
-0,559
TR82
Kastamonu
4,315
-0,675
TRA1
Erzurum
3,170
-0,790
TRC2
Şanlıurfa
2,548
-0,964
TRC3
Mardin
2,636
-1,204
TRA2
Ağri
2,492
-1,267
TRB2
Van
2,051
-1,391
If we use the SEDI Index as the main criterion we can check if the distribution of projects and
funds takes the disparities within the 12 eligible NUTS II regions into account. If that would
be the case the most disadvantaged regions (i.e. those with the lowest SEDI Index) should
have received more awards and projects in order to decrease their development gap in
relation to the others.
Of course, an open competition – as it was chosen as the basis for the application
procedures under the three grant schemes – cannot reflect these rankings in total. But if the
objective of decreasing disparities is to be achieved there should at least be a tendency to
allocate funds according to the biggest needs.
The following table tries to generate and display such a relation.
86
87
Regional economic disparities, OECD Regions at a Glance 2011, OECD
Özaslan et. al., Figure 12, p.22
Table 67: Allocation of total IPA IV funds through employment-related grant schemes to the neediest regions
Region
Growth Centres
TRB2
Van
-1,391
TRA2
Kars
-1,267
359.083,42
TRC3
Batman
-1,204
1.492.152,50
TRC2
Diyarbakır, Şanlıurfa
-0,964
3.462.326,74
TRA1
Erzurum
-0,790
1.838.374,64
TR82
Kastamonu
-0,675
981.880,65
TR90
Trabzon
-0,559
5.170.369,97
TRB1
Elazığ, Malatya
-0,559
4.669.951,30
TR83
Samsun
-0,417
9.507.157,30
TR72
Kayseri, Sivas
-0,376
7.478.409,20
TR63
Kahramanmaraş
-0,338
4.900.580,64
TRC1
Gaziantep
-0,315
1.133.053,27
SEDI Index
TOTAL Fund Allocation
4.064.695,45
The table clearly shows that there is no linkage between the neediness of provinces
according to SEDI and the actual amount of funds awarded in general.





TRB2 as the neediest region according to SEDI has received the fifth biggest amount of
funds.
TRA2 as the second-neediest region, however, has got by far the lowest amount of
funds.
TR83 and TR72, on the other hand, are only ranked number 9 and 10 on the SEDI Index
but performed best in terms of receiving funds: TR83 (Samsun) for instance is about
three times less needy than TRA2 (Kars) but has received more than 26 times as much
money in terms of IPA funds. TR72 as second most successful region is also more than
three times less needy as TRA2 but received more than 20 times as many funds.
Apparently there is a tendency that those regions with less development gaps
(particularly TR90, TRB1, TR83, TR72 and TR63 have in general performed very well in
terms of winning grant awards although they are the least needy ones among the 12
eligible NUTS II regions while particularly TRA2 but also TR82, TRC3 and TRA1
performed poorly while being among the neediest regions.
Exceptions from that rule are TRB2 (Van) that performed exceptionally well and TRC1
(Gaziantep) that was the least needy region and received only the third lowest share of
funds which seems appropriate.
The lessons learned from the distribution of funds so far are:



The total distribution to growth centres and hinterlands generally followed the
approach outlined in the HRD OP and SCF.
However, within the eligible regions there were significant differences in the fund
intension which cannot be justified by the differences in the socio-economic
performance – on the contrary.
Hence there must be reasons for such a disproportion.
2.2.5
Hypotheses for disproportional fund allocation: Low number of applications
There are principally two working hypotheses as to what the reasons might be for the
disproportionate distribution of funds across the eligible 12 NUTS II regions:


Either there is a disproportion also among the applications: If for instance TRA2 did
not hand in many applications then it is of course a logical consequence that there
are not many awarded projects.
Alternatively, there might be external support in those regions which have performed
particularly successful which might have an influence on the number of awarded
projects.
As far as the applications are concerned, CFCU received a total of 2424 applications related
to the three grant schemes: 1128 for PYE, 1058 for PWE and 238 for PRE.
The following table shows the number of applications per region in relation to the socioeconomic neediness as outlined in the tables above.
Table 68: HRD OP Priority 1 grant scheme related applications per NUTS II region
TRB2
Growth
Centres
Van
-1,391
Appl.
TOTAL
405
Success
Rate
6,4%
Appl.
PYE
181
Appl.
PWE
179
Appl.
PRE
45
TRA2
Kars
-1,267
83
3,6%
38
37
8
TRC3
-1,204
106
6,6%
62
39
5
171
9,9%
85
68
18
TRA1
Batman
Diyarbakır,
Şanlıurfa
Erzurum
-0,790
154
7,1%
63
75
16
TR82
Kastamonu
-0,675
109
7,3%
55
46
8
TR90
Trabzon
-0,559
229
16,2%
93
105
31
TRB1
Elazığ, Malatya
-0,559
186
14,5%
70
99
17
TR83
Samsun
-0,417
270
21,5%
128
121
21
TR72
Kayseri, Sivas
-0,376
259
18,5%
113
126
20
TR63
Kahramanmaraş
-0,338
147
19,0%
77
57
13
TRC1
Gaziantep
-0,315
133
10,9%
73
49
11
Others
Ankara, Istanbul
N/A
172
12,8%
90
57
25
2424
12,3%
1128
1058
238
Region
TRC2
TOTAL
SEDI
Index
-0,964
The result does not provide a simple answer:


While TRB2 (Van) as the neediest region produced by far the biggest amount of
applications (405 being almost twice as many as the next best region!), the second
neediest region TRA2 (Kars) has only submitted 83 applications in total which is the
lowest number found.
The table also clearly reveals that there is a tendency indicating that less needy
provinces perform better: The success rate of the better-off half of the 12 eligible
NUTS II regions has been significantly higher than the one prevailing for the needier
half of the regions.
The relation between applications and awards is highlighted in the following table:
Table 69: Applications, awards and success rate per region
Region
Growth Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth Center
Growth Center
Region
Growth Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth Center
Growth Center
Hinterland
Region
Growth Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth Center
Growth Center
Hinterland
A2
Kars
Ağrı
Iğdir
Ardahan
B2
Van
Muş
Bitlis
Hakkari
C3
Batman
Mardin
Şırnak
Siirt
A1
Erzurum
Erzincan
Bayburt
C2
Diyarbakır
Şanlıurfa
C1
Gaziantep
Adıyaman
Kilis
72
Kayseri
Sivas
Yozgat
90
Trabzon
Ordu
Rize
Giresun
Artvin
Gümüşhane
B1
Elazığ
Malatya
Bingöl
Total App
83
15
31
15
22
405
242
56
35
72
106
26
45
14
21
154
94
45
15
171
89
82
133
64
43
26
259
125
84
50
229
86
35
39
22
25
22
186
59
62
41
Awarded
3
0
2
0
1
26
13
4
2
7
7
2
4
0
1
11
5
4
2
17
13
4
8
7
1
0
48
26
19
3
37
15
4
8
4
2
4
27
11
5
8
Success
Rate %
3,6
0
6,5
0,0
4,5
6,4
5,4
7,1
5,7
9,7
6,6
7,7
8,9
0
4,8
7,1
5,3
8,9
13,3
9,9
14,6
4,9
6,0
10,9
2,3
0
18,5
20,8
22,6
6,0
16,2
17,4
11,4
20,5
18,2
8,0
18,2
14,5
18,6
8,1
19,5
Hinterland
Region
Growth Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Tunceli
82
Kastamonu
Çankırı
Sinop
83
Samsun
Tokat
Çorum
Amasya
63
Kahramanmaraş
Hatay
Osmaniye
Additional
Adana
Ankara
Antalya
Balıkesir
Bolu
Bursa
Eskişehir
Istanbul
Izmir
Kırşehir
Kocaeli
Foreign
Institutions
24
109
45
20
44
270
113
38
27
92
147
42
83
22
3
8
4
4
0
58
28
9
7
14
28
6
20
2
12,5
7,3
8,9
20,0
0
21,5
24,8
23,7
25,9
15,2
19,0
14,3
24,1
9,1
172
2
103
1
3
1
5
1
39
1
1
3
22
0
19
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
0
0
12,8
0,0
18,4
0
0
0
0
0
7,7
0
0
0
12
088
0
After all, it can be said that there are regions which have been particularly busy in producing
applications and thus have handed in more applications than the average region.
12 NUTS II regions plus applicants from other locations (mainly Ankara and Istanbul) have
developed 2424 applications. If we count external applicants as the “13th region” there has
been an average of 186.5 applications per region. Since Van’s contribution has been
exceptionally high it should, however, not be included into the establishment of an average. If
only the other regions would be counted the average number of applications would be
168.25.
The regions can then be characterised as belonging to three different groups:


88
TRB2 (Van) is the outstanding performer with 405 applications and leads the group of
those regions significantly surmounting the average. This group includes TR83 (Samsun)
with 270, TR72 (Kayseri) with 259 and TR90 (Trabzon) with 229 applications.
Five regions perform round about the average level including TRB1 (Elazığ) with 186,
TRC2 (Diyarbakır, Urfa) with 171, TRA1 (Erzurum) with 154, TR63 (Kahramanmaraş)
with 147 and the other parts of Turkey with 172 applications.
Some of these applications have been funded but since the institutions are based in Ankara these awards are counted under
Ankara.

Low performers are to be found in TRC1 (Gaziantep) with 133, TR82 (Kastamonu) with
109, TRC3 (Batman) with 106 and TRA2 (Kars) with just 83 applications.
It is evident that TRA2 (Kars) is the worst performer among all eligible regions. Not only has
this region submitted the lowest number of applications (83) and won the lowest number of
project awards (only 3): It also provides the smallest success rate with just 3.6%.
Taking into account the SEDI ranking, the difference to TRB2 (Van) is most striking: The two
neediest regions have produced the by far biggest (Van) and the by far lowest (Kars) amount
of applications. Van’s success rate is the third lowest with 6.4% but in absolute numbers they
have won 26 projects and are thus among the “winners” – being number 6 among the eligible
NUTS II regions related to the number of awards.
As a conclusion it can be said: The uneven distribution of awards does not appear to be
depending on the number of applications.
2.2.6
Hypotheses for disproportional fund allocation: External Support
The evaluation team has selected two regions for field visits that performed very well:



TR83 Samsun which had the highest success rate with 21.5% related to its 270
applications and thus the biggest number of projects awarded: 58 out of which 28 were
implemented in Samsun province alone.
TRB2 Van which produced the biggest amount of applications with 405 and ended up
with 26 projects out of which 13 were implemented in Van province.
Both locations had the advantage to offer projects in all three grant schemes.
Therefore it appeared most likely to find evidence for external support in these two provinces.
The findings can be described as follows:

89
In Van the governorate has established a large EU Project Coordination Office which has
been attached to the office of DAKAB (Eastern Anatolia Development Programme). The
same office also works in the function of an official EU Info Office. This office is very busy
in acquiring EU funds for the benefit of the region and has been outstandingly successful
in the previous years. The main characteristics of this success can be identified like this:
o The governor himself who came to Van from Kocaeli is very much interested in EU
programmes and opportunities. He therefore actively supports the work undertaken
by the office. This might have to do with the fact that Kocaeli made very good
experience with the ILO funded ALMP project between 2003 and 2006 in which
labour market analyses and the involvement of stakeholders played a major role.89
o The staff of the office consists of local experts who are committed to their home
region and do their best to draw funds to the region. Currently Van is the number one
region in Turkey in terms of EU-funded projects and the number four nationwide in
terms of the amount of funds generated. This creates pride within the office staff and
they are willing to even improve Van’s performance in relation to other regions.
Project ToR “Improving the Quality of Public Employment Services”, section 1.5.8, p.8
o

There is continuity of staff. The experts have been working for the Coordination Office
for quite some time and there is not much of a staff turnover.
o The Coordination Office has established a mail group that includes some 700
institutions across the region which might be interested in external funding. All
information related to EU programmes including grant specific information coming
from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security is being forwarded to all these
institutions and support is offered to all those who intend to apply for funding. Besides
sending the information by e-mail the office also pushes appropriate institutions by
following up on the submission with calls in order to encourage them to apply for EU
finding.
o The office staff participates in Info Days organised by CFCU or OS in order to gain as
much information and knowledge about the calls as possible and submits all relevant
facts to their customers using the mail group.
o While the Coordination Office does a lot in order to create new projects they also offer
support on proposal writing to candidates and try to establish cooperation between
the institutions targeted by the calls. They also participate in the Sectoral Monitoring
Committee of the HRD OP in Ankara and can thus use direct connections with a view
to achieving the newest information.
o The office tries to maintain an overview on all EU-funded projects implemented in the
region and they know more or less all the projects in their region. Yet, they are not in
the position to coordinate further cooperation between them – for instance by
organising meetings and opportunities for sharing information and experience
between project implementers. This is not within the authority of the governorate’s
coordination office. Likewise they cannot offer monitoring services to such projects
although they would have the necessary competence and also the resources to do
so. Yet, the monitoring system established by MoLSS does not foresee such activities
which would make use of local experience and competence.
In Samsun the situation is comparable. Promotion and supporting activities for EU project
development have been initiated in 2005 with the establishment of EU Project Office in
the Governorate’s Office. EU Project Office was reorganized as Development Office in
2006 that has been the core for the Eastern Black Sea Development Agency established
in 2008. AR-GE (Research and Development) Department of Special Provincial
Administration has taken over the responsibilities of this department in project promotion
and development activities. Similarly the AR-GE Department in the Provincial Directorate
of MoNE has played a quite active role in this regard in the same period, specifically for
Turkish National Agency for LLL and Youth in Action Programme.
o The offices mentioned have played an important role in the promotion of call for
proposals for EU grant schemes, supporting project development initiatives and
implementation and monitoring of grant projects implemented in the region under all
programmes including PWE, PYE, and PRE grant schemes.
o Regional monitoring activities for all grant schemes implemented during the period
were assumed by Regional Grant Monitoring Teams which were teamed up by the
staff of the structures mentioned. The staff of the offices has gained the required
experience from the regional development programmes implemented in the region
including Samsun. Several project development, implementation and monitoring
activities (including training) were conducted in which the staff of these offices who
were mainly locals of the region participated. This has been one of the reasons for
sustaining the capacity for the services required since the time of implementation of
Regional Development Projects in advance of the HRD OP grant schemes.
o
o
o
The structures mentioned were all organized and given utmost importance in their
functions and activities during the period by the Governor at duty. Later, experienced
staff of this department was assigned other duties in other offices of the Governorate
during the duty of Governor (s) replacing him.
The Deputy Governor currently in charge of EU and External Relations Unit has been
trying to re-organize the department staffed with 2 officers since 7 months of his duty
in this position. He has started with replacing the high school graduated manager of
the unit with an English speaking university graduate.
Although the Governorate Office’s position is not promising in terms of sustaining the
similar capacity as in the past in services related to project promotion and
development, there are few other NGOs which have proved their capacity in the grant
scheme programmes under evaluation and thus help sustaining the experience for
the upcoming grant programmes, whilst DOKA (the RDA in Samsun) has been
maintaining its capacity in case they would be assigned a role in also in supporting
project promoters and grant beneficiaries in areas such as project promotion,
development and monitoring.
The online survey undertaken with the grant beneficiaries has also aimed at finding out about
external support. In the light of the experience made in Van and Samsun, the following
questions are of particular interest:
GBs were asked if they were informed about the respective call for proposals by other
websites and e-mail groups than those related to CFCU, OS, OBs or EUD. The answers
reveal that a significant part of the grant beneficiaries indeed benefitted from such a support
or from the support of other institutions:
Table 70: Utilisation of external information in gaining necessary information on call for proposals by grant schemes
Grant Scheme
PYE
PWE
PRE
Information obtained from…
other websites or e-mail groups
27.7%
27.7%
18.5%
other institutions
10.8%
10.8%
11.1%
In relation to the eligible NUTS II regions the answers reveal significant differences which the
following table will highlight.
Table 71: Utilisation of external information in gaining necessary information on call for proposals by regions
PYE
Other web
sites and
e-mail
groups
PYE
Other
institutions
PWE
Other web
sites and
e-mail
groups
PWE
Other
institutions
TR-63
25,00%
50,00%
0,00%
0,00%
TR-72
69,23%
38,46%
27,27%
TR-82
50,00%
50,00%
TR-83
42,86%
14,29%
Region
PRE
Other web
sites and
e-mail
groups
PRE
Other
institutions
9,09%
33,33%
0,00%
0,00%
50,00%
0,00%
0,00%
18,75%
6,25%
14,29%
0,00%
TR-90
20,00%
30,00%
66,67%
22,22%
50,00%
50,00%
TR-A1
66,67%
100,00%
0,00%
50,00%
33,33%
0,00%
TR-A2
0,00%
0,00%
100,00%
0,00%
TR-B1
0,00%
16,67%
14,29%
14,29%
0,00%
0,00%
TR-B2
0,00%
0,00%
28,57%
0,00%
16,67%
0,00%
TR-C1
33,33%
0,00%
33,33%
0,00%
0,00%
50,00%
TR-C2
33,33%
16,67%
100,00%
0,00%
0,00%
50,00%
TR-C3
0,00%
50,00%
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
100,00%
The results appear to give evidence that external information has been widely used across
the eligible NUTS II regions in order to obtain relevant information.
Yet, the survey also explicitly asked for any support that successful applicants received from
external institutions (such as OS, OBs or regional institutions) in relation to the project
development and the writing of the application. The answers underpin the previous table’s
output.
Table 72: Utilisation of external support in project development and application writing by grant schemes
Grant Scheme
PYE
PWE
PRE
Yes
15.4%
30.8%
11.1%
No
84.6%
69.2%
88.9%
In relation to the participating provinces the results are like this:
Table 73: Utilisation of external support in project development and application writing by regions
Region
PYE-Yes
PYE-No
PWE-Yes
PWE-No
PRE-Yes
PRE-No
TR-63
0,00%
100,00%
75,00%
25,00%
TR-72
15,38%
84,62%
27,27%
72,73%
0,00%
100,00%
TR-82
0,00%
100,00%
0,00%
100,00%
0,00%
100,00%
TR-83
14,29%
85,71%
37,50%
62,50%
14,29%
85,71%
TR-90
10,00%
90,00%
44,44%
55,56%
0,00%
100,00%
TR-A1
66,67%
33,33%
0,00%
100,00%
33,33%
66,67%
TR-A2
0,00%
100,00%
0,00%
100,00%
TR-B1
0,00%
100,00%
14,29%
85,71%
0,00%
100,00%
TR-B2
0,00%
100,00%
42,86%
57,14%
0,00%
100,00%
TR-C1
66,67%
33,33%
0,00%
100,00%
0,00%
100,00%
TR-C2
33,33%
66,67%
0,00%
100,00%
25,00%
75,00%
TR-C3
0,00%
100,00%
0,00%
100,00%
0,00%
100,00%
The answers reveal that external support has been relatively marginal. According to the grant
beneficiaries’ answers, there has not been any such support at all in 50% of the regions
across the three grant schemes.
As far as those regions with claimed significant support are concerned:




TR63 (Kahramanmaraş) won 11 projects in PWE and was the fifth best among the most
successful grant award winning provinces in this scheme.
TR90 (Trabzon) won 20 projects in PWE and was number 3 among the regions.
TRA1 (Erzurum) won only 2 PYE projects. This result is therefore not representative.
Likewise applies to TRC1 (Gaziantep) that won 4 projects in PYE.
It might, however, have a positive impact if there was a contact established with the
governorate’s EU Coordination Office and/or the Regional Development Agency of the
region. Such a connection – as described in the Van experience above – might indicate
respective support during the application phase.
Table 74: Established connection with governorate and/or RDA by grant schemes
Grant Scheme
PYE
PWE
PRE
Yes
29.7%
31.2%
40.7%
No
70.3%
68.8%
59.3%
Apparently there has been a much stronger desire to establish such contacts than to obtain
external information. Particularly in PRE it is evident that this scheme – being entirely new
with no predecessor and (as well) being highly political – urged the projects to look for
contacts.
2.2.7
Distribution of results from eligible NUTS II regions to the rest of Turkey
Among the Strategic Priorities outlined by the HRD OP there is a clear distinction between
political needs related to employment at system level and at target group level. The
programme provides the following statement: 90


System level needs require mainly nation-wide policy interventions where policy will
be developed for all the country but implementations will focus on 12 NUTS II
regions.
Interventions based on needs of target groups will be focused on 12 NUTS II
Regions.
Such a strategic approach requires the establishment of tools and methods with a view to
organising the transfer of results of interventions undertaken in the eligible NUTS II regions
to the rest of the country in order to make sure that policies at system level can benefit from
experience made in employment-related projects – be it grant scheme or Technical
Assistance interventions.
The HRD OP does not (yet) offer such tools and methods although the programme foresees
such transfer in its chapter on Implementation Provisions. In its description of management
and control structures, the programme indicates as a task of the HRD Programming Unit
90
HRD OP 2.2, p.102
(which is today’s Programme Management, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit – PMMEU –
within the OS):91
Defining a Mainstreaming Strategy how
- to identify good practice and results
- to validate their potential for transfer to other regions of Turkey
- to organise this transfer process on horizontal as well as vertical levels
Such a Mainstreaming Strategy has not yet been introduced. In 2012, a draft strategy paper
has been produced in the framework of one of the TA projects within the OS but the product
still awaits its final editing and approval.
As far as alternative strategies to submit relevant information about experience from the
eligible NUTS II regions to other regions of Turkey are concerned, there appears to be no
concrete and systematic approach within the Operating Structure. However, some activities
which encompass this objective have been carried out in previous years in the framework of
the Communication Strategy:92





Project Fairs have been organised by Technical Assistance projects for the grant
schemes in Ankara and Urfa. These fairs allowed mostly public institutions and
schools to collect information about the activities and results of grant scheme
projects. Yet there is no clear linkage to influencing regions outside the eligible part of
the country.
A photo exhibition has been organised in the Ankara subway which displayed photos
documenting grant scheme project implementation.
For each of the three grant schemes the TA project has helped the OS to prepare a
compendium which contains information about contents and results of the projects –
to some extent also description of best practice – that can in principle be used by
institutions outside the eligible regions.
The OS publishes a bilingual HRD Magazine on a 4-monthly basis which also
contains relevant information.
In addition, the SMC provides a platform to present relevant information to
programme stakeholders representing the whole country.
In relation to the TA projects it is easier to identify the transfer activities:



91
92
PYE develops a Youth Entrepreneurship Support (= YES) model which is supposed
to be implemented by the beneficiary (İŞKUR) throughout the country after the
project’s end.
PWE has developed a Job Club model which can also be multiplied easily by the
beneficiary.
Both projects have organised intensive training in the eligible regions which offers the
potential to be repeated in other regions.
HRD OP 2007, Chapter 5.1.1, p.180
See Interview with the Unit Coordinator of IPTA, Annex 12a


2.2.8
PRE has organised a wide range of training sessions throughout the eligible regions.
In addition, awareness-raising conferences were conducted which covered the rest of
the country. SGK is using documentation developed by the TA project in its
communication and training with provincial offices throughout the country.
PES has delivered substantial training to İŞKUR staff in the eligible regions and
developed the Model Office which is part of the future standard arrangements for
provincial offices in Turkey. İŞKUR will multiply the experience in the rest of the
country.
Mutual learning between provinces
Project beneficiaries working in the same grant scheme mostly have similar challenges to
overcome and face the same problems. Hence it is very helpful for them once mutual
exchange of experience is being organised. Such an offer needs to be developed by the
programme management or Technical Assistance working for the authorities.
Unfortunately, neither OS nor OBs have recognised in the period of the first three grant
schemes that such an offer would enormously support the quality of project implementation
across the board. Likewise, there have apparently been no efforts from the side of provincial
institutions – for instance Governorate’s EU Project Coordination Offices – to establish a
forum for the grant scheme projects in their geographical responsibility.
Based on the experience made in EU Member States it can be said that this is a shortcoming
because the programme authorities miss the chance of



Learning from the grant beneficiaries about the neuralgic issues within a grant
scheme while it is being implemented
Upgrading the skills of grant beneficiary project managers by allowing them to
exchange experience and learn from each other
Lift the overall quality of the project implementation by allowing grant beneficiaries to
adopt successful methods and tools used by other peers in the same grant scheme.
As a sort of side-effect such opportunities would also provide the less successful (and less
developed) provinces to learn from the more developed ones which in turn might affect the
competitiveness of a given province and decrease disparities at least in terms of programme
management skills and professionalism in achieving grant scheme objectives.
A systematic exchange of experience and mutual learning could easily be steered using TA
funds and establishing



Regular meetings in the framework of a grant scheme
Regular meetings of grant scheme projects in a given province
Establishing an intranet platform at grant scheme level that would allow for exchange
of experience, data, documents, etc.
2.2.9
Transfer of experience from the developed part of the country to the NUTS II
regions
Transfer of experience (or results) may not only be thought about as if it followed just one
direction. In relation to decreasing regional disparities it would also be relevant to ensure that
a transfer of experience is organised from the not eligible regions in the better developed
Western part of Turkey to the eligible 12 NUTS II regions in the East.
It is not necessary to develop new ideas if they already exist. The eligible regions could
certainly have benefitted from experience made in more developed regions such as Istanbul,
Ankara, or Izmir – if only a transfer would have been organised.
The fact that institutions from these areas were allowed to apply for funds – provided the
implementation was done in the eligible part of the country – does not fulfil that expectation.
It would have been much more effective to organise, for instance, conference at which
experienced project promoters from the West of Turkey could have briefed grant
beneficiaries from the eligible 12 NUTS II regions on the development achieved in their areas
and the tools and methods developed there in previous programmes.
Respective tools do not exist in the HRD OP – it would not be expensive to organise such a
transfer but it might have a huge impact on the quality of implementation.
2.2.10 Summary of findings
Concluding all the facts gathered here it appears that external support at least slightly
influences a region’s performance. Taking into account the information collected in Samsun
and Van it can be said that particularly successful provinces do a lot in terms of spreading
well-collected and processed information about the calls for proposal. There is also a
concrete offer of support to potential applicants and a clear message from the side of the
governorate that it is interested in benefitting from EU funds. Motivation from the governorate
and its Coordination Office as well as reliable information and support seem to trigger the
development of more and better applications than in those regions which do not have a
similar structure of support.
In relation to the programme objective to decrease regional disparities, however, these
regional efforts appear to endanger the envisaged effect. Some of the neediest regions in
Turkey which should have benefitted the most from HRD OP activities have performed poorly
due to a lack of support and absorption capacities for the funds. TRA2 (Kars) is the second
neediest region among the 12 eligible NUTS II regions in the HRD OP according to the SEDI
Index. However, it has only produced the lowest number of applications, won the lowest
number of projects and had the lowest success rate. As a consequence it has to be said that
in some respect the growth centre approach as it has been implemented in the first round of
grant schemes under Priority 1 has not achieved the objective of decreasing regional
disparities but – on the contrary – widened the gap between TRA2 and those eligible regions
which have a much better SEDI Index such as TRC2 (Diyarbakır and Urfa) or TR83
(Samsun). It therefore has to be questioned if the competitive character of the
implementation of the growth centre approach in Round 1 of the grant schemes will have to
be revised for future operations.
In relation to the development gap between the more prosperous regions in the west of the
country and the 12 eligible NUTS II regions (characterised by producing less than 75% of the
average GDP), it goes without saying that the concentration of funds on the 12 regions is
contributing to closing the gap. It will have to be subject to later evaluations whether or not
these effects are sustainable. Unfortunately there have been no efforts to organise a transfer
of experience from the better developed regions to those eligible for HRD OP funding at any
stage of the programme implementation.
As far as the transfer of experience from the eligible NUTS II regions to the rest of Turkey is
concerned the evaluation team noticed a multiplication strategy on the side of the TA
beneficiaries (İŞKUR and SGK) in relation to the four TA projects – yet there is no concise
strategy yet in relation to grant schemes. Only some communication activities might have a
regional transfer of experience as a sort of by-product or side-effect. The Mainstreaming
Strategy envisaged by the programme has not yet been approved and started to be
implemented.
In addition, the mutual learning between grant scheme beneficiaries should be encouraged
and organised by the Operation Beneficiaries who haven’t done so up to now. TA funds
might play a very important role and lead to an increase in implementation quality.
Provincial networking of grant beneficiaries supported by provincial authorities should also be
aimed at with a view to reinforcing mutual learning and problem solving and providing
examples to future grant beneficiaries in the area.
2.3 Monitoring, Sustainability
One of the horizontal challenges outlined by the HRD OP is described as:

Developing monitoring and impact analysis on policy implementation in order to
ensure sustainable policy development
This chapter will not entirely deal with all the issues in question:




Monitoring is a programme-related activity that will be dealt within in Chapter B4 on
Programme Management. In order to avoid repetitions this sub-chapter will not
contain assessments of the monitoring procedures.
As far as Impact Analysis is concerned it is way too early to deal with this issue.
Impact evaluation assesses the changes that can be attributed to a particular
intervention, such as a project, programme or policy, both the intended ones, as well
as ideally the unintended ones. In contrast to outcome monitoring, which examines
whether targets have been achieved, impact evaluation is structured to answer the
question: how would outcomes such as participants’ well-being have changed if the
intervention had not been undertaken? Impact evaluations seek to answer causeand-effect questions. In other words, they look for the changes in outcome that are
directly attributable to a programme.93 At this stage of the HRD OP implementation
the evaluation team does not have a factual basis on which an assessment of actual
impacts can be carried out. Impact evaluations usually take place after a programme
has been entirely implemented – not in the middle of the implementation period.
Hence – as it has been outlined already in the Introduction – this evaluation cannot
handle impact-related questions. They will be subject to an ex post evaluation.
Sustainability, however, is an important topic for every programme evaluation. In this
respect, it does not refer to environmental sustainability – that is a horizontal issue
which always has to be observed in EU-funded programmes and will be a topic when
it comes to the assessment of the employment-related activities.
The linkage between sustainability and policy development is difficult to assess at this
stage because implications of grant schemes and TA projects on policy development
in Turkey can be observed – if any – only under coincidental circumstances at this
point of the HRD OP life cycle. First attempts at assessing policy impact will be
undertaken in Chapter B3 when it comes to assessing the TA projects. In relation to
the grant schemes it is too early to observe any such impact. The reasons for that will
be explained in Chapter B3 as well.
2.3.1 Scope of the sustainability assessment
In the framework of this evaluation, we will look at three forms of sustainability, namely



Financial sustainability,
Content sustainability, and
Institutional sustainability.
The justification for this procedure is easy to explain.
93
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_evaluation with lots of further references.



Every programme authority has to make sure that the use of funds is based on sound
financial management and follows the rules and regulations. That is a question of the
programme management and will therefore not be treated here. At the level of the
beneficiaries, however, it should be observed that EU-funding should not be the sole
source of income generation for the institution and that financial operations are in line
with the regulations. In addition, financial sustainability means that an institution will
be able to cover its administrative costs and pursue its mission and its goals without
being dependent on external donors.
Content sustainability is about what the beneficiary institution actually does. The topic
of the grant scheme or TA funded project should not result in a singular treatment of
the issue in question but rather be followed by the institution once the funding ends.
Hence the EU contribution should be an initial funding that leads to further activities
run by the institution in the particular field of activities without further public funding
after the end of the project.
Institutional sustainability is about an institution’s capability to incorporate the
experience with a project into its institutional culture. It is also about institutional
memory, i.e. the capability to internalise this experience in a way that the institution
remembers it, learns from it and draws conclusions from it for its further activities.
2.3.2 Sustainability as a guiding principle in the application phase
The issue of sustainability has played a role in the preparation of the grant scheme
applications. Looking through the Grant Scheme Guidelines the following references can be
found:
In all three schemes, the guideline explicitly claims that sustainability will be an important
subject of the evaluation of concept notes. 10 out of 50 points can be scored if there is
sufficient information in relation to two aspects of sustainability, namely:
 Assessment of the identification of the main assumptions and risks, before the start
up and throughout the implementation period.
 Assessment of the identification of long-term sustainable impact on the target groups
and final beneficiaries.
Yet, it has to be said that these two aspects do not cover any of the types of sustainability
explained under 2.3.1. They are more relevant in terms of the acknowledgement of risks that
the project might have to face and the impact the project might have on the long-term – a
scenario which hard to validate and to evaluate.
In the Evaluation Grid for the full application the situation is different. 15 out of maximum 100
points can be earned with sustainability issues. Besides a description of envisaged impact
and multiplier effects, the grid explicitly asks for the essentials discussed in this chapter. 5
points can be earned by providing information on financial sustainability (how will the
activities be financed after the funding ends?), institutional sustainability (will structures
allowing the activities to continue be in place at the end of the action? Will there be local
“ownership” of the results of the action?), policy sustainability (what will be the structural
impact of the action — e.g. will it lead to improved legislation, codes of conduct, methods,
etc.?) and environmental sustainability.
Hence all applicants had to provide information as to how they intended to ensure
sustainability related to their project work. Not having seen the actual applications the
evaluation team has to conclude that those applications that were awarded must have
provided sufficient information on this topic – otherwise they would have lost a significant
amount of points in the evaluation. The quality of that information cannot be judged. Yet, the
online survey will provide information related to this topic.
We will now explain our understanding of the three sorts of sustainability, what they imply
and what kind of results the evaluation has come up with in relation to them.
2.3.3 Financial Sustainability
There are in general four pillars of financial sustainability that an institution should be capable
to observe and follow:94
Graph 12: Financial Sustainability
Financial
and
Strategic
Planning
Income
Diversification
Sound
Administration and
Finance
Own
Income
Generation
Financial and Strategic Planning means that the institution should have a strategic plan
setting out priorities of activities to be undertaken in a certain period of time – and it should
be aware of the amount of financial means which is necessary to implement the priorities in
the plan.
Income Diversification means that an institution should have a budget plan that is based on
more than one financial resource and which ensures that the administrative costs and a
significant part of the priority activities can be based on secure sources which are not
depending on donor decisions.
Sound Administration and Finance means that the financial management should follow
general rules and encompass the introduction of balance sheets, income and expenditure
94
20
León, P.: Four Pillars of Financial Sustainability, Vol. 2 of Resources for Success series, USAID, Arlington/USA, 2001, p.15-
statements, cash flow, audit reports, inventory control, investment and financing plans,
budget presentation and approval for the fiscal year and budget verification procedures.
Own Income Generation means that an institution has access to other forms of income than
just public and donor grants, for instance through trusts, fundraising activities, public
contributions, asset management, sales, etc.
The Operation Beneficiaries, İŞKUR and SGK, obviously have Financial and Strategic
Planning operations in place. They are public institutions and have to follow respective rules
established by the government.
When it comes to grant beneficiaries the general situation under IPA is as follows:95
Table 75: Performance Rank by Bodies under IPA as per 31st December, 2009
Bodies
SMEs
Associations
Municipalities
Chambers
Foundations
Unions
Villages Service Unions
Universities
Others
Cooperatives
Farmer Groups
Special Provincial
Administration
Colleges
Villages
Trade Unions
Vocational High Schools
Public Bodies
Primary Schools
TOTAL
No. of contracts
654
341
291
245
145
95
76
73
68
66
65
50
%
28.29
12.75
12.59
10.60
6.27
4.11
3.29
3.16
2.94
2.85
2.81
2.16
Grant (million €)
47.77
22.86
88.95
21.62
13.19
8.92
21.21
11.79
7.18
5.13
5.31
15.55
%
16.70
8.00
31.10
7.50
4.60
3.12
7.41
4.12
2.50
1.80
1.86
5.44
38
35
33
21
12
4
2.312
1.64
1.51
1.43
0.91
0.52
0.17
100.00
3.78
5.00
3.72
1.45
2.62
0.13
286.18
1.32
1.75
1.30
0.51
0.92
0.05
100.00
As the overview demonstrates, the majority of grants handed out under IPA in Turkey is
managed by institutions which are public or administrate public contributions or are part of
large institutions in which the affiliated institutions are members (unions, associations,
chambers). SMEs may have the biggest number of contracts – although not the biggest
share of the funds – but they have been explicitly excluded as beneficiaries in the context of
the HRD OP grants.
If we look at the institutional structure of the three grant schemes under HRD OP’s Priority 1
in particular the situation is as shown in the following table which underpins the finding made
above:96
95
96
CFCU data, quoted by Akca
Data derived from the three grant scheme compendiums
Table 76: Institutional distribution of grant scheme projects per grant scheme
PYE - TYPE OF INSTITUTION
Special Provincial Administration
Association
Foundation
Vocational High School
University
Union (BİRLİK)
Municipality
Labor Unions (SENDİKA)
Union of Village Delivery Service
General Management (GENEL MÜDÜRÜLÜK)
Vocational organizations
NGO
Public Training Center
Organized Industry Zones (OIZ)
Other institutions
TOTAL
PWE - TYPE OF INSTITUION
Municipality
Association
Public Training Center (HALK EGITIM MERKEZI)
Special Provincial Administration
Union of Village Delivery Service
Vocational High School
Vocational organizations (MESLEK ODALARI)
Chambers of Commerce and Industry
Organized Industry Zones (OIZ)
Co-operative
University
Foundation
Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundation (SOSYAL
YARDIMLAŞMA VE DAYANIŞMA VAKFI)
Other (development association, association of
municipalities, vocational training centers (MESLEKI
EGITIM MERKEZI)
TOTAL
PRE - TYPE of INSTITUTION
Special Provincial Administration
Association
Foundation
University
Union
Municipality
Vocational organizations
Labour unions
NGO
Organized Industry Zones (OIZ)
Other
TOTAL
NUMBER OF PROJECTS
5
16
12
10
9
3
15
3
3
1
19
11
3
4
13
127
NUMBER OF PROJECTS
21
15
5
9
4
9
20
10
1
2
12
4
14
5
131
NUMBER OF PROJECT
1
5
3
1
4
1
10
1
6
2
7
41
The survey undertaken with the grant beneficiaries did not contain specific questions related
to financial management issues. On the other hand audits undertaken throughout the
implementation of the grant schemes did not come up with extraordinary results in relation to
any misbehaviour of the grant beneficiaries.
It can therefore be assumed that the financial planning of the grant beneficiaries did not
produce major problems and has been sound.
In relation to income diversification, sound management and income generation the same
statement applies again. The vast majority of the institutions participating as grant
beneficiaries in the three grant schemes have – as outlined above – the status of a public
institution or receive public money or are affiliated members of well-established major
institutions who have sound accounting systems and budget planning in place. Only small
NGOs might therefore run the risk of being entirely depending on donor funding. Yet, the
group of projects run by NGOs is relatively small (17 out of 299 projects).
Monitoring and audit missions have not revealed major problems in relation to the financial
management carried out by the beneficiaries. In the survey only 14 responding projects
indicated that they had “financial difficulties” or problems related to “budget” issues. These
answers also indicate that in general financial sustainability did not turn out to be a problem
for the majority of the grant scheme projects.
2.3.4
Content Sustainability
Questions related to content sustainability were part of the online survey in which 52.5% of
all grant scheme beneficiaries have provided responses to the questionnaires.97
Without having visited grant beneficiaries and followed up on their activities following their
participation in an HRD OP grant scheme – which happened in 2011 – it is fairly difficult to
judge to what extent an institution has actually made use of the main project activity and
carries on implementing this or similar activities without external funding.
However, the online questionnaire asked for the projects’ contributions to the institutions’
capacities. As far as content sustainability is concerned the answer option “The coverage of
our activities was enlarged” offers the best possible indicator. The following table shows to
what extent the grant beneficiaries have chosen this option:
Table 77: Enlargement of activities following GS project by grant schemes
Q47: What has been the contribution of implementing this Project to the institutional capacity
of your organization? – Answer: The coverage of our activities was enlarged.
Grant Scheme
Total Response
Ticked by
Percentage
PYE
65
38
60.3%
PWE
65
40
66.7%
PRE
27
15
55.6%
TOTAL
157
93
59.2%
97
See Section A, Chapter 2.3.8 in detail
The response by the projects as outlined in the survey is encouraging. Almost 6 out of 10
grant beneficiaries claim that the coverage of their activities is larger than before
implementing the grant scheme project. It is therefore most likely that in these cases at least
elements of the project activities are still in use and support the institution’s performance in
the area of labour market related activities.
This is of particular interest since the content of the grant schemes in general was not
entirely new. As Chapter B3 will describe in detail, particularly PYE and PWE did not
introduce innovative elements or activities. These grant schemes basically repeated activities
that had already been undertaken by İŞKUR before – either under other donor-based grant
schemes or in the framework of their own integration activities under ALMP.
The case of SGK is different since there had not been any grant scheme like PRE before the
HRD OP launched it. Hence the likeliness of the participating institutions carrying out
activities they had not undertaken before PRE is higher than in the two other grant schemes.
Yet, PRE scores lowest on that particular question. This result indicates that PRE activities –
although the grant scheme as such was new – did not promote many new activities. Instead
most projects awarded preferred to undertake a mix of awareness-raising activities (85.2%)
and vocational training (63%). This is probably not something entirely new to most of the
participating institutions which explains the lower score in that respect. On the other hand, if
indeed more than half of the grant beneficiaries carry on activities like that without having
done so before they implemented the grant scheme project it is obviously not a bad result.
We can therefore assume that content sustainability has been achieved by more than half of
the grant beneficiaries involved into the three grant schemes.
2.3.5
Institutional Sustainability
This question has to be critically highlighted. When the evaluation team tried to organise the
online survey as well as the Focus Group meetings in Ankara, Samsun and Van it was found
that the address data in the G-MIS were to a high extent outdated. In all too many cases the
telephone or e-mail contacts had changed and persons who had been responsible for the
project implementation were no longer available.
In Section A, Chapter 2.3.8 we have described how difficult it was to identify the institutions
and the responsible persons and to make them provide answers to the questions. `During
the Focus Group meetings the team met a significant amount of grant beneficiary
representatives who did not have first-hand experience with the implementation of the
projects and could build on their own experience with the target groups and the activities.
The reason that was presented to the team was way too often the same. According to the
feedback we received



Many projects were prepared by external experts (consultants) not belonging to the
applying institution.
Project implementation staff was hired for the purpose of implementing the awarded
project while the permanent staff of the institution did not or only marginally
participate in project activities.
Once the funding ended the additional project related staff left the institution.
It was therefore evident that institutional memory did not exist in many cases, and
participants in Focus Group meetings, for instance, were not able to answer detailed
questions due to a lack of personal involvement into the implementation of grant project
activities.
The online survey covered this issue with its Question 47 (PYE and PWE) or 50 (PRE). The
results related to the answer options are shown in the following table:98
Table 78: Contribution of project implementation to institutional capacities of grant beneficiaries by grant scheme
Q47: What has been the contribution of implementing this Project to the institutional capacity
of your organization?
Answer: We have now experience in implementing EU grant projects
Grant Scheme
Total Response
Ticked by
Percentage
PYE
65
57
90.5%
PWE
65
56
93.3%
PRE
27
22
81.5%
TOTAL
157
135
86,0%
Answer: Members and staff of our institution gained experience.
Grant Scheme
Total Response
Ticked by
Percentage
PYE
65
53
84.1%
PWE
65
54
90,0%
PRE
27
21
77.8%
TOTAL
157
128
81.5%
Answer: We could use the equipment and materials for further similar activities.
Grant Scheme
Total Response
Ticked by
Percentage
PYE
65
42
66.7%
PWE
65
45
75,0%
PRE
27
15
55.6%
TOTAL
157
102
65.0%
Grant Scheme
PYE
PWE
PRE
TOTAL
Answer: We have improved our network.
Total Response
Ticked by
65
45
65
46
27
21
157
112
Percentage
71.4%
76.7%
77.8%
71.3%
Answer: We have improved our communication and relations with
stakeholders in labour market.
Grant Scheme
Total Response
Ticked by
Percentage
PYE
65
41
65.1%
PWE
65
37
61.7%
PRE
27
19
70.4%
TOTAL
157
97
61.8%
According to the survey results the picture is significantly more positive.

98
Close to 9 out of 10 beneficiaries claim to have EU project experience now. This would in
turn mean that only in 1 out of 10 projects no institutional memory can be found.
Percentage figures per grant scheme based on answers given to question. Total percentage figures based on ticks divided
by number of filled in questionnaires.




8 out of 10 beneficiaries claim that their staff has gained experience. That would in turn
mean that only in roughly 20% of the projects none of the project implementers is still
there today.
Two thirds of the beneficiaries still benefit from materials and equipment produced in or
purchased during the project. That result shows that there is a continuous impact of
equipment and materials that survives the end of the funding.
7 out of 10 beneficiaries claim that they have extended their networks. This result
appears to indicate that only 3 out of 10 beneficiaries cooperated with institutions they
already had worked with before. If the partnership approach promoted by all three grant
schemes indeed led to new partnerships in 70% of the cases this can be regarded a
major success.
6 out of 10 beneficiaries claim that they have improved communication and relations to
other stakeholders on the labour market. That is a result on its own that has to be
regarded positively. It is an important step forward if there is more cooperation between
stakeholders on the Turkish labour market which this result appears to indicate.
It has, of course, to be mentioned that the online survey’s results represent a selfassessment of the grant beneficiaries. There is no fact-based evidence that the answers
provided were entirely true. Nevertheless, the evaluation team can compare the results of the
survey to the statements made in direct talks during the Focus Group meetings. It is
therefore believed that the online survey can be trusted to a large extent since it underpins
the findings made in the Focus Group discussions.
On the basis of that assumption, the team comes to the conclusion that – despite the found
difficulties with additional staff leaving the institutions after the end of funding – there is a
significant amount of institutional sustainability among the three grant schemes of HRD OP’s
employment priority. That is to be seen as an encouraging result and indicates that the
emphasis CFCU and OS have put on the establishment of new coalitions on the labour
market has actually worked.
Nevertheless, some of the results are alarming:



40% of the grant beneficiaries do not continue with the activities carried out in their
projects
20-30% of grant beneficiaries do not ensure institutional sustainability which results in
a loss of memory on project achievements
More than 30% of the grant beneficiaries have not benefitted in terms of enlarging
networks and stakeholder communication which indicates that they worked in wellknown structures without any extension to new actors.
It will remain to be seen if these new alliances have in addition contributed to any policy
development. Yet, this will be subject of future ex post evaluations.
2.4 Stakeholder Involvement
In this part, an analysis describing the extent of stakeholder involvement in the
implementation of HRD OP will be made. Additionally, the effects on institutional capacity of
the stakeholders will be evaluated.
Before the launch of the HRD OP, thirty one stakeholder institutions provided support on the
preparation of HRD OP. Stakeholder involvement in the preparation of the HRD OP was
ensured by several activities. As the Ex Ante Evaluation pointed out, the involvement of
stakeholders into the preparation of the programme could not possibly regarded as following
a “partnership approach” but MoLSS had started to adopt some recommendations and thus
followed a more pro-active approach taking into consideration stakeholder views.99
In the implementation of HRD OP, Sectoral Monitoring Committee meetings played a key
role in achieving strategic priority targets of HRD OP. Thus, the evaluation team checked the
participant lists of Sectoral Monitoring Committee meetings and reviewed the minutes of
these meetings.
The Sectoral Monitoring Committee (SMC) of the Human Resources Development
Operational Programme is a permanently acting body, established under the provisions of
Article 36 of the Framework Agreement between the government of the Republic of Turkey
and the Commission of the European Communities and in accordance with the provisions of
EC Regulation No. 718/2007 of 12th June 2007. The SMC meetings are held at least twice a
year at the initiative of the Operating Structure or the Commission. The Sectoral Monitoring
Committee is responsible for following up on the implementation of HRD OP by reviewing the
progress made towards achieving the objectives set out in the programme. It consists of
members representing the social partners and other representatives of civil society
organizations. The composition of the Committee is decided by the Operating Structure, in
agreement with the Commission. Some members of the Committee are permanent while the
others such as governors, universities and chambers of industry and commerce in the growth
centres are subject to rotation. After two years of membership, they leave their place to other
representatives. This principle has been established in order not to favour some regions over
others by providing them as members with more direct information than others. On the other
hand, the principle of rotation leads to a lack of continuity on the side of the regional
representatives which cannot be regarded as a favourable option.
Sectoral Monitoring Committee meetings were one of the most important indicators of the
HRD OP’s participatory approach. Decisions taken in the scope of the SMC meetings played
a key role for HRD OP progress. It can be clearly stated that the members of SMC
contributed to all phases of HRD OP by providing valuable comments and inputs.
It is difficult to assess the effects of SMC membership on the number of applications handed
in for grant schemes. Most of the members of the SMC represent public institutions and local
stakeholders were participating in the meetings by rotation. However, it is certainly not wrong
to say that institutions involved into the SMC were provided with valuable and extensive
information on HRD OP which helped them to apply for the grants. Yet, in relation to the
applications, the evaluation cannot allocate applications to singular entities since the data
received from the CFCU were aggregated.
99
Ex Ante Evaluation, section 1.3
A comparison can be made on the total number of applications and contracted projects for
stakeholder institutions. The following table shows the ratio by institutions.
Table 79: Applications, awards and winning ratio by institutions
Type of institutions
No. of Applications
No of Contracted Rate of
projects
contracted
projects
45
7%
Associations
625
Chambers
332
59
18%
Cooperatives
30
2
7%
Development Agencies
Foundations
4
1
25%
143
34
24%
6
1
17%
Municipalities
391
39
10%
Public Education Centres
181
9
5%
Public Institutions
56
0
0%
Special Provincial Administrations
58
15
26%
Trade Unions
18
5
28%
Unions
136
30
22%
Universities
163
22
13%
Village Service Unions
80
7
9%
Vocational High Schools
131
21
16%
Other
70
10
14%
High School
Roughly one third of the institutions winning grant scheme projects have been public while
two thirds can be regarded as private sector institutions. The structure of applicants in
general reflects the structure of stakeholders who have been involved into the preparation of
the HRD OP100 and are represented in the SMC.
Associations applied for 625 projects in three grant schemes. However, only 7% of their
applications have been awarded. This can lead us to concluding that the associations have
been highly motivated to apply for the grants, but the quality of their applications has not
been very high. Apparently, associations need more support to improve their winning ratio.
The number of applications and contracted projects rate for trade unions is quite significant.
Considering that only HAK-İŞ applied for the grant schemes among trade unions. Although
the trade unions’ share in the projects was very small, the rate of awarded projects was
exceptionally high. This shows that HAK-İŞ’s project development capacity is comparatively
high. The results of the interview also support this view. There is an independent Project
Coordination Unit in which 5 full-time and about 10 half-time staff are working in HAK-İŞ.
Special Provincial Administrations are also very successful in winning projects compared to
the total number of applications. When considering the effective provision of local services,
Special Provincial Administrations play a key role to efficiently administer public financial
100
HRD OP 2007 Sectoral Annual Report, p.6-7
resources allocated to them and to deliver high quality local services. Thus, it is quite
pleasing for Special Provincial Administrations to implement grant scheme projects aiming to
provide better services at the local level. As the assessment of regional disparities has
demonstrated there are strong differences between the regions in the number of allocations
as well as the number of awarded projects. Apparently the quality of support services
provided to other applicants by provincial administrations has a strong influence on success
or failure.
The following tables show the contribution of implemented projects to the institutional
capacity under each grant scheme. The Evaluation team identified six important factors in
the scope of their institutional capacities which are listed below:






We have now experience in implementing EU grant projects.
The coverage of our activities was enlarged.
Members and staff of our institution gained experience.
We could use the equipment and materials for further similar activities.
We have improved our network.
We have improved our communication and relations with stakeholders in labour
market.
Some of the findings are of particular interest:
 It is alarming to see the discrepancies in relation to “enlargement of activities”. The
figures below 100% clearly reveal that many institutions did not do anything new in
the grant scheme.
 There are obvious problems with institutional capacity building once grant
beneficiaries do not claim that their staff gained experience. Way too many projects
hired additional staff just for project purposes and laid them off once the projects were
over.
 Most of the institutions claim that they could make use of the equipment and
materials for further activities. This has to be regarded positively.
We have improved
our communication
and relations with
stakeholders in
labour market.
We have improved
our network.
Members and staff of
our institution gained
experience.
We could use the
equipment and
materials for further
similar activities.
The coverage of our
activities was
enlarged.
We have now
experience in
mplementing EU
grant projects.
Table 80: Contribution of the projects under PWE to the institutional capacity
Associations
100,00%
80,00%
80,00%
80,00%
80,00%
50,00%
Chambers
87,50%
75,00%
100,00% 75,00%
75,00%
75,00%
Cooperatives
100,00%
0,00%
100,00% 100,00% 0,00%
100,00%
Foundations
90,00%
50,00%
100,00% 60,00%
80,00%
50,00%
Municipalities
Organized Industrial
Zones
42,86%
42,86%
71,43%
28,57%
42,86%
100,00%
100,00%
100,00% 100,00% 100,00%
100,00%
Public Education Centers
Special Provincial
Administration
75,00%
50,00%
75,00%
75,00%
75,00%
50,00%
50,00%
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
Unions
100,00%
83,33%
83,33%
66,67%
66,67%
50,00%
42,86%
Universities
85,71%
42,86%
71,43%
71,43%
Village Service Unions
100,00%
100,00%
66,67%
100,00% 100,00%
Vocational High Schools
100,00%
66,67%
100,00% 83,33%




71,43%
100,00%
71,43%
100,00%
50,00%
Only 50% of the associations think that they have improved their communication and
relations with stakeholders in labour market while more than 80% of them believe
their capacities have been improved for other five issues.
More than 70 % of the municipalities think that only their members and staff gained
experience. They did not benefit from the projects sufficiently regarding the other
issues.
Special Provincial Administrations are the weakest institutions to improve their
communications and relations with the stakeholders and to improve their network.
Regarding the experience in implementation of EU grant projects, all grant beneficiary
institutions were expected to answer 100% positively. However, only associations,
cooperatives, OIZs, unions and village service unions’ projects achieved the expected
result.
o This may be related to the external staff who had been recruited on a shortterm basis and left the institution as soon as the project ended. Recruitment of
external experts affects not only the institutional capacity but also
sustainability of the projects. Grant beneficiaries should pay attention to keep
the know-how within the institutions.
We have improved
our communication
and relations with
stakeholders in
labour market.
We have improved
our network.
We could use the
equipment and
materials for further
similar activities.
Members and staff
of our institution
gained experience.
The coverage of
our activities was
enlarged.
We have now
experience in
implementing EU
grant projects.
Table 81: Contribution of the projects under PYE to the institutional capacity
Associations
83,33%
83,33%
100,00%
66,67%
100,00% 50,00%
Chambers
72,73%
54,55%
54,55%
45,45%
72,73%
81,82%
Foundations
100,00%
60,00%
80,00%
90,00%
70,00%
70,00%
Municipalities
Organized Industrial
Zones
Public Education
Centers
81,82%
45,45%
90,91%
45,45%
36,36%
54,55%
66,67%
33,33%
66,67%
0,00%
33,33%
33,33%
100,00%
66,67%
100,00%
100,00%
100,00% 100,00%
Special Provincial
Administrations
100,00%
100,00% 100,00%
50,00%
100,00% 50,00%
Trade Unions
100,00%
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
100,00%
Unions
83,33%
33,33%
83,33%
83,33%
83,33%
16,67%
Universities
100,00%
100,00% 66,67%
66,67%
100,00% 66,67%
Village Service Unions
Vocational High
School
Vocational Training
Centers
100,00%
50,00%
100,00%
100,00%
50,00%
50,00%
100,00%
83,33%
100,00%
83,33%
83,33%
83,33%
100,00%
0,00%
100,00%
100,00%
0,00%
100,00%




Only 16,67% of the unions believe that they improved their communications and
relations with the stakeholders.
Only 36,36% of the municipalities believe that they improved their network.
33,33% of the Organized Industrial Zones think that they improved their network
which is very low compared to their answers to other issues.
Regarding the experience in implementation of EU grant projects, all grant beneficiary
institutions were expected to answer 100% positively. However, associations,
chambers, municipalities, OIZs and unions do not seem to achieve the expected
result in the implementation of EU grant scheme projects.
We have improved
our communication
and relations with
stakeholders in
labour market.
We have improved
our network.
Members and staff of
our institution gained
experience.
We could use the
equipment and
materials for further
similar activities.
The coverage of our
activities was
enlarged.
We have now
experience in
implementing EU
grant projects.
Table 82: Contribution of the projects under PRE to the institutional capacity
Associations
75,00%
75,00%
50,00%
50,00%
100,00% 100,00%
Chambers
83,33%
58,33%
91,67%
66,67%
66,67%
66,67%
Development Agencies
100,00% 100,00%
100,00%
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
Foundations
Special Provincial
Administrations
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
100,00% 0,00%
100,00% 100,00%
100,00%
0,00%
100,00% 100,00%
Trade Unions
UN Development
Programme
100,00% 50,00%
50,00%
50,00%
50,00%
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
100,00% 0,00%
Unions
100,00% 50,00%
100,00%
75,00%
100,00% 100,00%
Universities
100,00% 0,00%
100,00%
100,00%
100,00% 100,00%


0,00%
0,00%
50,00%
Associations and unions strongly believe that they improved their communications
and relations with the stakeholders and also they improved their networks as a result
of these projects.
Only development agencies, special provincial administrations, trade unions, unions
and universities stated that they gained experience in implementation of EU grant
projects.
The following table shows the average responses in improving network and communication/
relations with stakeholders in labour market for three grant schemes.
Table 83: Network and communication capacity development by types of institutions
Types of Institutions
We have improved
We have improved our
our network.
communication and relations with
stakeholders in labour market.
Associations
93%
67%
Chambers
71%
74%
Foundations
83%
40%
Municipalities
32%
49%
Organized Industrial Zones
67%
67%
Public Education Centers
88%
75%
Special Provincial Administrations
67%
50%
Trade Unions
25%
75%
Unions
83%
56%
Universities
90%
79%
Village Service Unions
75%
75%
Vocational High School
92%
67%



Associations (93%) and vocational high schools (92%) benefited from networking
more than other institutions. On the other hand, only 25% of trade unions stated that
they improved their network.
Universities have been particularly successful in improving their communication and
relations with stakeholders in the field of labour market. On the other hand,
foundations are the weakest institutiton in improving communication and relations
with stakeholders.
In general the figures are – at least partly – disappointing. The required “partnership
approach” should have led grant beneficiaries to an extension of their networks and
to better communication with stakeholders. Particularly municipalities and trade
unions seem not to have extended their networks much. Yet, this might have to do
with the fact that they feel strong enough to work on their own and that both provide
their members and affiliates with constructive support. Yet, the chambers – which
also received lots of support from their roof organisation – mostly claim an extension
of networks. Apparently they have recognised the chance of using grant schemes in
order to extend their influence on the labour market – which seems to mark a more
strategic approach on their side.
In this section, the stakeholder involvement has been reviewed in terms of awarded projects
and number of applications rate. The quality of the project applications plays a key role to be
awarded. There are institutions which have too many project applications. However, the rate
of the awards seems quite low. This shows their motivation to receive grants, but the quality
of the applications needs to be increased. During the focus group meetings, several
institutions claimed that they have been provided support in development and
implementation of the projects. This may affect the institutional capacity of the grant
beneficiaries in a wrong direction. It can be reached the same conclusion on project
implementation experience from survey results. If less than 100% of the GBs state that they
gained experience in the implementation of EU grants, there is a significant problem to
maintain any institutional memory after the projects have ended.
Based on the survey results of the institutional capacity building, some of the institutions
have been particularly successful in improving networks and relations with the stakeholders.
Stakeholder involvement played a key role since the preparation of HRD OP. It is for sure
that the grant projects have been beneficial in the field of partnership and stakeholder
involvement. It definitely increased the culture of cooperation between the institutions.
Provision of support to grant beneficiary institutions should be continued to involve the
stakeholders during the implementation of projects.
Finally, the relationship between grant beneficiaries and the Operation Beneficiaries (İŞKUR
and SGK) need to be reflected. During Focus Group meetings the evaluation team learned
that most of the GBs did not have substantial contacts with the OBs. In general, there were
no continuous contacts while cooperation for instance with İŞKUR occurred whenever
necessary, for instance in the identification of participants for vocational training courses
organised in the projects.
The online survey revealed also the utilisation of İŞKUR and SGK as media for the
announcement of project activities. That was noted in the cases of 32.8% of the PWE
projects, 45.3% of the PYE projects and 14.8% of the PRE projects.
In the identification of trainees the rates were as displayed by the following graphs:
Graph 13: Support by İŞKUR in identification and selection of participants, PWE
Did you receive any services of İŞKUR Provincial
Directorate in identifying and selecting the
participants?
17.20%
82.80%
Yes
No
Graph 14: Support by İŞKUR in identification and selection of participants, PYE
Did you receive any services of İŞKUR Provincial
Directorate in identifying and selecting the
participants?
15.60%
84.40%
Yes
No
Graph 15: Support by İŞKUR in identification and selection of participants, PRE
In case you conducted vocational/
entrepreneurship training under the activities of
your Project did you receive any services of İŞKUR,
SGK Provincial Directorates in identifying and
selecting the participants?
44.40%
55.60%
Yes
No
In the case of PRE it was also asked to what extent SGK helped with the selection of
institutions participating in the project activities. The answer is as follows:
Graph 16: Support by SGK in identifying institutions
How did you select the institutions participating in
the activities of your project?
100.00%
90.00%
74.10%
80.00%
70.00%
59.30%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
33.30%
37.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
SGK Provincial Directorate Organized Industrial Zone Chamber of Commerce
We have directly
helped us to select from
(OSB) Management
/and Industry helped us to
contacted with the
the database of registered helped us to identify the identify the companies institutions other than the
employer companies
companies
companies
All in all it can be concluded that cooperation with the OBs worked well whenever they were
needed while there has not been a constant exchange of information and/or monitoring by
the local branches of the OB institutions in relation to grant scheme projects. Their
participation in the RGMTTs has also been quite low which is probably due to an overload of
tasks and/or understaffing in the provincial directorates of İŞKUR and SGK.
As the assessment of grant schemes and TA projects showed there was as good as no
coordination between grant schemes and TA projects covering the same subjects and being
organised by the same OBs. This was partly due to a lack of timely synchronization (TA
projects only starting once grant schemes were already implemented or even close to be
finalised); but even during their parallel implementation OBs did not make use of TA projects
to support grant schemes other than in the way of preparing compendiums and organising
dissemination conferences.
3
Employment Challenges
This chapter will provide an assessment of the three grant schemes and four Technical
Assistance projects which have been (or are still being) funded under the HRD OP’s
Employment Priority. All related programmes have been launched in the context of the Key
Challenges the HRD OP identified in relation to employment. These are:








Increasing labour force participation of women
Increasing female employment rates in line with the Lisbon Strategy
Tackling unemployment caused by agricultural dissolution
Decreasing unemployment rate especially for the young
Decreasing the share of informal sector in the economy and employment
Increasing registered employment
Improving quality and extension of public employment services
Developing and coordinating regular systematic labour market analyses
In terms of the implementation, the situation related to the Employment Priority by the end of
2012 looked as follows:101
Table 84: List of Operations under HRD OP Priority 1 as per 31st December 2012
Measure
M.1.1
Title of the
Operation
Promoting
Women’s
Employment- I
Budget
Operation
Beneficiary
€ 27.495.175,38
Turkish
Employment
Agency
(İSKUR)
€ 26.256.467,69
Turkish
Employment
Agency
(İSKUR)
M.1.2
Promoting Youth
Employment- I
M.1.3
M.1.4
101
Promoting
Registered
Employment
Through
Innovative
Measures- I
Improving the
Quality of Public
Employment
Services- I
€ 12.141.516,73
Social
Security
Institution
Date of
Signature of
the
Operational
Agreement
8th October
2009
21st
December
2009
8th October
2009
Status of
the
operation
Completed
On-going
Completed
(SSI)
€ 10.134.228,00
Turkish
Employment
Agency
(İSKUR)
Sectoral Annual Report (SAR) on the Implementation of the HRD OP 2012, Table 2
21st
December
2009
On-going
TOTAL
€ 76.027.387,80
Altogether, the relation between the budget breakdown and the actual expenditures for the
HRD OP Employment priority between 2007 and the end of 2012 can be displayed as
follows:102
Table 85: Total budget breakdown and cumulative expenditure incurred by Final Beneficiaries and certified eligible by
the NAO as of 31st December, 2012
Budget Breakdown
2007 - 2013
Total
Community
Contribution
National Public
Contribution
208.736.473
177.426.000
31.310.473
Expenditure
Total Public
Expenditure
Community
Contribution
National Public
Contribution
Priority Axis 1
59.301.182,17
50.406.004,89
8.895.177,28
Priority Axis 1
102
Synthesised from SAR 2012, Tables 4 and 7
3.1
Female Labour Force Participation and Employment Rate
3.1.1
Financial Status
For the period 2007-2013, 208.736.473 EUR were allocated to Priority 1 of HRD OP in total
(177.426.000 EUR EU contribution and 31.310.473 EUR national contribution). Cumulative
expenditure out of the allocated amount was 59.301.182,17 EUR (50.406.903,42 EUR EU
contribution; 8.895.512,30 EUR national contribution).
The amounts contracted for Promoting Women Employment Operations are 23.888.026,94
EUR and 2.989.550 EUR for grant scheme and services contracts respectively.
Table 86: Amounts Contracted for PWE as at 31.12.2012
Name of the
operation:
Promoting
Women’s
Employment
Type of
contract
Contract Title
Date of
signature of
contract (1st
contract for
grants)
Contract amount
(total public
cost)
Status at
31.12.2012
01.03.2011
2.989.550 €
Implementation
Service
Technical
Assistance for
Promoting
Women’s
Employment in
Turkey
28.07.2010
23,888,026.94€
Finished
Grant
Promoting
Women's
Employment
Grant Scheme
Share of PWE grant scheme in the total contracted amount of grant scheme programmes for
Priority 1 Axis was 41.7%; whereas the share of PWE for service contracts was 17% in the
period of 2007-2012. PWE grant scheme takes second biggest share under Priority 1 grant
scheme and service contracts.
Table 87: Contracted Amounts for Priority 1 Axis per Type of Contracts
Operation
Grant Scheme €
Service €
Supply €
Total €
PWE
23,888,026.94
(41.7%)
2.989.550
(17%)
-
26.877.576,94
(35.8%)
PYE
24.133.080,98
(42%)
1.947.680
(11%)
-
26.080.760,98
(34.7%)
PRE
9.167.133,61
(16%)
2.399.500
(14%)
424.366
(73%)
11.990.999,61
(16%)
PES
-
9.978.000
(58%)
156.228
(27%)
10.134.228
(13.5%)
TOTAL
57.188.241,53
17.314.730
580.594
75.083.565,53
The following below depicts the budgeted and the contracted amounts as well as the actual
expenditure for PWE operation. Contracted amount for the GS has significantly exceeded the
amount originally allocated. The reason was to accommodate the high amount of project
applications with high score which drove the programme management towards adjusting the
programme to the surprisingly high absorption capacity in relation to promoting women’s
employment.
Table 88: PWE Budget, Contracts, Expenditure (EU+ National Contr.) as at 31.12.2012
Contract Type
Budget
Contract
Expenditure
Grant Scheme
13,700,000
23,888,026.94
21,061,238.43
Service
3,380,000
2,989,550
??
3.1.2
Grant Scheme PWE
3.1.2.1
Background of the Grant Scheme
Promoting Women’s Employment Grant Scheme has been launched under the Measure 1.1
of Priority 1 of HRD OP which has the objective to “Promote women’s participation into the
labour market and increase female employment, including those formerly employed in
agriculture” and promotes the following specific objectives:
 to improve employability of women;


to support women entrepreneurship;
to diminish cultural and other obstacles that hinder women’s participation in labour
market and tackle obstacles hindering their participation in the labour
The GS was launched on 12th February 2009 with a deadline for submission of applications
on 29th May 2009. The total number of project applications received by CFCU was 1058 out
of which 132 contracts were awarded. Contracts were finally signed for 131 projects with
grant beneficiaries to be implemented in a period of 12 months.
The overall indicative grant amount made available under PWE Grant Scheme was
13.700.000 EUR out of which 85% came from the European Commission budget and 15%
represented national co-financing, which is covered from the Turkish Republic’s budget.
Actual grant allocation for 131 projects was 23.888.026,94 EUR with a total budget of
26.601.621,87 EUR. Total eligible cost of projects was 23.451.674,71 EUR of which the total
eligible amount of grant expenditure was 21.061.238,43 EUR at the end of the
implementation process of projects. As of the date of this report, final financial reports of a
few projects are still under review for finalizing the approval of total eligible cost.
Table 89: PWE Grant Scheme Allocated, Contracted and total Expense Amounts
PWE
Total Grant Allocated €
13,700,000
Total Budget Contracted €
26,601,621.87
Total Grant Contracted €
23,888,026.94
Total Eligible Cost of Projects €
23,451,674.71
Total Eligible Grant Amount €
21,061,238.43
Grant Expenditure %
88
3.1.2.2
Activity Analysis (= Thematic concentration)
The Guideline for Grant Applicants for PWE has described the types of actions by expressing
the expectation that PWE projects will be “diverse, targeting different needs and women’s
target groups, but are all expected to have a regional impact in line with the overall objective
of the Human Resources Development Operational Programmes”.103
An indicative list with 19 activities was provided as examples for the potential project
promoters. The list was not exhaustive and suggested that a project offer might include a
combination of more than one type of actions mentioned.
The 19 Activities listed in the guidelines have been categorized/grouped in 7 categories of
activities to facilitate the analysis as shown in Table 90. The table also serves as the legend
for the tables and graphs to be used for analysis of the activity types. The 7 categories
encompass:



103
Vocational and job counselling services
Training/re-training on vocational professions
Promotion and guidance for entrepreneurship
Promoting Women’s Employment Grant Scheme, Guidelines for Grant Applicants, section 2.1.5




Field studies and labour market surveys
Support services for women seeking employment
Awareness and sensitivity raising
Social dialogue and partnership
The following table indicates how activities suggested in the guidelines have been grouped
into the seven categories:
Table 90: PWE indicative activities in Guideline for Grant Applicants and activity groups
Activity
Code
Activity Name
a
Development and delivery of career
guidance, advisory services including
job clubs
Training
and
retraining
in
professions/skills that local labour
market needs
On-the-job training within employers,
short
term
placements
within
companies i.e. internship programmes
Development
and
upgrade
of
technical skills to improve efficiency
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
Activities promoting women to start
their own business and including
establishing network
Determining
external
finance
opportunities for establishing business
and supporting applications to be
made to these sources
Matching
services
gathering
participants and employers
Promoting
self-employment
and
entrepreneurship (consultancy, career
guidance)
Trainings
for
motivation
and
reinforcement for supporting women
to access labour market
Providing one to one guidance
services for women (starting from
entrepreneurship training until setting
up the business) who want to set-up a
business.
Developing flexible forms of work and
approaches ensuring reconciliation of
family and working life
Actions enabling beneficiaries to
better access the labour market
and/or the employment services
through provision of child and elderly
care services and/or other facilities
Activity Groups
Vocational and job
counselling services
Group
code
Implementa
tion
Frequency
1
22
2
102
2
48
2
55
3
37
3
19
1
45
3
34
Vocational and job
counselling services
1
75
Promotion and
guidance for
entrepreneurship
3
25
Field studies and
labour market surveys
4
9
Support services for
women seeking
employment
5
28
Training/ re-training
on vocational
professions
Training/ re-training
on vocational
professions
Training/ re-training
on vocational
professions
Promotion and
guidance for
entrepreneurship
Promotion and
guidance for
entrepreneurship
Vocational and job
counselling services
Promotion and
guidance for
entrepreneurship
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
Development of community based
child/elderly care services (including
training, assessment needs, model
developments)
Other pilot services such as
community
services,
customised
transport facilities or other initiatives
facilitating access to employment
services or to the labour market
Field studies related with the above
issues including assessment of needs
and skills forecasting, new ways and
mechanisms for services financing
Awareness and sensitivity raising,
information and publicity on tackling
cultural obstacles hindering women’s
participation in the labour force
Pilot awareness actions at local level
(to women, their partners, opinion
leaders, employers etc.)
Local
partnership
approaches
including local social dialogue,
capacity building for community
development.
Effective
dialogue
between
community
leaders,
employers and those providing
services to women job-seekers
Field studies, training tools and
methodology developments related
with the above issues
Support services for
women seeking
employment
5
18
Support services for
women seeking
employment
5
9
Field studies and
labour market surveys
4
2
Awareness and
sensitivity raising
6
46
Awareness and
sensitivity raising
6
11
Social dialogue and
partnership
7
13
Field studies and
labour market surveys
4
17
The activities that were actually implemented by the selected 131 projects were analysed on
the basis of data obtained from the online survey, G-MIS and the PWE Compendium. The
frequency of implementation of activity types shown in the previous table is based on the
data from the mentioned sources. The percentage distribution of the same data is displayed
in the Graph below.
Graph 17: Percentage Distribution of Action Types for All Projects
100.00%
77%
56%
36%41%28%
50.00%
16%
34%
14%
25%
18%
7%
21%14%
35%
8% 10%12%
7% 2%
0.00%
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
Graph 17 reveals that the most favoured and repeated activities in accordance with the 19
activity types listed in the guideline was “training and retraining”, “trainings for motivation and
reinforcement”, “development and upgrade of technical skills” and “internship programmes”.
These activities are basically the vocational training activities. The other 2 activities following
the first 4 was, “awareness and sensitivity raising” and “matching services”. It can easily be
commented that PWE grant beneficiaries have preferred vocational training as the most
crucial activity to improve the employability of women.
The table below reveals the frequency of the grouped activities and the percentage
distribution in total number activities implemented by 131 projects.
Table 91: Frequency of activities by groups of activities
Activity Types (no. of activities)
1. Development and delivery of vocational and job
counselling services (3)
2. Development and delivery of training/ re-training on
vocational professions (3)
3. Promotion and guidance for entrepreneurship (4)
4. Support services for women seeking employment (3)
5. Awareness and sensitivity raising on women
employment (3)
6. Field studies and labour market surveys (2)
7. Social dialogue and partnership (1)
Frequency
of
implementation
% distribution
by group of
activities
142
23
205
33
115
28
19
5
55
9
57
13
9
2
Figures by group of activities provide a much clearer picture on what is preferred; all kinds of
“vocational training activities” are the most favoured and repeated activity types. The next
two in the ranking are the group of activities under the “vocational and job counselling” and
“promotion and guidance for entrepreneurship” categories. The rest of activity groups are
well behind the first three in implementation frequency.
One will have to check if such concentration in preference proves any coherence with the
HRD OP strategy or simply reflects the preferences of the grant beneficiaries in terms of
easiness / comfort in implementation.
The SWOT analysis conducted for the HRD OP describes the fragmented structure of nonformal education and inadequate quality of education as weaknesses of the Turkish labour
market (among others) whereas the entrepreneurship spirit and adaptability capability are
included among the strengths. To address the weakness in non-formal education, the
strategy adopted to minimise the weaknesses includes a measure for establishing links with
non-formal and formal education; similarly, the strategy to maximise the strengths and
opportunities includes a measure for promoting entrepreneurship for young and women. The
activities grouped under vocational training and promotion and guidance for entrepreneurship
that are amongst the most favoured activities implemented in PWE grant scheme are the
activities contributing to the effectuation of HRD OP strategy in their capacity if they haven’t
been selected as the ones easiest to implement in consideration of the project
implementation capacity of project regions.
The activity groups ranked as the last four in the list are all no less important in pursuing the
programme priorities. Awareness raising activities in women employment are crucial with a
view to diminishing cultural and other obstacles that hinder women’s participation in the
labour market (one of the three priorities of the PWE Grant Scheme). The labour market
surveys are important as they provide support in the assessment of needs and the
forecasting of skills required by the labour market; field studies are needed in developing
flexible forms of work, training tools and methodologies. Activities in developing and
implementing support services for women that were indicated to be evaluated more
favourably if proposed, are important as the care responsibilities of women constitute one of
the major reasons preventing them from participating in employment. Social dialogue is
important because Turkey has a huge gap in the development of civil society structures as it
is being constantly criticised by the EU.104
The common characteristics of the activities mentioned are that they require creative and
innovative approaches to be formulated in the proposals, developed and implemented by
qualified and experienced experts and projects managers. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that
the project promoters of PWE grant scheme have tended to concentrate on very worn-out
and familiar activities while the more interesting (but also more challenging) ones are not
being favoured. One of the reasons might be that the application guideline does not
specifically impose, favour or encourage any of the more innovative approaches.
The following graphs display how the most favoured three activity groups have been
distributed across the eligible NUTS II regions to see if there are any significant distribution
patterns.
Graph 18: Activity Group 2 – Training/Retraining on Vocational Professions by regions
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
42%
40.00%
30.00%
39%
37%
40%
38%
33%
28%
29%
27%
24%
27%
17%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
TR-63 TR-72 TR-82 TR-83 TR-90 TR-A1 TR-A2 TR-B1 TR-B2 TR-C1 TR-C2 TR-C3
104
See for instance the Turkey 2012 Progress Report, p.17 and many others
Graph 19: Activity Group 1 – Vocational and Job Counselling Services by regions
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
25%
20%
22%
27%
25%
19%
21%
21%
24%
22%
27%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
TR-63 TR-72 TR-82 TR-83 TR-90 TR-A1 TR-A2 TR-B1 TR-B2 TR-C1 TR-C2 TR-C3
Graph 20: Activity Group 3 – Promotion and Guidance for Entrepreneurship by regions
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
33%
31%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
22%
13%
24%
20%
15%
14%
19%
16%
19%
7%
0.00%
TR-63 TR-72 TR-82 TR-83 TR-90 TR-A1 TR-A2 TR-B1 TR-B2 TR-C1 TR-C2 TR-C3
The Graphs prove that there has not been any deliberate concentration on preferred/most
repeated activity groups when compared by project regions except for TR-C1 (Gaziantep,
Adıyaman, Kilis) that implemented vocational and job counselling activities counting for 50%
(7/14) of all activities in the region.
This has also been checked by individual activities in each group; the activity named as
“training and retraining in professions/skills that local labour market needs” has been
implemented frequently by all the regions. That has been followed by “trainings for motivation
and reinforcement for supporting women to access labour market” with the exception of
TR63 and TR72. The support services for women have not been frequent in any of the
regions for the reasons discussed in the previous paragraphs.
There is no consistency between the number of projects in a region and the concentration on
most favoured activities and it cannot be said that the provinces with high number of projects
preferred the most favoured kind of activities (see the table below for the regions counting for
82% of the projects i.e. 107/131 and 80% of the activities respectively i.e. 487/615)
Table 92: Number of projects and activities by Regions
NUTS II
Region
Provinces in the Region
TR83
TR90
Samsun, Tokat, Çorum, Amasya
Trabzon, Ordu, Gresun, Rize, Artvin,
Gümüşhane
Kayseri, Sivas, Yozgat
Malatya, Elaziğ, Bingöl, Tunceli
Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Osmaniye
Van, Muş, Bitlis, Hakkari
TR72
TRB1
TR63
TRB2
Number
of
PWE
projects in the region
28
Number of project
activities
implemented in the
Region
141
20
89
22
19
11
10
79
68
64
46
The difference between the TR83 and TR90 is in terms of the number of project activities
implemented despite a comparatively small difference in the number of projects. TR83
region has also been successful in addressing distinct challenges of the labour market in the
region besides high fund absorption realized. This can be explained by the fact that project
promoters have been intensively supported during the application phase for developing
projects by the offices organized by the Governorate and some NGOs specifically in Samsun
and the previous experience of the support staff and/or project staff from previous EU funded
projects. It’s not about the experience of the grant beneficiaries themselves as only 25% of
them claim to have implemented EU projects before they participated in PWE Grant Scheme.
The following 3 graphs assess if the institutional types of grant beneficiaries have played any
role in the concentration of activities involved.
Graph 21: Activity Group 2- Training / Retraining on Vocational Professions by Institutions
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
34% 33% 33% 39% 32%
33% 38% 38% 32% 39%
0%
25%
13%
Graph 22: Activity Group 1- Vocational and Job Counselling Services by Institutions
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
38%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
32%
21%
22%
29%
25%
23%
19%
17%
0%
21%
17%
16%
Graph 23: Activity Group 3- Promotion and Guidance for Entrepreneurship by Institutions
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50%
44%
50.00%
40.00%
25%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
14%
20%
17%
17%
22%
21%
13%
18%
12%
0%
0.00%
The graphs show that Vocational Training Centres have taken a bigger share than other
institutions in promotion and guidance activities for entrepreneurship and vocational and job
services activities in contrary to the general expectation that they would have been involved
more in vocational training. This trend may be considered as valued as the Vocational
Training Centres aim at diversifying their traditional activities and contributing to resolving
other challenges in employment. The other fact that the graphs shows is that cooperatives
have been more active in entrepreneurship guidance activities although there were only 2
grant beneficiary cooperatives which have implemented 9 activities altogether.
To sum up the findings of the analysis it can be said:




Grant beneficiaries of PWE have preferred the type of activities that may be grouped
as
o Training/re-training on vocational occupations
o Vocational and job counselling
o Promotion and guidance on entrepreneurship;
These activities are in line with the set of indicative activities indicated in the
Guidelines for Applicants for PWE grant scheme and indirectly, coherent with the
strategies of the HRD OP.
The activity groups such as awareness raising activities in women employment;
labour market surveys, field studies or activities in developing and implementing
support services for women were the less preferred activities.
The common characteristic of the less preferred activities are that they require
creative and innovative approaches to be formulated and qualified and experienced
experts and projects managers for the implementation. It has been easier for the



project promoters of PWE grant scheme to focus on worn-out and familiar activities.
Furthermore, the application guideline did not impose or encourage any of the more
innovative approaches.
Distribution of activities across the eligible NUTS II Regions reveals rather even
distribution except TRC1 that has favoured vocational and job counselling activities;
Distribution of activities by institutional type of grant beneficiary shows that Vocational
Training Centres have a tendency to diversify their project activities to other activities
different from “just” providing training.
Few numbers of Cooperatives have favoured activities related to entrepreneurship
promotion and guidance which is in compliance with their actual role as being distinct
from other institutions.
Based on the findings it can be recommended that:


3.1.2.3
Guidelines for Grant Applicants may be formulated in a way to indicate preferences
among activities in the eligible activity lists to encourage innovative activity types to
address specific priorities of HRD OP;
Guidelines may be formulated in a way that they limit specific types of activities to
match with specific institutions. This might raise the efficiency of implementation of
these activities since they would only be carried out by institutions that have the
necessary experience and institutional capacities.
Institutional Analysis (= Civil Society Participation)
Although the topic of women employment promotion is well known and has been subject of
previous programmes and activities, the majority of PWE project promoters did not have
experience as grant beneficiaries before entering into the grant scheme.
Graph 24: Previous experience with grant schemes as beneficiary
Has your institution ever implemented a project in the capacity of
Grant Beneficiary in the last 3 years prior to this project, similar to
the one you have implemented under this programme?
24%
76%
Yes
No
Looking at the geographical distribution of experience the evaluation team has found that in
almost half of the 12 eligible regions none of the beneficiaries had such experience.
Graph 25: Previous experience with grant schemes as beneficiary by regions
Yes/No
100.00% 100.00% 100.00%
100.00%
100.00%
100.00%
85.71%
75.00%
80.00%
50.00% 63.64%
66.67%
66.67%
60.00% 50.00%
50.00%
36.36%
33.33%
40.00%
33.33%
25.00%
14.29%
20.00%
0.00%
0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
0.00% 0.00%
0.00%
TR-63 TR-72 TR-82 TR-83 TR-90 TR-A1 TR-A2 TR-B1 TR-B2 TR-C1 TR-C2 TR-C3
Yes
No
This section also aims to analyse PWE grant scheme application and the contracted projects
as per the type of institution. There have been 1058 applications for the PWE grant scheme
call for proposal and 131 projects have been contracted and implemented.
Graph 26: Number of PWE Grant Schemes Applications by type of institutions
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
285
197
120
67
15
1
65
0
16
30
62
3
83
44
54
16
The graph displays that 6 out of 10 applications were made by four types of institutions:
Associations, municipalities, chambers and public education centres. The ratio of awarded
projects to the number of applications shows that public education centres and associations
are less successful in developing winning projects despite their ambition to absorb more
funds. This might be related with their capacity to develop good projects. Chambers and
municipalities were able to achieve higher success by utilizing their staff capacity or have
been able to spare funds for the projects drafted by the professionals. Another reason is
certainly the massive support of these institutions by their respective roof organisations
(TOBB for the chambers, UMT for the municipalities). Interviews held by the evaluation team
with these institutions revealed that they provided comprehensive support to their members
by ways of training on the preparation of applications and on project management as well as
by ways of guidance directed at applicants – for example in the process of application writing
and project conceptualisation. Similar support exists, for instance, in the case of the trade
unions (HAK- İŞ) – yet, the capacities of the trade unions in relation to project acquisition,
preparation and management are much smaller than those of TOBB or UMT which explains
why the number of applications – and subsequently the number of awarded projects – from
trade unions is relatively small despite the support efforts from the central level. In relation to
PWE, the trade unions were not really interested and hence there are only three applications
from their side. Figures are much different in relation to youth which will be reflected in the
respective chapter.
Graph 27: Number of Projects contracted by Institutions Type
25
21
20
20
17
17
13
15
10
5
5
12
9
2
1
9
4
1
0
Some of the institutions were much more successful in winning despite only having
submitted a low number of applications. Special Provincial administrations, foundations and
unions are successful in this regard with a winning ratio of 38%, 27% and 25% respectively.
Again, this can be attributed to their institutional and staff capacity as the GOs. It is obvious
that any effort to be dedicated to improving the project absorption capacity of associations
would directly improve the fund absorption capacity of the civil society.
Graph 28: Percentage of Budget Distribution by Type of Institutions
Village Service
Unions
3%
Vocational High
Schools
8%
Vocational Training
Centres
1%
Associations
15%
Universities
10%
Unions
9%
Chambers
15%
Special Provincial
Administrations
7%
Cooperatives
2%
Public Education
Centers
3%
Foundations
11%
Organized Industrial
Zones
1%
Municipalities
18%
The pie graph shows the percentage of awarded project budgets according to institution
types. Municipalities have absorbed the highest proportion of total budget followed by the
chambers and associations. Institutions vary in their share in the total budget; however, there
is no specific pattern to explain why some institutions have much higher budget per project.
Civil society involvement in fund absorption is quite promising. As the following table shows,
approximately 40% of projects were implemented by NGO’s and 40% of total project budget
was allocated to NGO’s.
Table 93: NGO project number and budget related to entire number of PWE projects
Number of Projects (Percentage)
Project Budget €
NGO
52 (39.7%)
10.691.659,68 (40.2%)
Total
131 (100%)
26.601.621,87 (100%)
3.1.2.4
Partnership Approach
Promoting Women’s Employment grant scheme has been implemented with a partnershipbased approach with a view to sustainable cooperation between complementary local
stakeholders. The Guidelines for Grant Applicants suggested that “While project activities are
designed and implemented in order to be in line with needs of labour market, it will be an
asset if the partnerships is established with both representative organizations of the ‘labour
demand’ and ‘labour supply’ side”. No limit was set for maximum number of partners and it
was suggested that careful consideration should be given during the identification of partners
to ensure that each partner has a clearly defined role within the project.105
The list of eligible activities indicated types of actions to guide the grant beneficiaries for
interventions addressing the priorities of the programme such as local partnership
approaches including local social dialogue, capacity building for community development;
effective dialogue between community leaders, employers and those providing services to
women job-seekers, etc.
The evaluation grid for full applications scoring the financial and operational capacity of
partners in the same line with the applicant and also the description of the methodology in
pursuing the involvement of partners is weighed with 5 points. This shows that partners’
involvement and their contributions to the projects were given great importance in PWE
Grant scheme.
Table 94: Partnership scoring on Evaluation Grid for PWE Grant Scheme
Maximum
Score
Section
1. Financial and operational capacity
1.1 Do the applicant and, if applicable, partners have sufficient experience of
project management?
1.2 Do the applicant and, if applicable partners have sufficient technical
expertise? (notably knowledge of the issues to be addressed.)
1.3 Do the applicant and, if applicable, partners have sufficient management
capacity?
(including staff, equipment and ability to handle the budget for the action)?
3. Methodology
3.3 Is the partners' and/or other stakeholders' level of involvement and
participation in the action satisfactory?
……
5
5
5
5
The grant beneficiaries themselves have been found to be relatively inexperienced with the
functions of a “partner”. As the online survey revealed, only 22% of them had appeared as a
partner in a similar project in the three years before the PWE projects were implemented.
Graph 29 – Grant beneficiaries involved in a previous project in the capacity of partner
22%
78%
Yes
105
PWE Guidelines for Grant Applicants, section 2.1.2
Hayır
The online survey provided the evaluation team with more empirical data whether the
partnership issue had been handled seriously in line with the attributed importance in the
application guidelines. More than 8 out of 10 grant beneficiaries considered that partners
would contribute to the main activities of the projects and 4 out of 10 were interested in
partners which actually had experience in project implementation. This may show that they
followed the advice of the guidelines to a great extent. However only 6 out of 10 grant
beneficiaries admitted that the partners had actually fulfilled the envisaged role in
implementing main activities.
Graph 30:Selection of partners
What were the factors you considered in the selection of your Partners?
83%
69%
41%
41%
47%
Providing access to
the target groups
Providing access to
potential
employers
Sustainability of
the Project
Experience in
project
implementation
Financial and
logistic support
20%
Active contribution
in implementing
main activities of
the project
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Graph 31: Actual roles of partners
What were the actual roles of your partners in your project?
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
64%
63%
36%
13%
11%
Prepared the project Facilitated the
Implemented and Provided financial
Provided
proposal
project in reaching monitored the main
contribution
employment
and selecting the
activities
opportunities for the
participant
participants
Some participants of grant beneficiary focus group interviews also confirmed this fact by
claiming that partners’ involvement was mainly regarded as a formality with a view to fulfilling
application criteria: they signed the required document but did not do anything that could be
regarded as a contribution. Contradicting with that, there were some others who really had
the benefit of partnership in real terms. On another question on realization of the partners’
tasks, 9 out of 10 grant beneficiaries answered that the partners have delivered what was
expected from them.
The reason for such contradicting results might be that the expectations of grant
beneficiaries in relation to the performance of partners had already been low from the
beginning. As the data on experiences of grant beneficiaries as project implementers and
partners show, in most of the regions such experience has been quite low. This finding is
very much in line with the assumption that cooperation between labour market actors in
Turkey is underdeveloped in relation to, for instance, EU Member States. The positive
evaluation of partnerships by the grant beneficiaries can therefore be seen as a success.
Graph 32 – Results of partner’s efforts
Have they been able to deliver what has been expected
from the Partners?
6%
Yes
No
94%
Despite the fact that only 6% have claimed non delivery against 94%, the reason for nonfulfilment is worth being looked at: The reason for non-fulfilment has been seen by 8 out of
10 grant beneficiaries as the fact that partners were reluctant to take the responsibility as
required”; and 4 out of 10 as “the level of experience of partners was not as identified
initially”. Terms of the partnerships should be documented and the implementation should be
monitored in accordance with the terms. The lacking of such documentation might be the
other reason for non-fulfilment.
Despite their low expectations and their concerns in the performance of partners the majority
of the grant beneficiaries have not hesitated to select more than one partner. It appears as if
they have done so because of their tactical concerns about a high score in the evaluation of
applications.
Table 95: Number of partners by projects
Number of Partners
Number of Projects
1
40
2
44
3
23
4
17
5
5
6
2
The application guideline provided the potential project promoters with examples of the types
of organisations which belong to the demand or supply side of the labour market in order to
give them guidance on who to invite for an “ideal” partnership.106
Table 96: Partnership guidance
Labour demand side
Labour supply side
 Chambers of Commerce or Industry
 Universities
 Organised Industrial Zones
 Vocational and technical training institutions
 Professional Organisations
 NGO’s providing training and/or consultancy
 SME-representative organisations
 NGO’s working with women
The following table shows the actual partnership structure for the projects of PWE grant
scheme. Grant beneficiary institutions are found in the rows and partners in the columns of
the table. Subsequently it has to be read like, for instance, 33% of associations chose
partners from associations while 32% of chambers chose partners from universities. .
The institutions marked in yellow are on the demand side and the ones marked in blue are
on the supply side. The rest are those institutions that may be regarded as somehow neutral.
Chambers
10% 32% 2%
0%
0%
0%
25% 0%
25% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
18% 0%
8%
0%
8%
0%
5%
10% 0%
10%
15% 5%
0%
5%
22% 0%
2%
7%
2%
15%
2%
Cooperatives
0%
25% 0%
0%
0%
0%
25%
Foundations
5%
5%
3%
8%
0%
32%
106
PWE Guidelines for Grant Applicants, section 2.1.2
0%
8%
8%
Other
5%
0%
Universities
10% 0%
Unions
0%
0%
0%
Vocational Training
Centers
Special Provincial
Administration
Public Institution
Public Education
Centers
Organized Industrial
Zones
Municipalities
Foundations
Vocational High
Schools
33% 5%
Village Service
Unions
Associations
Cooperatives
Chambers
Associations
Table 97: Partners of PWE GBs by Institution type of GBs
Municipalities
Organized
Industrial
Zones
Public
Education
Centers
25% 15% 0%
0%
15% 0%
13%
4%
4%
4%
15% 0%
2%
0%
4%
0%
0%
0%
0%
100% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
6%
29% 0%
0%
0%
12% 18% 0%
0%
12% 6%
6%
0%
0%
0%
6%
6%
Special
Provincial
Administration 14% 14% 0%
0%
9%
0%
9%
23% 0%
9%
14% 0%
5%
0%
5%
Unions
8%
38% 0%
4%
4%
0%
17%
4%
0%
0%
8%
0%
0%
8%
8%
Universities
17% 21% 0%
0%
17% 0%
4%
4%
8%
21% 4%
0%
4%
0%
0%
0%
30%
20% 0%
0%
30% 0%
0%
0%
0%
11% 0%
14%
0%
7%
7%
7%
0%
0%
11% 0%
0%
20%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
20% 0%
Village Service
Unions
0% 0% 0%
Vocational
High Schools 11% 29% 0%
Vocational
Training
Centers
40% 0%
20% 0%
4%
20% 0%
0%
0%
The table reveals that some of the important players on the labour market did not exactly
follow the partnership instructions in the guidelines:
Grant beneficiaries representing the demand side do not reflect a unified behaviour:




Associations tended to find partners among other associations. Partners from their
own side were preferred (63%).
Chambers chose partners almost evenly from demand and supply side as it would be
recommendable.
Municipalities favoured demand side partners by 63%:30%.
OIZ are not representative – only one GB chose one partner.
Grant beneficiaries representing the supply side have in general attempted at establishing
more partnerships with demand side partners which can be regarded as very positive.
Imbalanced partnerships might be the reason of unsuccessful partnership cases. The
evaluation team is convinced that the partnership approach is of utmost importance in
pursuing the project results in an effective way. The approach of the authorities to make
partnerships obligatory is certainly a step in the right direction and – as the main feedback
shows – have also been regarded positively by the beneficiaries themselves.
Nevertheless – and in order to learn more about how partnerships actually function monitoring activities should be structured in a way that they include the progress on the
partners’ involvement in and their contributions to the projects.
3.1.2.5
Geographical Concentration
The entire amount of projects in the grant schemes has been displayed and analysed in
terms of regional disparities in section 2.2 above. In this section the distribution of funds in
PWE grant scheme will be analysed concentrating on the reasons for patterns of distribution.
Table 98: GS Applications, Awards and Success Rates (Total and PWE)
Region
Growth
Centres
Success
Rate
TRB2
Van
405
6,4%
179
10
5,6%
TRA2
Kars
83
3,6%
37
2
2,7%
29.2
TRC3
TRA1
Batman
Diyarbakır,
Şanlıurfa
Erzurum
106
6,6%
39
11
7,7%
10.2
171
9,9%
68
4
5,9%
9.9
154
7,1%
75
6
8,0%
35.1
TR82
Kastamonu
109
7,3%
46
4
6,5%
42.5
TR90
Trabzon
229
16,2%
105
20
19,0%
47.5
TRB1
Elazığ, Malatya
186
14,5%
99
17
18,2%
24.5
TR83
Samsun
270
21,5%
121
29
22,3%
34.2
TR72
Kayseri, Sivas
259
18,5%
126
22
17,5%
19.9
TR63
Kahramanmaraş
147
19,0%
57
11
19,3%
26.3
TRC1
Gaziantep
133
10,9%
49
3
6,1%
17
Others
Ankara, Istanbul
172
12,8%
57
4
7,0%
2424
12,3%
1058
132
12,5%
TOTAL
Success
Rate
Appl.
PWE
Female
LFP Rate
in 2010
15.8
PWE
Awards
TRC2
Appl.
TOTAL
The table shows the success rate of PWE applications by regions compared to the average
of all three grant schemes under Priority 1. Success rates for PWE follow the same pattern
as the average rates with the exception of Ankara and İstanbul where central level
institutions apparently developed powerful applications based on huge interest in female
employment promotion. There are slight differences in favour of or against PWE that most
likely will have no explicit reasons. Resemblances can be found in all programs which have
been launched during the same period.
It is an interesting finding that the level of success does not correspond to particular needs of
a region – on the contrary: Those regions with a comparatively high female labour force
participation rate were more successful than the ones with a lower rate. As it has already
been demonstrated in Section 2.2, the poorer regions without external support fall behind the
more developed ones which results in a deepening of already existing regional disparities.
The amount of funds absorbed reflects the level of success by each region. The regions
ranking in first five (TR 83, 72, B1, 90, 63) have absorbed 72% of all funds of PWE grant
scheme. The details of distribution reveal that the uneven distribution structure is because of
the fact that some provinces in the region were much more successful than the others. To
name it: Samsun, Kayseri, Elazığ, Trabzon, Hatay (followed by -with much more modest
figures- Sivas, Bingöl, Tokat, Amasya) were far more successful than the others. There is no
hesitance to say – based on the interviews with grant beneficiaries, local governorates,
stakeholders and OB – that the main reason for the success was the existence of
organizations structured by the local governorates and experienced staff trained in the
previous programmes to support the project promoters in the provinces. The experienced
NGO’s have also played their roles in the success.
Table 99: Grant Amounts and Number of projects by region-PWE
Status
Province
156.574,68
PWE
Number of
Projects
Region
Growth
Center
Kars
0
Hinterland
Hinterland
Ağrı
Iğdir
0
0
Hinterland
Ardahan
Region
Growth
Center
A2
PWE
Amount in €
B2
156.574,68
1.779.117,98
10
Van
899.122,04
5
Hinterland
Muş
Hinterland
Bitlis
Hinterland
Hakkari
Region
Growth
Center
C3
275.723,00
157.208,35
447.064,59
686.966,26
Batman
Hinterland
Hinterland
Mardin
Şırnak
Hinterland
Siirt
Region
Growth
Center
A1
Erzurum
3
3
0
686.966,26
3
0
0
1.003.308,68
6
223.716,88
2
466.354,00
2
Şanlıurfa
300.765,67
2
3
3
Bayburt
Region
Growth
Center
C1
457.203,55
Gaziantep
457.203,55
Hinterland
Hinterland
Adıyaman
Kilis
Region
Growth
Center
1
Diyarbakır
Hinterland
Hinterland
1
C2
Erzincan
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
1
584.867,41
194.724,39
767.119,67
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
1
3
1
4
0
0
72
3.334.046,91
22
Kayseri
1.846.125,55
12
Sivas
1.284.627,32
8
Yozgat
90
Trabzon
Hinterland
Ordu
Hinterland
Rize
Hinterland
Giresun
Hinterland
Artvin
203.294,04
2.598.333,03
20
781.063,82
6
437.893,15
553.628,26
259.278,19
126.939,73
2
3
5
2
1
Hinterland
B1
439.529,88
3.030.656,78
18
Elazığ
1.178.590,89
7
474.746,65
3
Gümüşhane
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
Malatya
Hinterland
Bingöl
Hinterland
Tunceli
Region
Growth
Center
82
Kastamonu
Region
Growth
Center
6
2
3
0
313.976,43
3
0
83
4.064.140,15
27
Samsun
1.455.687,45
10
Çankırı
Sinop
Hinterland
Hinterland
Hinterland
Tokat
Hinterland
Çorum
Hinterland
Amasya
Region
Growth
Center
991.330,55
385.988,69
313.976,43
3
63
Kahramanmaraş
Hinterland
Hatay
Hinterland
Osmaniye
Additional
TOTAL
Ankara
Istanbul
983.125,89
640.297,61
985.029,20
2.208.047,89
103.614,90
2.104.432,99
6
4
7
11
1
10
0
4
538.345,53
123.400,89
3
1
The results of the online survey also admitted that regional success variations mostly relates
to support level provided by regional institutions and experienced people. The number of
projects is quite low in the regions where the beneficiaries have claimed that they have had
no support at regional level. Any kind of supportive activities for these regions are quite
crucial for improving the project development and implementation capacity for further
interventions.
Table 100: Support to GBs provided by İŞKUR PD and other local authorities in project development
Region
Support Provided: Yes
Support Provided: No
Total no of projects
TR-63
75,00%
25,00%
11
TR-72
27,27%
72,73%
22
TR-82
0,00%
100,00%
3
TR-83
37,50%
62,50%
28
TR-90
44,44%
55,56%
20
TR-A1
0,00%
100,00%
6
TR-A2
0,00%
100,00%
2
TR-B1
14,29%
85,71%
18
TR-B2
42,86%
57,14%
10
TR-C1
0,00%
100,00%
3
TR-C2
0,00%
100,00%
4
TR-C3
0,00%
100,00%
3
The online survey also presented findings about how grant beneficiaries have been informed
about the call for proposals.
Table 101: How have the PWE GBs been informed of call for proposals?
Web sites of
SGK, CFCU,
Operating
Structure,
EU
Delegation
Other web
sites and email groups
Other
institutions
Local and/or
national
media
Information
day for call
for proposal
TR-63
100%
0%
0%
0%
25%
Number of
Projects
11
TR-72
100%
27%
9%
36%
18%
22
TR-82
50%
0%
50%
0%
50%
4
TR-83
94%
19%
6%
13%
6%
29
TR-90
78%
67%
22%
11%
56%
20
TR-A1
50%
0%
50%
50%
0%
6
TR-A2
100%
100%
0%
0%
0%
2
TR-B1
100%
14%
14%
0%
14%
17
TR-B2
57%
29%
0%
0%
43%
10
TR-C1
100%
33%
0%
0%
0%
3
TR-C2
100%
100%
0%
0%
0%
4
TR-C3
100%
0%
0%
0%
0%
4
NUTS II
Region
The web sites of SGK, İŞKUR, CFCU, Operating Structure, EU Delegation have played the
major role as admitted by grant beneficiaries in all regions. Another striking finding of the
survey is that the regions in which the grant beneficiaries have not attended “information
days” were not successful compared to the others. Besides that there were a few very
successful regions (72, 83, B1) that have not attended the information days as they probably
did not expect to learn much new about what they had already experienced – that has been
derived from the interviews with the grant beneficiaries. Alternatively, it may also be
interpreted that the regions which do not have the capacity (and don’t know much about EU
grants) do on the one hand not show much interest in such awareness or information
activities, and on the other hand are not being pushed by provincial actors.
As a consequence alternative methodologies for promoting call for proposals are required
with a view to attracting project promoters in such regions.
3.1.2.6
Sectorial Concentration
Guidelines for Applicants do not impose any sectorial concentration for PWE Grant Scheme
projects. No record of sectors involved was kept in the project documents and the reports.
Grant beneficiaries were asked to name the sectors that they are preparing the participant for
under their vocational training programmes. The answers to this question reveal that the
service sector was the most preferred one compared to the others. Among the others, in
order of frequency, the textile, manufacturing and tourism sector appear to be most
important.
18%
9%
9%
Other
16%
Food
20%
Manufacturing
Service
29%
Textile
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Tourism
Graph 33 Sectorial concentration of projects conducted occupational training, PWE
Although there is no clear cut concentration on inter-sectorial preferences, they are the kinds
presenting traditional occupations for women. It might therefore be an option to prepare
Guidelines in a way that they contain guidance related to sectorial preferences based on
current labour market surveys. Such guidance might facilitate the projects to implement
vocational training for women which promises better employment opportunities.
3.1.2.7
Outcomes
Relevance:
PWE Grant Scheme Guidelines for Grant Applicants described the main reasons for
inadequate employability of women as follows:



The lack of skills and vocational qualifications
Traditional gender roles in the society that put the responsibility of child and elderly
care on women and patriarchal family structures in especially the poorer regions of
the society
Low educational attainment level of women
In order to tackle the challenges addressed above, PWE Grant Scheme aimed to improve
the employability of women by dealing with socio-cultural obstacles which hinder participation
to labour market, by promoting their access to employment, by training women and by
supporting women entrepreneurship. The grant scheme was supposed to be implemented in
the 12 NUTS II Regions in accordance with the local needs to ensuring concentration of
support and eliminating regional disparities.
The specific objectives of PWE grant scheme were formulated as “to increase capacity within
the growth centres and their hinterlands in the eligible NUTS II regions included these
centres to design and implement effective active labour market measures in order to
increase women’s employability”. Three priorities were outlined, namely



Improve women’s employability
Support women’s entrepreneurship
Diminish cultural and other obstacles that hinder women’s participation in the labour
market
To be realized by the set of activities that may be grouped under training and re-training on
vocational occupations,







Development and delivery of vocational and job counselling services
Development and delivery of training/ re-training on vocational professions
Promotion and guidance for entrepreneurship
Support services for women seeking employment
Awareness and sensitivity raising on women employment
Field studies and labour market surveys
Social dialogue and partnership
Target groups were identified as the long term unemployed women due to care
responsibilities and women out of labour force living in urban areas including those formerly
employed in agriculture.
Partnership-based approach was adopted with a view to sustainable cooperation between
complementary local stakeholders. Proposals were said to be evaluated favourably if they
foresaw provision of child care/elderly care, and encouraged to include empowerment
activities for women in the implementation of the action.
Therefore the rationale, objectives, priorities, target groups and the indicated range of actions
of PWE Grant Scheme are all coherent with the HRD OP Strategic Priorities and specifically
with 1st of the Specific Objectives of the Priority 1 of HRD OP.
As it was observed in the Sectorial Annual Reports, the stakeholders and the social partners
have been informed on the details of the PWE Grant Scheme and their views and comments
have been taken into consideration at the design and implementation stages.
At the implementation stage, it was observed that objectives and priorities were pursued. The
online survey undertaken with the grant beneficiaries of PWE Grant Scheme also aimed to
finding out the priorities of the programme the grant beneficiaries addressed. The answers
reveal that 9 out of 10 of the successful projects had identified their objectives and priorities
in line with improving women’s employability. Additionally, more than half had the priorities
addressed to supporting women entrepreneurship and fighting with the gender inequality
hindering women participation in the labour market.
Graph 34: Priorities of the Programme Addressed by the Successful PWE GS Projects
100.0%
90.8%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
66.2%
61.5%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
3.1%
0.0%
Improve women’s
employability
Support women’s
entrepreneurship
Diminish cultural and
other obstacles that
hinder women’s
participation in the labour
market.
Other
PWE grant beneficiaries were also asked if they targeted women groups in line with the grant
scheme. Approximately two thirds of the successful applicants answered the question by
marking the “Long term unemployed women due to care responsibilities” and “Women out of
labour force living in urban areas including those formerly employed in agriculture” which
were the only two groups indicated by the guideline (See Graph xx). The rest named the
women group targeted under “other” option by attributing specifications other than those
mentioned in the guideline such as age limits to attract younger beneficiaries, or educational
level. That might be because they regarded the age and the educational level as an
important factor in the employability of women and tried to get better results for their project.
Some named the target group as “unemployed women” without any hint at the reason for
their unemployment. In these cases it is assumed that grant beneficiaries deliberately used a
vague formulation in order to attract a bigger group of women with a view to achieving the
required number of participants in their project.
Graph 35: Women Groups targeted by successful PWE GS projects
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
67.7%
64.6%
24.6%
Long term unemployed women
due to care responsibilities
Women out of labour force living
in urban areas including those
formerly employed in agriculture
Other
According to the answers to another question two thirds of the grant beneficiaries conducted
desk search studies covering national and local statistics, literature on the labour market and
60% conducted local labour market surveys; on the other hand, when the same question
was asked to the interviewees of focus groups they did not object on the comment saying
that “Labour market challenges are the same in every part of the country” and no one has
mentioned that any specific survey was conducted that is of course subject to the limits of
representative group.
The on-line survey does not explicitly admits that the selection process of the partners and
their actual roles and contributions to the project has been in line with that of the partnership
approach and the sustainability of the cooperation between the complementary stakeholders
has taken place in the design of PWE Grant Scheme. 83% of the grant beneficiaries
indicated that they sought active contribution from partners during project implementation
whereas two thirds of them have sought sustainability of the project in the selection of
partners; however only 63% have contributed main activities and interviewees among the
grant beneficiaries commented that the partnership has not produced an outcome as
expected and the relations with partners have ended when the project ended.
Graph 36: Factors considered in the selection of partners
100.0%
90.0%
82.8%
80.0%
68.8%
70.0%
60.0%
46.9%
50.0%
40.6%
40.6%
40.0%
30.0%
20.3%
20.0%
10.0%
Providing access to the target
groups
Providing access to potential
employers
Sustainability of the Project
Financial and logistic support
Experience in project
implementation
Active contribution in
implementing main activities of
the project
0.0%
PWE Grant Scheme has indicated the total amount of the grant will be allocated in
accordance with the ratio of 65% for growth centres and 35% for hinterlands; however, the
allocation was realized as 46% for growth centres and 54% for hinterland for which the
reasons were discussed in sub-section 2.2.2 above.
After all, the relevance of the grant scheme in relation to the objectives cannot be denied.
Efficiency of implementation of PWE Grant Scheme
The availability of project development capacity is crucial in formulation of project objectives
and activities whereas, project management capacity is essential in assuring the quality of
the output in achievement of project objectives. The results of the on-line survey clearly show
that more than 3 out of 4 of the grant beneficiaries have had no experience in implementing
EU funded projects – neither as the grant beneficiary nor as a partner. In compensation of
this gap one would expect an intensive planned support by the programme authorities. Such
support has been limited in relation to the availability of qualified organizational structures
and staff in the project provinces for the development of successful projects. The support by
the OB, contracting authority and OS has been limited: only less than one third of the grant
beneficiaries. The number of the successful proposals was higher in those provinces where
such support was available.
Table 102: Support received by Grant Beneficiaries and the number of projects awarded
PWE
Project
Regions
TR-63
Support: Yes %
75%
Support: No %
25%
Total no. of projects awarded
11
TR-72
27%
73%
22
TR-82
0%
100%
3
TR-83
38%
63%
28
TR-90
44%
56%
20
TR-A1
0%
100%
6
TR-A2
0%
100%
2
TR-B1
14%
86%
18
TR-B2
43%
57%
10
TR-C1
0%
100%
3
TR-C2
0%
100%
4
TR-C3
0%
100%
3
The table above shows if the grant beneficiaries of PWE Grant Scheme have received any
support from İŞKUR/SGK and/or Ministry of Labour and Social Security and/or regional
institutions in project development and writing. It clearly reveals that the regions that have not
received any support were not successful in developing winning projects compared to the
others. Among these unsuccessful regions were some of the neediest according to the SEDI
Index (see Chapter 2.2)
In ceasing the needs of the project managers, project implementation support has been
provided by the regional and central project monitoring teams besides and in addition to
monitoring responsibilities. 8 out of 10 grant beneficiaries claim that they received
implementation support by the institutions and organizations in charge. Grant beneficiaries
have frequently hired external staff to manage the projects with a view to overcoming the
lack of experience in project management; however, that has created a negative result in
terms of accumulation of knowledge with the grant beneficiary institutions.
Another aspect of the management of the inputs is timely implementation of the activities and
the flexibility of the projects in adapting to the changes required. Although the first 1-3
months were spent in mobilisation and prolonged for the reasons mentioned above, the
delays caused have been able to be compensated by measures taken internally. Grant
beneficiaries have not claimed that the implementation period was not enough to deliver the
required outputs. The number of notifications for amendments was 962 for PWE grant
scheme projects that counts for 7.34 (PYE 5.67 and PRE 7.51) amendments per project on
the average. The number of contract amendments was 68 which is less than 1 per project on
the average. Grant beneficiaries commented that there have been delays in replies to
requests/notification for minor changes and the contract amendments subject to the quality of
services they received by the monitoring teams and inconveniences in reaching the
Contracting authority, specifically in case of contract amendments. There has not been a
major comment by grant beneficiaries that such delays have prevented the timely delivery of
outputs.
Graph 37: Type of Support provided to the GBs
Which areas have been covered by this support?
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
83.3%
74.1%
64.8%
61.1%
Project
management /
implementation
Procurement
55.6%
MIS
Final report
preparation
Visibility
Support on G-MIS usage was frequently asked by the grant beneficiaries followed by the
support on project management and reporting which are mostly related to the administrative
issues and have no direct relation to the quality of the outputs of the projects. Two thirds of
the grant beneficiaries claimed that such support was useful; however, the comments made
by the participants of the focus group interviews put forth that they had difficulties to reach
the representatives of contracting authority and the capacity of the regional monitoring teams
was limited which made it difficult to receive sound quality of support.
PWE technical assistance was structured not to provide any assistance to the OB and the
grant beneficiaries in relation to the grant scheme. Technical assistance for the
implementation of the HRD OP Project had started to deliver services to the grant
beneficiaries only late in the implementation period. TA Project has organized
implementation and reporting training for grant beneficiaries and monitoring training for
regional and central monitoring teams at the middle of the implementation period. G-MIS was
also made available at the same time.
There has been a long period of time from the application to the contracting that posed a
problem in mobilisation of the proposed key project staff. The replacement process took
longer and the required quality has not always been available which in turn adversely
affected the timely delivery of the outputs and their quality for some projects.
Tenders for the secondary procurements have not caused further delays (despite the
procedures were claimed to be complex – specifically the rule of origin – and addressed as
one of the most challenging aspects of the implementation process) and therefore had no
negative impact on the quality of the outputs.
Specifically the NGO grant beneficiaries had problems in bridge financing the amount of last
tranche of the grant amount (20%) that was released upon the closing of the project and has
been delayed for most of the projects because of the lengthy procedures in final report
approval by the contracting authority.
It is observed that the same measurement tools were accommodated by the grant
beneficiaries to assess the quality of outputs of the projects if they are qualitative enough to
improve the employability of the final beneficiaries; however, the information on such findings
are not available on G-MIS and the relevant section of the final reports contains some
general comments on the quality of outputs only. The most frequent tool used is the
collection of evaluation sheets for the activities filled in by the participants.
As for the external monitoring: the final monitoring reports have few questions to qualify the
level of achievement in targeted output, and the quality of the outputs and findings have been
included in the report by ticking the yes/no options without any explanatory notes. A sample
10% of final monitoring reports was checked and found that all of the projects claim to have
achieved planned outputs and in only one of the projects, the quality of output was not
qualified as sufficient enough to achieve the expected results.
Partners’ involvement was obligatory for all the projects in PWE Grant Scheme seeking the
improvement of social dialogue and the sustainability. Although the inter-institutional
structures such as steering committee, management committee were often not observed to
be accommodated to facilitate active participation of partners the on-line survey revealed that
9 out of 10 grant beneficiaries held the opinion that the partners had delivered what was
expected from them – despite the contradicting comments by some of the focus group
interviewees.
Effectiveness
PWE Grants Scheme was expected to improve the employability of women so that at least
35% of the target group who benefited from the grant scheme would be employed and 30%
of the target group would become entrepreneurs in the medium term.
In parallel to what was found in final monitoring reports, the on-line survey also displays that
grant beneficiaries claim the achievement of outputs as planned. Only one of the outputs of
the projects – the number of participants employed as entrepreneurs – was realized slightly
lower than planned while the rest slightly exceeded the targeted figures. The same data
collected from the G-MIS are found not valid as a sizable number of the grant beneficiaries
have not provided any data on the targeted and realized figures of outputs.
Table 103: Realization of outputs in excess/ less of targets
Realization of outputs as the percentage of targets
Realized/ Targeted Output-Results
Number of women participating to the entrepreneurship
trainings
1,76%
Number of women participating to the child and elderly care
trainings
0,25%
Number of women participating to the guaranteed
employment trainings
9,52%
Number of women participating to the consulting trainings
0,00%
Number of women employed as a result of trainings
5,53%
Number of women employed as a result of consulting
trainings
2,85%
Number of people employed as an entrepreneur
-7,41%
Only 42% of the participants of the on-line survey have described the major achievement as
“improving women employment”. The answers that are also related to the expected results of
the projects that can be re-phrased as “increased the self-confidence among the women”,
“improvement of cooperation and dialog among partners, stakeholders”, “awareness raising
for women employment” were all pointed out by only 10% and less of the grant beneficiaries.
This may be interpreted as they were not up to the achievement of results and the utilization
of outputs if not the quality of the outputs is not promising for the realization of the results.
Graph 38: Major achievements of the projects, PWE
11.67%
8.33%
6.67%
3.33%
3.33%
Vocational trainings
Cooperation and network
Awareness raising
Other
13.33%
Self-confidence of women
Successful Project
13.33%
Institutitonal capacity
41.67%
Women employment
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
During the group interviews some of the participating grant beneficiaries have given
information on the number of employed and self-employed women who gained/developed
skills by participating in the project activities; however, this information is not based on any
systematic data collection rather than word of mouth. Neither the G-MIS nor the monitoring
activities were structured to collect reliable data as such. Besides that, projects have not
planned any evaluation activity in assessment of effectiveness of the implementation and the
immediate impact of the project.
Some of the employed participants were not able to sustain such position which was
attributed by the interviewees to the severe working conditions, low wages, unregistered
employment arrangements, or temporary employment.
Another fact mentioned by the interviewees was that some of the women participants have
regarded the vocational training as sort of “hobby courses” and/or they were only interested
in the stipends. Despite many projects claim that they selected participants through a certain
selection process – 65% of grant beneficiaries have conducted interviews only – they were
not able to mitigate such risk that will directly and negatively affect the result of the projects
expected to be observed in the medium term.
Since the majority of projects aimed at implementing vocational training for the target groups
it is worthwhile to look at the training environment a little closer. Interesting questions revolve
around the quality of the training and the way participants were identified.
In relation to the training quality it was relevant to check if the training offered was in line with
the MoNE standards.
Graph 39: Training standards following MoNE curricula
In case you conducted vocational/entrepreneurship training under the
activities of your Project, has your curriculum been designed as per
relevant MoNE’s curriculum?
19.70%
Yes
No
We didin't have vocational
training
80.30%
The result is satisfactory since 4 out of 5 projects answered the question with a yes.
Nevertheless, the quality can also be influenced by drop-outs. It was therefore justified to
look at the drop-outs of training as well.
Graph 40: Percentage of drop-outs from training
What is the percentage of the trainees who
dropped out of the training?
4.6%
6.2%
Less than 5%
5-10%
10% or more
89.2%
As the graph shows the percentage of drop-outs – which generally are unavoidable – was
limited. Asked for the reasons for drop-outs, those projects that reported a rate of 10% and
more referred to different reasons: Partly the training was provided to villagers who had
difficulties in regularly attending training in cities – this statement was underpinned in the
Focus Group meetings in Van; on the other hand participants found that they already
possessed the skills subject to the training and stopped attending because of that.
Other reasons for dropping out of vocational training were reported as follows:
Graph 41: Reasons for drop-out of vocational training
60.00%
40.00%
0.00%
Getting
employed
during the
training
Personal
failure in
training
0.00%
Schedule of
the training
was not
suitable for
trainees.
Lack of belief
in that the
training will
facilitate
employment
20.00%
Family related
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Nevertheless, the quality of training can also be measured in relation to the satisfaction of the
trainees. 81.3% of PWE projects undertook an evaluation of their activities in which
participants were asked for their opinions. The following table depicts which aspects of
training were regarded particularly positive:
Graph 42: Participants’ satisfaction with training issues
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
80.80%
84.60%
90.40%
71.20%
Training curricula
Training materials,
workshops, equipment
and supply
Trainers
Venue and the
treatments
The result indicates that trainees in general have been satisfied with training services at a
high extent.
Notwithstanding all other comments made on the effective use of the project outputs it can
easily be commented that participating women have been empowered in a way that they
have gained certain levels of self-confidence to actively participate in social life which may
finally lead to participating in labour market. As far as the employment figures are concerned
it is not possible to make a substantial statement but it looks as if projects resulting in “real”
employment or entrepreneurship of women will be exceptional examples. PWE grant scheme
projects have mainly promoted the employability of women rather than actual employment –
this is in line with the grant beneficiaries’ self-assessment: Only 41.67% of them indicated
that “women employment” was the major achievement of their project. The following graph
shows the self-assessment of the grant beneficiaries in relation to the effects of the project
activities:
Graph 43: Effects of project activities on final beneficiaries
70.00%
How do you regard the effect of your project activities on the
level of skills of your participants? Did they become
“employable” by the end of the Project services provided to
them?
63.33%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
28.33%
30.00%
20.00%
8.33%
10.00%
3.33%
Gained self-confidence
Become entrepreneur
Improved skills
Become employable
0.00%
In order to provide evidence for the shortcoming in relation to “real” employment further
evaluations will be required – in particular an impact-related ex post assessment of the
employment-related effect of grant scheme projects. Unfortunately it is most likely that such
an assessment will not be possible due to a lack of sufficient data and follow up on the
personal situation of training participants after the end of the grant scheme projects.
In relation to further effects of the project activities, grant beneficiaries provided the following
statements:
Graph 44: Further effects of project activities
100.00%
80.00%
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
Was there any other impact of the project activities on
the attitude of participants which had not been foreseen /
planned in the scope of your project?
63.30%
41.70%
23.30%
8.30%
Employment
Social networking
Interest in
Occupational
through the
occupations which training or similar
networking among
are traditionally
activities did not
the participants
male occupations
have any
contribution in
finding jobs
12.17%
Other
Particularly interesting here is the fact that almost 2 out of 3 projects report about
employment that occurred indirectly, namely through networking between participants.
Although this effect was not intended it must be regarded positively. As a side-effect it is also
worth mentioning that attitudes of women towards traditionally male occupations has
changed at least in one out of four projects. With a view to exploring new employment
opportunities for women this is certainly an indicator of importance.
Sustainability
As it has already been explained under section 2.3 above, the issue of sustainability has
played a role in the preparation of the grant scheme applications as it has been an important
subject of the evaluation of concept notes (10 out of 50 points) and full application (15 out of
100 points).
The full application forms, besides a description of envisaged impact and multiplier effects,
should have provided information on financial sustainability, institutional sustainability, policy
sustainability and environmental sustainability.
A broad analysis in evaluation of the mentioned aspects has been included in section 2.3,
based on the information related to this topic provided by online survey. In order not to
review the same, only some other observations on the sustainability issues of the PWE Grant
Scheme are mentioned below.
The evaluation team had tried to contact all the grant beneficiary institutions/ project
coordinators of the PWE Grant Scheme and those who were contacted were sent links to
conduct the on-line survey; however, only 22 grant beneficiary had replied in 10 days until
the deadline for replies. To increase the number of the replies grant beneficiaries have been
called in 109 cases to hold on the relevant person in charge and the replies hardly increased
to 69 in 5 days’ period. Even this process has shown that projects have not been taken over
within the applicant institutions by any means to a great extent – despite the fact that more
than half of the grant beneficiaries were public institutions and major NGOs which should
have had sufficient institutional capacity and personnel.
The projects were mostly embedded in local structures such as Governorates, Provincial
Directorates of İŞKUR, stakeholders and social partners during the implementation as they
actively participated in activities where required. The ownership of the project results has
been limited as evidenced with only one example of replication of a successful project result
by the local branch of the OB amongst 10 sample projects.
An important obstacle that may affect institutional sustainability was the loss of institutional
memory - institution’s capability to incorporate the experience with a project into its
institutional culture – because of the fact that the experienced /trained staff that were hired
externally for project management and implementation purposes have left the institutions
after the project ended or internal staff has been appointed to other offices for other
assignments. There has not been any remark by the grant beneficiaries of PWE Grant
Scheme that they have institutionalized the capacity development activities, such as training
units, training of trainers, etc.
Relations with the partner institutions were claimed to be available for future cooperation for
similar activities as it has been evidenced by on-line survey. Vast majority reported that the
partners have been able to deliver what they had been expected to do.
Utility
The result of the on-line survey displays that the high majority of the grant beneficiary
institutions claimed that they have obtained experience in EU projects and capacity in terms
of equipment for further activities, and that their network was enlarged. It is worthy of
attention that less number of grant beneficiary, compared with all other options, claimed that
the effect was “the improvement in the dialogue with the stakeholders” despite its importance
in enhancing civil society involvement in similar interventions.
Graph 45: Contribution of implemention of projects to the institutional capacity of GBs
100.00%
93.30%
90.00%
90.00%
75.00%
80.00%
76.70%
66.70%
70.00%
61.70%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
We have improved our communication
and relations with stakeholders in labour
market.
We have improved our network.
We could use the equipment and
materials for further similar activities.
Members and staff of our institution
gained experience.
The coverage of our activities was
enlarged.
We have now experience in implementing
EU grant projects.
0.00%
Similarly, when the grant beneficiaries were asked to describe the major achievements of
their project, 12 out of 100 have claimed that it has “improved their institutional capacity”
despite it was not amongst the priorities of the programme.
As it has already been evidenced by the results of the online survey PWE grant projects
have replicated vocational training that has already been delivered under İŞKUR’s ALMP
activities on regional basis. This leaves İŞKUR and the grant beneficiaries a limited chance
to cooperate in adopting the best practices of the grant scheme programme to be sustained
by İŞKUR.
As for the institutional management capacity improvement of the İŞKUR in terms of grant
scheme programme management, İŞKUR has organized the CGMT with newly appointed
staff without any plan for utilizing the experienced staff from the previous grant scheme
implementations – except 1 or 2 of them. İŞKUR staff has given the chance of participating in
RGMT in the regions same as the other staff of regional governmental organizations and so
their participation was quite limited. All these arrangements have limited İSKUR potential
benefits from the grant scheme implementation.
On the contrary, it is quite obvious that only those provincial offices of İŞKUR which closely
cooperated with the grant beneficiaries; actively participated and contributed into project
activities where required really gained benefits from relevant aspects of grant scheme
implementation.
İŞKUR in the capacity of OB and OS have been involved into and cooperated in the GS
implementation starting from the programme development to the evaluation of final reports
despite the accreditation of the OS has been awarded only by the mid-term of grant scheme
implementation. CFCU has been the Contracting Authority to the end of the GS programme
and has not handed over the authority to OS in the mid of the implementation. Departments
of the OS have benefited in improving their programme management capacity as being in the
whole process under the cooperation of the CFCU to a great extent.
Horizontal Issues
The only reference on horizontal issues in the Guideline for Applicants for PWE Grant
Scheme is on environmental sustainability. One question has been posed in the evaluation
grid under the sustainability of the project results and is asking, if applicable, whether the
project has any negative/positive environmental impact and weighted with a score of 5 points
altogether with other sub-questions.
In addition, grant beneficiaries have been asked to make explanations on horizontal issues in
the section 2.7 of Final Technical (Narrative) Report in a broad coverage that is formulated
as follows: “Explain how the project supports horizontal issues such as human rights, gender
equality, democracy, good governance, child rights, indigenous peoples, environmental
sustainability and struggling with HIV/AIDS (if it is prevail among the target country / region).”
The descriptions made by grant beneficiaries on the subject were checked with a
representative sample of final technical reports. It was found out that all of them mentioned
only the gender equality. They commented on the activities of their project targeting women
and claimed that the projects’ support for women should be regarded as the positive
discrimination. The other claim is the female involvement into the management of the
projects and in other administrative structures.
Final monitoring reports do not contain any part related to observing and commenting on the
horizontal issues. The sample of the reports was checked if there is any comment on the
subject under general comments included – but nothing was found.
The online survey contained questions on the environmental impact and integration of
disadvantaged people. 55% of the grant beneficiaries commented that they ensured that the
project activities had no negative impact on environmental issues and only 1 of the grant
beneficiaries claimed that they conducted awareness raising activities; 4 of them claimed
they used environmentally friendly materials. The rest confirmed that their project was not
related to any environmental issues at all. In some cases even the content of training was
about ecological environment, organic agriculture, environmental impact assessment.
Graph 46: Impact on environmental issues, PWE
Did you ensure that your activities had no
negative impact on environmental issues?
45.00%
55.00%
Yes
No
Even more, namely 68% of PWE grant beneficiaries, claimed that the project has undertaken
specific attempts at integrating disadvantaged people.
Graph 47: Integration of disadvantaged people, PWE
Has your project undertaken any specific
attempt at integrating disadvantaged
people?
31.70%
68.30%
Yes
No
The following table reveals which groups have been targeted by PWE projects:
Graph 48: Integrating Disadvantaged People under PWE GS Projects
90.00%
76.70%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
21.70%
23.30%
25.00%
Parents of
working children
30.00%
Women
suffering from
domestic
violence
40.00%
1.70%
1.70%
Drug addicts
5.00%
Roma people
5.00%
Internally
displaced
persons
10.00%
Ex-convicts and
ex-prisoners
20.00%
People living in
“gecekondu”
areas
People with
disabilities
0.00%
7 out of 10 Grant beneficiaries claimed that they targeted women in poverty in “gecekondu”
areas and 2 out of 10 targeted disabled women. Victims of domestic violence have also
been inexplicably targeted. The projects targeting drug addicts can be regarded as
substantial when considering the most favoured project activity is vocational training that
requires a basic concentration level.
Despite, they were not encouraged or diverted to consider the horizontal issues many
projects had activities in integrating disadvantaged people based on data collected with the
online survey which is not in line with the findings from final narrative reports.
Findings
The relevance of the PWE Grant Scheme programme at the design and implementation
stages has been observed by both the OS and the grant beneficiaries.
The rationale, objectives, priorities, target groups and the indicated range of actions are
coherent with the HRD OP Strategic Priorities and specifically with the first of the Specific
Objectives of the Priority 1 Axis of HRD OP.
At the implementation stage, it was observed that objectives and priorities were pursued by
the grant beneficiaries to a great extent. They targeted women groups in line with the grant
scheme programme. Partners involvement in the implementation has taken place as in the
design despite some grant beneficiaries’ expectations have not been met as they described
during the interviews.
The allocation was realized as 46% for growth centres and 54% for hinterland despite the
planned allocation of 65% and 35% to display that grant beneficiaries tended in targeting
hinterlands where the challenges in women employment were much more severe than in
growth centres.
The availability of resources in supporting project development and implementation was
limited to achieve the required quality of output. The provinces where such support was
made available by the initiative of local government and few NGOs were successful in getting
more funds and project awards.
Any standard measurement methodology and the recordings of those were not
accommodated to assess the quality of outputs by grant beneficiaries and the monitoring
teams. Therefore, any information on the quality of outputs cannot be quantified.
PWE Grant Scheme programme envisages observing the impact in improving the women
employment in the medium term. That medium-term perspective might be the reason that
neither the G-MIS nor the monitoring activities were structured to collect any data regarding
the usage of the outputs to obtain the expected results. However, it can be said that the
projects have played a substantial role in empowering unemployed women to gain more selfconfidence.
The major problem that may be an obstacle for sustainability is the loss of institutional
memory as the trained experienced project staff leaves the project when the project ends.
Ownership of the project results by the OB and other stakeholders is very limited, although
they participate in the project activities such as opening/closing events.
Grant beneficiaries have improved their project implementation capacity; however, they were
not so successful in improving the dialogue with the stakeholders despite its importance in
enhancing civil society involvement in further interventions.
Although the grant beneficiaries were not encouraged or diverted to consider the horizontal
issues they claimed that the projects had activities in integrating disadvantaged people
based on data collected in the online survey which is not in line with the findings from final
narrative reports.
3.1.3
PWE Technical Assistance Project
Measure 1.1 “Promoting Women Employment” Technical Assistance project has two
components:


Capacity building: aiming at increasing the institutional capacity of İSKUR provincial
directorates and relevant stakeholders with a view to support women in accessing
labour market;
Grant scheme: aiming at dissemination of the results of Promoting Women’s
Employment Grant Scheme.
İSKUR is the beneficiary of the contract.
Target groups are:





3.1.3.1
Long term unemployed women due to care responsibilities;
Women out of labour force living in un urban areas including those formerly
employed in agriculture;
Senior staff and experts of İŞKUR at provincial and central level;
Staff of İŞKUR provincial directorates;
Social partners at regional/local and national level
Background of the Project
Terms of Reference for the PWE project had been drafted already in 2008 by the OS under
participation of the Operation Beneficiary. İSKUR had intended to use the IPA instrument
funds to continue the activities initiated with “Active Labour Market Strategy Programme” in
line with the multi-annual strategic plan. Operation was the continuation of ALMP project with
a concentration on female target groups and a geographical concentration on 15 growth
centres located in 12 NUTS II Regions. The purpose of the operation was to assist İŞKUR to
deliver more effective public employment services in particular at local level with a view to



Increasing women’s employability
Facilitating their access to more and better jobs
Diminishing the obstacles hindering women’s participation in the labour market
The process of tendering and the actual contracting took 8 months. The service contract was
signed to start on 16th March 2011. Project duration was 21 months which was later extended
to 24 months and finalised on 15th March 2013. It took roughly three year from drafting Terms
of Reference to the actual commencement of the contract.
The main obstacles to be tackled for increasing the women’s employment had been
described in the ToR107 with reference to HRD OP as follows:
-Low level of general education particularly among women working in (or coming from)
the agricultural sector in which 28.5% of women are still illiterate against 8.2% among
men
-Lack of vocational skills reflecting a lower enrolment of women in vocational training
-Traditional gender roles that put on women the responsibility of child and elderly care
and other time consuming unpaid domestic tasks
-Patriarchal family structure and existing discrimination against women, especially in the
poorer part of the society, which constitute strong cultural obstacles for women to
participate in social and economic life
-A high level of undeclared employment which affects disproportionately women and
youngster
-Lower access to social services including adult training and formal employment
opportunities for women living in rural or semi-rural areas as well as in poor urban areas
with needs (gecekondu)
The main challenges of İŞKUR for the women’s employment had been described in the ToR
as follows:108
-Lack of active policy and strategy towards improving women’s participation in labour market
and employment
-The lack of sensitivity among staff
-Lack of consultancy service designed specifically for women group needs
-The registration rate of women to İSKUR is relatively lower compared to the rate of
registered men. Especially, the rate of women registered to İSKUR in the eligible NUTS II
Regions is only 23.4% of the total records
-İSKUR does not conduct any active study to resolve the prejudices of employers about
women’s employment
3.1.3.2
Result/Activity Analysis
The overall objective of the project was to improve the existing capacity to design, develop
and implement policies to attract and retain more people in employment, particularly by
increasing women participation in labour market.
On the basis of the challenges described above the ToR formulated a set of four results
which needed to be fulfilled by the project:
107
108
Terms of Reference for Technical Assistance to Promoting Women Employment, section 1.4.2
Terms of Reference for Technical Assistance to Promoting Women Employment, section 1.4.3
Capacity building component:
Result 1: Labour market analyses and surveys which will identify employment opportunities
accessible to women and possible hindrances towards women's employment are available
Result 2: Increased capacity to design local strategies for the promotion of women's
employment through the developed "model”
Result 3: Enhanced career information, vocational guidance and counselling services
adapted to the different women’s target groups.
Result 4: Increased sensitivity towards gender mainstreaming of employment policies,
especially among İŞKUR staff and relevant stakeholders
Grant Scheme component:
Result 5: Networks between granted projects and participating women of the target groups
are available.





In Result 1 the project was supposed to produce labour market analyses on supply
and demand sides and identify employment opportunities accessible to women target
groups in pilot provinces. Participation of central and provincial İŞKUR staff would be
encouraged for capacity building on labour market analysis.
Result 2 aimed at increasing capacity to design local strategies for the promotion of
women’s employment and developing a “Model”, testing and disseminating the test
results for the implementation of local strategies designed.
Result 3 aimed at enhancing career information, vocational guidance and counselling
services adapted to the different women’s target groups
Result 4 aimed at increasing sensitivity among all target groups such as opinion
leaders, İŞKUR staff and relevant stakeholders
Result 5 aimed at promoting networking between granted projects and participating
women target groups and dissemination of the Grant Scheme results among the
relevant stakeholders
The five results offered İŞKUR an opportunity to

Increase the number of women benefitting from its services by means of increased
capacity at regional level

Have a better insight of regional labour markets

Use models developed at regional level to promote women’s employment

Improve counselling services;

Increase awareness on women’s employment
3.1.3.3
Institutional Analysis
The main institution benefiting from the capacity building component of PWE TA Project was
İŞKUR – as being the main actor for the design and implementation of labour market
measures – and other relevant stakeholders could also benefit.
More particularly, İŞKUR’s Provincial Directorates and the stakeholders in the provinces
were supposed to benefit from the capacity building activities of TA project in order to
support women’s employment. The description of the project activities specifically mentions
the involvement of stakeholders where it was deemed to be necessary.
The involvement of local stakeholders was particularly emphasized as the project activities
would support local stakeholders in their concerns of developing efficient partnership with
Provincial Employment and Vocational Education Boards (PEVTB). Additionally, the activity
related to dissemination of grants scheme results was directly targeted to the relevant
stakeholders.
MoLSS as the institution being responsible for the development of employment-related
policies was involved into capacity building activities related to policy development.
It can be concluded that all the relevant institutions, more particularly, the local networks of
stakeholders involved in labour market and gender issues are included in the scope of the
TA project’s activities.
3.1.3.4
Geographical Concentration
Although İŞKUR is a nationwide-operating institution that covers all provinces PWE TA
Project services were concentrated in 43 provinces of the 12 eligible NUTS II regions;
particularly, in 15 Provinces referred to as “Growth Centres” and remaining 28 provinces
referred to as “Hinterland”. TA activities such as organizing training, seminars, conferences,
conducting labour market analysis, and dissemination have been undertaken in eligible
NUTS II Regions.
While the Terms of Reference of PWE TA project refers to 43 provinces, there is no
deliberate mention of any priority among the eligible provinces in general; there is only one
activity that had to be undertaken in a number of the provinces in growth centres. Instead,
some activities were supposed to be concentrated in pilot provinces to be identified during
the inception phase:







Labour market analysis and survey were supposed to be conducted in “pilot
provinces”.
Training for designing local strategies for promotion of women employment and
developing a “model” was supposed to be undertaken in pilot provinces.
Studies in enhancing career information, vocational guidance and counselling
services and adapting to women’s and related trainings were to be carried out with
the representatives of counsellors and pilot women groups from all 43 provinces.
Development of pilot awareness raising campaigns was to be undertaken in 4 growth
centres and the pilot campaigns had to be carried out in 15 provinces to be identified
among the 43 provinces in the 12 eligible NUTS II regions.
The conference on sensitivity-raising among policy makers on women’s employment
issues had to be organized in Ankara.
The activity for promoting networking between grant beneficiaries and women target
groups was to be organized in provinces to be identified among the 43 provinces.
The national conference for disseminating of grant scheme results had to be
organized in a location which was not determined.
It can therefore be concluded that the PWE TA project tried to get an even distribution of
activities across the 43 provinces in the eligible 12 NUTS II regions by identifying
representative pilot provinces and performing other duties in all eligible provinces – each in
consideration of specifications of activities.
3.1.3.5
Sectorial Concentration
PWE TA project did not contain any planned sectorial concentration. Therefore, no
assessment on that can be undertaken.
3.1.3.6
Outcomes
The main outcomes of the project are as follows:
Result 1 – Labour market survey and analyses:
 103 people were trained on surveying – methodology and practice. 15 of the
participants were İŞKUR staff from 5 pilot provinces i.e. Çorum, Erzurum, Gaziantep,
Trabzon, Şanlıurfa.
 Labour market surveys on demand and supply sides in 5 pilot provinces were
conducted.
 5 Labour market analyses (LMS) report were prepared – one for each of 5 pilot
provinces.
 The LMA report was disseminated at gender mainstreaming conferences in 15
provinces.
 Overall report of LMS and brochure was prepared and distributed at gender
mainstreaming conferences, PEVTB meetings and info meetings in the project
regions.
Result 2 – Designing local strategies and developing model (Local ALMP strategy):
 5 central and 5 provincial level task force workshops were conducted in defining the
“model”: Client Referral System (CRS). Reports on outcome of the meetings were
prepared.
 Report on Outcomes of Central Taskforce Meetings and the Report on Outcomes of
Provincial Taskforce Meetings were prepared.
 Training entitled “Workshops on Referral Principles and Application of Referral
Forms” was held as a form of “testing–through–training”.
 Referral System Evaluation Workshop was organized to complete the testing.
 8 referral forms to be used for the establishment, operation and evaluation of the
Referral Network were consulted, tested and finalised.
 The Referral Network Final Report and The Referral System Operators’ Handbook
were prepared.
 1 pilot ministerial and 1 pilot provincial protocol were drafted and 1 ministerial and 6
provincial protocols were signed.
 10 dissemination seminars were delivered to İŞKUR staff and relevant stakeholders
to present testing results.
 “The model” described in the Terms of Reference was supposed to propose a
methodology in establishing:
o
o
o
a shared diagnostic on local women’s employment issues and the existing
employment services delivered,
select new development priorities
a local action plan
The Client Referral System was developed based on the observations at study visits,
discussions at central and provincial level taskforce workshops and defined as the most
relevant approach. The system is recording and exchanging information between partners for
tracking the referral steps undertaken for each client leading the client towards employment.
However, it was observed that there is no consensus among the management of the OB that
the presented model is not in line with the model approach described on basic terms. What
had been described by the ToR was about developing a local strategy rather than a simple
guidance mechanism and carried some risks of being complicated and unreliable based on
the method to be utilized in information exchange and accessing clients’ records. Another
risk was related to securing active participation of employers in the network; this has actually
not been accomplished at the required level during the piloting exercises.
TAT suggested a software application to be named as Referral Network Information
Management System to be developed which was impossible to achieve during the lifetime of
the current Operation. That leaves us with the question if the “Model” will be successful in
obtaining the expected result. Development or adoption of the information system mentioned
will be a crucial task to be completed if the referral system is to be used effectively.
Result 3 – Enhancing and adapting vocational guidance and counselling services for women
target groups:
 An assessment of current practices of İŞKUR Counsellors was produced based on
the assessment of existing İŞKUR’s vocational information, guidance and counselling
service tools, test assessments and job search tool and methods
 A Needs Analysis Report, Concept paper, and Toolkit for Practitioners were prepared.
 75 unemployed women and counsellors attended a 5-day introductory training and
motivation and employability workshop to test the toolkit for practitioners.
 Women’s Job Clubs were piloted in 5 regions.
 53 Counsellors from 38 NUTS II provinces were trained on job search tools and
methods updated or developed.
 60 İŞKUR local staffs were trained on gender sensitivity and social empowerment.
 A “Gender Sensitive Counselling Guide” was prepared.
 Counsellors’ Training Kit was prepared.
 Employment oriented “Social Empowerment Guide” was prepared.
Result 4 – Sensitivity increase on gender mainstreaming of employment policies:
 4 study visits – each for 5 days with 10-12 participants – to 5 EU Member States were
realized.
 4 Study visit reports were prepared.
 15 Conferences on gender mainstreaming of employment policies were organized (in
combination with the closing conference).
Result 5 – Promoting networking and dissemination of grant scheme results:
 6 regional networking meetings involving the grant beneficiaries and relevant
stakeholders were organized. The original plan was to have 10 such meetings;


however this could not be realized due to the closure of some projects and the
earthquake in Van. PWE website www.kadinistihdami.net was not able to be vitalized
due to low computer literacy level amongst the grant beneficiaries.
1000 Copies of the grant scheme compendium were prepared.
A national conference for the dissemination of grant scheme results was held with the
participation of 70 grant beneficiaries and 450 guests.
Regarding the relevance of the outcomes the guiding question is: Do the outcomes help
achieving the TA contracts objectives? This is obviously the case:
 The labour market survey and analysis conducted in 5 pilot provinces will serve as a
very detailed model covering all aspects of the process from preparation to reporting,
disseminating. This model has the potential to be easily multiplied in other regions to
identify the employment opportunities and hindrances for women’s employment. The
methodology used in the implementation of surveys and the analysis has involved
İŞKUR and other relevant stakeholders’ staffs during the process, and the
participants were trained in all aspects. Hence, the knowledge and the experience
gained will be disseminated and have a multiplier effect in improving the capacity of
İŞKUR and relevant stakeholders for the whole of Turkey.
 The Client Referral System has some obstacles to be implemented smoothly to serve
what it has been aimed at. To overcome these obstacles and for the effective use of
it, the system should be internalized by İŞKUR and other parties in order to be utilized
at national level. Besides, the system should be improved to facilitate computer
based information exchange by developing new software or adopting an existing one,
and the involvement of employers should be secured.
 Vocational information, guidance and counselling service tools, test assessment and
job search tool and methods have been prepared and all other related documents
have been positively evaluated and will serve as a model for the rest of Turkey.
 Awareness-raising on gender issues with a view to pursuing women’s employment
was a major – first time – activity at local level and has been positively evaluated.
Such approach will serve as main tool for İŞKUR and stakeholders in comprehending
the insight of obstacles for women’s employment and have a prospective effect on
the employment policies.
 Networking meetings despite they were not implemented as effectively as planned
due to late planning will serve in networking between the grant beneficiaries and
participating women target groups. The question remains why such networking
activities have not been part of the design of the grant scheme itself rather than being
part of a TA project that was not congruent in the time of its implementation with the
grant projects of PYE.
 The grant scheme dissemination conference was very well participated and the
compendium is likely to have reached all relevant stakeholders. This will definitely
have a positive role in sustaining the results of the grant scheme implementation.
It can be said that the PWE TA project results contribute to the achievement of the
objectives.
In relation to the effectiveness of the project we will have to look at the comparison of
planned and actual outputs, results and impact. The indicators set in the HRD OP (2007)
include output indicators related to women participation in entrepreneurship courses and
vocational trainings; and result indicators related to increase in women’s participation in
labour market and employment rates. The TA project results do not explicitly contribute to
fulfilling those indicators – they are rather subject to fulfilment by grant schemes. Yet, it can
be said that they contribute to their fulfilment. Anyway, it was not possible to compare the
indicators with the available information on outputs of the PWE TA project.
It is obvious that the project was effective in obtaining the outputs as planned in the ToR in
terms of events and participations, studies and their outputs produced. All trainings,
conferences, workshops, study visits have been realized as required in the Terms of
Reference. The number of İŞKUR, stakeholders staff, the members of the PEVTB and others
participated in all these events was all in line with or exceeding the targeted numbers in the
Terms of Reference. Planned target groups have been able to access and use the project
outputs produced.
Opinion of the OB was positive towards outputs ad results except the “model” development
and networking of women on employment issues. OB admitted that specifically the gender
mainstreaming seminars and conferences organized – for the first time as a subject to
women’s employment issues – for İŞKUR, stakeholders’ staff and the members of PEVTB
were effective in terms of the results.
In relation to efficiency there are no quantitative data available to assess the ratio of cost and
OBs’ and stakeholders’ efforts for inputs and outputs. It is for sure that TAT contribution was
substantial and that most of the project results would not have been achievable without this
external international and domestic expertise because of a lack of capacities within İŞKUR
and the stakeholder institutions – notwithstanding their valuable and devoted involvement
into the project activities. Nonetheless, the PWE training and other activities have contained
elements that the internal staff training could not cover.
The efficiency of conversion of the means and activities to “outputs” would be useful to
comment on.
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
The TA contract was signed in 9 months from the time of preparation of the project
and tendering and in three months from the date of notifying the award of the
contract. This might be regarded as a delay long enough to have eroded the
requirements for some results and activities proposed and a factor effecting
efficiency.
Mobilization of the TAT was secured on timely basis; however, KE2 – local ALMP
policy – was replaced in the mid of the process. This might be regarded as good in
increasing the efficiency of HR input by replacing the non-performing elements.
Mobilization of some NKE has been problematic because of the delays in approvals.
Such delays were attributed by OB to low qualifications of the proposed NKEs and
having them assigned in more than one project run by the contractor at the same
period of time under HRD OP.
Activities were implemented before the project ended with the extended duration.
Extension was required to effectively complete the activities shifted towards project
end because of the delays regarding mobilisation of NKEs and replacement of KE2.
Close cooperation between the OCU and TAT and also OS provided flexibility and
ability of adoption for specific requirements emerged during implementation.
Implementation of activities and use of outputs were closely monitored by means of

o
Close coordination between OCU and TAT and periodic and ad-hoc meetings,
interventions.
o
Monthly management meetings attended by OB, OS, CFCU, EUD, TAT.
o
Steering committee meetings attended by stakeholders.
Stakeholders were sufficiently engaged in inter-institutional structures such as
Steering Committee, Sectoral Monitoring Committee; besides their involvement in
project activities as required by the project.
Sustainable institutional structures and continuation of benefits – project results – after the
external support are all regarded to be secured in normal circumstances as TA projects are
implemented on the basis of needs analyses undertaken by the beneficiary and all items are
of their specific interest.
The sustainability of PWE project will be depending on OB’s plans to reproduce the results.
This is what the evaluation team found out:
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

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Local labour market surveys and the analysis piloted in 5 provinces are to be rolled
out across the rest of Turkey and will be sustained in the 43 eligible provinces.
Local ALMP strategies modelled as Client Referral System will have to be extended
to the rest eligible 43 provinces and all over Turkey after improvements in the
reliability and applicability of the system.
Enhanced and adapted vocational guidance and counselling services for women
target groups as well as the “Job Clubs” model will have to be disseminated to and
implemented in the rest of the eligible 43 provinces and all over Turkey. They are
regarded as one of the most important products of PWE.
Some concerns have to be raised at this point: the Job and vocational counsellors
who have been trained, involved and experienced in enhanced and adopted system
have been employed on a short term contract and may well be replaced or leave
İŞKUR at the end of their contract. Thus all the capacity created by all TA activities
might become (at least partly) obsolete. The same applies for the representatives of
stakeholders in case of new assignments and moves.
It is not clear if awareness-raising seminars and conferences on gender
mainstreaming of employment policies will be made available across Turkey for all
İŞKUR and stakeholders’ staff and PEVTB members. The multiplication of this activity
requires special expertise and may be delivered by external experts. Thus, it should
be embedded in internal staff training programmes of İŞKUR with allocation of
budget. It is an important issue to make İŞKUR staff as well as stakeholders familiar
with this concept.
The visibility materials produced are still used after the end of the project. They are to
be reproduced. The www.kadinistihdami.net web page will have to be re-vitalised with
required modifications.
ALMP are likely to be monitored more professionally after the end of the project and
the experience from the PES project will be made available across İŞKUR’s provincial
offices.
As a consequence it can be said that the PWE project will mostly be sustainable and its
results will be disseminated to other parts of Turkey provided that the required addition to the
“model” is realized and institutional memory is preserved within İŞKUR.
As for the question of utility of PWE project’s results (will anybody make use of the results
achieved in the project?): As referred before major outputs of the project are intended to be
used as common practice after the end of the project such as the labour market survey and
analysis, Client Referral System, Enhanced and adopted JVC services for women, Job
Clubs, gender mainstreaming of women’s employment, the utilisation of visibility materials
and web page on women’s employment. Hence the question can be answered with a clear
yes.
In relation to other horizontal issues the PWE TA Project has had no activity – except the
participation of unemployed women in Job Clubs piloting activity – directly targeting the
clients (target groups) of İŞKUR. The project mainly dealt with an internal process directed at
İŞKUR and stakeholders’ staff and members of PEVTBs. Therefore it is not possible to
expect the project will address any of the horizontal issues and do anything, say, in favour of
disabled people or environmental protection.
The gender mainstreaming issue, however, was in the core of the PWE project. Further to
that, awareness-raising on gender mainstreaming amongst the project target groups with a
view to promoting women employment by providing customized service to women was
undertaken as a major activity for the first time in an ALMP project.
As for the good governance issues:
 Objectively and transparently formulated labour market analysis;
 Well-functioning and easy to access job counselling services – Client Referral System
– adapted to local needs, based on the local strategies, involving relevant players in
labour exchange from labour supply and demand sides without any sort of
discrimination;
 Service institutions staffed with the persons who are well aware of the gender
mainstreaming issues hindering women’s employment
All these can be regarded the elements of good governance within PWE and will directly
affect the related policies of the institutions involved.
3.1.3.7
Major Findings
The major findings related to PWE can be summarised as follows:
Positive highlights



The project has achieved most of its results.
Close cooperation between the OCU and TAT and also OS provided flexibility and
ability of adoption for specific requirements emerged during implementation.
The project will significantly contribute to the capacity of İŞKUR as the beneficiary
and the relevant stakeholders. It will improve the functioning of PEVTBs with ıts
relevant interventions.


It is likely to have a significant impact on İŞKUR’s institutional strategy to better serve
unemployed women.
It has covered all 43 eligible provinces in the 12 NUTS II regions with some activities
initiated in pilot provinces.
Challenges

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
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One of the major outputs of the project, Client Referral System, should be improved
to serve on a computer based system for applicability and efficiency of use. It is up to
the beneficiary to undertake this additional step without further TA support.
Mobilization of some NKE has been problematic because of the delays in approvals
caused by low qualifications of the NKEs proposed and having them assigned in
more than one project run by contractor at the same period of time under HRD OP.
Rolling out the outputs and results of PWE from pilot provinces to other eligible NUTS
II regions and further to the rest of Turkey is a crucial issue that requires a stable
institutional effort with maintained institutional memory which seems to be lacking with
most of the GOs including İŞKUR that are subject to frequent personnel moves. The
replacement of all provincial directors and all head of department in the headquarters
of İŞKUR does not indicate continuity. The other requirement is the due adoption of
institutional strategies and legislative arrangements – if required – as per the results
of the project.
6 months extension were required to effectively complete the activities shifted
towards project end for which one of the reasons was the delays in mobilisation of
NKEs and replacement of KE2. On the other hand it has to be said that the envisaged
implementation period for such an operation appears to be very short. TA projects
with a life cycle of only 2 years do not leave the contractor (and the beneficiary) much
time to work – let alone to revise the activities once problems occur.
PWE ran the risk of overstraining the capacities of local – pilot provinces – staff of the
beneficiary and stakeholders and thus reducing the effectiveness of the operation and
quality of outputs. It is crucial that the beneficiary closely involves those provincial
entities that are supposed to be targeted into the planning of TA projects from the
very beginning.
3.2
Unemployment caused by Agricultural Dissolution
This is the only employment challenge outlined by the HRD OP which has not become the
direct subject of an individual measure. The evaluation can therefore only look at other
measures and assess to what extent these measures have been used with a view to tackling
this employment challenge besides the individual target-group related approach.
3.2.1 Dissolution of Agricultural Employment
Unemployment caused by agricultural dissolution is one of the employment challenges that
the HRD OP has focused. Yet, there is no single measure or activity in the programme that
would deal with this phenomenon. It is therefore necessary to assess if the challenge
claimed in 2007 still exists.
As outlined in the Background Analysis the agricultural sector has not only maintained its
share of the overall GDP but even slightly increased this share from 9.0% to 9.2% between
2006 and 2011 (table 23). The decreasing trend that was observed before the HRD OP was
launched has subsequently stopped and even slightly turned around.
In relation to the GDP growth rates, agriculture has quickly recovered from the negative
growth during the economic crisis (-6.7% in 2007) which influenced the HRD OP
development. In relation to industry and services it grew more steadily and a little bit slower
but the growth rate of 5.3% in 2011 following 4.3%, 3.6% and 2.3% in previous years
indicates stable growth of the sector as a whole (table 22). As a consequence the dissolution
of agriculture as a sector providing employment cannot really be displayed on the basis of
hard data evidence.
42% of the working women in Turkey work in the agricultural sector but only 17% of the
working men. Hence the severe underperformance of women in terms of labour force
participation – female LFP rate 2012 was only at 29.5% - underpins the necessity to focus
employment policies on women – yet not necessarily in the agricultural sector. As far as the
agricultural sector is concerned, it can be assumed that many more women than those in the
official statistics are actually working in this sector – be it as unpaid family members or
generally as unregistered workers. Hence it is rather a challenge to convince women (and
farmers) to register for social insurance – a topic which is covered by HRD OP Measure 1.3.
Yet, there is no trend to be statistically proven that unemployment grows due to agricultural
dissolution. The unemployment figures in rural areas of Turkey are significantly lower than in
urban areas and have significantly decreased between the HRD OP programme launch and
2012 (from 6.8 to 5.5%) – in relation to women the rural unemployment rate is at 3.5%
(2012).
Agricultural dissolution might play a role in relation to rural – urban migration. But as the
Background Analysis revealed, nowadays Turkey rather faces an urban – urban migration
trend. The classical rural – urban migration is a phenomenon that is typical for the 1960 and
1970 years but is hard to find any longer. Hence the statements made in HRD OP (General
Overview on the Labour Market, p.37) are no longer valid and appear outdated.
3.2.2 References in grant schemes and TA projects
The evaluation looked into the design of the employment-related grant schemes with a view
to identifying to what extent agricultural dissolution has played a role in them. The findings
are as follows:
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
The PYE grant scheme does not have any linkage to agricultural dissolution
challenges. The word “agriculture” is not even mentioned in the Guideline of
Applicants and none of the suggested activities refers to rural employment problems.
There is a different situation in PWE:
o The title of the Measure 1.1 includes those women “formerly employed in
agriculture”
o One of the two target groups of the grant scheme are “women out of labour
force living in urban areas including those formerly employed in agriculture”
Yet, none of the suggested activities in the PWE Guideline for Applicants refers to the
specific situation of women formerly employed in agriculture. As a consequence, all
the eligible activities in principle can target this specific target group but does not
necessarily have to.

Within the PRE grant scheme we cannot find any reference to agriculture, dissolution
processes or rural areas.
In the context of the Technical Assistance projects the situation is as follows:




The PYE Terms of Reference (ToR) mention the phenomenon of agricultural
dissolution once in the description of relevant country background. Yet, there is no
concrete linkage to the topic as far as activities or target groups are concerned.
In the PWE ToR, the target group earmarked in the grant scheme is also included. It
was foreseen to conduct one out of four study visits to EU countries with the purpose
of providing “good practices facilitating access to the labour market to women initially
out of labour force (preferably to women migrants formerly employed in the
agricultural sector)”.
In PRE, the project ToR does not mention “agriculture” or “agricultural dissolution” at
all. None of the activities is specifically targeted at rural areas.
The ToR for the PES project extensively mentions the decrease of agriculture and the
corresponding increase of the services sector in the country background description –
yet, as mentioned above, the described trends which were prevailing during the years
2005 and 2006 have not continued. On the contrary, agriculture has stabilized in
terms of GDP growth, GDP share and low levels of unemployment.
o The project mentions the rural areas of Turkey as a target destination for a
communication campaign aiming at advertising public employment services
among the rural population.
o
Training and awareness-raising activities are in general always targeting all
the 43 eligible provinces in the 12 NUTS II regions.
3.2.3 Actual solutions offered by grant schemes and TA projects
3.2.3.1 PWE Grant Scheme
The following graph indicates to what extent the target group in question has been aimed at
by PWE grant scheme projects:
Graph 49: Target groups tackled by PWE projects
What is the group of unemployed targeted
under the scope of your Project?
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
67.7%
64.6%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
24.6%
10.0%
0.0%
Long term unemployed women
due to care responsibilities
Women out of labour force living
in urban areas including those
formerly employed in agriculture
Other
So, almost two thirds of all PWE projects have reached out to this particular target group of
women out of labour force, “including those formerly employed in agriculture”. Yet, there is
no way of finding out about the actual share of the latter since they would not be explicitly
presented and counted in reports or the G-MIS.
Only 1 out of 65 projects participating in the online survey indicated that it had aimed at the
target group of “unemployed women who migrate from villages and contributing to the family
budget”.
The eligible activities that have been selected by the grant beneficiaries can be displayed as
follows:
Table 104: Activities implemented in PWE grant scheme projects
Answer Options
Response
Percent
Response
Count
Development and delivery of
career guidance, advisory services
including job clubs
12,50%
8
Training and retraining in
professions/skills that local labour
market needs
79,70%
51
On-the-job training within
employers, short term placements
within companies i.e. internship
programmes
39,10%
25
Development and upgrade of
technical skills to improve
efficiency
43,80%
28
Activities promoting women to start
their own business and including
establishing network
23,40%
15
Determining external finance
opportunities for establishing
business and supporting
applications to be made to these
sources
10,90%
7
Matching services gathering
participants and employers
34,40%
22
Promoting self-employment and
entrepreneurship (consultancy,
career guidance)
17,20%
11
Trainings for motivation and
reinforcement for supporting
women to access labour market
65,60%
42
Providing one to one guidance
services for women (starting from
entrepreneurship training until
setting up the business) who want
to set-up a business.
21,90%
14
Developing flexible forms of work
and approaches ensuring
reconciliation of family and working
life
12,50%
8
Actions enabling beneficiaries to
better access the labour market
and/or the employment services
through provision of child and
elderly care services and/or other
facilities
26,60%
17
Development of community based
child/elderly care services
(including training, assessment
needs, model developments)
17,20%
11
Other pilot services such as
community services, customised
transport facilities or other
initiatives facilitating access to
employment services or to the
labour market
1,60%
1
Field studies related with the
above issues including
assessment of needs and skills
forecasting, new ways and
mechanisms for services financing
4,70%
3
Awareness and sensitivity raising,
information and publicity on
tackling cultural obstacles
hindering women’s participation in
the labour force
48,40%
31
Pilot awareness actions at local
level (to women, their partners,
opinion leaders, employers etc.)
10,90%
7
Local partnership approaches
including local social dialogue,
capacity building for community
development. Effective dialogue
between community leaders,
employers and those providing
services to women job-seekers
17,20%
11
9,40%
6
Field studies, training tools and
methodology developments related
with the above issues
Other
0
answered
question
64
skipped
question
1
The distribution does not tell us much about the impact the grant scheme had on women
formerly employed in agriculture.
However, some of the activities are more likely than others to serve this particular target
group. The table below gives an indication that the women who were formerly employed in
agriculture might have actually reached by reasonable activities:
Table 105: Activities implemented
formerly employed in agriculture
in
Answer Options
PWE
grant
scheme
Response
Percent
projects
Response
Count
Training and retraining in
professions/skills that local labour
market needs
79,70%
51
Trainings for motivation and
reinforcement for supporting
women to access labour market
65,60%
42
Developing flexible forms of work
and approaches ensuring
reconciliation of family and working
life
12,50%
8
Actions enabling beneficiaries to
better access the labour market
and/or the employment services
through provision of child and
elderly care services and/or other
facilities
26,60%
17
Development of community based
child/elderly care services
(including training, assessment
needs, model developments)
17,20%
11
Other pilot services such as
community services, customised
transport facilities or other
initiatives facilitating access to
employment services or to the
labour market
1,60%
1
Field studies related with the
above issues including
assessment of needs and skills
forecasting, new ways and
mechanisms for services financing
4,70%
3
Awareness and sensitivity raising,
information and publicity on
tackling cultural obstacles
hindering women’s participation in
the labour force
48,40%
31
with
reasonable
effect
on
women
Pilot awareness actions at local
level (to women, their partners,
opinion leaders, employers etc.)
10,90%
7
Local partnership approaches
including local social dialogue,
capacity building for community
development. Effective dialogue
between community leaders,
employers and those providing
services to women job-seekers
17,20%
11
9,40%
6
Field studies, training tools and
methodology developments related
with the above issues
Other
0
answered
question
64
skipped
question
1
After all it is not possible to identify to what extent the target group of “women formerly
employed in agriculture” have actually participated in the PWE projects and to what extent
those women who participated were victims of agricultural dissolution.
It can be said, however, that the likeliness of women belonging to this target group having
benefitted from the grant scheme is relatively high on the basis of the response to the online
survey.
3.2.3.2 PRE Grant Scheme
There is no explicit activity in this grant scheme which would have a close linkage to
agricultural dissolution processes.
Yet, the online survey provided the information that 85.2% of the responding grant
beneficiaries claimed to have undertaken work in relation to “Awareness raising activities for
local authorities, employers and employees in order to develop consciousness regarding
unregistered work”. The evaluation team came across projects – for instance in the context
of the Focus Group on PRE in Van – which focussed on awareness raising activities in
remote farming villages in mountain areas. The emphasis of such projects was on providing
villagers (especially farmers) with information on the structure of social insurance, the
benefits of being insured and the benefits of employing people with registration.
An agricultural chamber reported that when it started its business in 2005, none of the
farmers in their district had been registered with SGK. Nowadays – following an awarenessraising PRE project – 1500 farmers have registered with SGK and will therefore have a
chance of receiving a pension when they reach retirement age.
Hence we can say that there have been attempts within the PRE scheme which had an
influence on the situation of people still (not formerly) employed in agriculture – which is
certainly a good result and should not be overlooked.
3.2.3.3 Technical Assistance Projects
PWE: The PWE project has undertaken field studies in five provinces: Gaziantep, Trabzon,
Erzurum, Çorum and Van. The focus was on growth centres with Çorum being the only
hinterland province. Reports have been prepared which contained material collected through
interviewing (on the labour supply side) also women who were formerly employed in
agriculture and had migrated to urban areas. Hence there are data sets now for five
provinces which the beneficiary İSKUR can now make use of in improving services to them.
PRE: Within the PRE project field studies were also an issue. Target provinces were
Erzurum, Gaziantep, Kars, Şanlıurfa, Samsun and Trabzon – which shows that this project
also preferred the more urban areas. That was a justifiable selection since the field studies
should target certain branches which were regarded as particularly prone to unregistered
employment. Agriculture belongs to those branches but was not in the focus of the project.
The project’s Strategy Paper for SGK, however, includes recommendations related to
agricultural environments. It is a particular recommendation to prepare tailor-made
awareness-raising campaigns for agricultural areas with a view to directly approaching
farmers and unpaid family workers in agricultural businesses and convince them of the
benefits of working registered. That is in line with the finding that agricultural dissolution does
not really take place – but unregistered employment which is prevailing in this sector needs
to be combatted on the spot. For those who – for whatever reason – migrate from agricultural
employment to urban areas and become unemployed the information level regarding social
security and insurance is also important in order to avoid falling into the trap of unregistered
employment in the informal economy.
Hence there are only minor lessons from PRE which can support the solution of questions
traced back to agricultural dissolution processes.
PES: The PES project has undertaken extensive awareness-raising campaigns throughout
all the eligible 43 provinces with a view to advertising İŞKUR’s services. In particular the socalled “İŞKUR Bus” that travelled all of them has to be mentioned here. Measures like that
have certainly helped in spreading information to people in agricultural areas about ways of
finding adequate jobs, receiving vocational guidance and avoiding unemployment. These
measures have also affected people who migrated to urban areas and became unemployed
after having formerly been employed in agricultural areas. Yet, the effect of PES measures
cannot be statistically underpinned. We have to assume that the target group has –
somehow – been reached.
After all, the evaluation team is convinced that agricultural dissolution processes which were
regarded as a major employment challenge in the HRD OP 2007 version did not actually
provide a real challenge to the authorities. The fact that the HRD OP Priority 1 did not
constitute a measure in its own right in order to tackle one of the main problems identified in
the analysis of the labour market appears odd – but this “shortcoming” of the programme
authors can now be justified with scientific evidence. The challenge – if it really exists – is
only a minor one. We don’t have evidence that it has been tackled to a large extent in the
women-related projects – the only ones in which the target group has actually been explicitly
mentioned – but can assume that they at least also benefitted from respective services.
A more comprehensive look at the effects on this particular target group is not possible due
to the lack of reliable data.
3.3 Unemployment of Young People
3.3.1
Financial Status
Between 2007 and 2012, 208.736.473 EUR have been allocated to the Priority 1 Axis of
HRD OP in total (177.426.000 EUR EU contribution and 31.310.473 EUR national
contribution). The amounts contracted for Promoting Youth Employment Operations are
24.133.080,98 EUR and 1.947.680 EUR for grant scheme and services contracts
respectively.
Table 106: Financial status of HRD OP Measure 1.2 activities (PYE)
Name of the
operation:
Promoting
Youth
Employment
Date
of
signature of
contract (1st
contract for
grants)
Contract amount
(total public cost)
Status
31.12.2012
Type of
contract
Contract
Title
by
08.08.2011
1.947.680 €
Implementation
Service
Technical
Assistance
for Promoting
Youth
Employment
in Turkey
26.10.2010
24.133. 080,98 €
Finished
Grant
Promoting
Youth
Employment
Grant
Scheme
Share of PYE grant scheme in the total contracted amount of grant scheme programmes for
Priority 1 Axis was 42%; whereas the share of PYE for service contracts was 11% in the
period of 2007-2012. PYE grant scheme takes biggest share under Priority 1 Axis grant
scheme and service contracts.
Table 107: Contracted Amounts for Priority 1 Axis per type of Contracts
Operation
PWE
PYE
Grant Scheme
23,888,026.94
(41,7%)
24.133.080,98
(%42)
Service
Supply
Total
2.989.550 (17%)
-
26.877.576,94
1.947.680 (%11)
-
26.080.760,98
PRE
PES
9.167.133,61
(%16)
2.399.500 (%14)
424.366 (%73)
11.990.999,61
-
9.978.000 (%58)
156.228 (%27)
10.134.228
57.188.241,53
17.314.730
580.594
75.083.565,53
TOTAL
The table below shows the budgeted, contracted amounts and the actual expenditure for
PYE operation. The contracted amount of GS has exceeded the amount allocated to project
applications to extend the absorption capacity of the programme.
Table 108: PYE Budget, Contracts, Expenditure (EU+ National Contr.) as of 31st December 2012
Contract Type
Budget
Contract
Expenditure
Grant Scheme
21.000.000 €
24.133.080,98 €
19.237.864,82 €
Service
2.000.000 €
1.947.680,00 €
??
3.3.2
PYE Grant Scheme
3.3.2.1 Background of the grant scheme
Promoting Youth Employment Grant Scheme has been launched under the Measure 1.1 of
Priority 1 Axis of HRD OP which aimed to “deliver effective active labour market measures to
increase employability and entrepreneurship of young people while promoting their
integration into labour market” and with its specific objectives: “to create synergy among
complementary activities of relevant actors; such as, local authorities, employees’ and
employers’ organizations, universities, professional chambers, NGOs and companies (as
associates) in promoting youth employment and entrepreneurship” and “to support relevant
actors; such as, local authorities, employees’ and employers’ organizations, universities,
professional chambers, NGOs and companies (as associates) in implementing activities to
promote youth employment and entrepreneurship” on 15th June 2009 with a deadline for
submission of applications on 14th September 2009. The total number of project
applications was 1128 out of which 127 were awarded with contracts. Contracts were signed
for 127 projects with grant beneficiaries to be implemented in a period of 12 months.
The overall indicative grant amount made available under PYE Grant Scheme was
21.000.000 EUR with 15% of it being national co-financing covered from the Turkish
Republic’s budget. Actual grant allocation for 127 projects was 24.133.080,98 EUR with total
budget of 26.885.225,82 EUR. Total eligible cost of projects amounted to 21.434.235,10
EUR of which the total eligible amount of grant expenditure was 19.237.864,82 EUR at the
end of the implementation process of projects.
Table 109: PYE Grant Scheme Allocated, Contracted and Total Expense Amounts
PYE
Total Grant Allocated €
Total Budget Contracted €
21.000.000
26.885.225,82
Total Grant Contracted €
24.133.080,98
Total Eligible Cost of Projects €
21.434.235,10
Total Eligible Grant Amount €
19.237.864,82
Grant Expenditure %
89
3.3.2.2 Activity Analysis (= Thematic concentration)
The Guidelines for Grant Applicants in PYE described the type of actions with a set of
activities eligible within this grant scheme. The activities of the projects were expected to be
designed to target different needs of youth, in accord with the local labour market and
economy. An indicative list including 19 activities was provided as examples for the potential
project promoters. The 19 activities listed in the guideline were grouped in 4 categories of
activities to facilitate the analysis as shown in the following table. The activities indicated in
the guidelines were focused on
 Delivery of vocational trainings,
 Provision of job and career counselling services,
 Promotion and guidance for entrepreneurship, and
 Guidance services for youth who are in the school-to-work transition period.
Table 110: PYE indicative activities in Guidelines for Grant Applicants clustered in activity groups
Activity
Code
Activity Name
a
Delivery of vocational training
b
Delivery of employment-oriented
courses
Activity Groups
1
Job and vocational
skills provision
d
Provision of apprenticeship
opportunities
Ʃ: 273
f
Delivery of entrepreneurship
training, guidance services
Financial consultancy
(national/international financial
resources)
g
108
65
Delivery of on-the- job training
Provision of internship opportunities
Implementation
Frequency
1
c
e
Group
code
1
46
5
1
1
2
49
42
9
2
Promotion and
h
Entrepreneurship publications
i
Man-to-man consultancy services
j
Business plan competitions
k
Job and vocational guidance
l
Counselling and career services
m
Job search assistance i.e.
preparing CVs, informing about job
search means
15
1
23
29
36
School to work
transition counselling
3
Ʃ: 109
Direct job creation programmes in
non-profit sectors (voluntarily jobs)
etc.
Innovative supportive local job
matching system
s
2
3
o
r
Ʃ: 72
5
3
Organization of career days
q
2
2
n
p
guidance for
entrepreneurship
18
3
3
3
20
4
Innovation in any
field regarding
employability of
young people
Innovative consultancy services in
transition from school to work
Innovative entrepreneurship
support mechanisms
12
4
7
4
Ʃ: 45
6
4
Innovative job creation programmes
Type of activities proposed and implemented by 127 contracted projects were analysed by
reviewing data from the online survey, G-MIS and the compendium. The following table
shows the distribution of the activity types. Please note that the distribution percentages addup to more than 100%, because the distribution displays the percentage of a certain type of
activities’ usage rate among 127 contracted projects which generally implemented more than
just one activity (i.e. activity a was implemented in 108 out of 127 projects).
Graph 50: Percentage of Action Types For All Projects
100.00%
85%
51%
39% 33%
36%
50.00%
7% 4%
4%
12%
18% 23%
28%
14%
1%
16%
2%
9% 6% 5%
0.00%
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
p
q
r
s
Based on 19 activity types in the guidelines, the most favoured and repeated activities were
“Delivery of vocational training” and “Delivery of employment-oriented courses” in the scope
of the projects. These activities are mainly related to vocational training. On the other hand,
less favoured but still frequently repeated activities were “delivery of on-the-job training” and
“provision of internship opportunities”. It can be concluded that PYE grant beneficiary
institutions preferred vocational and employment-oriented training activities as the most
critical activity regarding the youth employment.
The table below represents the frequency of the grouped activities and the percentage
distribution in total number of activities implemented by 127 projects.
Table 111: Frequency of activities by groups of activities
Activity Types (No. of Grouped Activities)
(1) Job and vocational skills provision (5)
(2) Promotion and guidance for entrepreneurship (5)
(3) School to work transition counselling (5)
(4) Innovation in any field regarding employability of
young people (4)
Frequency
of
implementation
273
72
109
Percentile (%)
distribution by
group
of
activities
55
14
22
45
9
Figures by group of activities provide a much clearer picture on what was preferred; “job and
vocational skills provision” and “school to work transition counselling”. The other two activity
groups are well behind the first two in frequency of implementation.
Considering the labour market in Turkey, formal education often does not fulfil the
requirements of the labour market. For this reason, provision of vocational and job skills
seem to be the most effective way to increase the employment rate of youth. In the scope of
the projects under PYE, most of the project promoters chose to implement such activity to
form a bridge between labour market and potential work forces. Generations may experience
different obstacles when entering the labour market. However, provision and improvement of
job and vocational skills will contribute to youth employment and help young people lacking
the ‘job and vocational skills’ required for work.
Another favoured and frequently implemented activity is “school to work transition
counselling”. The lack of job search skills and knowledge about the labour market frequently
rise to the forefront of challenges faced when entering the labour market. For this reason,
counselling services designed for youth through the transition period, from school to work (in
EU terms: “across the job threshold”) are crucial. The life changing period for them can be an
opportunity to develop and build skills, based on their initial education and training.
The activity groups ranked as the last two in the list are equally important in the scope of the
programme priorities. “Promotion and guidance for entrepreneurship” are very extensive
activities which may include several innovative approaches that are hard to implement.
Education and training programmes in entrepreneurship may have a positive impact on
developing individuals’ entrepreneurial qualities. Additionally, raising awareness on self-
employment as a career option may encourage youth to set-up their own business. However,
entrepreneurship promotion requires specific skills of the implementing institutions as well as
the trainers used during the implementation. In addition, it always requires cooperation with
institutions covering this field of action, i.e. institutions which are not really used to work in
partnerships. These two issues might have driven PYE applicants to keep away from this
field.
Activities on “Innovation in any field regarding employability of young people” is the weakest
point under PYE grant scheme programme. The reason for not being preferred might be that
it requires specific expertise to design and implement. The collaboration between public and
private institutions is also very crucial on youth employment. It would not be wrong to say
that PYE grant beneficiary institutions preferred to design their project activities according to
the “accessibility” and “applicability”. In addition, this group of activities was the only one
which explicitly requested for “innovation”. This requirement – which was not further detailed
in the guidelines – might have led applicants to be cautious and reluctant to suggest activities
in this field.
The following graphs display how the most favoured 2 activity groups have been distributed
across the eligible NUTS II regions to see if there are any significant distribution patterns.
Graph 51: Activity Group 1- Job and Vocational Skills Provision
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
69%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
61%
60%
57%
57%
56%
53%
47%
46%
45%
40%
40.00%
30.00%
28%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
TR-63 TR-72 TR-82 TR-83 TR-90 TR-A1 TR-A2 TR-B1 TR-B2 TR-C1 TR-C2 TR-C3
Graph 52: Activity Group 3- School to Work Transition Counselling
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40%
40.00%
22%
22%
19%
20.00%
10.00%
28%
27%
30.00%
21%
19%
15%
13%
13%
5%
0.00%
TR-63 TR-72 TR-82 TR-83 TR-90 TR-A1 TR-A2 TR-B1 TR-B2 TR-C1 TR-C2 TR-C3
The graphs show that there are no significant concentrations on preferred and most repeated
activity groups when compared by project regions except for TR- A2 (Ağrı, Kars, Iğdır,
Ardahan) that implemented 3rd group of activity which is “school to work transition
counselling”. It can be concluded that there is a tendency to implement familiar activities
among grant beneficiaries under PYE grant scheme regardless of the regions. The following
table indicates the number of projects and activities by regions.109
Table 112: Number of projects and activities by regions
NUTS
II
Region
TR63
TR72
TR82
TR83
109
Provinces in the Region
Hatay,Kahramanmaraş,
Osmaniye
Kayseri, Sivas, Yozgat
Kastamonu, Çankırı, Sinop
Samsun, Tokat, Çorum, Amasya
Number of
PYE
projects in
the region
Average
no.
of
activities
per
project
Number
of
project
activities
implemented in
the Region
19
24
4
25
3.6
4.2
4.7
3.9
68
100
19
98
The number of projects indicated in this table surmounts the 127 projects altogether funded in PYE. The reason is that there
were 12 projects in PYE that were implemented by institutions from Ankara and Istanbul. These projects usually were
implemented in more than one of the eligible regions.
TRA1
TRA2
Trabzon, Ordu, Giresun, Rize,
Artvin, Gümüşhane
Erzurum, Erzincan, Bayburt
Ağrı, Kars, Iğdır, Ardahan
TRB1
Malatya, Elazığ, Bingöl, Tunceli
TRB2
TRC1
TRC2
Van, Muş, Bitlis, Hakkari
Gaziantep, Adıyaman, Kilis
Şanlıurfa, Diyarbakır
TRC3
Mardin, Batman, Şırnak, Siirt
TR90
TOTAL
17
5
2
3.9
6.4
2.5
66
32
5
8
10
8
13
4.1
3.2
3.7
4.4
33
32
30
57
5
140
5.0
4.0
25
565
The table above shows that there is no consistency between the number of projects in a
region and the concentration on most favoured activities. However, TR83 and TR72 are the
most successful regions in terms of the number of projects and number of activities
implemented in the region. Total number of projects and number of project activities
implemented in these two regions are similar. For analysing successful absorption capacity
in these two regions, the support provided to the grant beneficiary institutions during the
application phase should be considered. During the focus group meetings conducted by the
evaluation team in Ankara, Samsun and Van, several grant beneficiary institutions mentioned
the importance of the support during the application phase for developing projects provided
by the umbrella institutions at the central level and the Governorates at the provincial level.
There is no clear picture as far as the average number of activities is concerned. TRA1 and
TRA2 are both among the neediest regions according to their SEDI Index. Yet, the first one
reveals the highest average number of activities per project (6.4) while the latter shows the
lowest amount (2.5). The table seems to suggest that those regions with a higher potential of
support in the application phase chose a smaller number of activities and were awarded with
a higher number of projects. Those regions in which a bigger number of activities were
chosen were less successful than the others in terms of awards. The result points at the
conclusion that concentrating on a lower number of activities is more likely to be awarded –
probably it can also be said that the focus on smaller number of activities allows for treating
them more in depth while projects with a big number of activities might lose their focus and
rather touch the surface of problems only.
The following two graphs assess if the institutional types of grant beneficiaries have played
any role in the concentration of activities involved.
Graph 53: Activity Group 1- Job and Vocational Skills Provision
100%
100%
100.00%
90.00%
75%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
55%
57%
57%
61%
57%
51%
62%
56%
58%
55%
50.00%
40.00%
29%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Graph 54: Activity Group 3- School to Work Transition Counselling
Graph xx: Activity Group 3- School to Work Transition
Counselling
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
24% 24%
29%
20%
14%
33%
29%
23%
20%
19%
13%
0%
0%
0%
The graphs show that Village Service Unions and Vocational Training Centres take a bigger
share than other institutions in job and vocational skills provision. As expected, Vocational
Training Centres were involved 100% in vocational training activities. However, Village
Service Unions’ involvement into activities on provision of job and vocational skills shows the
development of institutional capacity among Village Service Unions in general.
For the activity group 3 which is school to work transition counselling, as it is expected public
education centres, organized industrial zones and universities have taken a bigger share
than other institutions. Collaboration between the education institutions and OIZs is also very
important to increase the youth employment. The tendency among these institutions to
provide consultancy services to young people in one of the most crucial life changing period
is very valuable.
To sum up the findings of the analysis it can be concluded:





Grant beneficiaries of PYE have preferred the type of activities that may be grouped
as:
o Job and vocational counselling services
o Promotion and guidance for youth through the transition from school to work
Favoured and frequently implemented activities are in line with the activities identified
in the guidelines.
The activity groups such as promotion and guidance for entrepreneurship and
innovation in any field regarding employability of young people were the less
preferred. This seems to indicate that innovative approaches were taken up only
reluctantly.
Except than TRA2 region that has favoured counselling through the transition from
school to work, distribution of activities is not significant across the eligible NUTS II
regions.
Projects which focused on a small number of activities have been more likely to be
selected than those with a bigger number of activities.
Based on the findings it can be recommended that:



Diversification of activities should be encouraged for potential grant beneficiaries.
Rather than implementing familiar activities, institutions should work in cooperation to
implement challenging activities and increase their capacity on different fields by
supporting each other based on their specializations.
Public and private institutions which provide consultancy services to youth should be
encouraged to implement innovative activities, especially in the field of
entrepreneurship to enable them to be more creative and self-confident.
New approaches should be adopted by and highlighted in the Grant Guidelines. The
evaluation grid should then be revised accordingly.
3.3.2.3 Institutional Analysis (= Civil Society Participation)
Although the topic of youth employment promotion is a familiar one and has been subject of
previous programmes and activities, the majority of PYE project promoters did not have
experience as grant beneficiaries before entering into the grant scheme.
Graph 55: Previous experience with grant schemes as beneficiary
Has your institution ever implemented a project in
the capacity of Grant Beneficiary in the last 3 years
prior to this project, similar to the one you have
implemented under this programme?
23.08%
76.92%
Yes
No
Looking at the geographical distribution of experience the evaluation team has found that in
almost half of the 12 eligible regions none of the beneficiaries had such experience.
Graph 56: Previous experience with grant schemes as beneficiary by regions
Yes/No
100.00%
100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00%
100.00%
100.00%
75.00%
78.57% 70.00%
80.00%
66.67%
66.67%
61.54%
60.00%
30.00%
40.00% 25.00% 38.46%
33.33%
21.43%
20.00%
33.33% 0.00%
0.00%
0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
0.00%
TR-63 TR-72 TR-82 TR-83 TR-90 TR-A1 TR-A2 TR-B1 TR-B2 TR-C1 TR-C2 TR-C3
Yes
No
This section aims to analyse PYE grant scheme applications and the contracted projects
according to the types of institutions. There have been 1128 applications for the PYE grant
scheme call for proposals and 127 projects have been contracted and implemented.
Graph 57: Number of PYE Grant Scheme Applications by type of institutions
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
276
177
148
115
63
12
30
6
1
51
24
61
9
75
36
44
The previous graph displays that 63% of the applications were made by just four types of
institutions: Associations, municipalities, chambers and public education centres. The ratio of
awarded projects to the number of applications shows that public education centres are less
successful in developing winning projects despite their ambition to receive more funds. This
might be related to their capacity to develop good projects. Associations, chambers,
municipalities were able to achieve higher success by utilizing their staff capacity or have
been able to spare funds for the projects drafted by the professionals. In the case of
chambers and municipalities it has also to be recognised that the roof organisations (TOBB
and UMT) regularly provide training and guidance to their members and affiliates on how to
use EU funds in the most appropriate way. Hence the staff in the provinces is much better
prepared for the production of applications than the staff of other institutions with no or less
good connections to the capital.
Graph 58: Number of Projects contracted by Institutions Type
25
25
20
20
17
15
15
10
10
5
0
0
1
5
3
0
2
12
9
3
5
0
Some of the institutions were much successful in winning, despite the fact that they only
submitted a low number of applications. Foundations are successful in a winning ratio of 23
%. This result can be related to their institutional and staff capacity. It can be concluded that
increasing the project absorption capacity of associations would directly affect the fund
absorption capacity of the civil society institutions. Raising absorption capacities of those
institutions with interests in the topics of a grant scheme but low application writing skills
would also be likely to raise the overall quality of applications and, subsequently, the projects
implemented under a grant scheme.
Graph 59: Percentage of Budget Distribution by Type of Institutions
Village Service
Unions
2%
Vocational High
Schools
11%
Vocational Training
Centres
1%
Associations
19%
Universities
10%
Unions
7%
Trade Unions
2%
Chambers
19%
Special Provincial
Administrations
3%
Public Education
Centers (HEM)
2%
Municipalities
18%
High School
1%
Foundations
13%
The pie chart shows the percentage of awarded project budgets according to type of
institutions. Chambers and associations take a bigger share than other institutions in total
budget. Municipalities and foundations are the second group in receiving funds. There is no
specific pattern to explain why some institutions have higher budget per project.
Civil society involvement is very significant in receiving funds. The next table shows,
approximately 48% of projects were implemented by civil society institutions and 50% of the
total project budget was allocated to CSOs.
Table 113: NGO project number and budget related to entire number of PYE projects
Number of Projects (Percentage)
Project Budget €
NGO
61 (48%)
13.404.016,45 (50%)
Total
127 (100%)
26.885.225,82 (100%)
3.3.2.4 Partnership Approach
Promoting Youth Employment grant scheme has supported the partnership approach in
implementing the projects. The Guidelines for grant applicants suggested that “It is
preferable to design the partnership by taking into consideration of both demand and supply
side of labour market in both design and implementation of project. To that aim, it will be an
asset if the partnership consists of at least two separate legal persons and contains at least
one of the following:


a representative of the ‘labour demand’ side
a representative of the ‘labour supply’ side.” 110
The evaluation grid for full applications scoring the financial and operational capacity of
partners with the applicant and also the description of the methodology in supporting the
involvement of partners is weighed with 5 points. It can be said that the PYE grant scheme
put emphasis on partnership and partners’ involvement in and contributions to the projects.
The following table shows the evaluation grid on partnership.
Table 114: Partnership scoring on Evaluation Grid for PYE Grant Scheme
Section
1. Financial and operational capacity
1.1 Do the applicants and, if applicable, partners have sufficient experience of
project management?
1.2 Do the applicant and, if applicable partners have sufficient technical
expertise? (notably knowledge of the issues to be addressed.)
1.3 Do the applicant and, if applicable, partners have sufficient management
capacity?
(including staff, equipment and ability to handle the budget for the action)?
3. Methodology
3.3 Are the partners' and/or other stakeholders' level of involvement and
participation in the action satisfactory?
Maximum
Score
5
5
5
5
Grant beneficiaries themselves did not have much experience in the implementation of
projects as a partner. As shown in the table below, only 19.05% of them had been involved
into similar projects as partner in the three years before the implementation of PYE projects.
110
PYE Guidelines for Grant Applicants, section 2.1.2
Graph 60: Grant beneficiaries involved in a previous project in the capacity of partner
Has your institution ever been involved in a project in the capacity of
Partner in the last 3 years prior to this project, similar to the one you have
implemented under this programme?
19.05%
80.95%
Yes
No
The online survey provided the evaluation team with more empirical data on the
partnerships. More than 8 out of 10 grant beneficiaries considered that partners contribute to
the main activities of the projects. 6 out of 10 were interested in partners who provide support
in the sustainability of the project. Still more than half of the beneficiaries said that they
wanted partners helping them to get access to the target groups, which reveals a strategic
approach in the selection of partners.
The least considered criterion is the financial and logistical support. Apparently most
applicants did not see the latter as a major challenge to the project. That may be due to the
conditions of a grant scheme in which the applicant must be able to present a fully
elaborated budget that contains all budgetary elements including the own contribution.
Hence partners are predominantly seen as assets in relation to more strategic approaches:
How can I ensure that the target groups and employers will be reached? How can I make
sure that project results will be sustained?
Graph 61: Selection of partners
81.3%
68.8%
57.8%
45.3%
43.8%
Providing access
to the target
groups
Providing access
to potential
employers
Sustainability of
the Project
Financial and
logistic support
Experience in
project
implementation
14.1%
Active
contribution in
implementing
main activities of
the project
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
According to the grant beneficiaries, partners provided support mostly in reaching and
selecting the participants. During the focus group meetings with the grant beneficiaries, the
importance of selecting participants which has direct impact on the success of the projects
was frequently stated. This shows the critical contribution of the partners – and it reveals that
the selection of partners in PYE at least somehow followed strategic patterns.
The following graph provides information on partners’ roles in PYE projects.
Graph 62 – Actual roles of partners
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
70.8%
53.8%
40.0%
6.2%
3.1%
Prepared the
Facilitated the
Implemented and Provided financial
Provided
project proposal project in reaching monitored the
contribution
employment
and selecting the
main activities
opportunities for
participant
the participants
The results on the fulfilment of expectations regarding partners are shown in the table below.
9 out of 10 grant beneficiaries admitted that the partners had actually fulfilled the envisaged
role in implementing main activities. It shows that most of the grant beneficiaries benefited
from their partners in real terms and partners delivered what was expected from them.
Graph 63: Results of partner’s efforts
Have they been able to deliver what has been
expected from the Partners?
7.69%
Yes
No
92.31%
Although only 7% of GBs claimed non-delivery against 92%, the reason for non-fulfilment
should be examined. The online survey provided answers on the reasons behind that. Based
on the results of survey, the reason for non-fulfilment has been seen by 8 out of 10 grant
beneficiaries as the fact that “partners were reluctant to take the responsibility as required”
and 4 out of 10 as “the level of experience of partners was not as identified initially”. If we
consider the number of partners which is more than one in most of the cases for each grant
beneficiary institution, it can be concluded that partnership approach encouraged via grant
scheme programmes significantly increased awareness on partnerships at the local level.
Additionally, it affected the culture of collaboration in a positive direction.
The following table shows the number of partners in the projects. More than 65% of grant
beneficiaries had at least two partners.
Table 115: Number of partners by projects
Number of Partners
Number of Projects
1
44
2
40
3
28
4
9
5
4
6
2
The application guideline provided the potential project promoters with examples of the types
of organisations which belong to the demand or supply side of the labour market as a model
for “ideal” partnership. The table below gives some examples of the types of organisations
under each heading to give guidance to project applicants.
Table 116: Partnership guidance
Labour demand side
Labour supply side
 Chambers of Commerce or Industry
 Universities
 Organised Industrial Zones
 Vocational and technical training institutions
 Professional Organisations
 NGO’s providing training and/or consultancy
 SME-representative organisations
 NGO’s working with youth
The following table shows the actual partnership structure for the projects of PYE grant
scheme. Grant beneficiary institutions are found in the rows and partners in the columns of
the table.
Please note that the institutions marked in grey are on the demand side and the ones
marked in blue are on the supply side as indicated in the grant guideline.
Table 117: Partners of PYE GBs by institution type of GBs
Vocational Training
Centers
Vocational High
School
Village Service
Unions
Universities
Unions
Special Provincial
Administrations
Public Institutions
Public Education
Centers
Provincial directorate
of national education
Provincial directorate
of Health
Organized Industrial
Zones
Municipalities
Governorship
Foundations
District directorate of
national education
Cooperatives
GBs
Chambers
Associations
PARTNERS
Associations
45% 5%
0% 0%
5%
0%
0%
4%
0%
0%
5%
0%
2%
4%
13% 0%
13%
4%
Chambers
Employers
Unions
15% 10%
0% 3%
3%
0%
0%
3%
0%
0%
0%
8%
0%
5%
33% 0%
18%
3%
0%
0% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
20% 0%
80%
0%
Foundations
17% 27%
0% 0%
5%
0%
5%
0%
0%
2%
7%
0%
0%
10% 15% 0%
12%
0%
High School
33% 33%
0% 0%
33% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Municipalities
Organized
Industrial
Zones
Public
Education
Centers
Special
Provincial
Administrations
5%
22%
3% 0%
3%
0%
3%
3%
0%
0%
19% 5%
3%
5%
19% 3%
8%
3%
0%
29%
0% 0%
14% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
43% 0%
14%
0%
0%
33%
0% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
11%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
33% 0%
22%
0%
27% 27%
0% 0%
9%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
9%
0%
0%
9%
18% 0%
0%
0%
Trade Unions
0%
50%
0% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
50% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Unions
5%
29%
5% 0%
5%
5%
5%
5%
0%
0%
24% 0%
0%
0%
5%
0%
10%
5%
Universities
0%
69%
0% 0%
0%
0%
0%
8%
0%
0%
8%
8%
0%
0%
8%
0%
0%
0%
Village Service
Unions
0%
20%
0% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
60% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
20%
24% 27%
0% 3%
0%
0%
0%
9%
0%
3%
3%
0%
0%
3%
6%
0%
15%
6%
100% 0% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
Vocational
High School
Vocational
training
Centers
0%
0%
The table reveals that some of the grant beneficiary institutions did not follow the partnership
instructions in the guidelines:




Associations tended to find partners among other associations. Partners from their
own side were preferred (45%).
Chambers tended to choose partners from universities which is recommended in the
guideline (33%) – altogether more than 50% of partners from the supply side.
Public education centres chose partners from both sides which are chambers and
universities (33 %).
Universities had a strong tendency to select chambers (69%).
Grant beneficiaries representing the supply side have generally attempted to establish more
partnerships with demand side partners which can be regarded as a very positive strategy.
In the scope of grant projects, partnership approach is of utmost importance in pursuing the
project results in an effective way. The partnership approach mentioned in the guideline is
certainly one of the most encouraging factors for grant beneficiary institutions. It can be said
that partnership approach is also internalized by the grant beneficiary institutions. These
institutions also reap the real benefits of partnership during the implementation of projects.
However, there should be official agreement between institutions to clearly identify the duties
of each of the partners with a view to increasing efficiency and effectiveness of partnership
cooperation.
3.3.2.5 Geographical Distribution
The entire amount of projects in the grant schemes has been displayed and analysed in
terms of regional disparities in section 2.2 above. In this section the distribution of funds in
PYE grant scheme will be analysed concentrating on the reasons for patterns of distribution.
Table 118: GS Applications, Awards and Success Rates (Total and PYE)
TRB2
Growth
Centres
Van
TRA2
Kars
TRC3
TRA1
Batman
Diyarbakır,
Şanlıurfa
Erzurum
TR82
Kastamonu
Region
TRC2
Appl.
TOTAL
405
Success
Rate
6,4%
83
Appl.
PYE
PYE
Awards
Success Rate
181
10
5.5%
3,6%
38
2
5.3%
106
6,6%
62
4
6.5%
171
9,9%
85
9
10.6%
154
7,1%
63
2
3.2%
109
7,3%
55
3
5.5%
14
15.1%
TR90
Trabzon
229
16,2%
93
TRB1
Elazığ, Malatya
186
14,5%
70
8
11.4%
TR83
Samsun
270
21,5%
128
22
17.2%
TR72
Kayseri, Sivas
259
18,5%
113
21
18.6%
TR63
Kahramanmaraş
147
19,0%
77
16
20.8%
TRC1
Gaziantep
133
10,9%
73
4
5.5%
Others
Ankara, Istanbul
172
12,8%
90
12
13.3%
2424
12,3%
1128
127
12.0%
TOTAL
In general, the success rate of PYE applications is identical with the overall success rate of
all three grant schemes together. Yet, there are significant differences in the success rates
between regions: TR63 Kahramanmaraş being the most successful with 20.8% against
TRA1 Erzurum with only 3.2%. TRB2 Van was again the province producing the biggest
number of applications which is likely due to the support provided by provincial authorities
there. TR83 Samsun won the biggest number of projects (22) due to similar reasons as
outlined before.
Again, the figures prove that the awards did not follow the neediness of provinces but rather
the patterns of pro-activeness and support in the region.
The distribution of funds across the regions looks as follows:
Table 119: General and PYE project and fund distribution by regions and provinces
Status
Province
Total
Awards
Amount in €
359.083,42
PYE
Awards
202.508,74
101.254,37
202.508,74
101.254,37
Region
Growth
Center
A2
3
Kars
0
Hinterland
Hinterland
Ağrı
Iğdir
2
0
Hinterland
Ardahan
1
B2
26
4.064.695,45
10
1.319.194,45
131.919,445
Van
13
2.032.698,28
4
485.393,91
121.348,47
142.732,49
155.659,31
124.971,87
201.296,56
Region
Growth
Center
2
Amount in €
Average
Amount in €
(PYE)
0
202.508,74
2
0
0
Region
Growth
Center
C3
7
703.920,48
312.867,66
1.015.209,03
1.492.152,50
Batman
2
359.498,86
Hinterland
Hinterland
Mardin
Şırnak
4
0
894.062,32
1
0
207.096,06
179.749,43
207.096,06
Hinterland
Siirt
1
1
Region
Growth
Center
A1
11
238.591,32
1.838.374,64
2
238.591,32
391.313,18
238.591,32
195.656,59
Erzurum
5
628.087,03
1
151.377,54
1
239.935,64
151.377,54
239.935,64
9
1.528.512,02
169.834,67
Hinterland
Muş
4
Hinterland
Bitlis
2
Hinterland
Hakkari
7
4
428.197,48
155.659,31
249.943,75
805.186,24
2
359.498,86
3
1
2
Hinterland
Erzincan
4
Hinterland
Bayburt
2
C2
17
824.803,05
385.484,56
3.462.326,74
Diyarbakır
13
2.874.506,76
7
1.241.457,71
177.351,10
Şanlıurfa
4
587.819,98
2
287.054,31
143.527,15
119.081,93
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
0
Region
Growth
Center
C1
8
1.133.053,27
4
476.327,74
Gaziantep
7
969.760,89
3
313.035,36
Hinterland
Hinterland
Adıyaman
Kilis
1
0
163.292,38
1
0
163.292,38
104.345,12
163.292,38
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
72
48
7.478.409,20
21
2.959.282,58
140.918,22
Kayseri
26
4.214.664,28
10
1.337.789,40
133.778,94
Sivas
19
2.955.048,89
10
1.516.091,19
Hinterland
Yozgat
3
90
37
151.609,12
105.401,99
138.590,88
Region
308.696,03
5.170.369,97
1
14
105.401,99
1.940.272,30
Growth
Center
2.206.980,60
159.018,46
344.595,59
313.924,75
8
1.430.495,18
178.811,90
2.125.582,92
4
946.992,03
236.748,01
836.248,00
1
152.702,01
3
242.570,54
88.230,60
326.707,73
152.702,01
121.285,27
88.230,60
108.902,58
3
326.707,73
108.902,58
22
3.266.578,59
148.480,84
11
1.711.645,32
155.604,12
140.752,31
131.471,18
144.955,66
149.984,79
15
Hinterland
Ordu
4
Hinterland
Rize
8
Hinterland
Giresun
4
Hinterland
Artvin
2
Hinterland
Gümüşhane
4
B1
27
596.911,61
898.223,85
573.202,94
235.228,27
659.822,70
4.669.951,30
Elazığ
11
Malatya
5
Hinterland
Bingöl
8
Hinterland
Tunceli
3
82
8
1.233.901,09
474.219,29
981.880,65
Kastamonu
4
525.121,73
Çankırı
Sinop
4
0
456.758,92
0
0
83
58
9.507.157,30
Samsun
28
4.942.062,15
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Tokat
9
Hinterland
Çorum
7
Hinterland
Amasya
14
63
28
Kahramanmaraş
6
Hinterland
Hatay
20
Hinterland
Osmaniye
2
Additional
TOTAL
22
Ankara
19
Istanbul
3
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
1.122.733,50
140.341,69
159.018,46
114.865,20
156.962,37
Trabzon
1.405.382,83
1.014.987,29
2.144.725,03
4.900.580,64
900.920,94
3.724.045,18
275.614,52
8
1
3
2
0
0
2
1
3
2
6
16
4
10
2
422.256,94
262.942,36
869.733,97
2.399.756,58
504.529,87
1.619.612,19
275.614,52
126.132,47
161.961,22
137.807,26
1.838.963,50
352.765,99
0
183896,35
176382,99
12
3.932.034,90
476.166,88
10
2
The average amount of funds per PYE project was 134.221,54 EUR. Regions with a
significantly higher average amount of funds per project were TRC3 Batman and TRA1
Erzurum, while TRA2 Kars, TRC1 Gaziantep and TR82 Kastamonu had a significantly lower
average funding amount. There are no patterns which would not follow those already
observed before.
Insofar, the findings made for PWE in section B3.1.2.5 can be applied to PYE grant scheme
as well.
3.3.2.6 Sectoral Distribution
Guidelines for Applicants did not impose any sectorial concentration for PYE Grant Scheme
projects. The only recommendation was to follow the actual labour market needs when it
came to identifying sectors that needed support. No record of sectors involved was kept in
the project documents and the reports.
Grant beneficiaries have therefore been asked to name the sectors that they have prepared
their participant for under their vocational training programmes. The answers to this question
indicate that the manufacturing sector was the most preferred one compared to the others.
Among the others, in order of frequency, tourism, energy and mining and the service sector
appear to play an important role in the preparation of young people for employment.
12.24%
8.16%
4.08%
4.08%
Marketing
Finance
Forestry
12.24%
Other
8.16%
Energy and mining
Textile
16.33% 20.41%
Health
6.12%
Manufacturing
8.16%
Tourism
10.20%
Service
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Construction
Graph 64 Sectorial concentration of projects conducted occupational training, PYE
It appears as if the direction of young people in training courses within PYE was dominated
by typical male professions.
Nevertheless, it is likely that the selection of sectors followed the guidance outlined in the
guidelines for applicants. As far as the requested labour market research at local level is
concerned, the grant beneficiaries seem to have used various sources according to the book.
The following answers have been recorded for PYE:
Graph 65: Type of research undertaken by grant beneficiaries in the preparation of projects
78.50%
46.20%
66.20%
40.00%
46.20%
Hired consultants to
write the proposal
including the section
mentioned.
Conducted
interviews with
potential employers
in the region
Conducted
interviews and
utilized reports by
relevant regional
chambers, and…
Utilized the reports,
etc. by Provincial
Employment and
Vocational Training
Board.
Utilized the statistics
of İŞKUR, TURKSTAT,
etc. and
publications/ articles
by members of…
7.70%
Conducted a regional
labour market
research/ field study
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
The answers reveal that in particular the statistics of the public employment services have
been utilised so that it can be assumed that sector needs were recognised at an early stage
and found entry into the project planning.
3.3.2.7 Outcomes
Relevance:
The objectives of the PYE grant scheme had been outlined in the guidelines for applicants as
follows:
 To create synergy among complementary activities of relevant actors; such as, local
authorities, employees’ and employers’ organizations, universities, professional
chambers, NGOs and companies (as associates) in promoting youth employment
and entrepreneurship.
 To support relevant actors; such as, local authorities, employees’ and employers’
organizations, universities, professional chambers, NGOs and companies (as
associates) in implementing activities to promote youth employment and
entrepreneurship.
It is not easy to differentiate between these very vaguely formulated objectives.
As the activity analysis has demonstrated, the grant beneficiaries tried to follow the
recommended activity fields that had been suggested in the guidelines. The results had
shown:


273 of the conducted activities were related to “job and vocational skill provision”, i.e.
they promoted youth employment via the provision of skills.
109 of the conducted activities were related to “transition from school to work”, i.e.
they focused on facilitating the step across the job threshold which meant at least to
indirectly promote youth employment.


72 of the conducted activities were related to “promotion and guidance for
entrepreneurship”, i.e. they attempted at paving the way for young people into selfemployment.
45 of the conducted activities were related to “innovation in the field regarding
employability”, i.e. they looked for new ways of making young people employable on
the job market.
The following graph shows the self-assessment of grant beneficiaries regarding the priorities
of their projects:
Graph 66: Priorities of PYE projects according to grant scheme objectives
What are the priorities of the Programme to which
your project is addressed?
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
67.7%
73.8%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
To create synergy among complementary
activities of relevant actors in promoting youth
employment and entrepreneurship
To support relevant actors in implementing
activities to promote youth employment and
entrepreneurship
It is remarkable that the majority of grant beneficiaries ticked both answer options. This might
indicate that they did not really understand the difference between the two priorities.
However, almost 3 out of 4 beneficiaries said they addressed the “support of relevant actors”
which appears to be the slightly more passive option among the grant scheme priorities.
The guidelines had formulated a broad range of potential target groups which included
 Young unemployed people who are university graduates
 Young unemployed people who are secondary school graduates
 Young people with lower educational attainment and early school leavers
 Young people who are still at school
 Young women with lower educational attainment
The online survey checked to what extent the grant beneficiaries followed that direction. The
interesting result is that a majority of projects addressed those youngsters with significant
educational attainments, i.e. target groups which were likely to be satisfied with lower efforts.
Young women with low educational attainments and young people still at school remained
exceptions.
Apparently most beneficiaries preferred taking an easier pathway rather than going for the
target groups that are more difficult to support. As a consequence one might think about a
more restrictive formulation of target groups or the establishment of quota once a multitude
of potential target groups is being named in guidelines for applicants.
Graph 67: Target groups of PYE projects
What is the group of unemployed targeted
under the scope of your Project?
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
72.1%
70.0%
60.0%
49.2%
50.0%
41.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
16.4%
18.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Young unemployed Young unemployed Young people with Young people who Young women with
people who are
people who are
lower educational
are still at school
lower educational
university graduates secondary school attainment and early
attainment
graduates
school leavers
After all the evaluation team concludes that the relevance of the projects under PYE can be
regarded as a given while there remain doubts about the question if objectives and target
groups should not have been formulated in a more concise manner in order to clarify what
the authorities actually intended to achieve. It is a general finding that grant scheme
guidelines tended to provide a very broad space in relation to objectives, target groups and
activities. Such an attitude bears the danger that participation in the grant scheme becomes
arbitrary which must result in a lack of coherent and transferable results.
A more restrictive but clear formulation of objectives and target groups as well as a stronger
focus on innovation in the formulation of activities might enable grant scheme applicants to
prepare projects that are closer to the real needs – provided the authorities have made up
their minds and established a set of expectations about the outcomes a grant scheme – not a
project – should produce. Only once such expectations have been developed and published
will grant beneficiaries be able to produce a supply of results matching them. This has not
been possible within PYE as well as in the other schemes because neither the OS nor the
OBs have issued expectations in the sense described above.
In relation to the efficiency of activities the statements made for the PWE scheme apply in a
very similar way. Most of the grant beneficiaries did not have much experience as beneficiary
or in the function of a project partner. Hence they were highly depending on support from
external sources. The following table reveals the amount of that support:
Table 120: External support provided to PYE projects by İŞKUR, SGK, MoLSS or regional institutions in project
development and writing
PYE Project Regions
Support: Yes
Support: No
TR-63
TR-72
2
TR-82
Total number of projects awarded
8
8
11
13
2
2
TR-83
2
12
14
TR-90
1
9
10
TR-A1
2
1
3
TR-A2
2
2
TR-B1
6
6
TR-B2
3
3
TR-C1
2
1
3
TR-C2
2
4
6
4
4
TR-C3
Again the conclusion is that those regions in which support was not provided performed less
good than those where support was provided.
In most cases the support provided subsequently is being assessed as positive by the grant
beneficiaries. The following graph displays projects’ satisfaction with the support:
Graph 68: Grant beneficiaries’ satisfaction with external support provided to them
Quite useful in development of
project idea/ concept in addressing
the regional needs.
It was useful in formulating/
planning activities, budget output
and results.
13.50%
13.50%
35.20%
It was useful in formulating the
details of each activity including the
training curricula, etc.
Not useful at all.
37.80%
Only 13.5% said that the support had not been useful at all. The answers reflect that in
general external support had a key role in preparing successful and efficient projects in PYE.
Effectiveness:
The PYE scheme had four different fields of activities as outlined above among which the
projects mainly pursued the issues of vocational training and the provision of guidance – thus
following the so-called “holistic approach” that had been outlined in the Guideline for
Applicants – while entrepreneurship promotion and innovative activities fell behind.
It is therefore worth to look after the assessment of achievements made by PYE projects.
Other than in the PWE scheme it appears as if the PYE scheme has been less successful in
achieving the indicators outlined in the project applications:
Graph 69: Targeted and realised results in PYE projects
Percentage of Increase
100.00%
80.00%
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
7.44%
-2.89%
-1.24%
-2.08%
-16.63%
-5.54%
0.00%
-20.00%
-40.00%
According to this (self-) assessment undertaken by grant beneficiaries, there is a serious
underachievement of success indicators. It is particularly disappointing to see that the figures
for employment and entrepreneurship have not been up to the challenges. It appears as if
the projects – although in their majority opting for the comparable easier activity types – have
not been able to solve the main challenge for youth unemployment – namely, to cross the
threshold into jobs in a convincing manner and amount.
Since vocational training has been the most preferred activity under PYE (55% of all
activities implemented belong to this field) it is justified to look in depth into that area:


Curricula followed MoNE standards in 81.7% of all cases.
Drop-out rates were less than 5% in 89.2% of the projects, between 5 and 10% in
6.2% of the projects and above 10% only in
Reasons for drop outs were manifold and are displayed in the following graph:
Graph 70: Reasons for drop-outs of training courses, PYE
If the drop-out rate is “10% or more” what were
the most frequent reasons for drop outs?
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
50.00%
40.00%
25.00%
30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
0.00%
Personal failure in training
Getting employed during the training
Schedule of the training was not suitable
for trainees.
Lack of belief in that the training will
facilitate employment
Family related
0.00%
Family related reasons are claimed in 50% of all cases. Focus group meetings have
confirmed that it was difficult for many young people for instance from hilly village regions to
follow training courses in the provincial capital due to difficult travel conditions, expenses as
well as familiar concerns.
In relation to an assessment of the training activities, PYE projects undertook evaluations not
as frequent as PWE projects did. 56% of the projects claimed to have done it. In relation to
the satisfaction of the trainees the scores are also significantly lower than in the area of
women employment as the following graph depicts:
Graph 71: Satisfaction of trainees with vocational training services offered by projects
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
78.40%
86.50%
64.90%
Training curricula
56.80%
Training materials,
workshops, equipment
and supply
Trainers
Venue and the
treatments
In terms of the effects of the projects under PYE, the results are also less favourable than in
PWE:
Graph 72: Effects of projects on employability of young people
70.00%
61.90%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
28.57%
30.00%
4.76%
3.17%
Gained self-confidence
10.00%
Become entrepreneur
20.00%
Improved skills
Become employable
0.00%
Besides the effects related to the grant scheme objectives grant beneficiaries also reported
on side-effects.
Graph 73: Side-effects of the project activities under PYE
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
49.20%
41.30%
25.40%
6.30%
Employment through the
networking among the
participants
Social networking
Interest in occupations Occupational training or
which are traditionally similar activities did not
male occupations
have any contribution in
finding jobs
Hence it is not a miracle that the assessment of major achievements of PYE projects does
not provide very promising results:
Graph 74: Major achievements of PYE projects
36.51%
4.76%
11.11%
Other
Institutitonal capacity
12.70%
Providing quality tarinings
7.94%
Occupational skill
9.52%
Providing quality services for
youth
Successful Project
22.22%
Employment
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Employment scores highest – but with only 36.51% this is not a very convincing indicator for
project success in PYE. Yet, sustainable employment-related figures cannot be presented
because they don’t exist. This is a major shortcoming of the monitoring of grant scheme
projects in general.
In relation to the sustainability as well as the utility of PYE results the evaluation team refers
to the respective statements made for PWE. They apply to PYE as well in principle with the
exception that the scores for PYE in general have been lower than those for PWE.
Horizontal Issues:
Like under the scope of PWE, PYE Guidelines for Applicants did not provide project
applicants with specific rules related to horizontal issues. They have not even been
mentioned. The only indication of the word “horizontal” in the guidelines actually refers ti the
“holistic approach” which to follow was made an obligation for grant beneficiaries in PYE.
Thus the online survey tried to find out if grant beneficiaries were aware of horizontal issues
– in particular in relation to environmental protection and the concerns of disadvantage
groups.
As it could be expected less than half of the beneficiaries said that they had ensured that
project activities would not have a negative impact on the environment.
Graph 75: Environmental impact of projects, PYE
Did you ensure that your activities had no
negative impact on environmental issues?
44.44%
55.56%
Yes
No
It can be regarded positive that at least six of the responding projects in the online survey
reported that their training contents enclosed environmental protection issues such as ecoinnovation entrepreneurship training or awareness-raising elements.
Little more than three out of ten projects claimed to have undertaken efforts to integrate
disadvantaged people as the following graph displays:
Graph 76: Integration of disadvantaged people under PYE
Has your project undertaken any specific
attempt at integrating disadvantaged
people?
36.51%
63.49%
Yes
No
Among those who did so the target group of people living in gecekondu areas was a clear
majority:
Graph 77: Groups of disadvantaged people addressed by PYE projects
80.00%
69.60%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
39.10%
30.00%
20.00%
8.70%
10.00%
13.00%
8.70%
17.40%
4.30%
0.00%
Parents of
working children
Women suffering
from domestic
violence
Drug addicts
Roma people
Internally
displaced persons
Ex-convicts and
ex-prisoners
People living in
“gecekondu”
areas
People with
disabilities
0.00%
Findings:
The findings regarding the PYE grant scheme are very similar to the ones made under PWE.
Hence the general comments made there apply to this grant scheme a well.
Yet, it can be said that, as far as results are concerned, PYE has performed significantly
weaker than PWE. It appears as if the achievement of result indicators – although no hard
data are available – has not been sufficient according to the grant beneficiaries’ own
statements in the online survey.
If this statement is seen in relation to the fact that activities promoting youth employment are
part of the day-to-day business of İŞKUR, one cannot avoid seeing this grant scheme more
critically. The evaluation team has recorded comments from the side of İŞKUR in which it
was claimed that grant scheme training activities “are more expensive than İŞKUR’s own
ones but follow lower quality standards.” If this statement is true – and there is no reason not
to believe İŞKUR staff in this respect – it has indeed to be discussed if grant scheme
programmes like PYE still make sense at all.
If the statement is true, a justification for such a scheme could only be established once the
guidelines would take a much more comprehensive approach towards innovation and the
development of methods and approaches in the promotion of youth employment that would
complement İŞKUR’s activities rather than repeating them. As long as there is no potential
for İŞKUR as OB to learn from the grant scheme implementation and draw conclusions for
their own youth employment strategies and activities another PYE scheme will be hrd to
justify.
3.3.3
PYE Technical Assistance Project
The Technical Assistance for Promotion of Youth Entrepreneurship project is the smallest
one among the TA projects funded under Priority 1 of the HRD OP. This might have to do
with the fact that the PYE grant scheme was the largest grant scheme in Priority 1. While the
grant scheme was supposed to combat youth unemployment with a quite comprehensive
approach – combining vocational training with counselling services, entrepreneurship
promotion and school-to-work transition guidance – the TA project aimed at a very narrow
field of activities: the promotion of entrepreneurship among young people in Turkey.
3.3.3.1 Background of the Project
The PYE project was based on an analysis of the challenges for young people on the Turkish
labour market with the following specificities:111

111
Low employment creation capacity
PYE Technical Assistance Project Terms of Reference, section 1.4.1








Lack of complementary employment policies, particularly regarding entrepreneurship
Low educational attainment levels
Difficulties in transition from school to work
Mismatch between skills of labour force and demand of the labour market
Insufficient VET services
Lack of efficient ALMP for young people
Low level of awareness among young people about labour market related services
Low level of entrepreneurship among young people
All these challenges contributed to the traditionally low labour force participation of young
people in Turkey as pointed out in the Background Analysis earlier in this report. The ToR
pinpointed the fact that there had been significant efforts undertaken by İŞKUR with a view to
combatting most of the employment-related challenges above. However, in the area of
entrepreneurship promotion, the overall responsibility was with KOSGEB and the analysis
concluded that there was a lack of coordination and cooperation between KOSGEB on the
one hand and İŞKUR, MoNE and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs on the other
hand which resulted in a lack of complimentary policies promoting youth entrepreneurship.
Hence the project intended to somehow close this gap.
The purpose of the PYE project therefore was112 “to assist İŞKUR and all related
stakeholders to provide services for promoting youth employment through increasing
employability and entrepreneurship of the young people and increasing matching services in
the transition period from school to work. More specifically, the purposes of this contract are:



To increase entrepreneurship among the young people by ensuring cooperation and
coordination among İŞKUR and all relevant stakeholders on providing services to
promote youth entrepreneurship
To increase internship and on-the-job training facilities for the young people by
supporting İŞKUR on matching services and increasing cooperation between private
sector and relevant actors
To increase policy making capacity of İŞKUR and local actors (vocational chambers,
trade unions, employers’ organizations, NGOs and provincial employment and
vocational training boards) to increase employability of the young people
3.3.3.2 Result / Activity Analysis
In pursuing the purposes outlined above, the Terms of Reference formulated five results
which had to be fulfilled by the contractor. These results were:
Result1: The entrepreneurship capacity of the young people in 15 growth centres is
enhanced.
Result 2: A model on “Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES)” is developed and piloted in 5
provinces.
112
PYE Technical Assistance Terms of Reference, section 2.2
Result 3: Access to internship and on-the-job trainings is enhanced by establishing networks
between workplaces/companies which can provide internship and on-the-job trainings in
eligible 12 NUTS II regions and young people.
Result 4: Action plans for youth employment are prepared for 5 growth centres to be used by
the relevant institutions as roadmaps.
Result 5: Grant Scheme results are disseminated among the relevant stakeholders.
Results were supposed to contribute to four major thematic focuses:




Result 1 and 2 referred to the issue of entrepreneurship with a view to increasing
capacities of young people in direction of starting their own businesses. The idea of
the model directly derived from the previous ALMP project within İŞKUR.
Result 3 covered the transition from school to work issue by trying to establish new
forms of labour market partnerships and coordination aiming at providing access to
the labour market via internships and on-the job training.
Result 4 aimed at enhancing policy making capacity by promoting youth employment
Action Plans in five selected growth centres in which local stakeholders were
expected to cooperate.
Result 5 was related to the PYE grant scheme and aimed at disseminating the grant
scheme project results among relevant stakeholders with a view to spreading good
practice.
It can be said that the coordination of activities within the five results was likely to improve
the situation of young unemployed people and to raise the level of entrepreneurship spirit
and actual start-ups founded by young people. The relevance of the activities was hence a
given.
3.3.3.3 Institutional Analysis
The ToR had already outlined that a lack of cooperation and coordination was one of the
main obstacles for young people having access to the labour market. In the description of
activities to be undertaken by the contractor, the ToR specified which institutions were meant
when it came to improving cooperation and coordination, namely:













MoLSS
İŞKUR
MoNE
MoIT
KOSGEB
MARA
TOBB
TESK
TÜSIAD
TISK
All trade union confederations
All chambers at central level and the level of the 43 eligible provinces
Universities in the 15 growth centres
The project has done its utmost in order to establish connections and continuous
conversation between those actors that had been recognised as crucial elements of any
entrepreneurship promotion efforts. However, the project staff had to face a challenge that
remained to be a specific burden for all TA projects in Priority 1 of the HRD OP: The fact that
cooperation between public entities – let alone on the basis of a written protocol – is difficult
to achieve because of the institutional egoisms and self-confidence, the reluctance to share
information and the unwillingness to work together at the same problems.
Particularly in relation to KOSGEB this is a key factor that provided the project team with
significant difficulties: KOSGEB is the institution which is responsible for entrepreneurship
training and promotion in Turkey. Any entrepreneurship-related training may only be provided
by institutions and trainers with a certification from KOSGEB, and when it comes to
establishing a new business in the market any public support in terms of grants, guidance
and supply has to be applied for at KOSGEB. Applications will only be eligible I the applicant
has gone through KOSGEB-certified training.
As the analysis of outcomes of the PYE project will show, the expectation of the project
design was that those young people who prepared the best business plans in the framework
of the project would then be “handed over” to KOSGEB for funding so that in the end there
would really be at least a handful of newly established start-ups run by young people.
Yet, this is not among the main intentions held by KOSGEB. Although the institution
participated in the project’s Steering Committee as well as the relevant Working Group there
has never been any “automatism” in relation to funding business plans developed under
PYE. On the contrary: As an interview conducted by the evaluation team revealed, KOSGEB
does not even know to what extent the applicants for KOSGEB funding went through
entrepreneurship training provided by İŞKUR. All that those young people who successfully
finalise a business plan under PYE’s support can expect is that their applications will be
eligible in general for KOSGEB funding. However, there will be no distinctive linkage
between the fact that KOSGEB was – at least somehow – involved into the project’s
implementation and the actual funding of start-ups after the project’s support has ended.
The attitude of KOSGEB shown in the interview with the evaluators reflects comments made
by OS staff about the reluctance of the institution to cooperate with others in any way with a
view to improving labour market settings in Turkey. It is therefore unavoidable to say that
there is a lack of cooperation between KOSGEB and other actors like İŞKUR which will
severely hamper the project from achieving success in relation to the promotion of young
entrepreneurship in practice.
3.3.3.4 Geographical Concentration
It is in the nature of the project activities that not all of them can be implemented throughout
the 43 eligible provinces. Yet, the project design and the actual implementation have done
their best in order to distribute services appropriately:


Entrepreneurship training as well as Entrepreneurship and Career Days has been
implemented in the 15 growth centres, i.e. all 12 NUTS II regions have been covered.
Surveys have been conducted in the growth centres as well, and meetings with
companies have been held in the same locations.




In relation to Result 3, meetings with companies have been implemented in all 43
provinces. Partnership agreements with companies have been concentrated on the
15 growth centres again.
Action Plans on youth employment could not possibly have been prepared for 43
provinces in such a short project with duration of two years. Hence it was foreseen
from the beginning to prepare them only for five selected locations. The same applied
to the development of the YES model which was limited to the provinces of Rize,
Sivas, Mardin, Malatya and Kahramanmaraş. These provinces appear to be a
relatively representative sample given the fact that very poor and rurally earmarked
regions are less favourable for entrepreneurship promotion. This might explain why
some of the neediest regions (according to the SEDI Index) have not been selected.
In relation to the potential transfer of project experience to other uncovered regions
and to the rest of Turkey the evaluation team points at the information and visibility
material produced by the project. In particular, the Business Start-up Guideline which
has been produced on DVD and the grant scheme compendium can easily be used
to promote new ideas in other provinces.
The YES model is ready to be used by İŞKUR countrywide, and so is the
methodology for Action Plan development. Hence it is up to the beneficiary to
guarantee that good practice will be spread across the country making use of their
provincial network.
All in all, it appears as if the PYE project has guaranteed a thoughtful and justified territorial
distribution of services in the narrow framework of the project activities.
3.3.3.5 Sectoral Concentration
The PYE project did not have a large sector-based activity and hence cannot be expected to
ensure a distinguished sectorial distribution of activities.
Only within Result 1 the project has implemented surveys and meetings with companies in
15 growth centres with a view to identifying investment areas. Thus, some sectors have been
investigated more in depth with a view to identify those in which entrepreneurship support
might be of particular interest. According to the Programme Management, the respective
report has not yet been approved. meeting
Given the fact that there was no sector-related activity foreseen in the project, no respective
results with a sector relation can be expected to be achieved.
3.3.3.6 Outcomes
In relation to outcomes of the PYE project – that has not yet been finalised and will run (with
one month extension) until end of September 2013 – the evaluation team has made the
following findings:
Result 1:





Sectoral reports have been finalised but the respective report has not yet been
approved (as of June 2013)
The list of national and international financial means for business start-ups has been
produced.
Entrepreneurship Guidelines for Young People have been produced and published
on DVD.
Entrepreneurship Days have been organised in 15 growth centres. They have been
merged with the Career Days foreseen under Result 3. The beneficiary was not
satisfied with the quality of the events. There was a discrepancy between the design
envisaged by the beneficiary in the inception phase and the actual implementation of
the events by the TAT. The beneficiary also thinks that the number of participants in
the events was not satisfactory. The project’s Team Leader has admitted problems in
the implementation of events which depended mainly on mistakes in the selection of
NKEs. The issue will be discussed at a later stage (3.3.3.7).
The requested website is online.
Result 2:






The requested work group has been established and meetings have been organised
continuously. According to the project’s Team Leader, the work group is supposed to
continue after the project has ended which would be a strong signal in favour of the
project’s sustainability efforts.
The model on “Youth Entrepreneurship Support” (YES) has been developed and
introduced in the pilot provinces. As far as the requested protocol is concerned, the
situation is difficult. In June, the beneficiary hoped that there would be progress in
convincing the relevant stakeholders to sign – but no success has yet been reported
to the evaluation team. In this respect the aforementioned problems with KOSGEB
have to be remembered. According to the TAT, a protocol with TOBB, TESK and
some other institutions as well as ministries was supposed to be presented at the
final conference. This remains to be seen.
However, the beneficiary sees the YES model as the most important output of the
project and intends to use it country-wide after the project’s closure. The model was
supposed to be presented at a national conference in Ankara in September 2013.
Work plans for the five pilot provinces have been prepared and kick-off meetings in
the pilot provinces have been implemented.
Entrepreneurship training for young people has been successfully organised and
implemented with a participation that exceeded the requirements by far. Yet, the
target group which mainly consisted of students had difficulties to participate in 30
days of training. After all, more than 500 young people started the training while 270
finally received a certificate for the participation in the course. According to the TAT,
the quality of the training exceeded the criteria requested by KOSGEB by far.
Additional coaching was provided to those participants with the best business ideas.
Yet, as mentioned before, there is no automatism of receiving any further funding
from KOSGEB afterwards. In this respect there have been false or unjustified
expectations in the project design at the expense of the trainees.
Result 3:

Companies with the potential to provide internships and on-the-job training to
youngsters have been identified, and meetings with them have been carried out in all
43 provinces.


As a result, more than 140 agreements with companies have been signed which is
significantly above the indicator of 5 times 15 outlined in the ToR. This result is not in
line with the beneficiary’s comments about problems related to timing, budgeting and
mobilisation of this activity. According to İŞKUR, NKEs have started lately and the
company feedback was significantly lower than requested in the ToR. It appears as if
the project team has finally turned the right screws in order to achieve the necessary
indicators.
The activity related to the İŞKUR website to be used for internship matching has been
merged with a similar activity under PES.
Result 4:


As far as the Action Plans are concerned, the work has started very late in the
project’s life cycle. According to the beneficiary, six Task Forces have been
established (one at central level, five in the pilot provinces). They have mostly been
“docked” to the PEVTBs.
The expectations are unanimously relatively low. Some Task Forces appear to
function well; others are more or less failures. The beneficiary is more or less satisfied
with three of the plans while Kahramanmaraş and Malatya represent poor quality.
There is hope on the side of the TAT which reports about spreading communication
and a growing feeling of mutual support needs between the provincial actors. If the
Action Plans – which are supposed to be presented at the project’s final conference –
really work will have to be subject to an evaluation at a later stage.
Result 5:

The grant scheme compendium has been prepared, published and presented at a
conference at an early stage of the project. This was the only connection between the
TA project and the grant beneficiaries working in the PYE grant scheme.
The overall assessment of the achievement of results in PYE is ambivalent. There appears
to be a design flaw in relation to the lack of consistency between the efforts undertaken by
the contractor and TAT for the benefit of the beneficiary and the actual follow-up of activities
regarding the real target group. Which effect the project has had on the actual promotion of
youth entrepreneurship will have to be assessed in the future.
While the YES model might constitute a benefit for İŞKUR which intends to use it nationwide,
there is probably no real direct benefit for young people participating in the training due to the
lack of cooperation will demonstrated by KOSGEB. In that respect, the project can hardly be
blamed if main actors boycott the project’s success to some extent. Other problems of the
PYE project were “home-made” and will be discussed in the next section.
3.3.3.7 Other Observations
The PYE project is a good example for the problems and misunderstandings that can occur
in an international TA project and that hamper project progress significantly. This sub-chapter
will highlight some of them:
Team Composition:



Relatively early during the project implementation the Team Leader came to the
conclusion that two of his Key Experts did not perform sufficiently well. One of them,
the KE on Career Guidance, explained that she did not command the expected
qualifications and resigned from the project. The Entrepreneurship KE also finally
resigned. The replacement process took very long so that the project lost a significant
amount of the implementation period and the beneficiary suffered huge delays. After
all, one new KE came in while the second replacement candidate was refused by
EUD for formal reasons. Hence the TL had to invest a lot of his time into performing
professional tasks instead of managing progress. Had the selection and preparation
of an appropriate team been undertaken with more care the contractor would not
have been put under such pressure as actually happened.
According to the TL many of the NKE did not match the required quality which also
led to severe problems and left the beneficiary unsatisfied with parts of the activities.
The project suffered from a lack of Key Expert expertise which could not be fully
compensated by the one replacement KE and the TL.
Backstopping:




The TL felt to a high extent left alone because in his view the quality of the project
office was not good enough from the beginning.
Especially translation capacities constituted a main challenge. The contractor had
planned with one full time translator and found that more capacities were required in
order to implement activities accordingly.
The OCU also felt that backstopping was insufficient which led to a severe situation in
which the OS issued a warning letter to the contractor and threatened him with
penalties. It is the unanimous view of the other parties of the contract (OS, beneficiary
and TAT) that it was the supporting efforts of WYG Türkiye – consortium partner of
the contractor Project Group – that saved the project from being cancelled. Additional
manpower was made available to the project in order to fulfil the tasks in a substantial
way.
As a consequence the TL was no longer in a managing position. Staff members were
ordered to do things or to go to other places without the TL knowing about – let alone:
approving – it. This way of managing a major project with a budget of almost 2 million
EUR does not appear to be appropriate.
OCU Assignment and Continuity:


The OCU for PYE within İŞKUR was allocated in the Foreign Affairs and Projects
Department. The same applied to the PES OCU. The OCU for PWE was allocated to
the Employment Department. In the view of the OS’s contract managers, the PWE
OCU performed more smoothly than the ones responsible for PYE and PES. That
may have to do with the fact that their members are closer to the professional tasks
that have to be performed in the TA projects. Once the OCU is allocated in the
Foreign Affairs Department, the department needs to involve professional staff from
those departments in which the respective tasks are being handled. Such a scenario
obviously leads to friction loss.
Within the ICU for PYE there have been changes during the project’s life time.
Whenever staff in OCUs is replaced friction loss will necessarily emerge and
complicate the communication between the beneficiary and the TAT. Both sides
complain about lack of communication and delays – it is most likely that both sides

have to carry responsibility for these phenomena due to the previously described
events.
Solutions like the one chosen by the beneficiary – namely not to sign timesheets for
two KEs – do not appear to be appropriate measures once progress is expected and
cooperation required.
Delayed Approval Decisions:



There have been cases again and again in which delays have been reported which
were due to a lack of an approval decision. The TL, for instance, complained about
discussions related to visibility items taking months before a decision was made.
Apparently the contractor – represented by a Project Director – has also not been
very helpful in solving such problems although this would be one of his most
prominent tasks.
There appears to have been a general lack of communication between beneficiary,
contractor, TAT and contract management that hampered project progress in several
cases. Such mistakes could have been avoided.
Misunderstanding of the term “Technical Assistance”:



The OCU reported that in several cases local İŞKUR directorates were asked for
support by NKEs of the project and refused to help because of other urgent tasks.
The OCU staff themselves said that they sometimes felt they had to give support to
the TAT which was not the way it should be. Such remarks have been overheard by
the evaluation team more than once.
There seems to be a general misunderstanding about the character of Technical
Assistance. It is not the case that TA should mainly carry out tasks for the benefit of
the beneficiary. On the contrary, TA should in principle assist the beneficiary in
carrying out these additional tasks himself.
The result of this attitude is in many cases a lack of commitment and ownership on
the side of the beneficiary because the product has not been developed by him but by
– foreign or domestic – external experts and does – for whatever reasons – not match
the beneficiary’s expectations. It is the close cooperation between beneficiary and
consultant that leads to appropriate results. The consultant should not be supposed
to work on its own but to provide support on the job and just in time. That is why the
embedment of TA projects into a (at least) mid-term strategy of the beneficiary is so
crucial for the overall success of a TA project. Only then ownership and commitment
will grow and results will be sustainable in an institutional development sense.
Altogether the assessment of the PYE project is that of a missed opportunity. Had there been
better cooperation and communication between the acting parties, many problems could
have been avoided and the project might have had much more time to really solve problems
instead of just trying to meet benchmarks. Nevertheless, such a project provides lessons for
the future and should therefore not be blamed as a failure but seen as a model how not to
implement TA projects. Once lessons are learned and conclusions are drawn, mistakes will
be avoided in future projects.
In relation to content, the necessity of developing strategies for youth employment is undoubtable. The question if promoting entrepreneurship is the most appropriate path for
Turkey is yet questionable. In resolving the labour market challenges for young people that
have been outlined in the ToR, there will be other and more promising approaches which can
be built on rich EU experiences with programmes and projects promoting youth employment.
Further measures should take that into account.
3.4 Informal Employment and Registered Employment
3.4.1 Financial Status
Total amount of funds allocated for the Priority 1 Axis of HRD OP was 208.736.473 EUR
(177.426.000 EUR EU contribution and 31.310.473 EUR National contribution) for the period
2007-2013. Cumulative expenditure out of allocated amount was 59,301,182.17 EUR
(50,406,903.42 EUR EU contribution and 8,895,512.30 EUR National contribution).
The amounts contracted for promoting registered employment are 9.167.133,61 EUR,
2.399.500 EUR, and 424.366 EUR for grant scheme, services and supply contracts
respectively.
Table 121: Amounts Contracted for PRE as of 31.12.2012
Name
of
operation:
the
Type of
contract
Service
Promoting
Registered
Employment
Grant
Supply
Contract Title
Date of
signature of
contract (1st
contract for
grants)
Contract
amount (total
public cost)
Status at
31.12.2012
Technical
Assistance for
Strengthening
the Institutional
Capacity of
Social Security
Institution (SSI)
14.09.2010
2.399.500€
Finished
Promoting
registered
employment
through
innovative
measures
12.07.2010
9.167.133,61€
Finished
LOT 1:
11.05.2011
118.430 €
Finished
LOT 2:
27.05.2011
169.446 €
Finished
LOT 3:
04.05.2011
136.490 €
Finished
Office
equipment for
conducting
training and
guidance
activities and
improving the
information
base capacity
of the SSI
Share of PRE grant scheme in the total contracted amount of grant scheme programmes for
Priority 1 Axis was 16%; whereas the share of PRE for service contracts was 14% and the
share of supply was 73% in the period of 2007-2012. PRE grant scheme got smallest share
whereas the supply contract was the biggest.
Table 122: Contracted Amounts for Priority 1 Axis per Type of Contracts
Operation
PWE
PYE
PRE
Grant Scheme
Service
Supply
Total
23,888,026.94
(41,7%)
2.989.550 (17%)
-
26.877.576,94
1.947.680 (11%)
-
26.080.760,98
2.399.500 (14%)
424.366 (73%)
11.990.999,61
24.133.080,98
(42%)
9.167.133,61
(16%)
PES
-
9.978.000 (58%)
156.228 (27%)
10.134.228
TOTAL
57.188.241,53
17.314.730
580.594
75.083.565,53
The table below depicts the budgeted, contracted amounts and the actual expenditure for
PRE operation. Contracted amount of grant scheme projects were realized below the
allocated amount reflecting the limited interest in applications for the PRE grant scheme and
the low relevance and quality of applications.
Table 123: PRE Budget, Contracts, Expenditure (EU+ National Contr.) as of 31.12.2012
Contract Type
Budget
Contract
Expenditure
Grant Scheme
11.850.000
9.167.133,61
7.788.390,95
Service
Supply
2.400.000
750.000
2.399.500
424.366
??
??
3.4.2
Grant Scheme
3.4.2.1 Background of the Grant Scheme
Promoting Registered Employment Grant Scheme has been launched under the Measure
1.3 of Priority 1 Axis of HRD OP which aims “to promote registered employment through
strengthening the capacity of Social Security Institution, provision of awareness raising and
ensuring coordination among relevant public institutions and social partners” and with its
specific objectives: “promoting for magnifying formal employment/ minimizing informal
employment by enabling the regional / local society innovative actions to find and implement
effective ways and methods to promote registered employment”.
Potential applicants were indicated as public bodies, semi-public bodies, chambers, social
partners, NGOs, universities etc. and local/ regional partnerships were encouraged. Yet, the
partnership was made obligatory. PRE grant scheme targeted formal firms, sectors,
employees, semi-formal firms, sectors and employees, and informal firms, sectors and
employees.
The grant scheme was launched on 12th February 2009 with a deadline for submission of
applications on 15thJune 2009. The total number of project applications was 238 out of which
43 were awarded contracts. The final number of contracted projects was 41 to be
implemented in a period of 12 months. Contracts were signed in July 2010 and the
implementation of projects ended in July 2011.
The overall indicative grant amount made available under PRE Grant Scheme was
11.850.000 EUR of which 85% is allocated from the European Commission budget and 15%
is national co-financing. Actual grant allocation for 41 projects was 9.167.133,60 EUR. Total
project cost for 41 project was 10.213.578,26 EUR. Total eligible cost of projects was
8.672.256,56 EUR of which the total eligible amount of grant expenditure was 7.788.390,95
EUR at the end of the implementation process of projects. As of date, final financial reports
of few projects are still under review for finalizing the approval of total eligible cost.
Table 124: PRE Grant Scheme Allocated, Contracted and total Expense Amounts
PRE
Total Grant Allocated € (I)
11.850.000
Total Budget Contracted € (II)
10.213.578,26
Total Grant Contracted € (II)
9.167.133,61
8.672.256,56
Total Eligible Cost of Projects € (IV)
Total Eligible Grant Amount € (V)
7.788.390,95
Grant Expenditure % (V/III)
85
3.4.2.2 Activity Analysis (= Thematic concentration)
The Guideline for Grant Applicants for PRE has described the priorities of this grant scheme
as “to promote formal employment by facilitating the formalisation processes of sectors, firms
and employees. Undeclared work before the social security law will have priority”. Under the
framework of this description an indicative list with 15 activities was provided as examples for
the potential project promoters. The list was not exhaustive.
The 15 activities listed in the guidelines are shown in the following table:
Table 125: PRE indicative activities in Guidelines for Grant Applicants by frequency
Activity
Code
Activity Name
a
Identification and implementation of specific
measures in workplaces to increase the
productivity with a view to encourage registered
employment
Identifying best practises, developing and
implementing formal flexible working models which
are useful for improving registered employment
Establishment and/or using a network within the
actors of economic and social actors with a view to
develop and nurture the culture of registered
employment.
Awareness raising activities for local authorities,
employers and employees in order to develop
consciousness regarding unregistered work.
Developing and implementing models on
reorganisation of sectors or firms which will
promote the extension of trade between registered
enterprises in main industries such as clusters or
other forms of models.
Activities including conducting sectorial and intersectorial analyses with a special focus on informal
employment.
Developing models and networks which will create
better coordination, monitoring and good
governance among relevant institutions and other
stakeholders in local and sectorial level.
Activities which aim to encourage preventive
practices among certain profession such as
accountants and lawyers etc.
Promoting registered employment through social
dialogue.
Vocational training activities with a focus on
promoting registered employment.
Conducting information and publicity events at
educational institutions in order to develop a social
security culture.
Development and/or implementing models for
employers in order to promote social responsibility
and dissemination activities.
Promoting and experiencing best practices on the
principle of equal opportunities (in particular,
women and the young) in the context of undeclared
work.
Increasing the role of social partners/other
stakeholders in promoting registered employment
through cooperation.
Actions for reduction of undeclared work in an
innovative approach.
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
Implementation Frequency
12
8
30
39
8
11
22
3
22
28
16
20
15
18
36
The types of activities preferred and implemented under 41 contracted projects were
analysed on the basis of data obtained from the online survey, G-MIS and the compendium
of the PRE grant scheme.
The frequency of implementation of activity types was shown in the table above. The
percentage distribution of the same data is displayed in the Graph below.
Graph 78: Percentage Distribution of Action Types for All Projects
100.00%
76%
59%
50.00%
27%
51%
39%
17% 22%
17%
71%
59%
39% 34% 34%
29%
7%
0.00%
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
The graph reveals that the most favoured and repeated activities with a rate of more than
50% preference have been:





“d- Awareness raising activities...”, 76%
“o- Actions for reduction of undeclared work in an innovative approach”, 71%
“j- Vocational training activities...”, 59%
“c- Establishment and/or using a network...” 59%
“i- ...social dialogue” 51%.
To put forth the activity types less preferred, the activities with the preference rate of less
than 20% were:



“b- Identifying best practises, developing and implementing formal flexible working
models...for improving registered employment”, 17%
“e- Developing and implementing models...will promote the extension of trade
between registered enterprises...”, 17%
“h- ...encourage preventive practices among certain profession such as accountants
and lawyers etc.” 7%.
It can easily be said that the most favoured activities have a common characteristic of being
ordinary and common for all kind of interventions that can be easily adopted and
implemented.
Whereas the less preferred ones require more sophisticated efforts such as putting in
academic approaches, research, close communication and coordination with several parties
involved, decisive advocacy attempts.
One cannot ignore the contributions of ordinary/common types of interventions, yet, to
struggle for and to pursue innovative approaches would definitely have enlarged the scope of
the intervention as foreseen in the guideline and better served in achieving the objectives of
the programme. The lacking capacities of project promoters, project staff and experts to be
nominated, partner institutions at local level, high costs of involving experts from other
regions, etc. might have been the main reasons for such positioning. On the other hand,
considering the existence of experienced grant beneficiaries in some regions and the
possibility of applications out of region – in case the implementation was supposed to
happen in the 43 eligible provinces – the project promoters might have preferred the
activities they are familiar with for ease of implementation and self-indulgence.
Neither OS nor OB have undertaken an effort to formulate more challenging conditions
including the call for innovative actions. Yet, it has to be taken into account that there has not
been any predecessor grant scheme in the area of unregistered employment. Hence there
has not been experience which could have been built upon.
The next few paragraphs attempt to analyse the distribution of the most and least preferred
activities on regional bases in order to find out if there are specific patterns depending on the
regions.

Regions and most favoured activities:
Graph 79: Awareness raising activities
100%
100%
100%
100.00%
83%
90.00%
75%
80.00%
80%
71%
67%
70.00%
75%
67%
60.00%
50%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
TR-63
TR-72
TR-82
TR-83
TR-90
TR-A1
TR-B1
TR-B2
TR-C1
TR-C2
TR-C3
Graph 80: Actions for reduction of undeclared work in an innovative approach
100%
100%
100%
100.00%
90.00%
86%
83%
80.00%
67%
70.00%
60%
60.00%
50%
50%
50%
TR-C2
TR-C3
50.00%
40.00%
33%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
TR-63
TR-72
TR-82
TR-83
TR-90
TR-A1
TR-B1
TR-B2
TR-C1
The graphs above show the most favoured activities on regional basis and reveal that nearly
all regions have implemented these activities at high rates with the exception of TR C1Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Kilis.

.Regions and less preferred activities:
Graph 81: b- identifying best practices, …flexible working models
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50%
50%
50.00%
43%
40.00%
25%
30.00%
17%
20.00%
8%
10.00%
0%
0%
0%
0%
TR-90
TR-A1
TR-B1
0%
0.00%
TR-63
TR-72
TR-82
TR-83
TR-B2
TR-C1
TR-C2
TR-C3
Graph 82: e- Developing and implementing models… will promote the extension of trade…
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50%
50.00%
40.00%
29%
25%
30.00%
17%
20.00%
20%
17%
10.00%
0%
0%
0%
0%
TR-A1
TR-B1
0%
0.00%
TR-63
TR-72
TR-82
TR-83
TR-90
TR-B2
TR-C1
TR-C2
TR-C3
The graphs show the preferences of the regions on two examples of less favoured activities with 17% preference rate. The regions (63, A1, B1, C1) that have not implemented any of
these activities are the regions with low number of projects (3). This might suggest that grant
schemes implemented with high number projects that are evenly distributed among the
regions may be instrumental in extending the thematic coverage of the interventions.
However, in contradicting with that, the next table below reveals that there is no consistency
between the number of projects in a region and the concentration on the activities. In other
words, high number of project does not mean high variety of activities. There is not any
region which implemented less than 9 kinds of activities; TR82 region has implemented 13
out of 15 kinds of activities under 2 projects only; whereas TR83 region has been able to
cover 14 kinds of activities with 12 projects. The average number of activities per project in
TR82 and TR83 has been 10 and 5.7.
Table 126: Activities, Regions and number of projects
a
b
TR-63
c
d
1
3
TR-72
1
1
4
5
TR-82
1
1
1
2
TR-83
3
1
7
9
e
f
g
h
2
1
2
1
3
No
of
Typ
e of
act.
No
of
Pro.
Av.
no.
of
act.
per
pro.
i
j
k
l
m
n
o
No
of
act.
1
1
1
2
1
1
3
16
10
3
5.3
2
2
3
5
1
2
3
3
3
37
15
6
6.2
2
1
2
2
1
2
2
1
2
20
13
2
10.0
3
8
5
3
4
5
10
68
14
12
5.7
5
TR-90
2
3
4
TR-A1
1
1
2
3
3
5
5
1
2
TR-B1
TR-B2
4
3
TR-C1
1
2
2
3
3
1
1
1
2
2
4
1
1
28
12
5
5.6
2
12
10
3
4.0
2
3
21
9
3
7.0
2
1
6
47
14
7
6.7
1
1
1
1
10
9
3
3.3
1
2
1
1
2
20
12
4
5.0
1
1
1
9
9
2
4.5
1
1
1
3
1
2
4
5
2
3
1
1
2
1
3
3
1
2
1
TR-C3
1
1
1
1
1
1
Total
3
2
TR-C2
1
3
1
12
8
30
39
8
11
22
3
22
28
16
20
15
18
36
(*) Actual no. of projects is 41. This figure also counts the projects implemented in more than one province
50*
When it comes to assessing if the institutional types of grant beneficiaries have played any
role in selection of activities: all kinds of activities (15) have been implemented by chambers
and foundations followed by associations (14), unions (13) and trade unions (11) (see the
table below). These institutions are distinguished among others by their capacities and
experience in developing and implementing projects. Activity coverage by institutions was not
relevant to the number of projects. 15 kinds of activities have been implemented in 15
projects by chambers; whereas, foundations’ performance was the same with only 4 projects.
In total 242 activities have been implemented in 41 projects. Regarding the average number
of activities implemented by institutions, Development Agencies have the highest score
followed by the foundations, trade unions and chambers.
The findings clearly reveal that the extended thematic coverage solely depends on the good
quality of projects developed by the experienced institutions, oriented to all varieties of
activities envisaged to address the priorities of programme. The selection process should be
designed in a way as to have all varieties of projects in each region; that can be facilitated by
encouraging a high number of applications.
Table 127: Activities Institutions and number of projects
Associations
Chambers
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
2
2
4
4
3
2
3
6
3
Development
Agencies
Foundations
Municipalities
Organized
Industrial
Zones
Special
Provincial
Administrations
2
1
8
11
1
1
3
4
2
1
2
7
1
1
1
3
h
1
2
1
6
5.5
6.0
j
k
l
m
n
o
No
of
act.
1
1
3
2
1
1
4
33
10
4
9
5
1
1
3
1
1
1
14
i
1
1
No
of
Pro.
Av.
no.
of
act.
per
pro.
No
of
Type
of
act.
1
1
1
1
7
1
4
5
10
90
15
15
1
1
1
9
9
1
9.0
2
1
4
33
15
4
8.3
3
3
1
3.0
1
7
6
2
3.5
1
4
4
1
4.0
1
2
3
Trade Unions
UN
Development
Programme
1
Unions
1
4
1
1
1
5
1
1
2
1
2
1
Universities
11
Total
3
7
24
32
2
5
1
7
9
16
3
22
3
1
2
1
1
1
1
3
3
2
1
24
17
14
14
13
2
23
11
3
7.7
1
5
5
1
5.0
4
31
13
6
5.2
1
4
4
1
4.0
29
242
41
To sum up the findings, it can be said:






The most favoured activities by grant beneficiaries have a common characteristic of
being ordinary and common for all kind of interventions that can be easily adopted
and implemented.
On the other hand, the less preferred activities are the ones that require creative and
innovative approaches to be formulated by qualified and experienced experts,
promoters. They also require qualified managers, experts and beneficiaries to be
successfully implemented.
The lacking capacities of project promoters, project staff and experts to be
nominated, partner institutions at local level, high costs of having experts from other
regions, etc. might have been the main reasons for such positioning.
Furthermore, the application guideline did not impose or encourage any of the
innovative approaches in the indicative activity list.
There is no consistency between the number of projects in a region and the
concentration on the activities. The same applies for the number of projects by
institutions. In other words, high number of projects does not mean high variety of
activities.
Activity coverage was high with the projects applied for by the institutions that owned
the required capacity and expertise in grant projects.
Based on the findings it can be recommended that:



The thematic coverage of the interventions can only be extended by good quality
projects developed by experienced institutions, oriented to all varieties of projects.
Guidelines for Grant Applicants might be formulated in a way to indicate preferences
among activities in the eligible activity lists to encourage innovative activity types to
address specific priorities of HRD OP;
Guidelines might be formulated in a way that they limit specific types of activities to
match with specific institutions. This might raise the efficiency of implementation of
these activities since they would only be carried out by institutions that have the
necessary experience and institutional capacities.
3.4.2.2 Institutional Analysis (= Civil Society Participation)
Although there has never been any grant scheme like PRE before the experience of PRE
grant beneficiaries with the role of a grant beneficiary is higher than in the other grant
schemes. But still, two thirds of them did not have any experience before.
Graph 83: Experience of grant beneficiaries in previous projects
Has your institution ever implemented a project in
the capacity of Grant Beneficiary in the last 3 years
prior to this project, similar to the one you have
implemented under this programme?
33%
67%
Yes
No
Graph 84: Grant beneficiaries in PRE without previous experience by regions
100.00%
1.00
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
100.00%
85.71%
100.00%
100.00%
66.67%
66.67%
100.00%
66.67%
50.00%
33.33%
TR-63
TR-72
TR-82
TR-83
TR-90
TR-A1
TR-B1
TR-B2
TR-C1
TR-C2
TR-C3
This section also aims to analyse PRE grant scheme applications and the contracted
projects on the basis of types of institution. There have been 238 applications for the PRE
grant scheme call for proposal and 41 projects were contracted and implemented.
Graph 85: Number of PRE Grant Schemes Applications by type of institutions
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
64
64
3
23
17
13
10
2
10
6
4
1
19
2
The graph displays that 187 out of 238 applications (7.8/10) represent just five types of
institutions: Associations, chambers, unions, universities and municipalities. The ratio of
wining projects to the applications shows that 31 of the winning 41 projects (7.5/10) were
submitted by these institutions. Unions and chambers were successful in winning projects
with the success rates of 30% and 20% respectively. Associations were ranked in third place
with 12% of success. Trade unions were also successful with 3 winning projects in only 6
applications. Universities and municipalities failed to be successful despite their ambitions to
absorb more funds out of the programme by submitting many project applications.
Graph 86: Number of Projects contracted by Institutions Type
14
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
8
7
0
1
2
3
1
0
0
1
3
1
0
The high success rates of unions and chambers can be attributed to their higher institutional
and staff capacity compared to the other applicants. It is obvious that any effort to be devoted
in improving the project development capacity of associations will directly improve the fund
absorption capacity of the civil society and improve the efficiency of interventions. Yet the
universities seem to have the potential to involving in the interventions to a larger extent
whereby their intellectual capacities and networks could play an important role.
Graph 87: Percentage of budget distribution by institutions’ types
Unions
20%
Universities
1%
Associations
24%
UN Development
Programme
4%
Trade Unions
6%
Special Provincial
Administrations
2%
Organized Industrial
Zones
5%
Municipality
3%
Chambers
26%
Foundations
5%
Development
Agencies
4%
The pie graph shows the percentage of grant scheme budgets according to institution type.
Chambers have absorbed the highest proportion of the total budget followed by the
associations and unions. Institutions vary in their share in the total budget that is in line with
the number of projects they implemented.
Civil society involvement in fund absorption was quite promising. As the following table
shows, approximately 80% (33/41) of projects were implemented by NGOs and 79% of the
total project budget was allocated for NGO’s.
Table 128: NGO project numbers and budget absorption
NGO
Number of Projects
33
Total
41
Project Budget €
8.110.631,71
10.213.578,26
3.4.2.3 Partnership Approach
The guideline for applications suggested that “the activities are foreseen to take place in local
/ regional partnerships, within this framework the Grant Scheme will support the relevant
public institutions, social partners, NGOs and other intermediaries, and the facilitation can be
realised by public bodies, semi-public bodies, chambers, social partners, NGO’s, Universities
etc. which works closely with labour market”113. The list of eligible activities has been
provided with a view to addressing the priorities of the programme including also increasing
the role of social partners/other stakeholders in promoting registered employment through
cooperation.
The evaluation grid for full applications was designed to score the financial and operational
capacity of partners in the same line with the applicant. The description of the methodology
in pursuing the involvement of partners is weighed with 5 points. This shows that the
partners’ involvement and their contributions to the implementation were given strong
importance in PRE grant scheme.
Table 129: Partnership scoring on Evaluation Grid for PRE Grant Scheme
Section
1. Financial and operational capacity
1.1 Do the applicant and, if applicable, partners have sufficient experience of
project management?
1.2 Do the applicant and, if applicable partners have sufficient technical
expertise? (notably knowledge of the issues to be addressed.)
1.3 Do the applicant and, if applicable, partners have sufficient management
capacity?
(including staff, equipment and ability to handle the budget for the action)?
3. Methodology
3.3 Is the partners' and/or other stakeholders' level of involvement and
participation in the action satisfactory?
Maximum
Score
5
5
5
5
The on-line survey has included few questions to assess the partnership structures and the
results of that. The following graph reveals the experiences of the grant beneficiaries as
partners prior to PRE grant scheme. 8 out of 10 grant beneficiaries have not participated in
projects as partners and so the majority of them have no experience of being in a supporting
role at all. This may be considered as a major drawback to effectively gain the benefits of the
partnership approach in a project expecting major contributions from partners.
113
PRE - Guidelines for Grant Applicants, section 1.2
Graph 88: Involvement of GBs in a project in the capacity of partner
Has your institution ever been involved in a project in the capacity of Partner in the
last 3 years prior to this project, similar to the one you have implemented under this
programme?
22%
78%
Yes
No
The online survey provides us with some empirical data whether the partnership issue has
been handled seriously in line with the attributed importance in the application guidelines.
More than 8 out of 10 grant beneficiaries selected their partners because they assumed they
would contribute to implementing main activities; and 7 out of 10 have expected that they
would provide access to the target groups (see the following graph). This indicates that
applicants took the advice of the guidelines very serious. However, less than 5 out of 10
grant beneficiaries admitted that the partners have actually taken roles in main activities. On
the other hand, partners were apparently successful in delivering their roles as expected in
facilitating the access to the target groups.
Graph 89: Reasons for the selection of partners
What were the factors you considered in the selection of your
Partners?
100.00%
90.00%
85%
74%
80.00%
70.00%
63%
60.00%
50.00%
41%
40.00%
30%
30.00%
19%
20.00%
10.00%
Providing access to the target
groups
Providing access to potential
employers
Sustainability of the Project
Financial and logistic support
Experience in project
implementation
Active contribution in
implementing main activities of
the project
0.00%
Graph 90: Actual roles of partners
What were the actual roles of your partners in your project?
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
70.40%
55.60%
37.00%
14.80%
11.10%
Prepared the project
Facilitated the
Implemented and Provided financial
Provided
proposal
project in reaching monitored the main
contribution
employment
and selecting the
activities
opportunities for the
participant
participants
Despite the fact that some of the expectations towards partners have not been realized, the
answers to the question – asking if partners have been able to deliver what was expected –
was contradicting with that, and all grant beneficiaries were 100% sure that they have met
the expectations.
The reason for such contradicting results might be the expectations of grant beneficiaries
towards their partners were already quite low, given the fact that partners had a limited
experience in grant projects in the capacity of beneficiary or partner.
Despite their low expectations and concerns in the performance of partners the majority of
the grant beneficiaries have not hesitated to have more than one partner. This might be
interpreted in a way that they have done so because of their concerns for a high score in the
application evaluation.
Table 130: Number of partners and projects
Number of Partners
Number of Projects
1
13
2
10
3
10
4
3
5
2
6
1
7
2
The next table shows the actual partnership structure for the projects of PRE grant scheme –
grant beneficiary institutions are on rows and partners on columns. To give examples, table
should be read as: 28% of associations have selected other associations as partner; 17% of
chambers have selected partners among universities.
We would expect some ideal partnership structure in achieving the programme objectives.
For example trade unions were expected to have partnerships with chambers as being the
parties representing the employees and the employers. Some examples of actual cases
were as follows:




33% of associations had partnerships with chambers that can be regarded as
effective.
21% of the chambers had other chambers as partners which seem to be less
supportive for the achievement of the grant scheme objectives.
67% of the trade unions had chambers as partners which can be regarded as
effective.
27% of the unions had chambers as partners which might be regarded less fruitful as
both are representing the employer side.
The examples are confusing as there are ideal partnership structures besides ineffective
ones. Yet, the partnerships among chambers may yield good results in case of awareness
rising activities to be implemented on a broad range. Chambers’ involvement as partners and
promoters was striking. It will have to do with the finding that they received lots of support
from their roof organisation (TOBB).
.
Table 131: Partners of PRE GBs by Institution type of GBs
Vocational Training
Centers (MEM)
Village Service
Unions
Universities
Unions
Trade Unions
Special Provincial
Directorate
Public Institution
Public Education
Centers (HEM)
Provincial Directorate
of National Education
Organized Industrial
Zones
International
Institution
Municipalities
Governorship
Governmental
Institution
Foundations
Cooperatives
GBs
Chambers
Associations
PARTNERS
Associations
28% 33%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
6%
0%
0%
0%
6% 0%
0% 6%
17% 0%
6%
Chambers
10% 21%
3%
3%
0%
7%
10% 0%
7%
0%
0%
3% 3%
0% 14% 17% 0%
0%
Development
Agencies
0%
100% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0% 0%
0% 0%
0%
0%
0%
Foundations
50% 25%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0% 0%
0% 0%
0%
0%
25%
Municipalities
Organized
Industrial
Zones
0%
33%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
33%
0% 0%
0% 0%
0%
33% 0%
0%
40%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
20% 20%
20%
0% 0%
0% 0%
0%
0%
0%
Special
Provincial
Administrations 0%
50%
0%
0%
0%
0%
50% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0% 0%
0% 0%
0%
0%
0%
Trade Unions
0%
67%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0% 0%
0% 0%
0%
0%
33%
UN
Development
Programme
0%
25%
0%
0%
25%
0%
0%
25%
0%
0%
0%
0% 0%
0% 25% 0%
0%
0%
Unions
9%
27%
0%
9%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
9%
0% 0%
9% 18% 0%
0%
18%
Universities
0%
100% 0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0% 0%
0% 0%
0%
0%
0%
3.4.2.4 Geographical Concentration
All projects under the grant scheme programmes of HRD OP Priority 1 Axis have been
displayed and analysed in terms of regional disparities in section 2.2 above. In this section
the distribution of funds in PRE grant scheme will be analysed in terms of patterns of
distribution.
Table 132: GS Applications, Awards and Success Rates (Total and PRE)
TRB2
Growth
Centres
Van
TRA2
Kars
TRC3
Batman
Region
Appl.
TOTAL
405
Success
Rate
6,4%
Appl.
PRE
45
PRE
Awards
Success
Rate
6
13,3%
83
3,6%
8
1
12,5%
106
6,6%
5
0
0,0%
TRA1
Diyarbakır,
Şanlıurfa
Erzurum
TR82
Kastamonu
109
7,3%
8
2
25,0%
TR90
Trabzon
229
16,2%
31
4
12,9%
TRB1
Elazığ, Malatya
186
14,5%
17
1
5,9%
TR83
Samsun
270
21,5%
21
9
42,9%
TR72
Kayseri, Sivas
259
18,5%
20
5
25,0%
TR63
Kahramanmaraş
147
19,0%
13
1
7,7%
TRC1
Gaziantep
133
10,9%
11
1
9,1%
Others
Ankara, Istanbul
172
12,8%
25
6
24,0%
2424
12,3%
238
43
18,1%
TRC2
TOTAL
171
9,9%
18
4
22,2%
154
7,1%
16
3
18,8%
The table shows the success rate of PRE applications by regions compared to the average
of all three grant schemes under Priority 1 axis. It can be concluded that success rates
regarding PRE are better than the average in 8 regions out of 12. The success of TR 83
(Growth Centre is Samsun) was the highest with 43% followed by TR72, T82 with 25% and
TRC2 with 22%. These were the regions with good capacity and the experience in
developing projects. Apart from those, the general success rate can be attributed to the
number of applications which were far less than the PWE and PYE – approx.1/4th – of them.
Obviously, success rates also increased because of the authorities desire to be able to
absorb the higher amount of funds allocated.
The amount of funds absorbed is another reflection of the level of success by each region.
The regions ranking in first five (TR 83, Ankara, 72, C2, B2) have absorbed 78% of all funds
contracted for PRE grant scheme. The details of the distribution reveal that the uneven
distribution structure is because of the fact that some provinces (Samsun, Diyarbakır,
Kayseri and Ankara – all implemented in eligible project regions) in the region were much
more successful than others.
Table 133: Grant Amounts and Number of projects by region-PRE
Status
Province
PRE
Amount in €
PRE
Number of
Projects
Region
Growth
Center
A2
0
Kars
0
Hinterland
Hinterland
Ağrı
Iğdir
0
0
Hinterland
Ardahan
0
Region
Growth
Center
B2
870.798,50
6
Van
579.617,77
4
Hinterland
Muş
0
Hinterland
Bitlis
0
Hinterland
Hakkari
291.180,73
2
Region
Growth
Center
C3
0
Batman
0
Hinterland
Hinterland
Mardin
Şırnak
0
0
Hinterland
Siirt
0
Region
Growth
Center
A1
394.060,72
Erzurum
234.334,29
Hinterland
Erzincan
Hinterland
Bayburt
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
3
2
0
C2
159.726,43
898.883,23
Diyarbakır
898.883,23
Şanlıurfa
1
4
4
0
Region
Growth
Center
C1
158.574,10
1
Gaziantep
158.574,10
1
Hinterland
Hinterland
Adıyaman
Kilis
1.076.377,39
5
Kayseri
925.899,09
4
Sivas
150.478,30
1
90
486.303,48
3
Trabzon
184.582,85
1
72
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Yozgat
Region
Growth
Center
0
0
Hinterland
Ordu
0
Hinterland
Rize
0
Hinterland
Giresun
Hinterland
Artvin
Hinterland
Gümüşhane
Region
Growth
Center
Growth
Center
B1
0
108.003,84
193.716,79
192.551,79
Elazığ
Malatya
192.551,79
1
1
1
0
1
Hinterland
Bingöl
0
Hinterland
Tunceli
0
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
Hinterland
Region
Growth
Center
Hinterland
82
284.260,09
2
Kastamonu
169.129,97
115.130,12
1
83
1.981.438,72
9
Samsun
1.610.653,77
7
Çankırı
Sinop
Tokat
1
0
0
Hinterland
Çorum
Hinterland
Amasya
Region
Growth
Center
63
Kahramanmaraş
98.597,74
272.187,21
210.151,28
210.151,28
1
1
1
1
Hinterland
Hatay
0
Hinterland
Osmaniye
0
Additional
TOTAL
1.234.991,65
6
Ankara
1.234.991,65
6
Istanbul
0
The results of the online survey also revealed that regional success variations mostly relate
to the level of support provided by regional institutions and experienced people in the
regions. The number of projects was quite low in the regions where the beneficiaries have
claimed that they have had no support at regional level. Any kind of supportive activities for
these regions are quite crucial with a view to improving the project development and
implementation capacity for further interventions.
Table 134: Support to GBs provided by SSI PD and other local authorities in project development
Region
TR-63
Support Provided: Yes
0,00%
Support Provided: No
100,00%
Total no of projects
3
TR-72
0,00%
100,00%
6
TR-82
14,29%
85,71%
2
TR-83
0,00%
100,00%
12
TR-90
33,33%
66,67%
5
TR-A1
0,00%
100,00%
3
TR-B1
0,00%
100,00%
3
TR-B2
0,00%
100,00%
7
TR-C1
25,00%
75,00%
3
TR-C2
0,00%
100,00%
4
TR-C3
0,00%
100,00%
2
The online survey also presented findings about how grant beneficiaries have been informed
about the call for proposals.
Table 135: How have the PRE GBs been informed of call for proposals?
NUTS II Region
TR-72
Web sites of
SGK, CFCU,
Operating
Structure,
Other web
EU
sites and eOther
Delegation
mail groups institutions
100,00%
33,33%
0,00%
Local and/or Information
national
day for call
media
for proposal
0,00%
0,00%
TR-82
100,00%
0,00%
0,00%
50,00%
0,00%
TR-83
100,00%
14,29%
0,00%
14,29%
14,29%
TR-90
50,00%
50,00%
50,00%
100,00%
0,00%
TR-A1
100,00%
33,33%
0,00%
33,33%
33,33%
TR-B1
100,00%
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
0,00%
TR-B2
100,00%
16,67%
0,00%
16,67%
16,67%
TR-C1
100,00%
0,00%
50,00%
0,00%
0,00%
TR-C2
100,00%
0,00%
50,00%
0,00%
50,00%
TR-C3
100,00%
0,00%
100,00%
0,00%
100,00%
The web sites of SGK, İŞKUR, CFCU, Operating Structure, EU Delegation have played a
major role in disseminating the launch of PRE grant scheme as admitted by grant
beneficiaries in all regions. This can be interpreted that the information channels should be
diversified for attracting more project applications.
3.4.2.5 Sectorial Concentration
Guidelines for Applicants do not impose any sectorial concentration for PRE grant scheme
projects with a view to target sectors with high prevalence of unregistered employment.
Therefore, no record of sectors involved was kept in the project documents and the reports.
Nevertheless, the on-line survey attempted to find out the sectors that grant beneficiaries
prepared their participants for under their vocational training programmes which was one of
the major activities in projects. The answers to this question reveal that the service sector
was the most preferred one compared to the others. Among the others, in order of frequency,
agriculture, construction, manufacturing and the textile sector appear to be most important.
21.00%
21.00%
14.00%
14.00%
Construction
Manufacture
Textile
29.00%
Service
100.00%
80.00%
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
Agriculture
Graph 91: Sectorial concentration of projects conducted occupational training
Although there is no clear cut concentration on inter-sectorial preferences it might therefore
be an option to prepare guidelines in a way that they contain guidance related to sectorial
preferences based on current surveys on undeclared work/economy and labour market
surveys. Particularly in relation to unregistered employment such guidance could refer on
previously made experience with the field studies carried out in the PRE TA project.
3.4.2.6 Outcomes
Relevance
This section will shortly look into the level of relevance of the PRE grant scheme projects at
the design and implementation stages. And it will go through both


The guideline for application to assess if the design of the PRE grant scheme has
contributed to achieving the HRD OP objectives
PRE grant scheme projects to assess if the design and outcome of the projects have
helped in achieving HRD OP and grant scheme objectives.
The Guideline for Grant Applicants for Promoting Registered Employment through Innovative
Measures (PRE) Grant Scheme presents the rationale and the specific focuses, objectives,
priorities, beneficiaries, target groups of the programme and indicates a range of actions for
guidance. All these elements of PRE grant scheme are coherent with the HRD OP Strategic
Priorities and specifically with the objectives, priorities and measures of the Priority 1 Axis.
As regards to geographical concentration for unregistered employment interventions, HRD
OP set forth that the actions should be directed towards regions “where share of wage
earners is high” and therefore, priority was supposed to be given to four regions, “namely
TR63, TR72, TR83 and TR90”114. However, the guidelines didn’t describe any concentration
as such or concentration on Growth Centres115.
114
115
HRD OP 2007, section 3.1, p.108
PRE Guidelines for Grant Applicants, section 2.1.3, p.9
According to Sectorial Annual Reports the stakeholders and the social partners had been
informed on the details of the PRE Grant Scheme besides others and their views and
comments had been taken into consideration at the design and implementation stages.
The online survey undertaken with the grant beneficiaries of PRE Grant Scheme also aimed
to finding out about the priorities of the programme which the grant beneficiaries actually
addressed. The answers reveal that nearly all of the successful project applications have
identified their objectives and priorities in line with the programme.
Table 136: The priorities of PRE grant scheme programme addressed by GBs
Answer Options
Promoting for magnifying formal employment
Minimizing informal employment by enabling the regional / local
society innovative actions to find and implement effective ways and
methods to promote registered employment
Other (Awareness raising, informing employers)
Response
Percent
Response
Count
22.2%
6
96.3%
26
7.2%
2
PRE grant beneficiaries were also asked if the target groups of the projects were in line with
the guideline. The answers reveal that 6 out of 10 grant beneficiaries targeted four groups of
final beneficiaries whereas the other two groups, namely public institutions and employees of
semi-formal firms were not targeted as much as others. It is obvious that project promoters
are not so familiar with working with public institutions and the identification of semi-formal
institutions.
Graph 92: Institutions targeted by PRE grant beneficiaries under the scope of their projects
59.3%
59.3%
63.0%
59.3%
44.4%
Informal firms,
sectors and
employees
Semi-formal
firms, sectors
and
employees
Formal firms,
sectors,
employees
NGO’s and
other
intermediaries
Social partners
33.3%
Public
institutions
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
Looking at this stunning ratio, it might be of interest to know how the target groups were
identified. The following graph presents the methodology of selection. One of them is ahead
of the others: more than 7 out of 10 grant beneficiaries replied that they conducted
interviews, utilized reports by the regional chambers and unions. The methodology may be
regarded efficient and practical – as long as it doesn’t indicate that they only had a chat
amongst each other. On the other hand it is striking to see that less than half of the project
promoters claim to have utilised SGK statistics. One would have expected that project
promoters would have looked for SGK support in order to facilitate the definition of objectives
and target groups – even more so since there has not been a predecessor for this grant
scheme. It was the first grant scheme dealing with the issue of unregistered employment.
Yet, grant beneficiaries tended to define them without SGK’s support.
Graph 93: Methodology in selecting objectives and target groups for PRE projects
70.40%
51.90%
40.70%
51.90%
44.40%
Hired consultants to write the
proposal including the section
mentioned.
Conducted interviews with
potential employers in the
region
Conducted interviews and
utilized reports by relevant
regional chambers, and unions
Utilized the reports, etc. by
Provincial Employment and
Vocational Training Board
Utilized the statistics of SGK,
İŞKUR, TURKSTAT, etc. and
publications/ articles by
members of universities and
institutes.
11.10%
Conducted a regional labour
market research/ field study
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
The finding outlined above is underpinned by the fact that roughly only one out of ten
projects under PRE received support from SGK (or other institutions) in the preparation of
the application.
Graph 94: Support received from SGK, MoLSS or regional institutions in preparation of application
11.10%
88.90%
Yes
No
One would also have expected that most prominent motive in selection of partners would be
the “sustainability of the project” which would have indicated that the partners were crucial in
sustaining the project results. However, the on-line survey showed that this was not the
number one priority (6 out of 10) for grant beneficiaries but rather the partners’ contributions
to implementing the main activities (9 out of 10) and the provision of access to target groups
(7 out of 10) were more favourable reasons. The actual outcome, however, the partners were
quite active in providing access to target groups (7 out of 10) as expected but their
expectations from partners were not met in terms of active contributions to main activities
and were realized less than expected (5 out of 10).
Graph 95: Main factors in the selection of partners, PRE
85.20%
74.10%
63.00%
40.70%
29.60%
Providing access to
the target groups
Providing access to
potential employers
Sustainability of the
Project
Financial and logistic
support
Experience in project
implementation
18.50%
Active contribution in
implementing main
activities of the
project
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Graph 96: Actual roles of partners in PRE projects
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
70.40%
55.60%
37.00%
14.80%
Prepared the
project proposal
11.10%
Facilitated the
Implemented and Provided financial
project in reaching monitored the main
contribution
and selecting the
activities
participant
Provided
employment
opportunities for
the participants
At least it can be said that PRE is the only grant scheme in which 100% of the grant
beneficiaries said that their partners delivered what they were supposed to deliver as
contributions to the project. Partnership approach thus seems to have worked well.
Efficiency
How well the means / inputs and activities were converted into "outputs" and the ratio
between the inputs and outputs are the questions to assess regarding the efficiency of PRE
grant scheme.
The availability of project development capacity is crucial in the formulation of successful
projects. The online survey shows that two thirds of the grant beneficiaries had never
implemented a project in the 3 years prior to the PRE scheme. The other third owned the
experience of having implemented 1-2 projects.
Table 137: Have you implemented any project as GB in last 3 years?
As Grant Beneficiary
As partner
Answer
Options
Yes
Response
Percentage
33.30%
Response
Count
9
Answer
Options
Yes
Response
Percentage
22.20%
Response
Count
6
No
66.70%
18
No
77.80%
21
It is obvious that grant beneficiaries with limited or no experience would have needed support
in preparing projects. The online survey revealed that nearly 89% have not got any support
from OB, OS and regional institutions in project development and writing (see graph 94
above). It may be argued that direct support by OB and OS or Contracting Authority raises
concerns on the issue of conflict of interest; but, this may not be the reason not to organize
training and support activities by other relevant regional institutions to increase the number of
“good” proposals.
The vast majority of the GBs who attended information days (20 projects out of the
responding 27) evaluated the meetings as useful; however, the content and duration of these
meetings appears to have been not sufficient in its nature to equip the project promoters with
the required level of know-how to formulate a project. Grant Beneficiaries have also
evaluated the application guideline and expressed their concerns about its limited
contributions to preparing proposals.
Graph 97: Evaluation of Info Days by grant beneficiaries in PRE
Quite informative and useful
It was useful; however, it was organized too late to give us enough time for project
development and writing.
It was not comprehensive enough to understand the priorities and eligible activities,
etc.
5.00%
20.00%
75.00%
Table 138: How do you evaluate the application guideline?
Answer Options
Response Percentage
Response Count
Easy to understand and user friendly
55.56%
15
Could be better to serve to the project
promoters
40.74%
11
Not easy to understand and not user
friendly
3.70%
1
In order to assess the outcome of support one may ask the question: What was the result of
the support; has it yielded any success on regional bases? The finding of the online survey is
not entirely clear. In general, regions with the smallest success rate did not provide support.
Among the more successful regions there are two (TR72 and TR82) in which participants of
the survey indicated no support. At least one of them (TR72 Kayseri, Sivas) belongs to the
regions in which high expertise in project development and implementation can be found.
Table 139: Support Received by PRE Grant Beneficiaries and the success rate
Regions
Yes
No
Applications
Awards
Success Rate
TR-72
0.00%
100.00%
20
5
25,0%
TR-82
0.00%
100.00%
8
2
25,0%
TR-83
14.29%
85.71%
21
9
42,9%
TR-90
0.00%
100.00%
31
4
12,9%
TR-A1
33.33%
66.67%
16
3
18,8%
TR-B1
0.00%
100.00%
17
1
5,9%
TR-B2
0.00%
100.00%
45
6
13,3%
TR-C1
0.00%
100.00%
TR-C2
25.00%
75.00%
18
4
22,2%
TR-C3
0.00%
100.00%
5
0
0,0%
Support during the implementation phase has also been crucial to overcome the difficulties of
limited experience. More than 7 out of 10 GB claimed that they received implementation
support. Such support has been provided by the regional and central project monitoring
teams in parallel to their monitoring responsibilities as well as by the OS using TA capacities.
Table 140: Have you received any project implementation support from, OB, OS, and contracting
authority?
Answer Options
Response Percentage
Response Count
Yes
74.1%
20
No
25.9%
7
“Visibility” issues were the first in ranking for the type of support requested by the grant
beneficiaries during the implementation. Support on G-MIS usage and general project
management issues followed. 6 out of 10 grant beneficiary requested support on final report
preparation. It can be said, in general the support was requested mostly related to the
administrative issues and has no direct relation to the quality of the outputs of the projects.
Graph 98: Type of Support provided to the GBs
Which areas have been covered by this support?
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
66.7%
71.4%
66.7%
57.1%
Visibility
Final
report
preparatio
n
MIS
Procurem
ent
Project
managem
ent /
implemen
tation
47.6%
More than half of the grant beneficiaries expressed their concerns on the quality of the
support they received with their answers to a question in the online survey by commenting
that such support was partly useful or even not useful at all. That was in line with the
comments of by the participants of the focus group interviews exposing that they had
difficulties to reach the representatives of the contracting authority and the capacity of the
regional monitoring teams was limited to receive a sound quality of support.
Table 141: Was the implementation support provided by the regional and central monitoring teams and the Ministry of
Labour and Social Security (by way of TA) useful?
Answer Options
Was definitely useful
Response Percentage
44,40%
Response Count
12
Partly useful
44,40%
12
Not useful at all
11,10%
3
It was observed that, in most of the cases, the grant beneficiaries have hired external staff for
managing and implementing their projects as a result of their low level of experience. This
has been good for resolving immediate needs; however, created a negative result in terms of
sustainability of projects by diminishing the accumulation of institutional memory in cases of
release of the external staff when the project ended. That was the usual practice.
Another aspect of the sound management of the inputs is timely implementation of the
activities. Although the first 1-3 months were spent in mobilisation without any major project
activity, the evaluation team has not come across any claim about the shortage of
implementation duration. This can be regarded as a positive aspect of implementation
showing the flexibility of the projects and grant beneficiaries to adopt the projects for changes
if it was not because of the fact that the activity plans were already loose to absorb such
delays.
The flexibility of the projects in adapting the changes is also important for efficient delivery.
The number of notifications for minor changes was 297 for PRE grant scheme projects that
counts for 7.24 (PYE 5.67 and PWE 7.34) amendments per project on the average. The
number of contract amendments was 11. Grant beneficiaries commented that there have
been delays in replies to requests/notifications for minor changes and the contract
amendments. Such delays were attributed to the quality of monitoring services and
inconveniences in reaching the Contracting authority. There hasn’t been a major comment by
grant beneficiaries, however, that such delays have prevented the timely delivery of outputs.
PRE technical assistance was not supposed to provide any assistance to the OB and the
grant beneficiaries in relation to the grant scheme other than preparing and publishing a
project compendium. The TA Project started to deliver these services to the grant
beneficiaries late in the implementation period. Only the Information and Publicity TA Project
(5.3) has organized implementation and reporting training for grant beneficiaries and
monitoring training for regional and central monitoring teams at the mid of the implementation
period. G-MIS was also made available in parallel to TA support.
There has been a long period of time from the grant scheme application to the actual
contracting that posed a problem in mobilisation of the proposed key project staff. The
replacement process took longer and the required quality has not always been available
which in turn adversely affected the timely delivery of the outputs and its quality for some
projects.
Purchase of equipment was limited to 15 % of the total eligible cost in PRE grant scheme.
Yet, the secondary procurements procedures were claimed to be complex – specifically the
rule of origin – and addressed as one of the most challenging aspects of all implementation
process; however, that had apparently no negative impact on the quality of the outputs.
One of the most challenging issues raised by the participants of interviews was related to
financing the last tranche of grants that was held till the end of project duration. Specifically
the grant beneficiary NGOs had problems in establishing bridge financing for the amount of
the last tranche of the grant (20%) which was released upon the closing of the project and
has been delayed for most of the cases because of the lengthy procedures in final report
approval by the contracting authority.
It is observed that some measurement tools were accommodated by the grant beneficiaries
to assess the quality of outputs of the projects to assess if they had an effect on the target
groups and institutions. The most frequently used tool is the evaluation sheet related to
activities and filled in by the participants. However, no information was available on G-MIS
and the relevant section of the final reports contained only some general comments on the
quality of outputs.
As for the external monitoring; the final monitoring reports contain few questions to qualify
the level of achievement in targeted output and the quality of the outputs. The answers to
these questions were given in the report by ticking the yes/no options without any
explanatory notes by the monitoring experts. Content of the monitoring reports hence was
not adequate to provide data necessary to assess the level of output delivery and the results.
That needs to be improved in order to facilitate the collection and verification of relevant data
by the monitoring experts.
A sample of 14% of the final monitoring reports was checked. It was found that the
monitoring experts reported that all of the projects have achieved planned outputs and the
quality was sufficient enough to achieve the expected results without any detailed comment
on the quality and quantitative information.
Partners’ involvement was obligatory for all the projects in PRE grant scheme and
involvement of local partners was attributed high level of importance as the purpose was to
promote the development of local partnerships for promoting Registered Employment. Grant
beneficiaries performed positively to follow the partnership approach despite some of the
partnerships were not structured to follow the ideal matching. The online survey reveals that
9 out of 10 grant beneficiaries were of the opinion that the partners had delivered what was
expected from them despite the few contradicting comments by the interviewees.
All in all, it can be said the grant beneficiaries have broadly tried to utilize the means made
available to them for obtaining the project outputs however efficiency of the operation was
limited to the level of experience they had and the quality of the support provided.
Effectiveness
The assessment of effectiveness of the grant scheme programs is supposed to answer the
questions: To what extent have the planned results been achieved, what was the quality of
the results achieved and the level of utilization of results?
PRE grant scheme was expected to promote formal employment by facilitating the
formalisation processes of sectors, firms and employees. The data on outputs and the results
of the grant projects were checked from several sources to find out if the outputs and the
results were adequate to contribute to the achievement of objectives of the grant scheme as
such.


“Performance Indicators” section of project records on G-MIS was checked on a
sample of 27% and it was found that 6 out of 10 grant beneficiaries had not provided
any information on the actual outcomes and results against the target. The data
provided by 4 out of 10 beneficiaries indicated that the outputs and the targets were
met or exceeded. However, the report taken from the G-MIS (see next table) is
misleading for the fact that there are records of the indicators showing only the
targets but not the realizations. Therefore, the realizations of targets seem to be far
below the targets on G-MIS records.
The self-assessment by grant beneficiaries through the online survey displays that
the outputs and results were achieved as planned. Only one of the outputs of the
projects – number of participants employed as entrepreneurs – was realized slightly
lower than planned while the rest slightly exceeded the targeted figures.
Table 142: PRE Grant Scheme output and Result indicators
PRE GS Output and Result indicators
Number of LOCAL PARTNERSHIP established or to be
established
Target
G-MIS
380
%
Actual
Realization
G-MIS
G-MIS (*)
167
-56
%
Realization
Survey(*)
+12
Number of SGK staff participating or will participate to the
TRAININGS
3.573
495
-86
0
Number of SOCIAL PARTNERS staff participating to the
national strategy trainings
3.642
1.181
-68
0
0
34
..
Not available..
193
3
-98
0
4.331
2.733
-37
+31
Not
Not
availabl availab
e
le
Not
available..
+23
Not
Not
availabl availab
e
le
Not
available..
+25
Decrease in the number of advices on unregistered
employment
Number of biletaral projects to promote registered employment
As a result of the establishment of bilateral projects and local
partnerships, the registered number of people employed
Number of people employed as a registered as a result of
vocational trainings
Number of people employed as an entrepreneur as a result of
entrepreneur trainings
(*) realization rates show the actual figures in excess/less of targets.

Final Technical Reports submitted by the grant beneficiaries were scanned for
outputs and results of the projects. Only 30% of the reports contained figures on the
actual output and the results against the targets indicated in the logical frameworks of
the projects which are not standardized as the performance indicators in the previous
table. The rest of the reports provided some general qualitative information which
cannot be quantified to make a sound assessment.
The final monitoring reports prepared and submitted to OB, OS and CFCU by the
monitoring experts contain only one question in assessing the outputs and results.
The question is asking if the activities were realized in a way to achieve targeted
results. In 8 out of 10 monitoring reports, monitoring experts’ reply is “yes”, but there
is no detailed explanation of that finding. Therefore, the monitoring reports do not
provide adequate information to make a thorough assessment of the outputs and
results.

The online survey provided some other findings to further assess the effectiveness of the
results in achieving the programme objectives:


The major achievement of the project was described as awareness increase on the
issues of unregistered employment by half of the grant beneficiaries.
3 out of 10 grant beneficiaries have indicated the achievement as an increase in
employment rate although the programme objective was not related to employment.
This is because vocational training was regarded as an effective way to promote
registered employment and was one of the main activities of some projects
Graph 99: Major achievements of PRE GS projects
48.00%

7.00%
Vocational education
11.00%
Other
11.00%
Created cooperation
culture
Increased employment
rate
26.00%
Increased awaraness
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Considering that as one of the important results of the grant scheme programme, the
grant beneficiaries were also asked to assess the impact of their projects on the
awareness of the participants towards the drawbacks of unregistered employment for
the companies and the employees and on the economy as a whole. 9 out of 10 of
them were sure of the positive impact.
Table 143: The impact of projects on the awareness of the participants
Answer Options
Response Percentage
Response Count
Increased awareness
89.00%
24
No effect
11.00%
3
6 out of 10 grant beneficiaries have implemented vocational training under PRE grant
scheme. The nature of these trainings may indirectly affect the quality of the results. Only
half of the grant beneficiaries had MoNE approved curriculums for vocational trainings
conducted and handed out MoNE approved certificates. Dropout rates of the training were
less than 5 % in most of the cases. Most frequent reason for the dropouts was the schedule
of the programme which was not suitable for the participants. 85% of the grant beneficiaries
have conducted evaluations of the training and 8 out of 10 were of the opinion that the
trainees has liked the trainers most and followed by the quality of training materials. On the
other hand, a considerable number of grant beneficiaries, 4 out of 10, have worried that
participants did not positively evaluate the content of the trainings.
Graph 100: Evaluation of Trainings
What were the specific aspects of the training they evaluated
positively?
100.00%
90.00%
79.20%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
70.80%
58.30%
50.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
Venue and the
treatments
Trainers
Training
materials,
workshops,
equipment and
supply
Training
curricula
0.00%
Although, only few project has validated the outputs and the results of the projects, based on
the general opinion in the progress reports, monitoring reports and the claims of the
interviewees it can be said that the project results achieved raising awareness on the issues
of unregistered employment and had contributions in improving the employability of
unemployed through vocational trainings conducted in parallel to communication activities.
Yet substantial statements on project effects cannot be made on the basis of insufficient
data.
Sustainability
As already explained under section 2.3 above, the issue of sustainability has played a role in
the preparation of the grant scheme applications as it has been an important subject of the
evaluation of concept notes (10 out of 50 points) and full applications (15 out of 100 points).
The full application forms, besides a description of envisaged impact and multiplier effects,
should have provided information on financial sustainability, institutional sustainability, policy
sustainability and environmental sustainability.
A broad analysis in evaluation of the mentioned aspects has been included in section 2.3,
based on the information related to this topic provided by online survey. In order not to repeat
the same, other observations on the sustainability issues of the PRE Grant Scheme are
mentioned below.
Findings from the online survey and group interviews show that the majority of projects have
not been internalised in a way that they became part of the institutions’ portfolios despite the
fact that more than half of the grant beneficiaries were public institutions and major NGOs
with sufficient institutional capacity and personnel. This is one of the negative observations
on sustainability.
Approximately 8 out of 10 grant beneficiaries are of the opinion that the project
implementation has increased the capacity of their members and staff; that they are now
experienced in EU project implementations; that they improved their network and
communication with the stakeholders of the labour market. Although such effects should
have been expected to reach the level of 100%, this can still be regarded as a positive result
in terms of the institutional sustainability provided that the experienced staff and members
are still on duty.
Graph 101: Projects contribution on Institutional capacity
77.80%
70.40%
We have improved our
communication and
relations with stakeholders
in labour market.
We could use the equipment
and materials for further
similar activities.
55.60%
Members and staff of our
institution gained
experience.
The coverage of our
activities was enlarged.
55.60%
77.80%
We have improved our
network.
81.50%
We have now experience in
implementing EU grant
projects.
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Governorates, Provincial Directorates of SGK, stakeholders and social partners actively
participated in activities where required during the grant scheme implementation. When
asked if the results of the grant scheme were viable for the regional SGK; general impression
was it was limited to some communication materials that are still being used by them.
Utility (…does anybody make use of the results)
The statements made above on the contribution of the project implementation to the
institutional capacity of the grant beneficiaries also answers the utilization of the project
results on one aspect.
As for the institutional capacity improvement of SGK in terms of grant scheme programme
management; this was the first grant scheme programme under implementation of SGK. It is
obvious that that the members of OCU and the CGMT that was established at the
headquarters of SGK and the other participating departments had substantial experience in
grant scheme management. SGK has given the chance of participating in RGMT in the
regions same as the other staff of regional governmental organizations and so their
participation was quite limited and so are the benefits. Regional SGK offices’ interest and
involvement has also been limited to the specific interest of some of the managers.
SGK in the capacity of OB and OS have been involved and cooperated in the GS
implementation starting from the programme development to the evaluation of final reports
despite the accreditation of the OS has been awarded only by the mid of grant scheme
implementation duration. Departments of the OS has benefited in improving their programme
management capacity.
It is yet doubtful to what extents SGK will (and can) make use of the grant scheme results of
PRE. Similar to the other grant schemes, it could not be detected by the evaluation team that
there had been particular expectations towards the grant scheme in terms of looking for
concrete solutions to concrete questions and challenges. It appears as if there was no
strategy within SGK that aimed to analyse the results of the grant projects and identify the
potential of the findings to be adopted in the institutional strategy. Even the provincial
branches of SGK seem to have only limited knowledge about the project results. That finding
points at a somehow missed opportunity for SGK to draw lessons and conclusions from the
project implementation for their own business and for new forms of collaboration with other
labour market stakeholders in the provinces.
Horizontal Issues
The only reference on horizontal issues in the Guideline for Applicants for PRE Grant
Scheme is on environmental sustainability. One question takes place in the evaluation grid
under the sustainability of the project results and is asking, if applicable, whether the project
has any negative/positive environmental impact and weighed with a score of 5 points
altogether with other sub-questions.
Notwithstanding it is overridden in the guideline, grant beneficiaries have been asked to
make explanations on horizontal issues in the section 2.7 of Final Technical (Narrative)
Report in a broad coverage:
“Explain how the project supports horizontal issues such as human rights,
gender equality, democracy,
good governance, child
rights, indigenous peoples, environmental sustainability and struggling with HIV / AIDS (if it is
prevail among the target country / region)”.
The remarks made by grant beneficiaries on the subject were checked with a representative
sample of final technical reports. 8 out of 10 grant beneficiaries commented that they
observed the gender equality in selecting the participants of activities and the project staff.
Final monitoring reports do not contain any part for observing and commenting on the
horizontal issues. The sample of the reports was checked if there is any comment on the
subject under general comments included; but nothing was found.
The online survey contained questions on the environmental impact and the integration of
disadvantaged people. Slightly less than half of the grant beneficiaries commented that they
ensured that the project activities had no negative impact on environmental issues.
Similarly, approximately 4 out of 10 grant beneficiaries claimed that the project has
undertaken specific attempts at integrating disadvantaged people.
Table 144: Integrating disadvantaged people under PRE grant scheme projects
Answer Options
Response Percentage
Response Count
People with disabilities
36.40%
4
People who are in poverty or at risk of poverty
including those living in “gecekondu” areas
54.50%
6
Ex-convicts and ex-prisoners
9.10%
1
Internally displaced persons
0.00%
0
Roma people
0.00%
0
Drug addicts
0.00%
0
Women suffering from domestic violence
18.20%
2
Parents of working children
18.20%
2
Other
18.20%
2
5 out of 10 Grant beneficiaries claimed that they targeted people in poverty in “gecekondu”
areas and approximately 4 out of 10 targeted disabled people. Victims of domestic violence
and the parents of working children have also been inexplicably targeted.
Despite, they were not encouraged or diverted to consider the horizontal issues; projects had
activities in integrating disadvantaged people based on data collected on the online survey
which is not in line with the findings from final narrative reports.
Findings





The relevance of the PRE Grant Scheme programme at the design and
implementation stages has been observed by OB/OS and the grant beneficiaries.
The rationale, objectives, priorities, target groups, geographical coverage and the
indicated range of actions are coherent with the HRD OP Strategic Priorities and
specifically with the Specific Objectives of the Priority 1 Axis of HRD OP.
At the implementation stage, it was observed that objectives and priorities were
pursued by the grant beneficiaries to a great extent. They targeted all groups in line
with the grant scheme programme with less emphasis on semi-formal firms, sectors
and public institutions. Vocational training activities were frequent at innovative
activities’ expense.
The grant beneficiaries have broadly tried to utilize the means made available to them
for obtaining the project outputs; however, efficiency of the operation was limited to
the level of experience they had and the quality of the support provided.
Few projects have validated the outputs and the results of the projects on MIS and
progress reports. Based on the observations on other sources, it can be said that the
project results have achieved raising awareness on the issues of unregistered
employment and had contributions in improving the employability of unemployed
through vocational trainings conducted in parallel to communication activities.
Concise data, however, do not exist.






3.4.3
The majority of projects have not continued to carry out their activities after the project
ended by any means despite the fact that more than half of the grant beneficiaries are
public institutions and major NGOs with sufficient institutional capacity and personnel.
This finding indicates a lack of sustainability. Yet – since PRE was the first such grant
scheme – expectations may not be as explicit as in the cases of women or youth
employment schemes.
Project implementation has increased the capacity of grant beneficiaries’ members
and staff; they have gained experience in EU project implementations; improved their
network and communication with the stakeholders of the labour market.
The members of OCU and the CGMT of SGK and the other participating departments
had first time experience in grant scheme management.
SGK’s participation in RGMT in the regions was quite limited and so were the
benefits. Regional SGK offices’ interest and involvement has also been limited to the
specific interest of the managers.
All relevant departments of the OS have benefited in improving their programme
development and management capacity.
Although the grant beneficiaries were not encouraged or diverted to consider the
horizontal issues, they claimed that the projects had considered gender issues and
integrated disadvantaged people into their activities.
Technical Assistance Project
The subject of Measure 1.3 “Promoting Registered Employment” Technical Assistance
project is the “Capacity Building” that focuses on the improvement of the institutional capacity
of SSI and other relevant institutions and actors to combat unregistered employment.
Terms of Reference of TA Project included the Grant Scheme and Infrastructure (Supply)
Activities as the other two components in the scope of work; however, both have been
realized under separate tenders. The only activity of the TA project related to the grant
scheme was the dissemination of grant scheme results which was covered under the
capacity building component in Result 8.
Social Security Institution – SSI – is the Operation Beneficiary of the contract.
Target groups are:
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Staff of SSI
Relevant ministries (MoLSS, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Trade,
Ministry of Tourism);
Relevant institutions (İŞKUR, SPO, KOSGEB);
Regional and local authorities;
Related members of academia;
Social partners;
General public: self-employed, unemployed persons;
Unregistered workers and their dependants, unregistered women workers with low
level education.
3.4.3.1 Background of the Project
Project development studies for PRE project had started back in 2007 by SSI in cooperation
with CFCU and OS – not accredited yet – supported by short term TA under a framework
contract. The rationale of the project was to introduce an innovative approach in combating
unregistered employment replacing the pure law enforcement policies that had proved being
unsuccessful. The new approach was supposed to focus on promoting registered
employment through strengthening the formal side of the economy instead of strict legal
enforcement only.
PRE service procurement notice was announced on 29th August 2009. Service contract was
signed 13 months later on 28th September 2010. Project’s duration was 21 months including
an extension of one month.
The main economic and social impacts of undeclared economy and the requirements in
combating it have been described in the ToR116 as follows:
-Unfair competitive environment created by informal or semi-formal firms is putting
pressure on the formal business and hampers innovation, technological developments
and growth.
-Informal or semi-formal firms’ investments on human resources are insufficient that
hinders human capital development and economic growth in the end.
-Ineffective collection of tax and SS contributions puts a burden on budget to subsidize
the SS expenditures that might be spent on investments for economic growth otherwise.
-Unregistered employment results in lower income level of workers, yielding decrease in
GDP level.
-Enforcement measures have not been successful in overcoming unregistered
employment.
-There need to be a new approach focusing on promoting registered work through
strengthening the formal side of the economy rather than just strict legal enforcements.
-The main stakeholders of the challenge are formal and informal firms, government and
intermediaries
-First pillar for formalization process is “promoting for magnifying formal sectors”
-Second pillar for formalization process is “strengthening the enforcement for minifying
the informal sector: increase the expected costs of being informal”
116
Terms of Reference for Technical Assistance to Promoting Registered employment Section 1.4
3.4.3.2 Result/Activity Analysis
The overall objective of the project was to promote registered employment through
strengthening the capacity of SSI, coordination among relevant public institutions and social
partners in order to provide sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and
greater social cohesion.
The specific objective of the project was to increase the capacity of SSI, other relevant
institutions, social partners and relevant NGOs and to support them for the preparation and
implementation of relevant strategies in order to promote registered employment.
On the basis of the challenges and the requirement described above the ToR formulated a
set of eight results which needed to be fulfilled by the project:
Capacity building component:
Result 1: Capacity of SSI and relevant institutions and social partners to promote registered
employment is improved.
Result 2: A trainer corps is established to conduct future internal training of SSI staff.
Result 3: Cooperation and coordination between SSI and other relevant ministries are
increased.
Result 4: Models for inter-ministerial cooperation (e.g. a monitoring system for registered
employment) are identified, developed, and tested in the selected areas and locations.
Result 5: New common database for cross institutional use is developed and in operation.
Result 6: Awareness is increased at national and regional level about the importance of
registered employment and social security.
Result 7: Field studies are conducted and labour market analyses are produced and the
structures of unregistered employment in required regions/sectors are described.
Result 8: Results of the grant projects at national and regional level are disseminated.
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Result 1 was supposed to
o Carry out training needs analysis amongst the staff of SSI and relevant
ministries;
o Conduct trainings for the heads of the relevant SSI departments, involved
ministries and social partners;
o Organise 4 study visits and 1 job training to EU Member States.
Result 2 aimed at conducting “Training of Trainers” for the staff of SSI to be able to
meet future training needs for promoting registered employment and establishing a
“trainer corps”.
Result 3 was supposed to establish thematic working groups with a view to
developing a strategy paper that included proposals for measures to be taken by
relevant parties to promote registered employment and a model for inter-ministerial
cooperation and coordination.
Result 4 was supposed to identify and test models for a monitoring system for
registered employment to be operationalized under inter-ministerial cooperation. The
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models for joint action developed by the thematic working groups were supposed to
be tested under real conditions.
Result 5 aimed at developing, establishing, testing and operationalizing a common
database including software for cross-institutional use.
Result 6 aimed at increasing awareness on the importance of registered employment
and social security at national and regional level by organizing conferences and using
a set of communication tools including “Alo 170” line service.
Result 7 aimed at conducting field studies and labour market analyses in 6 provinces
in industry and services sectors to describe the economic and social dimensions of
undeclared work that will also allow gender based comparisons of registered and
unregistered employment with respect to certain indicators specifically for sectors with
high prevalence of unregistered work.
Result 8 aimed at the dissemination of PRE grant scheme results by means of
publication of a compendium and organizing a national conference.
The eight results focused on improving the institutional capacity of SSI and other relevant
institutions; they also provided an opportunity to be better equipped and aware of the facts in
relation to combating unregistered employment.
3.4.3.3 Institutional Analysis
The institutions involved into the project were manifold. The description of the general and
specific objectives, the detailed activities under each result, the definition of target groups
and the details of project management structure provided an extensive list of institutions that
would be involved or would benefit from the PRE TA Project.
SSI as the beneficiary of the whole operation directly benefited from all project activities with
its central and provincial bodies and the staff. Daily management of the project has been
undertaken by the OCU led by the Head of the Strategy Department. The departments of the
central organisation and the provincial directorates have actively participated and been
involved in the activities of the project as per their relevance.
Relevant ministries:
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MoLSS was the OS through its EU Coordination Department. It assumed all
responsibility of the project and was involved into capacity building activities related to
policy development.
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Ministry of EU Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of
Tourism have participated in relevant project activities and were represented in the
Operation Steering Committee (OSC).
Other public institutions:
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Undersecretary of Treasury was represented in the OSC;
KOSGEB participated in the relevant activities and was also represented in the OSC.
Social partners: TISK, TÜRK-İŞ, HAK-İŞ, DİSK have participated in relevant project activities
and were also represented in the OCS.
NGOs: TOBB and TESK have participated in relevant project activities and were represented
in the OCS.
It can be concluded that besides the SSI as the beneficiary, all the ministries, other public
institutions, social partner institutions, NGOs and their local connections were included in the
scope of the TA project as the beneficiary and members of the monitoring and management
committees. Such direct involvement has contributed to increasing the capacities of partner
institutions.
3.4.3.4 Geographical Concentration
Although SSI is a nationwide institution that covers all provinces the PRE TA project
concentrated on 12 eligible NUTS II regions including 43 provinces where 15 provinces were
referred as “growth centres” and the remaining as the “hinterlands” in terms of activities
implemented there.
Terms of Reference of PRE TA project identified the delivery places of the activities as
“eligible NUTS II regions” without mentioning any priority among the provinces. Quite a
number of activities which were targeting central management staff of institutions were
organized in Ankara out of the NUTS II regions.
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Training needs analysis was supposed to be conducted among the staff of SSI and
relevant ministries, basically in Ankara. Training activities were held in Ankara and
eligible NUTS II regions. ToT training was supposed to be held in Ankara.
Inter-ministerial working group studies and relevant cooperation model development
and testing, and database/software development studies were to be held in Ankara.
Awareness raising activities were to be held in Ankara and growth centres targeting
nation-wide use of the results. Awareness conferences have been conducted in eight
different provinces.
Field studies and labour market analysis were to be held in 6 provinces/regions to be
identified during the inception phase without any mention of growth centres and
hinterlands or NUTS II regions. The selection included Erzurum, Gaziantep, Kars,
Şanlıurfa, Samsun and Trabzon. It tried to cover a representative set of provinces
representing the eligible regions.
Dissemination of grant scheme results was supposed to be a nationwide activity. A
national conference was held in Ankara and the materials (mainly project
compendium) were to be distributed across the country.
PRE TA project tried to get an even distribution of activities across the 43 provinces in the
eligible 12 NUTS II regions; however, quite a number of activities was planned to be
organised at central level due to the nature of the activity and parties to be involved. Yet, the
coverage of the training activities and awareness conferences was high although it was not
possible to evenly cover all eligible provinces.
3.4.3.5 Sectorial Concentration
Sectorial concentration had to be the subject of field studies and labour market analysis to be
conducted where the empirical studies supposed to be directed to the analysis of undeclared
work at sector basis within the industry and service sectors. It was also mentioned that it was
crucial to take those sectors into consideration where unregistered employment is much
more prevalent. However, ToR did not impose any sector and it was mentioned that the
regions and the sectors should be agreed during the inception period.
Hence it was justified to concentrate field study activities in four sectors with prevailing
unregistered employment, namely:
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Manufacture of bread, pastry goods and cakes
Hotels and accommodation
Restaurants and mobile food service activities
Transportation and storage
3.4.3.6 Outcomes
The main outcomes of the project can be summarised as follows:
Result 1 – Improving the capacity of SSI and relevant institutions and social partners.
 TNA was conducted; training needs were defined and presented during the inception
phase.
 Leadership awareness training was delivered to 144 SSI staff – planned for 80 – the
majority of which was from regional offices in 81 provinces – planned for 43 NUTS II
provinces.
 39 SSI assistant inspectors were trained on PCM and 16 SSI staff members were
trained on project management.
 301 inspectors have attended to inspectors’ training.
 Total 851 people were trained in Regional Training I (438) and II (413) at 24
provinces in 12 NUTS II regions and few out of the Region. Participants were the
central and local level controllers of SSI, relevant ministries, and social partners.
Topics covered were promoting registered employment, rights and duties of
employers and employees, awareness raising, use of a common database,
inspection or guidance, examples of best practices of Europe in promoting registered
employment, and communication skills.
 75 people received Statistics training in 3 groups for SSI and MoLSS staff.
 4 study visits were realized:
o SV1 to France for SSI inspectors
o SV 2 to Germany for senior SSI staff and social partners
o SV3 to Portugal for SSI regional and inspectors
o SV4 to Belgium on IT for SSI and MoLSS staff
 On-the-job training abroad was not possible to be organized. It was planned for 10
interns for 15 days placements in EU member states. Several attempts were made;
however, all turned out to be without success because of several factors such as
foreign language incompetence’s of nominated SSI staff, administrative burdens on
the host institutions, crisis situation prevailing in nominated host countries. OBs
request to replace this activity with a 5th study visit has not been welcomed by the OS
and the EUD.
Result 2 – Trainer corps:
 17 inspectors and 24 staff of regional SSI offices were trained as trainers and the
requested ”trainer corps” was established. It could conduct future internal trainings for
SSI staff. Whether or not the institution actually uses the trainers is not entirely clear.
They have not been involved into the regional training activities performed by the
project.
Result 3 – Cooperation and coordination between SSI and other relevant ministries:
 Three working groups representing the involved ministries and stakeholder
institutions have been established and operated over a period of roughly six months.
 A Strategy Paper has been developed and submitted to SSI. It has been described as
the most important product of the project by the beneficiary.
 Delivery of outcomes under this result has been somewhat troublesome. There have
been delays in maintaining the studies of Working Groups after their first meeting in
July 2011 due to the outlasting replacement process of TL and timing for delivery of
outputs – Working Group reports – shifted towards the end of the project that in turn
adversely affected the timely drafting of the strategy paper. Regular meetings could
not be held as planned due to parallel duties and responsibilities of working group
chair persons. The representatives of the partner ministries and other public
institutions were frequently altered while the social partners were represented by the
same persons in each group. A continuity of discussion was therefore hard to
maintain. This has been another factor adversely affecting the quality of outputs and
timely delivery.
Result 4: Models for inter-ministerial co-operation:
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Delivery of outcomes under this result turned out to be uneasy and unconsummated.
The “model” was supposed to be developed in the Working Groups. The Groups,
instead of taking a final decision on a preferred model, formulated recommendations
in Working Group Reports that were produced at the very end of the project. This
recommendation has been incorporated into the Strategy Paper by TAT.
Consequently TAT has prepared a report containing fourteen different models of
inter-institutional cooperation from thirteen different Member States and providing
observations on their transferability to Turkey and made some recommendations in
relation to selection of models which were most appropriate for Turkey. The “Report
on EU Best Practice in Inter-Institutional Cooperation” was submitted to the OB. A
cooperation scenario of “10 Step Model” was drafted undertaking the Report and
submitted to OB at the very end of the project and received positive response from
OB.
A joint database as a model of cooperation between SSI and the Ministry of Finance
– Revenue Administration – administering a parallel project on “Fighting against
Informal Economy” was pursued. A Protocol was prepared and submitted to Revenue
Administration aiming to establish a joint-Commission in order to identify the rules and
regulations of data sharing between the institutions. It was verbally agreed upon, but
no written signature, remarks or answers have been received by the end of the
project in spite of all the efforts undertaken by SSI.
Therefore, PRE TA Project has recommended the development of a unified law
regulating the fight against unregistered employment in which the authority to
exchange relevant data between involved public institutions needs to be regulated as
well. The paper containing the model has been submitted to SSI before the project’s
official end. No test of the model could be arranged during the project’s lifetime.
Result 5: New common database for cross-institutional use:
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“Common Database for Cross Institutional use” was defined through a Requirements
Analysis phase followed by Data Collection, System Design, Coding, Unit Testing,
Deployment to SSI and Data Loading, System Acceptance Tests.
Operational Joint Database system acceptance request was submitted for
acceptance and acceptance was issued by the beneficiary.
Tests of the system have proved that it worked and that it could work at more than
one institution; however, the actual sharing and usage of the Joint Database would
have required the establishment of a protocol for inter-ministerial cooperation with
MoF-RA-.
It has been accomplished to sign two protocols with MoNE and MoI – Protocol 1 is a
kind of Memorandum of Understanding; Protocol 2 is a kind of agreement that the
identified information will be exchanged – to exchange the information on teachers
working for the private education entities, and employees of the private security firms.
Although the Joint Database System was accepted by the OB, the Guidance and
Inspection Presidency of SSI had only been involved by the OCU at a relatively
advanced stage in the development process. Later the Department had wishes and
requests which could not entirely be met due to the fact that the process of
development had already gone very far. Despite some of the requirements could be
accommodated, OB puts in claim that Joint Database System does not entirely fulfil
the actual requirements. Yet, there was not any mentioning of the system being used
at the time of the interviews with the OB.
Result 6: Awareness-raising about the importance of registered employment and social
security.
 A half-day project opening conference was held in Ankara with 235 participants.
 Leadership awareness seminar was held in Ankara with the participation of central
level SSI staff.
 8 Regional Awareness Raising Conferences were held in Mardin, Samsun,
Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa, Denizli, Konya, Elazığ and Manisa with the participation of 950
attendees from the SSI Local Offices, relevant institutions, social partners, students
and academicians to all conferences as well as media representatives.
 210 media coverage in the Turkish national/local press and TV was achieved.
 8 press conferences were held before each of the conferences.
 Other dissemination tools and activities:
o Project Identity Tools
o Project Brochure 5000 copies
o Posters and Leaflets: 3 posters (1.000 copies each), Leaflet for Vocational
Schools (7.000 copies each), Leaflet for SME’s and sectors (7.000 copies
each), Leaflet for female employees (7.000 copies each)
o Project Website www.kit-up.net
o Newsletters and e-newsletters
o Story Book for Primary School age children
o Snap-Shot Cartoon Videos
o TV Spot
o 3 articles in different magazines
o Promotional tools
 Awareness Raising Activities were monitored by ex-ante and ex-post surveys,
continuous media coverage follow-up.
Result 7: Field studies:
 Field studies were carried out in six provinces: Erzurum, Gaziantep, Kars, Sanlıurfa,
Samsun and Trabzon by conducting face to face interviews with quantitative methods
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with employers within unregistered employment sectors; with registered employees
and in-depth interviews of opinion leaders and employers in mentioned provinces.
Survey Report was prepared and submitted.
Result 8: Disseminating the Results of the Grant Projects:
 The compendium was prepared in 1000 copies that include the outputs,
achievements, information on results of each successful and outstanding grant
scheme projects.
 National Conference for Grant Scheme Results was organized by the TAT of the TA
project for grant beneficiaries as an associated event shared between three projects
in Ankara.
Regarding the relevance of the outcomes the guiding question is: Do the outcomes help
achieving the TA contracts objectives? This is obviously the case:
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Trainings on leadership awareness raising, project management, regional training
and also the specific training for the inspectors have been attended by a large
number of central and provincial staff (1397) from SSI, relevant ministries and social
partners and will help building awareness, skills and competences at various levels of
management. All training sessions were positively evaluated by the participants with
the exception of statistics training for inspectors.
Study visits to 4 different EU member states were organized for 4 different audiences:
inspectors, seniors, regional staff, IT staff. Each group has expressed their
satisfaction of the content of the visits and other arrangements as explained in the
visit reports. Each visit will contribute in improving the knowledge and thinking of the
various delegates as they were able to examine social security practices and policies
and systems in operation at European level. Such benefits would have been
multiplied if on-the job training/ internship placements had been realized. There has
been news lately about another outcome of the study visit to Germany: SSI is
currently planning to introduce a similar model like the German “mini-job” regulation to
Turkey. Another (longer) study visit in preparation of such a model will be undertaken
in the last week of September. This can be regarded as a very positive impact
achieved by the PRE project.
Trainer corps will contribute in enhancing the internal training capacity of SSI at local
and regional level provided that such capacity created by the project will be
operationalized and supported by the retraining. Yet, the interviews with the OB have
not revealed any impression that it is being done. Similar activities in the future should
therefore focus more strongly on the operationalization of the trained trainers.
The quality and the content of outputs – Working Group Reports – were not in line
with what had been expected and have not delivered any “model” recommended for
inter-ministerial cooperation. Yet, the findings and recommendations in Report of the
third Working Group – focused on action plan against informal economy – were
regarded as important by SSI in preparing the strategy paper. The strategy paper that
depended on the Reports was prepared at the very end of the project. Although the
activities have not produced the expected results, the experience gained through the
whole process was valuable for SSI and other participating institutions in terms of
methodology used in model/ strategy development, finding clues in multilateral
cooperation process for future operations.
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The “Report on EU Best Practice in Inter-Institutional Cooperation” was prepared and
submitted to OB to substitute the “Model” (according to an agreement between
beneficiary and TA that was later dismissed). The Report elaborated models of interministerial and inter-institutional cooperation from various EU Member States in detail
and evaluated their outcomes and impact. This report was the basis for drafting the
“10 Step Model” of a cooperation scenario. The report mentioned as well as the “10
Step Model” will be a valuable source for SSI to be used in the future for cooperation
activities and as a basis for proposals of cooperation to other institutions.
The Joint Database developed and tested may serve as a useful tool in improving the
inspection services in case it is revised to reflect the requirements of relevant SSI
departments. The multi-institutional utilisation of the database is subject to data
protection concerns that need to be sorted out either at legislative level or through
agreements between the participating institutions.
Awareness raising activities and the materials produced have been highly successful
in reaching target groups which will definitely have a positive effect in pursuing further
policy measures on combating informal economy by the relevant institutions.
Field studies conducted in 6 regions have provided SSI and the partners with a good
source to gain insight of the economic and social dimensions of the undeclared
economy/employment and to plan and implement the inspections in a much more
effective way. The central and provincial SSI staff members who have attended the
whole process have gained substantial knowledge that should be updated in the
future and be utilised accordingly.
Grant scheme dissemination conference was very well attended and the compendium
is likely to have reached all relevant stakeholders. This will definitely have a positive
role in sustaining the results of the grant scheme implementation
It is obvious that the PRE TA project results were relevant with the objectives within limits of
the quality of outcomes of some activities and will contribute to the achievement of the
objectives and such contribution will easily be enhanced if the necessary follow up, revisions,
updates and use of the outcomes are decisively conducted and the results are
operationalized.
In relation to the effectiveness of the project we will have to look at the comparison of
planned and actual outputs, results and impact. The indicators set in the HRD OP (2007)
include output indicators that directly relate to TA:
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Number of SSI staff at central and local level who participated in trainings was 1507
(inclusive of ToT and SV and do not include the trainings provided by GBs) against
baseline of 827 in 2006.
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Number of staff from social partners who participated in trainings on National
Strategy: 5 ( no baseline to compare)
The other indicator is about number of local partnerships to which TA has not contributed in
the life of the project.
Result indicators include only one indicator about the decrease in the rate of complaints
(advice slips) however no data was made available in the annual report of SSI in this context.
Based on the observations on the quality of the outputs and the relevance of the results it is
obvious that the project was especially effective in relation to training, study visits, field
studies, awareness raising and grant scheme dissemination activities in obtaining the
planned results; however, the activities aiming at producing coordination/ cooperation
between SSI and other ministries, the model for inter-ministerial cooperation in combating
unregistered employment, and the development of a common database were not effective to
provide the expected contribution.
In relation to efficiency there is no quantitative data available to assess the ratio of cost and
OBs and stakeholders’ efforts for inputs and outputs. It is for sure that TAT contribution was
substantial and the project results – including the ones which were not effective for the end
result – would not have been achievable without this external international and domestic
expertise because of a lack of capacities within SSI and among the stakeholders.
The efficiency of conversion of the means and activities to “outputs” would be useful to
comment on.
 The studies for preparation of project documents had been initiated in 2007 with a
workshop with the attendance of relevant stakeholders and social partners and the
project was started to be implemented on 28th September 2010. Although there might
have been some adoption and revisions through the whole process, the
implementation was started one year after the procurement notice. Therefore, the
inception phase of the project has taken 6 months – 3 months for preparation plus 3
months approval. There have been major changes in the formulation of training
requirements and IT component (joint database). The delay was long enough to
cause deficiencies in keeping up the planned schedule and so the timely delivery of
the outputs.
 TL was replaced at the mid of the implementation period. Replacement process and
the completion of formalities took 6-7 months. New TL has taken over the
responsibility in November 2011 while the project has ended in June 2012. This has
been another reason for the delays since the delivery of project outputs particularly in
relation to the social security component of the project virtually came to a standstill. It
was also difficult to coordinate the activities among the components. Nevertheless,
the replacement was regarded as good and produced better results by increasing the
efficiency of HR input.
 There has been only one month extension and the duration have become not enough
to fully finalise the outputs under Result 3, 4 and 5 which were the core in pursuing
the project objectives.
 Attendance of the staff of the social partners and partner ministries has been
problematic because of the long programmes which cannot be shortened due to the
fact that the subject to be covered required detailed and time-consuming efforts.
 OCU was also responsible in coordinating the monitoring of grant scheme projects in
parallel to TA. Nevertheless, close cooperation between the OCU and TAT and also
OS provided flexibility and ability of adoption for specific requirements emerged
during implementation. The queries of TA related to efficiency of tasks have been
provided in good manner.
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The delivery of activities that requires active coordination and cooperation by the
partner ministries, specifically MoF (Revenue administration), has been very difficult
despite the attempts of high-ranking personnel responsible in the relevant
organisations. The representatives were willing to cooperate and attended meetings;
however, when it came to signing the protocol it was pretended that the legislation
was not applicable to do so. Stakeholders were sufficiently engaged in interinstitutional structures such as Steering Committee, Sectorial Committee besides
their involvement in project activities as required by the ToR. However, it was
observed that the OB’s beliefs in using the inter-institutional coordination and
coordination as a good tool in delivering successful interventions tended to fade
away.
Sustainability of benefits – project results – after the external support are all regarded to be
secured provided that the OB and the partner ministries and institutions take the remedies in
finalising the incomplete outputs and the necessary follow up, revisions, updates and use of
the outcomes are decisively conducted and the results are put into operation.
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Trainer corps will have to be actively utilised in internal trainings and other trainings,
seminars targeting employees and employers on the issues of unregistered
employment. The skills and the competencies of trainers have to be refreshed by
periodic ToT activities.
The Strategy Paper delivered will have to be furthered and internalised.
Proposed model(s) for inter-institutional cooperation will have to be worked on and
adopted to the Turkish circumstances. Required changes in the relevant legislation
will have to be initiated.
Joint Database will have to be revised to reflect the requirements of relevant
departments and made operational.
Awareness raising and communication materials produced by the Project will have to
be reproduced and used periodically to keep up the awareness level required for
combating unregistered employment.
In relation to other horizontal issues the PRE TA Project has had no activity directly
addressing the horizontal issues. Nonetheless, field studies under Result 7 were formulated
to conduct empirical research allowing:
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Gender based comparisons of registered and unregistered employment with respect
to certain indicators including poverty among others;
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Consideration of the unregistered employment for women in sectors where the
undeclared work is highly prevalent.
As for the good governance issues:
 Adoption of an applicable and sustainable Strategy for combating the unregistered
employment;
 Objectively and transparently formulated model and database for inspecting
unregistered employment and undeclared economy;
 Well trained inspection staff who are able to objectively and transparently conduct the
inspection duty;
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Well trained central and regional staff with high skills of communication with the
employees and employers
can be regarded as elements of good governance for PRE and will directly affect the
project’s impact if followed decisively.
3.4.3.7 Major Findings
The major findings related to PRE can be summarised as follows:
Positive highlights
 Staff training has been benefited by quite a large number of staff of SSI and relevant
partners, it will be a major element in sustaining and rolling over the project results to
other regions in Turkey. The same applies for the trainer corps initiated.
 The field studies conducted have provided a good tool to comprehend the insight of
unregistered employment in the regions and will easily be rolled over to other regions
by SSI staff now having the knowhow of the methodology and the experience.
 Experience gained in inter-institutional cooperation process, the strategy paper
submitted, the model proposed, the joint database have served as a good basis to be
improved, adopted and revised to further strategies in combating the unregistered
employment.
 Awareness raising activities and communication materials have provided a good
heritage that can be reproduced and used periodically.
 TA project has covered all 43 eligible provinces in the 12 NUTS II regions with some
activities participated by the staff in other regions and conducted in other provinces.
Challenges
 Project activities under some results were delayed and did not produce the expected
quality in the outputs in planned schedule, prevented logical sequence in delivery of
outputs. These were basically due to delays in Working Group studies, late coming
provision of leadership caused by the overly long replacement process of TL.
 Required level of cooperation and coordination could not be secured between the SSI
and relevant departments of other ministries.
 Participation and contribution by the staff of partner institutions to working groups and
training were limited and inadequate in terms of both quality and quantity.
 Strategy paper, model, joint database have to be worked on to be adopted, updated,
revised to be made operational and to further the strategy in combating undeclared
economy and employment.
3.5
Improvement of Public Employment Services and Labour Market
Information Systems
3.5.1 Financial Status
Measure 1.4 was named “To improve the quality of public employment services”. Under this
headline the HRD OP did not foresee a grant scheme but a service and a supply contract –
both for the benefit of the Turkish Employment Agency İSKUR.
Table 145: Amounts contracted for PES as of 31.12.2012
Name of the
operation:
Improving the
Quality
of
Public
Employment
Services
Type of
contract
Contract
Title
Service
Technical
Assistance
for Improving
the Quality of
Public
Employment
Services
Supply
?
Date
of
signature of
contract (1st
contract for
grants)
Contract amount
(total public cost)
Status at
31.12.2012
?
9.978.000 €
Implementa
tion
?
156.228 €
?
PES can be regarded as a “flagship project” under the Employment Component of HRD OP.
This is partly due to the enormous amount of money invested into a singular project – PES
TA consumes 58% of all the money invested into the four TA projects. But it is also due to
the fact that this measure is of particular importance for the beneficiary institution İSKUR in
relation to capacity building and for the customers of İSKUR in relation to the services they
want to use (matching, counselling, active employment policy).
The following table depicts the financial importance of PES in relation to the other Priority 1
operations:
Table 146: Contracted Amounts for Priority 1 Axis per Type of Contracts
Operation
Grant Scheme €
Service €
Supply €
Total €
PWE
23,888,026.94
(41.7%)
2.989.550
(17%)
-
26.877.576,94
(35.8%)
PYE
24.133.080,98
(42%)
1.947.680
(11%)
-
26.080.760,98
(34.7%)
PRE
9.167.133,61
(16%)
2.399.500
(14%)
424.366
(73%)
11.990.999,61
(16%)
PES
-
9.978.000
(58%)
156.228
(27%)
10.134.228
(13.5%)
TOTAL
57.188.241,53
17.314.730
580.594
75.083.565,53
3.5.2
Technical Assistance Project
The major component of Measure 1.4 is the Technical Assistance contract “Improving the
Quality of Public Employment Services” with İSKUR being the beneficiary. The project is still
under implementation by the time of the finalisation of this report. It will not be over until early
2014. Hence the evaluation can so far only offer indicative findings.
3.5.2.1 Background of the Project
The Terms of Reference for the PES project have been drafted in 2008 by the OS under
participation of the Operation Beneficiary. İSKUR was very interested in this project which
was supposed to fit into the institution’s strategic plan and provide İSKUR with capacity
building activities in relation to their staff (human resources development) but also in relation
to the organisational development (service development for the benefit of İSKUR’s
customers).
It turned out, however, that the time that is spent between the development of a needs-based
ToR, the process of tendering and the actual contracting – let alone the implementation – is
very long. In this particular case it covered roughly two years until the project started. This
time consuming procedure resulted in the fact that parts of the needs outlined in the ToR did
no longer exist because they had been tackled by the beneficiary itself. Hence it was
necessary to prepare a project addendum with a view to updating the needs description and
the potential solutions to be provided by the project. After all, the project was extended by six
months and will now be finalised by January 2014.
The main challenges for the public employment service in Turkey had been described in the
ToR as follows:117
117
Terms of Reference for Technical Assistance to increase the quality of Public Employment Services, section 1.4.3
-Lack of multi-dimensional, detailed and long term national/local employment strategies
-Inadequacy of detailed labour market analyses at national and local level and ineffective
usage of them
-Inadequacy of the institutional capacity and coordination among İŞKUR, MoLSS, MoIT and
local actors regarding policy making and implementation in employment field.
-The awareness regarding the functions of İŞKUR is low particularly at local level
-There is no mechanism to monitor the active labour market measures to evaluate their
impact on employment.
-Guidance services regarding job, career, vocation and public employment services are not
adequate for people in the labour market and students at schools.
-Inconsistency of the Turkish Occupational Dictionary with ISCO 2008
-Lack of effectively functioning labour market information system
-Provincial employment and vocational training boards are not functioning in an effective and
efficient way.
3.5.2.2 Result/Activity Analysis
The overall objective of the project was to attract and retain more people in employment by
improving the quality of public employment services. On the basis of the challenges
described above the ToR formulated a set of seven results which needed to be fulfilled by
the project:
Result 1: The institutional capacity of İŞKUR provincial directorates is improved to deliver
better public employment services in 43 provinces within “Model Offices” approach.
Result 2: Labour Market Information System of İŞKUR is improved.
Result 3: Guidance services of İŞKUR regarding job, vocation, career and public
employment services are improved in eligible 12 NUTS-II regions.
Result 4: A model to monitor active labour market policies is elaborated to increase
efficiency of active measures.
Result 5: Better functioning of the Provincial Employment and Vocational Training Boards is
ensured to envisage, implement and monitor tailor-made employment policies in eligible 12
NUTS II regions.
Result 6: Access to the services of İŞKUR is increased.
Result 7: Policy making capacity of MoLSS, İŞKUR and social partners regarding
employment issues is increased.







Result 1 affected the organisational development of İŞKUR. The idea was to develop
model offices that should afterwards be rolled out to the whole country. The model
offices would follow a certain pattern of office space and utilisation, office staff would
be specifically trained and the offices would be equipped through the use of the
supply contract.
Result 2 was supposed to improve the baseline of relevant labour market data on
which the institution can take educated decisions related to specific regional or sector
or target group related issues in its service delivery policy.
Result 3 aimed mainly at introducing new counselling services within İŞKUR with a
view to accompanying the job matching services with more career oriented guidance
and counselling for job seekers.
Result 4 was supposed to provide İŞKUR with instruments for internal monitoring of
the service delivery and thus provide the institution with an opportunity to observe the
service delivery in a more professional way, learn from mistakes made and revise
activities once they were recognised to be insufficient, inefficient or ineffective.
Result 5 was related not to İŞKUR directly but to the PVETBs which are affiliated to
İŞKUR and serve the purpose of involving the provincial stakeholders more closely
into the development and implementation of labour market policy at regional,
provincial and local levels.
Result 6 aimed at advertising İŞKUR’s services with a view to increasing the number
of people making use of them.
Result 7 was again aimed at internal capacity building within İŞKUR and MoLSS but
also involving social partners with a view to enhancing skills needed for the purpose
of employment policy making.
The seven results offered İŞKUR a good opportunity to increase the number of people
benefitting from its services and increase the overall employment rate in Turkey.
3.5.2.3 Institutional Analysis
PES is first and foremost a TA project for the benefit of one institution, namely İŞKUR.
Nevertheless, the services offered by the project also affected other institutions related to the
functioning of the labour market exchange:



The involvement of stakeholders into the tri-partite administration structure was
reflected by the fact that stakeholders would be involved into capacity building
activities.
The project also acknowledged the government’s efforts to establish multistakeholder support at provincial level through the establishment of the PVETBs.
These boards are relatively new for Turkey since they are a recent merger if the
previous Provincial Employment and the Provincial Vocational Education Boards. The
project was supposed to check how these newly established boards actually perform
and support the effectiveness of their actions.
MoLSS as the institution being responsible for the development of employmentrelated policies was involved into capacity building activities related to policy
development.
All in all it can be said that the activities launched under PES reached out to the relevant
actors and didn’t leave any important institution involved into labour market exchange
processes out.
3.5.2.4 Geographical Concentration
İŞKUR is a nation-wide operating institution that covers all provinces and municipalities. The
services in the framework of PES were concentrated on the 12 eligible NUTS II regions
outlined in the SCF and HRD OP.
Among the eligible provinces, the PES project did not prioritise any of the provinces. Instead,
the service distribution was designed in a very comprehensive way:






The Model Office was supposed to be established on the basis of respective Action
Plans in all 43 provinces of the 12 eligible NUTS II regions.
Staff training to İŞKUR in relation to the new guidance and counselling services was
to be undertaken in 43 provinces.
Likewise the training related to ALMP delivery and monitoring had to be carried out in
all 43 provinces.
Training to executive staff of PVETBs was to be implemented in all 43 provinces while
the evaluation of PVETB activities was restricted to the 15 growth centres. Yet, each
of the eligible 12 NUTS II regions has at least one of the growth centres, so this
activity can also be regarded as covering all the eligible regions.
The awareness-raising campaigns of the project were designed to cover the whole
eligible part of the country as well.
All capacity building activities related to policy building necessarily had to be
concentrated on leading staff of the institution and the ministry. No geographical
distribution was possible here.
It can therefore be said that the PES project followed the direction of a very even distribution
of activities across the eligible 12 NUTS II regions and 43 provinces. Unlike the employmentrelated grant schemes in which provinces had to compete with each other in order to win
projects and gain their share of the funds, the TA project organised the distribution of
services in a way that no province would have to lag behind.
3.5.2.5 Sectoral Concentration
Within the PES project the direct beneficiary was İŞKUR and the indirect beneficiaries would
be the jobseekers in Turkey – no possible sectoral concentration could be planned in such a
project design. Hence there is no way to assess any such activity.
3.5.2.6 Outcomes
In terms of outcomes the PES project has a lot to offer. The main outcomes of the on-going
project that is supposed to be finalised by January 2014 are as follows:
Result 1 – Model Offices:





43 Action Plans have been developed.
Some 600 people have been trained on Action Plan implementation.
Roughly 3000 training days have been implemented.
A study tour to the Netherlands has been organised and implemented.
The 3 requested internships are still under preparation but turn out to be very difficult
to realise. While Sweden has accepted to host one group it appears likely to identify a
second host country but will be very difficult to find a third one – all the more since the
beneficiary has restricted the number of possible destinations for unknown reasons
which will make the task for the project team very complicated.
Result 2 – Improving LMIS:



The methodology has been developed and a manual has been prepared, printed and
distributed.
The foreseen job matching system faces a challenge since İŞKUR requires the
online user to register with the national ID number and to receive a user name and
password. Employers are also required to register vacancies. Apparently it is
İŞKUR’s wish to assess each vacancy before it will appear in the system – the same
applies to job seekers input. No other country using such systems allows its
administration to let one or even two days pass before the data put in by job seekers
and employers will be shown online. Thus, the system loses a lot of its attraction
already before it is started. Even well-developed public employment services – for
instance in Germany or the UK – have relatively low shares in the labour market
exchange – yet much higher than the Turkish services. It is therefore likely that the
system will not be too successful.
The software development is – according to the project management – on track. Yet
in relation to the provincial labour market databases the development suffers from a
lack of feedback from İŞKUR which might result in delays and endangers the
success of the result delivery.
Result 3 – Improvement of guidance and vocational counselling systems:




550 training days on leadership training have been implemented.
Two successful study visits to Germany and Austria have provided participants with
experience about the system of occupational guidance and counselling in these two
very well-developed countries.
More than 700 job and vocational counsellors (JVC) will have received training on
their tasks and duties by the end of the project.
The development of a manual for JVCs as well as a monitoring and performance
assessment system for them suffers from delays basically due to a lack of feedback
form the beneficiary. The issue will be discussed at a later stage in this report.
Result 4 – ALMP Monitoring:

Result will be achieved in time and is on track both according to contract
management and TA team.
Result 5 – PVETB Performance Assessment:

This task turned out to be difficult. A performance report on the existing PVETBs has
been prepared and found that some are functioning well while others are somehow
being misused by governorates as an instrument of power plays.


The comparison with other countries’ experience was very difficult since there almost
no institutions such as the PVETBs in other countries.
Feedback on the reports from the side of the beneficiary is waited for which keeps the
further progress on hold. Training will have to be carried out on the basis of the
reports to 250 PVETB executives.
Result 6 – Visibility and Communication:


The so-called “İŞKUR Bus” travelled to all 43 provinces. The first campaign reached
33.000 people while the second one aims at reaching 50.000 more.
8 short films on vocational occupations have been produced. 7 of them have been
approved and are supposed to be broadcast on outdoor TVs in 43 provinces as well
as on national TV.
Result 7 – Capacity Building for Policy Development:



30 internships on policy development were targeted. 12 have been implemented.
Others were cancelled on the day before the departure or – in the case of Poland –
not approved by the Minister. It will thus be difficult to reach the target.
125 people were trained including staff of MoNE and MoD.
In the contract addendum it was agreed to undertake some research studies which
have been sub-contracted to TEPAV. Due to delays with the contract approval it
might become difficult to carry out the research at full scale.
Regarding the relevance of the outcomes the guiding question is: Do the outcomes help
achieving the TA contracts objectives? This is obviously the case:





118
The Model Offices will improve the quality of services. They create a standard in
terms of office space, staffing and guidelines that will serve as a role model for the
rest of Turkey. It is intended to introduce the Model Office approach to the other – so
far non-eligible – 38 provinces of Turkey.
Training as well as internships has been positively evaluated by the participants and
help building skills and competences on the side of the trainees. They have always
been connected to other professional tasks such as the Model Office creation, the
evaluation of PEVTB performance, the development of policy development or the
establishment of the new job and vocational counselling services.
The JVC is a new service introduced to İŞKUR’s portfolio that will allow the institution
to offer jobseekers a more comprehensive service that not only includes job matching
services but also provides direction and guidance as to which vocational occupations
are most suitable for the jobseeker and what kind of profile he or she must have in
order to apply successfully for a certain job.
İŞKUR has hired more than 2000 persons who have been prepared as JVCs, and
their activities have significantly enlarged the service offers of İŞKUR. Through the
significant increase in company visits the contact to employers has been improved
and the number of vacancies announced to İŞKUR has skyrocketed.118
The revised LMIS system is likely to improve the matching activities of İŞKUR and
facilitate the process of getting in touch between jobseekers and employers.
See Section A, chapter 3.6.1, particularly table 49.


The research on PEVTB performances is likely to improve the utilisation of these
boards as an instrument to improve labour market partnerships and networking of
stakeholders. Indirectly this might also promote better performance of PES services.
The visibility activities have reached out to thousands of citizens among which a big
amount might for the first time have heard more about İŞKUR’s services. Thus, a
better usage of İŞKUR in terms of registering with them can possibly be expected.
All in all, it can be said that the PES project results certainly contribute to the achievement of
the objectives.
In relation to the effectiveness of the project we will have to look at the comparison of
planned and actual outputs, results and impact. The following table attempts at comparing
the indicators set in the HRD OP (2007) with the available information about outputs of the
OES project in June 2013 (i.e. half a year before its end).
Table 147: Output and result indicators 2007 compared to actual output and results of PES
Type of
Indicator
Output
Result
Indicator
Baseline
(2006)
Envisaged
Output (2009)
Actual Output
(2013)
Number of Monitoring
Mechanisms
0
1
0
(1 will be
achieved)
Number of İŞKUR staff
who participated in
PES training
301
1.000
>1.500119
Increase in the number
of unemployed people
counselled
18.654
M: 11.000
F: 11.000
841.493120
22.3%
30%
No data available
Increase in the
placement rates of
İŞKUR
Obviously the number of İŞKUR staff to be trained has been surmounted significantly by the
project.
In relation to result indicators it is significant that due to the huge increase of staff the number
of counselling cases has increased dramatically. PES has a share in that development by
training more than 700 of the newly established JVC on their tasks.
Placement rates are a different issue and it is not entirely clear how the HRD OP defined this
indicator. It would be very difficult to identify the influence that the project might have had on
an increase in that area. Only time will tell if and how İŞKUR will be able to sustain the
effects of the activities of PES on its structure and service delivery. Any impact assessment
will have to be subject of future evaluations.
119
600 on Action Plans for Model Offices, 160 on LMIS, more than 700 JVC, 10 on Occupational Dictionary, 250 on PEVTB,
125 on Policy Making – according to PMU and PES TAT.
120 Counted are all career and job counselling cases compared to 2.124 in 2006
As far as efficiency is concerned the lead question is about the ratio between inputs and
outputs. In this case again the data baselines are missing in order to undertake such an
assessment. PES provided training in addition to İŞKUR’s own activities. Certainly external
training provided by experts who international and domestic experts who do not belong to the
staff of the institution will be more expensive than internal training – nonetheless the PES
training will have contained elements that internal staff training could not cover.
In relation to other results of the project the evaluation team argues that most of them would
not have been achievable for İŞKUR staff without external expertise because of a lack of
capacities. It is therefore assumed that the efficiency of the services cannot be doubted.
Sustainability is a crucial issue for TA projects as they are implemented on the basis of
needs analyses undertaken by the beneficiary. Their topics are thus at the core of their
interests and it should be a matter of fact that the achieved results will be sustained.
In terms of PES, the sustainability of impacts is evident according to the beneficiary’s own
plans:







The Model Offices are to be rolled out across the rest of Turkey and will be sustained
in the 43 eligible provinces in which Action Plans have been developed.
Once the delays in the approval process will be overcome it is very likely that the
LMIS revision will serve the whole İŞKUR administration country-wide to improve
matching processes between employers and jobseekers.
The Job and Vocational Counselling services have pushed the success indicators of
İŞKUR in 2012 in particular. The number of counselling cases skyrocketed – as did
the number of workplace visits and- as a result of these – the number of vacancies
announced to the service. It looks like a major success story. Yet, there are also
concerns:
o The JVC have been hired on the basis of limited contracts, they are hence no
civil servants.
o Many of those trained by PES are highly frustrated because they are not
utilised as counsellors but spend 100% of their time with visiting companies
which is against their job description.
o Many have been told that they would be replaced once their contract runs out.
JVC who have received this message are actively looking for new jobs. Thus
the extensive training provided to 700 JVCs runs the risk of becoming
obsolete.
ALMP are likely to be monitored more professionally after the end of the project and
the experience from the PES project will be made available across İŞKUR’s provincial
offices.
It is not clear if the PEVTB training will be multiplied to other provinces in Turkey. It
would be most important to disseminate both the findings of the PVETB assessment
as well as the training in order to create unified processes and push back political
influences. Only then can PEVTB perform their duties accordingly.
The visibility material is likely to have an impact on other provinces than the eligible
ones as well because the material is easy to be multiplied and disseminated. The
İŞKUR Bus belongs to the institution now and can visit other provinces as well. The
films on occupations will be used country-wide.
Capacity building efforts related to policy development were centralised anyway.
They mainly affected headquarter staff and ministries such as MoLSS and MoD. In
the light of the positive feedback, it is likely that the trained staff will be able to
improve their policy development activities which will on the long term result in better
adjusted employment policies.
After all the evaluation team is convinced that the results of the PES project will mostly be
sustainable and its results will be disseminated to other parts of Turkey.
The previous part has already more or less answered questions related to the utility of the
PES results (lead question: will anybody make use of the results achieved in the project?).
As it has been said before some important outputs of PES are intended to be used as
common practice after the end of the project: That applies to the Model Office approach, the
LMIS, the JVC work processes, the ALMP monitoring or the utilisation of visibility materials
and the İŞKUR Bus.
In relation to other horizontal issues the PES project has a specific situation. None of the
activities directly affect the customers of İŞKUR in a way that they, for instance, receive
training or any other form of capacity building. The whole project is in itself an internal
process directed at İŞKUR as an institution and at its staff as well as (partly) staff of other
public entities such as MoLSS, MoD or the executive members of PEVTBs.
It is therefore not possible for the project to do anything directly in favour of, for instance, the
needs of disadvantaged people. In relation to gender issues the evaluation team did not have
lists of participants of PES training activities which would have enabled it to make a
substantial statement on equal opportunities in PES. Environmental issues – although a
general horizontal concern in each operation of HRD OP – cannot play a role in an internal
capacity building project for the state’s public employment service. As far as good
governance issues are concerned it can be said that they are at the core of the project.
Anything aiming at transparent monitoring processes, simplified and user-friendly IT-related
matching processes or awareness-raising campaigns which inform people about the services
offered by İŞKUR are per se elements of good governance since they aim at ensuring better
utilisation of services, more transparency and knowledge about the services and more
sustainable achievements which will be open to everybody. In this respect, PES can be
regarded as a frontrunner of good governance in employment policies.
3.5.3
Other Observations
It can be said that PES has been regarded as a flagship project under the HRD OP – both by
the Operating Structure and by the beneficiary. Hence there has been a lot of attention from
both sides related to whether or not the project TAT would be able to achieve the requested
results.
The importance of the project for the beneficiary has been underpinned by the fact that an
addendum with newly formulated results and achievements was formulated in order to adjust
the project to the changing needs of the beneficiary. The amount of funds that flew into PES
also indicates its importance for OS and OB.
Although there have been atmospheric disturbances in the project implementation –
particularly between OCU and TAT – it can be said that the (still on-going) project is very
likely to achieve or over-achieve most of the envisaged results and indicators. It has proven
to be of utmost importance for the strategic development of İŞKUR which has been
underpinned by the OCU staff in the respective evaluation interview.
Some other issues should be mentioned at this stage:




3.5.4
The PES project suffered from several changes in the composition of the TAT. The
project has seen three different Team Leaders, three different KE3 (out of which only
two actually showed up) and two KE4. Only the position of the Training KE 2 has not
been touched. According to the beneficiary it has never been İŞKUR who was the
driving force behind the replacements – in all cases it is claimed that the experts
themselves wanted to leave. This is not in every case a credible statement. Anyway,
the number of replacements shed light on the question if the contractor has identified
the best team in the first place. The beneficiary sees the changes as a sort of
“breach” of the contract which is not true in a technical or juridical sense – but, of
course, replacements can severely hamper the progress of a project and its final
success. In particular, it is the lengthy replacement approval process under
involvement of the EUD that creates a burden for the participating parties: The TAT
has to undertake its tasks without the relevant KE for a longer period, the beneficiary
lacks a competent counterpart for a certain period, the contract management, the
contractor, beneficiary and EUD have to go through a time-consuming and
complicated administrative process. Since PES is not the only TA project that had to
face these problems one should think about how this development can best be
avoided.
Although PES is an example for a project that will not only achieve (most of) its
objectives and results, it is also an example for a general problem in the planning and
the administrative processes of EU project development and implementation.
Although this project was at the very core of the beneficiary’s strategic interests,
some of its main features had to be adjusted by ways of an addendum in order to
meet the changed requirements and needs of the beneficiary. The duration between
the development of the OIS, the actual tendering process, the selection of the
appropriate contractor and the implementation of the project is too long so that needs’
changes have to be taken into account from the very beginning.
It should therefore be thought about the size of such an operation. The PES project is
by far the biggest among the TA projects under the employment priority of HRD OP.
In its attempt to be as comprehensive as possible – and thus cover all development
challenges of the public employment services in Turkey – it may have become a little
too complicated in order to be implemented smoothly.
In relation to the amount of results and the complexity of the approach promoted by
PES the duration might have been calculated in a wrong way. Only as a
consequence of the addendum the project will finally have a duration of three years.
Such duration might have been appropriate from the very beginning.
Supply Contract
The evaluation team had been advised by the beneficiary not to look deeply into the two
supply contracts related to İŞKUR and SGK. Hence this paragraph will only briefly highlight a
couple of issues:


135.000 € were granted to İŞKUR, mainly with a view to purchasing equipment for
the offices related to the Model Office approach.
Although the amount of money has significance, the dispersion of money across the
provinces has led to an almost unrecognisable effect on an individual region.



3.5.5
The necessary procurement provisions and procedures are regarded by the
beneficiary as extremely time-consuming and administratively complicated. The OCU
expressed its view that it is very difficult to monitor progress.
Since supply contracts focus on equipment that can be purchased through İŞKUR’s
own budget as well it is hard to see the advantage of having it. If the contract would
have concentrated on certain provinces or certain items that cannot be purchased
through national budgets the situation might have been regarded more positively.
Subsequently the OCU stated that the ratio between the efforts that have to be
undertaken to implement the supply contract and the benefit for the beneficiary is
insufficient. In the future İŞKUR would hence rather avoid having another contract like
this.
Major Findings
The major findings related to PES can be summarised as follows:
Positive highlights




In general, the project has achieved most of its results and is likely to achieve almost
all of them by January 2014.
The project will significantly contribute to the capacity of İŞKUR as the beneficiary.
It is likely to have a significant impact on İŞKUR’s institutional strategy development.
It has covered all 43 eligible provinces in the 12 NUTS II regions of Eastern Turkey.
Challenges




The long duration between the needs analysis building the foundation of the TA
project’s procurement procedures and the actual start of the implementation leads to
outdated requirements which make project addendums necessary.
Several replacements both within the OCU as well as within the TAT made it difficult
to develop a core understanding of partnership and hampered the quality of
cooperation.
Projects with such a comprehensive approach like PES run the risk of overstraining
the capacities of the beneficiary – even if it is such a big institution as İŞKUR.
Projects of such a complexity should be granted enough time for the implementation.
The original duration foreseen for PES appears to be too short.
3.6 Additional General Observations about Technical Assistance Projects
The evaluation team would like to pinpoint two specific observations in relation to Technical
Assistance projects which distinguish them significantly from the grant schemes implemented
under HRD OP Priority 1 – one of them has been highlighted to a certain extent already in
the chapters on individual projects, the other one has not yet been highlighted.
3.6.1
Achievements and Likeliness of Impact
While the grant schemes under HRD OP’s employment priority did not have a clear strategic
approach formulating explicit expectations towards them as a whole (not only the individual
project), the situation of the TA projects was much more in favour of result achievement:




The two major institutions representing the implementation of Turkey’s employment
and social security policies – İŞKUR and SGK – have been the direct beneficiaries of
the TA projects. Hence the results required to be achieved in the TA projects
reflected the direct needs of the two institutions in terms of a strategic attempt to
improve the environment related to the promotion of women employment, the
promotion of youth entrepreneurship, the promotion of registered employment and
the improvement of public employment services. Subsequently the results of the TA
projects – based on a needs assessment in the two institutions that led to the
formulation of the ToR – was much more at the core of the institutions’ interests than
the grant scheme objectives that were formulated much broader and more generally.
In all TA projects the beneficiaries were able to somehow revise the content topics
and adapt them to their current challenges and needs. Notwithstanding the
bureaucratic procedures in conjunction with contract addendums and extensions of
budgets and/or implementation periods, no similar adjustment was possible once the
calls for grant schemes had been launched.
The TA projects had a high share of activities directed at the internal capacity building
processes within İŞKUR and SGK and provided thus concrete and immediately
visible benefits to the two institutions. Although it has been sometimes claimed by
OCU staff that they had to provide support to the Technical Assistance Teams, it
cannot be denied that particularly the training efforts undertaken by the projects have
had a major impact on the institutions. Prominent examples for that are the PES
training for the newly established Job and Vocational Counsellors without which the
new staff would certainly not have been operational on such a short notice and the
intensive training provided to provincial inspection staff of SGK under PRE.
None of the four TA projects assessed really provided a distinctively and
comprehensively described strategy to operationalize the results of the projects.
Nevertheless, there are indicators that provide the evaluation team with an optimistic
view on this issue:
o İŞKUR OCU staff has expressed their view that the YES model developed
under PYE will be used across the country.
o Likewise the Job Clubs developed under PWE will be promoted beyond the
borders of the eligible NUTS II regions.
o The Model Offices developed under PES will form an important part of the
development strategy of İŞKUR for the future, and the experience won during
their establishment will be utilised for the dissemination across Turkey.
o
The Strategy Paper developed under PRE has provided the responsible
Strategy Development Presidency of SGK with material promoting the
institutional development as well as legislative initiatives with a view to
promoting registered employment in Turkey. Ideas developed in a study tour
are currently being explored with a view to establishing a new model of
facilitated registration of household workers in Turkey.
It can therefore be expected that particularly the TA projects will have a significant
institutional impact on İŞKUR and SGK and – through the two important institutions – on the
development of employment and social security policies in the country. This positive outlook
should be assessed by further impact evaluations in the future.
In order to ensure such impacts through future TA projects, it would be helpful if the OS
would make sure that future Terms of Reference for TA projects explicitly contain a
description of tools or methods how the beneficiary institutions intend to utilise the requested
results for the development of their institutional development, strategy development and
service delivery. This operationalization is somehow missing in the previous TA contracts
and leads to risks in the utilisation of positive results. Examples are:



3.6.2
PRE has developed a trainer corps within SGK. Trainees have been intensively
prepared to act as trainers in the intra-institutional training programme. However it is
not known to the evaluation team that the newly skilled trainers have ever been used
for the implementation of trainings. Skills like that will be lost very soon and the whole
activity would be in vain if the trainers are not continuously being used. This risk could
have been avoided once SGK would have been obliged to provide evidence on their
plans in relation to the trainer corps.
PYE has developed the Youth Entrepreneurship Support (YES) model which is based
on the cooperation between İŞKUR and other provincial and local institutions in
providing support for young entrepreneurs. Yet, KOSGEB has not been practically
involved into the project’s implementation so that there is no automatism in providing
additional support to those young people who actually start a business of their own
after having received training. Hence the intensive entrepreneurship training and the
provincial Action Plans might be in vain and will not have the impact envisaged. In
addition, at the moment İŞKUR’s statement that it wants to utilise the model countrywide is basically a lip service. There are no operationalization approaches in the
project design.
Similar problems occur in PWE and PES: It cannot be predicted to what extent the
models developed by the projects will actually be implemented and disseminated.
There is hope – but the evaluation team is not sure about the desired impact actually
being achieved.
Implementation of Study Visits and Internships
The evaluation team has been explicitly asked by the EUD to include the issue of study visits
and internships into the assessment of the TA projects.
This is the evaluation team’s take on these issues:
3.6.2.1
Study Visits
Study visits are in general a usual element of TA projects. They serve the purpose of
providing staff of beneficiary institutions as well as representatives of policy, administration
and social partner institutions with concrete insight information into the way EU Member
States develop, administrate and implement policies and strategies. However, study visits
are often criticised as promoting a sort of “institutional tourism” providing persons from the
beneficiary country with opportunities to travel to EU countries. The cost-effectiveness ratio
of study visits is therefore the indicator which is to be seen critically – but it is hard to provide
any evidence in one or the other direction.
Generally it has to be said that study visits should not be seen as “stand alone” solutions to a
certain issue – they need to be seen as an element of or a tool in a strategic approach to
develop capacities by providing key players in the beneficiary country with concrete and firsthand experience.
Such a systematic approach has not been found by the evaluation team. As far as we can
see the implementation of study visits can be characterised as follows:





Usually there is no systematic content-related preparation of the study visit in a way that
the beneficiary’s needs would be precisely assessed or concrete problems be used as a
basis for the planning of visits. More often it is the case that the ToR already contains
numbers of visits to be implemented and general topics to be covered.
A real individual preparation of study visit participants before the trip starts is not possible
since the delegations will only be nominated short before the trip. It has been observed
that participants were replaced on the day of the departure. Hence the participation is not
always depending on the eagerness of a person to learn from EU experience but rather
on availability or personal influence – sometimes it even constitutes an award-type
benefit for members of staff.
Delayed approval decisions taken by the Minister of Labour and Social Security also
have an impact on the value of study visits. There have been cases in which study visits
which had been professionally planned in all details with the local authorities had to be
cancelled not even a week before departure. Such behaviour does not promote the host’s
willingness to invest efforts into the next request of this kind. In other cases, programmes
had to be revised although they had been thoroughly planned which leads to frictions with
the hosts as well.
The timing of study visits needs to be planned and maintained. There are too many cases
in which beneficiaries agreed on certain timing, visit arrangements were made, but then
the beneficiary changed its plans. Such behaviour makes intensive efforts of both TAT
and hosts obsolete, annoys the hosts unnecessarily and may have negative
consequences for future visit requests.
Destinations for study visits sometimes appear to be subject to personal and (sometimes)
irrational decisions of leading beneficiary staff. The evaluation team learned about a case
in which a comprehensive study visit programme had been developed with expert
support in Sweden. The beneficiary however did not want to go there in October because
of the bad weather. Instead the TAT was asked to plan a trip to Denmark where the
professional background for the visit was much less good – but the weather forecasts
similar. Such decisions cannot really be regarded as justified and put enormous
additional stress on the organisers in the TATs.


It is not always clear as to how study visit participants make sure that the experience
gained in the EU countries is recorded, synthesized and comprehensively disseminated
to other members of staff or other, for instance affiliated, institutions. Comprehensive
study visit reports are always being prepared by the TATs – but their impact is limited to
the pro-active initiative of the beneficiary, in particular the head of the study visit party.
Feedback to hosts from the visited countries is usually not given. But it would underpin
the honesty of the beneficiary’s intentions and also promote the willingness of the host
institutions to host other study visits if there would be a feedback on the extent to which
the experience gained during the visit has been used and what consequences this
experience has unfolded in relation to the challenges the beneficiary faces at home.
The findings made above may sound pre-dominantly negative. Yet, it has to be mentioned
that there are also positive examples which bear the potential of replication or orientation.
Such an example is a study visit under PRE:








The visit was supposed to provide senior officials of SGK with knowledge on the way that
German authorities organise social insurance, promote registered employment and
implement the fight against the undeclared economy.
The programme was prepared by the TAT Team Leader in close conjunction with the
German Embassy in Ankara, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the
Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin and Bonn.
The programme provided information on the legislative background in Germany but
focused in particular on the practical setup of the work undertaken by social insurance
units as well as customs services which are responsible for fighting unregistered
employment.
Participants who represented several departments of SGK headquarters had intensive
discussions with their German counterparts. Lots of questions were posed and the host’s
solutions were observed, discussed and documented by taking home (and translating)
the respective documentation.
TAT prepared a comprehensive report and translated the main documents collected
throughout the visits into Turkish.
One of the main topics of the visit had been the visit to the German Minijob Centre which
administers the so-called “household checque” system which facilitates the registration of
persons working in private households and the payment of reduced premiums for social
insurance and reduced taxes to be paid by the employers. The system has been
successful in Germany by helping otherwise unregistered persons to benefit from social
insurance and providing employers with the opportunity to simply legalise their household
workers and comply with the laws by paying low amounts of lump sum contributions and
taxes.
After the PRE project ended the social insurance premium department started to develop
plans to introduce a new system analogous to the German “household checque” in
Turkey as well. In September 2013 another visit has been made to Germany to discuss
the details of the system implementation which SGK intends to copy and adapt to local
circumstances.
The willingness of the German hosts to organise another study visit was very much
raised through the feedback that the previous study visit had actually had an impact on
the further development of the Turkish social insurance system and that the German
model might serve as a role model for export of best practice to Turkey.
The example demonstrates that a well-prepared and followed-up study visit can have a
significant positive impact on the capacity development as well as the institutional
development of beneficiaries in Turkey. It should be in the OS’s best interest to promote a
thorough and more strategic planning of study visits in the framework of TA projects and
instruct the OBs to avoid the problems described above.
3.6.2.2
Internships
Internships of Turkish beneficiary staff in institutions in EU Member States constituted
particular problems in the implementation of TA projects under HRD OP – evidently so in
PRE and PES.
In principle, it is certainly a good idea to provide experts from Turkey with a chance to stay in
a foreign country and work with counterparts in the host country for a while. This might lead
to a better understanding of the way the work is done in the host countries and also develop
institutional contacts with the host institutions. The practice, however, looks differently.






It has to be mentioned that in times of crises and shrinking public budgets the
willingness of (public) institutions in EU Member States to host interns from candidate
countries has decreased significantly. This has to do with the facts that
o Institutional budgets have decreased
o Staff has been cut with the effect of a rising workload
o Staff wages have been cut although workloads have increased
Thus the intensive mentoring that an intern requires is hard to be provided by the
potential host institutions. In principle, an intern requires a full-time professional
supervision. Once the candidate doesn’t speak the local language, additional
interpretation services will be required. Documents will need to be translated. In
cases of, for instance, law enforcement or other authoritative action in which citizens
are involved, interns from abroad might meet data protection rules which do not allow
them to participate in such actions. All this provides host institutions with a lot of
additional work which is difficult to be handled without further resources.
It also has to be seen that the number of requests for study visits and internships
increases and comes from various countries across the globe that want to learn from
the professional experience of labour market and social security institutions in the EU.
On the other hand, the candidates for internships also have to live up to some
expectations. In particular, it would be very helpful if they speak the language of the
host country which enables them to read documents, follow conversations without an
interpreter and thus to work on their own to a certain extent – which reduces the
burden for the host institution.
In PRE, for instance, 10 internships were foreseen for inspectors. Yet, SGK was not
able to present the TAT with a set of candidates possessing foreign language skills.
The institution claimed to have inspectors speaking English – but neither British nor
Irish authorities were willing to provide internships at the time. The likeliness of finding
inspectors with German language skills due to a family background in Germany was
apparently not explored by the beneficiary.
In PES, the beneficiary asked for dozens of internships related to policy development
in various countries. Although an international NKE did her utmost to identify
appropriate hosts and arrange for internships in 30 or 40 cases, the beneficiary
decided that it did not want the internship now but at a later stage. Hence all the
coordination efforts undertaken had been in vain. As a result PES has only been able
to carry out a handful of internships and will not be able to meet the targets by the
end of the project.
The lessons to be learned are clear:



Internships are extremely difficult to arrange and prepare.
Intensive efforts from the side of the beneficiary are needed in order to pave the way
for the successful implementation.
The beneficiaries are mostly not willing to make such an investment and blame the
Technical Assistance Teams not to be able to implement the activity.
As a consequence, the evaluation team recommends to refrain from including internships
into TA project scenarios or – if it is absolutely necessary – to oblige the beneficiary to
contribute to the efforts of the TAT substantially. In addition the usage of international NKEs
is crucial in order to be able to identify potential host institutions, develop programmes and
make the necessary arrangements. The workload would be too high for the permanent KE
staff and cannot be carried out by local NKEs who don’t have the necessary contacts.
If these main challenges (and minimum requirements) are not met the inclusion of
internships into TA designs does not make any sense and will only lead to frustration on both
sides.
4. Programme Management
This chapter will summarise the evaluation team’s findings in relation to all the issues that
have to do with the management of the grant schemes and Technical Assistance projects. It
is based on the experience of those who participated in grant schemes as grant beneficiaries
or final beneficiaries and those who played an active role in the TA projects such as
contractors, Technical Assistance Teams and OCUs.
4.1
Application Procedures
This section will describe shortly if and how potential applicants have been supported in the
preparation of applications and how beneficiaries have experienced the application
procedures from the first information on the call for proposals and the actual formulation of
applications to the selection of award winners. It includes an assessment of the perception of
the guidelines for applicants and the application form.
4.1.1
Information on Calls for Proposals and Info Days
The calls for proposals were announced on several sources ranging from the web pages of
OB, OS, CFCU, and EU Delegation to the sources of other institutions and local media.
Main source of information for calls for proposal has been the web pages of CFCU, OB, OS
and EU Delegation. Besides, other web sites and e-mail groups had a role in disseminating
the information. Use of local media was limited and a considerable number of GBs have
been informed of the call for proposal on the info days
Table 148: Sources of information on Calls for Proposals used by grant beneficiaries by grant scheme
Response Percent
PWE
PYE
PRE
Web sites of SGK, CFCU, Operating
Structure, EU Delegation
88%
100%
96%
Other web sites and e-mail groups
28%
38%
19%
Other institutions
11%
34%
11%
Local and/or national media
12%
11%
22%
22%
18%
19%
Answer Options
Information day for call for proposal
The announcements and information on web pages of CFCU, OB, OS and EU Delegation
served the purpose. In order to continue this service to be more effective, these web pages
should be made more functional with a more user friendly design by considering the IT
literacy level of audience.
Local media have been neglected as sources of dissemination of information. They might
play a key role for a more efficient announcement of calls in order to reach wider audience
on regional and provincial basis. Hence they should be included in the relevant
communication plans by the programme authority.
Ideally, the Information Days should form the second step of information and serve as
occasions for potential project applicants to ask questions on the details of the grant scheme
programmes after having already received initial information from websites and application
guidelines in advance of these meetings.
It was a general wish raised by a number of grant beneficiaries to have the Info Days
organized at the very beginning of the tendering process, i.e. earlier in the process than
during the first grant scheme application phase. This can be regarded as another step
forward towards making info day more useful for project promoters with a view to ensuring
maximum impact. Therefore, Info days should be organized as early as possible by OS and
OB and TA (where available) to give potential applicants enough time for project
development activities based on sound knowledge of the conditions. The following table
summarises the grant beneficiaries’ view on Info Days.
Table 149: Evaluation of Info Days by grant beneficiaries and grant scheme
Answer Options
PWE
PYE
PRE
Quite informative and useful
47%
52%
75%
It was useful; however, it was
organized too late to give us
enough time for project
development and writing.
40%
40%
20%
It was not comprehensive
enough to understand the
priorities and eligible
activities, etc.
12%
8%
5%
4.1.2
Application Guidelines
Approximately 40% of GBs said that Application Guidelines were not easy to comprehend.
Guidelines for applicants are the only reference document and critical for the preparation of
relevant projects. As a consequence the application guidelines should be formulated in a way
that they reflect the strategy of the programme and provide clear directives as to how to
prepare a successful application. Application guidelines should be formulated more precisely
and raise clear expectations towards the outcomes. Grant schemes cannot only be
measured by asking whether or not projects have achieved their objectives. There need to
be expectations of the beneficiaries towards the grant scheme as such: What does İŞKUR or
SGK want to achieve? What are their intentions in relation to utilising the grant scheme
projects’ results?
Thus, although the evaluation of the application guidelines appears to be relatively positive,
there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to identifying the beneficiary’s
strategic approach – provided there is one.
Table 150: Evaluation of Application Guideline by grant beneficiaries and grant scheme
Answer Options
PWE
PYE
PRE
Easy to understand and
user friendly
51%
52%
75%
Could be better to serve to
the project promoters
46%
40%
20%
Not easy to understand
and not user friendly
3%
8%
5%
4.1.3
Application Form
The application form was criticized widely by the grant beneficiaries mainly because it had a
quite repetitive character. Grant beneficiaries felt that they had to undertake unnecessary
efforts when filling in the form by writing about the same things time and again. The
perception appears to be justified. However, the application form is a document determined
by PRAG. Hence it is fixed and not easy to apply any alterations to it although it does not
represent an optimal solution for the applicants. OS should check to what extent the
application form can possibly be revised to avoid repetitions. Alternatively it would be a
positive development if more and better guidance would be provided in the application
process – maybe by utilising TA support.
4.1.4
Project development support through programme authorities
The online survey reveals that grant beneficiaries have not been provided adequate project
development support through the programme authorities. While other institutions offered
concrete support in terms of training, guidance and consultancy – for instance some Ankarabased roof organisations in relation to their affiliates as well as several Governorate EU
Coordination Offices in relation to applicants in their constituencies – the support offers made
by the programme authorities seem to be insufficient. Project preparation training and help
desk services by OBs/OS for project promoters have been very limited particularly for PYE
and PRE grant scheme programmes.
Table 151: Project development support provided to grant applicants by OB, OS and regional institutions
Answer
Options
PWE
PYE
PRE
Yes
31%
15%
11%
No
69%
85%
89%
The online survey also revealed that whenever additional support was provided, success
rates rose. In the regions where such support was available, the number of application and
the number of contracts awarded were higher than in other regions without such support.
Therefore, it is quite obvious that support on project development is crucial for the
preparation of successful applications, the consequential enhancement of quality and the
promotion of absorption capacities.
In order to increase the number of “good” applications OS should either organise
regionalised project development support particularly for inexperienced project promoters
and regions with low capacities by using TA, or encourage experienced NGOs and provincial
governorates to provide such support in their regions.
The following table indicates the ratio between support and success in the preparation of
grant scheme applications:
Table 152: Regional support of grant applicants and success rates by grant schemes
PWE
PYE
PRE
Yes
No
Total no
of
Project
Yes
No
Total no
of
Project
Yes
No
Total no
of
Project
TR-63
75%
25%
11
0%
100%
8
0%
100%
5
TR-72
27%
73%
22
15%
85%
13
0%
100%
2
TR-82
0%
100%
3
0%
100%
2
14%
86%
9
TR-83
38%
63%
28
14%
86%
14
0%
100%
4
TR-90
44%
56%
20
10%
90%
10
33%
67%
3
TR-A1
0%
100%
6
67%
33%
3
0%
100%
1
TR-A2
0%
100%
2
0%
100%
2
0%
100%
6
TR-B1
14%
88%
18
0%
100%
6
0%
100%
TR-B2
43%
57%
10
0%
100%
3
25%
75%
4
TR-C1
0%
100%
3
67%
33%
3
0%
100%
0
TR-C2
0%
100%
4
33%
67%
6
0%
100%
5
TR-C3
0%
100%
3
0%
100%
4
0%
100%
2
4.1.5
Utilisation of external consultants in the preparation of applications
Focus Group interviews with the grant beneficiaries and interviews with OBs obviously
confirmed that the project promoters frequently sought for the services of professional project
writers. Such a behaviour – which cannot be forbidden – constitutes a problem for the quality
of the project applications and implementation. Projects written by professional do not
address the regional needs in most of the cases and often create a situation in which the
same projects are being applied for by different promoters in different locations. On the other
hand, projects written by professionals do not provide any capacity development for the grant
beneficiaries themselves and raise difficulties during the implementation particularly in those
cases in which the grant beneficiary did not participate in any phase of the project
preparation. Such projects lack a sense of ownership and commitment of the grant
beneficiary since everything will be done by external staff: from the description of the
activities to the actual implementation.
Hence projects developed by the grant beneficiaries themselves would be more valuable in
terms of institutional sustainability and the sustainability of project results. In order to
strengthen the ownership of the projects among the grant beneficiaries, potential project
promoters should be encouraged to draft their own proposals by providing consistent support
in capacity building. Another recommendation would be to highlight the necessity of taking
ownership for the project already in the guidelines for applicants by reflecting that necessity
in the scoring methodology.
4.1.6
Evaluation of applications
The evaluation of applications has been criticised as in-transparent by the grant
beneficiaries. Another criticism on the evaluation of applications was made by OBs: they
participated in the process by delegating staff as members of the evaluation committee. Yet,
they did not have the final word. Cases were reported to the evaluation team that OB
committee members tried to push the selection of applications with more innovative contents
but were denied approval by OS and EUD. This signifies that the professional knowledge as
well as the expectations of OB staff in the evaluation committee were not sufficiently utilised
and innovative applications were declined to accept which would have had the potential of
increasing the quality of grant scheme outcomes.
In order to avoid such situations, OBs should have a stronger position in the final selection of
grant scheme projects and Contracting Authority should share final funding decisions with
the respective OB and pay more respect to their professional opinion. Such a change of
habits would allow the OBs to take over more influence on the quality of the grant schemes
and also, in turn, delegate elements of responsibility from the OS to those institutions which
are more closely connected to the content of the projects.
4.2
Contracting and Advice
The overall responsibility for the implementation of grant schemes and TA projects according
to the rules and regulations was with the CFCU. Only as of 31st January 2012 the EU
Coordination Department of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security took over tendering,
contracting and financial management powers related to the IPA HRD Component from
CFCU. 121 Hence this section mainly refers to the work undertaken by CFCU.
In the online survey of grant scheme beneficiaries questions have been raised in order to find
out about the grant beneficiaries’ perception of their relationship with CFCU.
First of all, CFCU has been one of the institutions publishing information on the call for
proposals of grant schemes. The overwhelming majority of the grant beneficiaries claimed
that they have been informed about the call by the websites of SGK, İŞKUR, MoLSS, or
CFCU.
Table 153: Information about call for proposal received from websites of SGK, İŞKUR, MoLSS, or CFCU
Grant Scheme
Percentage of GBs
Rank in Sources of Information
PWE
87.7%
1
PYE
100.0%
1
PRE
96.3%
1
As far as Info Days are concerned, they were organised by the OS while CFCU participated
in them and was available for responding to questions. The quality of information received
through the Info Days has been widely appreciated by the grant scheme beneficiaries as the
next table reveals:
Table 154: Qualitative assessment of Info Days by grant beneficiaries
Grant Scheme
“Informative and useful”
“Useful but too late”
“Not comprehensive”
PWE
47.7%
40.4%
12.3%
PYE
51.9%
40.4%
7.7%
PRE
75.0%
20.0%
5.0%
CFCU has also been among those institutions providing support on project implementation
issues – together with the OS and their Technical Assistance Teams. The answers related to
the content and quality of that support – which do not distinguish between the institutions –
are generally positive and will be reflected in the next sub-chapter.
The Focus Group meetings were another source to discuss the relations between grant
beneficiaries and CFCU. In general, the comments can be summarised as follows:

121
Some projects claimed that at the time of the meeting – one and a half years after the
end of the projects – still no decision had been taken regarding the approval of the
eligible costs. Several projects had to face requests for re-payment although they claimed
SAR 2012, section 1.1.2.3


to have submitted all relevant documentation to CFCU. With every additional document
they handed in the amount of money to be paid back was reduced. Such a treatment
deterred the beneficiaries from applying again for a grant scheme project under HRD OP.
Some projects were unhappy with the requirement of providing an own contribution of
10% to the project. They demanded this requirement to be cancelled.
Others said the whole grant should be allocated to the beneficiary only.
It has to be said that these comments are widely unjustified. As long as the expenditures
have not been proven with the respective documents CFCU cannot acknowledge them. The
requirement of deficiency financing schemes must be seen as a positive factor instead: If
projects would receive 100% financing the likeliness of investing lower efforts into their
implementation would be very high. Other countries oblige grant beneficiaries to carry a
higher share than just 10% of the project expenses. The sharing of funds with project
partners can also not be honestly criticised once the partnership approach is being regarded
as positive.
Nevertheless, the fact that payments are still open after such a long time following the end of
the project implementation is a subject for frustration. It should therefore be checked if parts
of the checks related to eligibility of expenditures could be undertaken by Monitoring Teams
instead of doing a full check after the presentation of the final reports.
Other comments in the Focus Groups reflected the day to day business of CFCU. Before the
Regional Monitoring Teams were established, many projects addressed a huge number of
questions to CFCU and complained about a lack of response. It was reported that telephone
calls had not been answered and written questions never been answered. However, CFCU
explained that literally “telephones never stopped ringing”. The questions even encompassed
very minor issues that could for instance be clarified by visiting the FAQ section of CFCU’s
website. Although CFCU staff did everything within their capacities to answer all requests it
was just not possible due to the huge amount. Even after RGMTs started their activities,
projects tended to contact CFCU rather than wait for a monitoring visit – apparently there
was more trust in CFCU than in RGMTs. Yet, in general CFCU reported that the amount of
questions went down significantly after the first two months of implementation.
Those beneficiaries whose questions were answered generally expressed their satisfaction
with the support received. In this respect it can be summarised that CFCU performed very
well.
A criticism that was raised time and again, however, was the long duration between the
launch of a grant scheme and the actual signature of the contract which enabled the projects
to start. Some projects even reported that they had actually forgotten (!) about the project
once the award was published. Part of the problem has certainly been the fact that applicants
did not prepare the application themselves but handed the task over to external consultants
and thus did not develop a sense of ownership for the project. Nevertheless, the two-stage
application procedure with a concept note and a full application certainly stretched the
evaluation period and made it very difficult for the applicants to follow what happened. In
some cases the long duration of the procedure might also have contributed to situations in
which the actual needs that had formed the basis of a project idea no longer existed. It would
therefore be justified to address the problem of the duration of the procedures – particularly
the evaluation process – and accelerate the process as much as possible.
As far as the contract management carried out by the OS is concerned, the evaluation team
has not faced any negative comments. OCUs, TATs and contractors have in general
expressed their satisfaction with the way the contract management got involved into
implementation issues and their gratitude for this very practical approach. None of the cases
in which conflicts arose was assigned to the contract managers’ responsibility. Only small
cases of differing opinions were reported that could easily be sorted out. The statements
provide the OS with a very good mark in terms of the fulfilment of their contract management
duties.
4.3
Implementation Support
4.3.1 CFCU – Contracting Authority
With the beginning of the implementation phase, CFCU provided support to grant
beneficiaries as contracting authority. However, considering the capacity of CFCU, it was
very difficult to respond to every request from GBs of three programmes (let alone the fact
that grant schemes in other priorities of HRD OP had also started). CFCU could not provide
timely responses to queries because three grant scheme programmes started approximately
at the same period in 2010.
During the focus group meetings conducted by the evaluation team in Ankara, Samsun and
Van, several grant beneficiary institutions mentioned that the late responses of CFCU
resulted in problems during the implementation phase of the projects.
In order to avoid these problems in the implementation phase of future grant schemes, the
capacity of the contract management department should be considered and should be
increased if necessary. Additionally, standard questions should be answered in advance,
based on the previous experiences.
4.3.2 Technical Assistance to the OS
The OS tried to provide additional support to grant beneficiaries through utilising the
respective TA project.
Hence in 2010 and 2011, the TAT of the “Technical Assistance for Potential Operations and
Grant Beneficiaries (5.2) and Information & Publicity (5.3) Project” provided training on
project implementation issues to GBs as well as monitoring and reporting trainings to
RGMTTs and CGMTs. The following tables depict the training activities delivered to GBs and
monitoring teams:
Table 155: Training delivered to grant beneficiaries by TAT
No.
Dates
Training Topics / Location
1
08-09 Dec 2010
PWE and PRE Project Management Training / Ankara
2
13-14 Dec 2010
PYE Project Management Training / Ankara
3
31 May-02 Jun 2011
PRE Reporting Training / Kayseri
4
08-10 Jun 2011
PWE Reporting Training / Kayseri
5
08-10 Jun 2011
PWE Reporting Training / Amasya
6
08-10 Jun 2011
PWE Reporting Training / Hatay
7
23-26 Aug 2011
PRE and PWE Reporting Workshop
8
06-09 Sep 2011
PWE Reporting Workshop
9
10-12 Oct 2011
PYE Reporting Training and Workshop / Şanlıurfa
Table 156: Training delivered to RGMTTs by TAT
No.
Dates
Training Topics / Location
1
15-18 Mar 2011
RGMTT Training / Ankara
2
03-05 May 2011
RGMTT Reporting Training / Samsun
3
03-05 May 2011
RGMTT Reporting Training / Şanlıurfa
Table 157: Training delivered to CGMTs by TAT
No.
Dates
Training Topics / Location
1
14-16 Feb 2011
CGMT Training: Basics / Ankara
2
21-23 Feb 2011
CGMT Training: Interim and final reports / Ankara
3
16 Jun 2011
İŞKUR CGMT Financial Report Review Training / Ankara
4
21 Jul 2011
SSI CGMT Financial Report Review Training / Ankara
5
23 Sep 2011
İŞKUR CGMT Financial Report Review Training 2 nd session /
Ankara
TA support has been very useful for the grant beneficiaries according to analysis conducted
by ways of post training evaluation records. However, it was provided at a late stage in the
implementation process. GBs should be provided with more timely support to raise
implementation quality and efficiency.
4.3.3 Perception of Support Services provided by İŞKUR, SGK, CFCU and MoLSS
During the implementation phase of the grant projects, İŞKUR, SGK, CFCU and MoLSS
(through TA) provided support to GBs and most of the GBs perceived this support as very
“positive”. The following graph reveals the percentages of projects that on received such
support on project implementation under the three grant schemes.
Graph 102: Percentage of projects receiving implementation support by grant schemes
Have you received any support by İŞKUR/ SGK, the
CFCU and/or Ministry of Labour and Social Security
regarding project implementation?
90.00%
84.40%
85.00%
80%
80.00%
75.00%
74.10%
70.00%
65.00%
PRE
PYE
PWE
As shown above, among grant beneficiary institutions under the three programmes, grant
beneficiaries of PWE and PYE received highest support regarding project implementation.
During the focus group meetings, GBs of PWE and PYE claimed that they received support
from provincial İŞKUR offices on different issues.
The following graphs show the areas of the support for GBs under each grant scheme.
Graph 103: Areas covered by implementation support for GBs under PWE
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
83.3%
74.1%
64.8%
61.1%
Project
management /
implementation
Procurement
55.6%
MIS
Final report
preparation
Visibility
Graph 104: Areas covered by implementation support for GBs under PYE
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
84.9%
67.9%
66.0%
64.2%
50.9%
Project
management /
implementation
Procurement
MIS
Final report
preparation
Visibility
Graph 105: Areas covered by implementation support for GBs under PRE
100.0%
90.0%
80.0%
70.0%
60.0%
50.0%
40.0%
30.0%
20.0%
10.0%
0.0%
66.7%
71.4%
66.7%
57.1%
47.6%
Project
management /
implementation
Procurement
MIS
Final report
preparation
Visibility
For GBs under PWE and PYE, consultancy on the usage of G-MIS was predominantly
provided. This was obviously a topic of interest for the projects although the usage of the
system was not obligatory. Project management, procurement and report preparation are
close behind in the percentage – with an exceptional high value for project management in
PWE. Visibility issues appear to have played a minor role in these two schemes.
On the other hand, consultancy on visibility is the most favoured area for grant beneficiary
institutions of PRE. That does not come as a surprise. Raising awareness on registered
employment and the benefits of social insurance is one of the most important and successful
activities in PRE. This result can be deducted from the answers received from GBs under
PRE. During the focus group meetings, GBs mentioned that the G-MIS system was not very
user-friendly and that they faced difficulties in learning how to use it. Additionally, G-MIS was
established when the grant scheme implementation was already in operation and it required
a considerable amount of time and resources for GBs to fill in detailed information. The late
establishment of this tool made the learning process more difficult for GBs. It would not be
wrong to say that GBs requested frequently to receive consultancy on G-MIS, because they
were not familiar with the system.
4.3.4 Support Services provided by Regional Actors
Regarding the relations with the Governorates’ EU Coordination Offices or Regional
Development Agencies the evaluation team found much fewer connections:
Table 158: Percentage of grant beneficiaries establishing relations with Governorate or RDA
Grant Scheme
Answer Option: Yes
PWE
31%
PYE
30%
PRE
41%
It appears as if the tendency of grant beneficiaries to establish a relation with regional actors
was lower than the one with national players. It is obvious that these regional institutions
have a considerable amount of experience in the field of project implementation. Yet, it has
also been found that not all of them are pro-active when it comes to supporting projects in
their areas. Hence it is no surprise that the percentages are lower than in the previous tables.
The reason that PRE beneficiaries were more eager to establish relations to regional actors
must have to do with the fact that PRE had no predecessor scheme and beneficiaries had
very limited experience with the topics which led them to look for experienced partners.
The evaluation team found that a relationship with provincial actors will certainly bear the
potential of improving the quality of project implementation by transferring knowhow on
project implementation. The relations with the provincial actors thus should be encouraged
regularly in a systematic way. OS should make regional actors aware of the fact that a little
input in terms of support may be very advantageous in terms of raising absorption capacities
of beneficiaries in their constituencies.
4.3.5 Support Services provided by CGMTs and RGMTTs
The following tables show GBs’ perception on the implementation support provided by
RGMTTs, CGMTs and MoLSS under the three employment-related grant schemes (more
about the teams: see next sub-chapter):
Graph 106: Contribution of implementation support provided by RGMTTs, CGMTs and MoLSS to GBs under PWE
Did the implementation support provided by the regional
and central monitoring team and the Ministry of Labour
and Social Security (by way of Technical Assistance TeamTAT) make any contribution in to the implementation
process of your project?
6.20%
40.00%
53.80%
Was definitely useful
Partly useful
Not useful at all
Graph 107: Contribution of implementation support provided by RGMTTs, CGMTs and MoLSS to GBs under PYE
Did the implementation support provided by the regional
and central monitoring team and the Ministry of Labour
and Social Security (by way of Technical Assistance TeamTAT) make any contribution in to the implementation
process of your project?
7.69%
35.38%
Was definitely useful
56.92%
Partly useful
Not useful at all
Graph 108: Contribution of implementation support provided by RGMTTs, CGMTs and MoLSS to GBs under PRE
Did the implementation support provided by the regional
and central monitoring team and the Ministry of Labour
and Social Security (by way of Technical Assistance TeamTAT) make any contribution in to the implementation
process of your project?
11.10%
44.40%
Was definitely useful
Partly useful
44.40%
Not useful at all
On average, only 50% of the GBs regarded the implementation support as “definitely useful”.
According to the feedback in Focus Group interviews, grant beneficiaries’ experienced the
support provided by the Monitoring Teams as rather unsatisfactory. The general view was
that the monitoring teams did not have the appropriate knowledge and experience in the field
of project implementation.
Ministry of Labour and Social Security provided trainings via Technical Assistance Teams of
HRD OP Grant Project (TA 5.2 & 5.3) in the field of project implementation. Almost 700
participants from GBs benefited from these trainings. It is therefore likely that the quality of
the TA training influenced the percentage of respondents saying that the support was
“definitely useful” since the question did not distinguish between TA and Monitoring Team
support.
4.3.6 Support through the Implementation Manual
The Implementation Manual of the OS was perceived as useful by more than 50% of the
GBs, as shown below. However, it would have been much more useful if it had been
distributed earlier.
Table 159: Usefulness of Implementation Manual as perceived by GBs
Answer Options
PWE
PYE
PRE
Definitely useful
59,40%
49,23%
59,30%
Partly useful
40,60%
46,15%
40,70%
-
4,62%
-
Not useful at all
4.3.7 Support related to other issues
One of the findings of the online survey was that the main challenge faced by most of the
GBs in the project implementation phase consisted of long and complex procedures in
procurement. Procurement procedures are apparently perceived as very difficult to apply to
by grant beneficiary institutions. Support actually provided to grant scheme beneficiaries in
the first round of grant schemes did not take notice of this particular issue. Hence the
programme authorities would do good to provide much more direct support to future GBs on
procurement issues. Training in the regions and more concrete written guidance might be
helpful for beneficiaries to overcome that challenge.
4.3.8 Summary of findings
Based on the observations and findings above, it may be concluded that:






CFCU capacity should be considered to provide (more) timely response to the
queries. After having taken over the responsibility of the Contracting Authority,
MoLSS’s OS will have to think about the appropriate staffing and work organisation
to deal with this issue.
OS should continue to provide support by Technical Assistance Projects. However,
the timing of the support should be considered in a way that it comes at an earlier
stage of the implementation phase than in the first round of grant schemes.
Some of the GBs established relations with governorate EU offices and RDAs. Such
a habit should be encouraged at the beginning of the implementation phase to
benefit from these institutions’ project implementation experience. Better relations
would be beneficial not only to the beneficiaries themselves but also to the regions
because they would enhance the absorption capacities of institutions at provincial
level and enable them to improve their performance and apply for new projects.
More than 50% of the GBs perceived the Implementation Manual of the OS as
useful. However, it should be distributed to the beneficiaries before the
implementation phase starts.
G-MIS should be revised to be more practical and user friendly and the usage of the
system should be obligatory. Only then can the system fully unfold its potential.
GBs should be provided direct support on procurement procedures. It would be
advantageous if they received training on how to prepare tender documents before
the implementation period starts.
4.4
Monitoring & Evaluation
This chapter describes how project progress in the grant schemes has been monitored by
the HRD OP programme authorities. It will reveal the beneficiaries’ perception of the
monitoring activities undertaken by various institutions and shed light on the question to what
extent these monitoring activities have been supportive for the beneficiaries.
4.4.1
Institutional Framework
The institutional framework of the grant scheme described in the grant scheme guidelines
also defined monitoring responsibilities of the grant scheme programmes:



OB institutions were responsible for the technical monitoring and implementation of
the grant scheme on behalf of the Turkish Government.
OS was responsible for the implementation of HRD OP in general on behalf of the
MoLLS.
OS has cooperated with OBs and the CFCU in monitoring the implementation of the
grant schemes. OS has ensured that the OBs were carrying out checks of the
implementation of grant projects; OS also participated in the establishment of
required teams for monitoring and evaluation of grant projects and supported the
implementation of the grant scheme.
Central Grant Monitoring and Technical Assistance Teams (CGMT) were established under
the OCUs of each OB and consisted of OB staff. Regional Grant Monitoring and Technical
Assistance Teams (RGMTT) were established by OS in cooperation with the governorates in
all 12 eligible NUTS II regions. Most of the members of RGMTTs were public officers from
the local government offices. OB staff has also participated in RGMTTs; however, they did
not have any priority.
Monitoring visit programmes have been coordinated by the OS. Each of the grant scheme
projects has been visited three times on average by the RGMTTs during the implementation
period (first, interim and final visits). OS, CFCU, EUD and Undersecretaries of the Treasury
have also conducted independent visits to projects for monitoring and on-the-spot checks
regarding the subjects within their responsibilities.
4.4.2
Composition, Preparation and Performance of Monitoring Teams
CGMTs were composed of monitoring experts recruited from the Operation Beneficiaries.
RGMTTs had been established in the regions in 2010 and performed their work until March
2011. For the period March to December 2011, new teams were established following a
letter sent by the OS to the governorates requesting for applications. 15 RGMTTs were
established in the 12 NUTS II regions. Altogether 112 grant monitoring experts (78 regional
and 34 central experts) were assigned to the teams.122
122
Sectoral Annual Report 2011, section 3.1, p.66
Central and regional monitoring teams have been provided monitoring training and interim
and final report assessment training by the TAT under the “Technical Assistance for Potential
Operations and Grant Beneficiaries (5.2) and Information and Publicity (5.3)” Project. Yet, the
training for monitors only took place several months after they had started to do their work.
Monitors subsequently performed their duties over months without having been specifically
trained.
Monitoring Teams were expected to monitor the projects on technical and content-related
aspects and provide implementation support to grant beneficiaries as well with a view to
ensuring that projects were on track.
Grant beneficiaries’ perception of the support provided by the Monitoring Teams was rather
critical. The general view was that the monitoring teams have had the ambition but not the
appropriate knowledge and they often did not provide the quality of support required and
expected by grant beneficiaries. Members of Monitoring Teams did often not have the
adequate experience, and this statement can be confirmed by looking at the limited quality of
monitoring reports and the advice provided. Monitors themselves should have adequate
experience with grant scheme implementation to effectively perform their duties and they
should be selected following such motives and provided substantial training by OS. Instead,
many monitors did the job because they received extra per diems for the monitoring visits.
These payments were also made as a sort of “motivation”123 – yet it appears as if for some of
the monitors the payments were the only motivation at all.
4.4.3
Technical versus Content Monitoring
The monitors were supposed to provide comprehensive support covering both the technical
and content related issues of grant scheme projects; however, they have been diverted to
focus on technical and administrative issues while content-related issues were rather
neglected. Grant beneficiaries complained about the fact that no support in relation to
content issues could be received from the teams. Yet, monitoring of grant scheme projects
must combine technical and content-related support in order to reflect the implementation of
a project comprehensively. Looking at technical details only blocks the view on the actual
performance of a project and its innovative approaches. Looking at the content only without
knowing about budget implications prevents a monitor’s understanding of the effectiveness
and efficiency of the work in question. The unilateral focus on technical issues was one of the
reasons for the lack of empirical evidence regarding the outputs and the results of the
projects. This misunderstanding makes it extremely difficult to assess grant scheme
outcomes at this stage, i.e. almost two years after the end of the projects.
Another observation is about the composition of the RGMTTs. OBs did not provide sufficient
amount of monitors to teams and the teams thus lacked specific experience of OB service
delivery. Monitors should know exactly how grant scheme projects can provide benefits to
OB strategies and business which can only be obtained by encouraging the OBs to invest
more into the monitoring of the grant scheme and to delegate qualified staff of the OBs to
participate in the Teams. Other qualified candidates might be found in EU Coordination
Offices in the provinces as well as in Regional Development Agencies. Interviews held by the
evaluation team discovered that these institutions even have the capacity of participating in
123
Sectoral Annual Report 2011, p.67
monitoring efforts. Their experienced staffs, however, has never been demanded for.
Therefore, OS might do good to discuss potential cooperation regarding monitoring issues
for future grant schemes for instance with the Ministry of EU Affairs.
Thus, future monitoring arrangements should foresee a strong connection between technical
(indicator-oriented) and content monitoring. In order to build strong monitoring teams –
which, according to PMU, are supposed to be centralised in the future – the OS needs to do
its utmost to direct the necessary experience into such teams, for instance by inviting OB
staff as well as staff representing governorate EU Coordination Offices and RDAs into the
teams.
4.4.4
G-MIS
The Grant Monitoring Information System (G-MIS) was based on a system used by İŞKUR
during grant schemes prior to IPA. The system is primarily a database. All the information,
documents and reports prepared by all the actors can be reached via the system. The
following data can be accessed provided that they are uploaded by the beneficiaries124:

Project personnel and contracts signed by them

Organized courses

Name, ID numbers and contact information of the trainees

Project expenditures

Tender documents used by the grantees during their sub-procurement activities

Expected and actual contributions made to indicators of the OP
Employment and the social security status of the trainees are also among the data stored in
the system. Automatic reports and statistics can be produced as well.
Hence G-MIS was established as a tool for monitoring the progress in the implementation of
projects by OS and OBs but also by grant beneficiaries themselves. G-MIS held the potential
to serve as a proper project management tool for the grant beneficiaries.
In addition, the system could be used for communication purposes since it was possible to
use electronic forms for instance for reporting purposes. Finally G-MIS also contains warning
functions. If for instance reporting deadlines are approached the system automatically issues
warning e-mails to grant beneficiaries.
Yet, the observations on the G-MIS usage and performance are as follows:


124
The system has been established only when grant scheme implementation was
already under operation. Thus, the idea of using it as a management tool for grant
beneficiaries was obsolete.
It has not been used as effectively as expected – that’s what the grant beneficiaries
admitted. The results of the online surveys show that the very limited usage was
attributed to its being not user friendly and time consuming. Likewise, the other
Sectoral Annual Report 2011, section 3.1, p.67
reason for limited usage was identified as the insufficient training on G-MIS usage
with the same weight.
Table 160: The reasons for limited usage of G-MIS
Answer Options
PWE
PYE
PRE
It was not user friendly and took too much time
38%
49%
64%
We were not trained in a manner to be able to use it
effectively
69%
49%
57%
We did not receive adequate support from monitoring
and TA team.
20%
21%
14%



It has not been perceived as a project management tool by the grant beneficiaries.
Data collected in G-MIS were not sufficient and incomplete - particularly in relation to
outputs, results and financial progress. This shortcoming constitutes an important
element why the evaluation team cannot really assess the outcomes of the grant
schemes and the efficiency and effectiveness of the results.
On the other hand G-MIS asked for obsolete information which has been perceived
as useless and not relevant by the grant beneficiaries. Yet, it required time and
resources of grant beneficiaries to fill in unnecessary information. It therefore does
not come as a surprise that grant beneficiaries were very reluctant to use the system.
Most importantly, G-MIS usage was not made obligatory and it has been neglected to
be updated regularly by the grant beneficiaries. Therefore the system could never
meet the requirements.
The usage of G-MIS by those grant beneficiaries who used the system can be described as
follows:
Table 161: Ways that G-MIS was utilized by grant beneficiaries by grant schemes
Answer Options
PWE
PYE
PRE
Recording, filing the activities and expenditures for
76.6%
78.1%
74.1%
Reporting
78.1%
71.9%
85.2%
56.3%
57.8%
59.3%
Reaching
directives
guidelines
and
other
implementation
The results above might be interpreted in a way that they slightly contradict the statements
above. Yet, they need to be understood in the context of the Focus Group statements. Many
projects have utilised the G-MIS somehow – but not using its entire features. Particularly
regarding the outputs and outcomes the usage was poor with a strongly negative impact on
the value of G-MIS as a monitoring instrument.
The online survey has also provided another question to which the responses by the grant
beneficiaries reveal their assessment of G-MIS:
Table 162: G-MIS usage constituting one of the major challenges of the grant beneficiaries by GS
Answer Option
PWE
PYE
PRE
“G-MIS usage was one of the major challenges during
project implementation”
35.9%
31.3%
29.6%
The answers demonstrate that grant beneficiaries in general did not appreciate the value of
the G-MIS. Roundabout one third of them regarded it as a main challenge of the project
implementation. The result shows that there is plenty of room for improvement. For a small
percentage of PWE and PYE beneficiaries, G-MIS even constituted the most difficult
challenge they faced and that could not entirely be solved (3.3 and 4.8% respectively).
Based on the observations and findings above the lesson is that G-MIS in its format of 2011
was not suitable as a monitoring instrument. It may be concluded that:





4.4.5
G-MIS usage needs to be obligatory in order to provide a tool for the measurement of
progress.
G-MIS needs to contain data that allow for the assessment of indicator achievement
related to outputs, results and also expenses.
Grant beneficiaries have to be trained and convinced by OS that G-MIS usage can
be a benefit for them and speed up the programme management process to their
benefit.
G-MIS should be revised to be more practical and user friendly in order to avoid
unnecessary data entry and reporting.
G-MIS needs to have convenient, user friendly reporting tools/modules in order to
facilitate the usage of the data in pre-set and tailor-made reports.
Reporting
As being one of the influential monitoring tools monitoring reports so far cannot fulfil their
functions appropriately. They do not provide substantial evidence about findings. Quality of
outputs and result achievements are commented only by answering a few yes/no questions.
Hence, the monitoring reports are lacking relevance for the assessment of outcomes and
results of grant schemes. In order to make them more influential, monitoring report templates
need to be improved and monitors trained in order to meet quality requirements.
Similar to the above, the (interim) progress and final reports prepared and submitted to
OS/Contracting Authority by grant beneficiaries are lacking substantiated data on the
outputs, quality of outputs and the result achievement of the projects. Instead, general
comments and observations are reflected in the reports which again do not provide a
relevant basis for a sound assessment.
To overcome the limitations of these three monitoring tools OS should develop clear
indicators for projects that need to be reflected in G-MIS, monitoring reports and project
progress and final reports.
4.4.6
Sectoral Monitoring Committee (SMC)
The SMC is involved into monitoring issues at high level. The committee that usually
conducts two meetings per year is informed about the progress in relation to grant scheme
implementation. The results of the work of the monitoring teams are presented.
During the implementation period of the three grant schemes in question, the SMC has had
two meetings:


8th meeting in Trabzon on 7th July 2011
9th meeting in Ankara on 1st December 2011
In Trabzon two grant projects have had the opportunity of presenting their work to the SMC.
Members of the SMC could also visit the project premises. During the meeting in Ankara two
other projects presented their activities to the plenary.
Yet, the SMC does obviously not provide a platform for decisions related to support to grant
projects. It is rather a board in which discussions about the general progress of grant
schemes and other operations are being held. Its aim is to involve the stakeholders into the
administration of the HRD OP and take decisions for the future of the programme planning. It
cannot be regarded as a monitoring tool.
4.4.7
Evaluation
The grant scheme achievements needs to be systematically evaluated in order to allow for
incorporating the lessons learned in the development of upcoming programmes. However,
the achievements of the grant schemes have not been evaluated under the Priority 1 of HRD
OP. Assessments of achievements can only be carried out in timely conjunction with the end
of the implementation period; therefore, the assessment of the achievements of the projects
at the end of the duration has to be made obligatory and planned to be carried out under the
TA resources. It would be preferable to make grant scheme assessment a general element
of TA contracts assigned to the OBs. If this is not possible for lack of such contracts or
because of the insufficient complementarity of schedules, such assessments should be
made by TA projects allocated within the OS. This is yet only the second best solution since
the experience of the OBs related to the content topics of the individual grant scheme would
thus be neglected.
Without any timely assessment of grant scheme achievements, however, programme
authorities will face the same challenges the evaluation team had to face:

Years later when relevant project staff is no longer available it is difficult to find
persons who are able to tell about project outcomes.

Participants’ development after the end of the projects is difficult to follow – i.e.
whether they have been employed or taken up a business, whether they still are
unemployed or took up an unregistered employment, etc. After two years it will be
almost impossible to trace this development.
A thorough evaluation should yet also be in the best interest of OS and OB with a view to
assessing the grant scheme’s potential for mainstreaming (see next sub-chapter).
4.5
Mainstreaming
Programmes run under the European Social Fund (ESF) or IPA require a systematic
approach towards the utilisation of best practice and results in order to ensure their transfer
into policy and practice. This approach needs to incorporate several important steps, namely:






Identification of good practice or results with policy development potential
Clarification of the innovativeness of the solutions found
Assessment of the conditions under which the solutions function
Validation of the value of the found results and solutions in terms of efficiency,
effectiveness, utility and sustainability
Dissemination of information to the relevant target groups
Formulation and transfer of policy messages to policy makers
The approach as such is called “mainstreaming” because its ambition and intention is to
utilise good practice and results in order to improve the mainstream practices – in this case
of labour market and employment-related measures and activities – and (employment) policy
and strategy development.
Activities aimed at ensuring that the beneficiaries and similar institutions will adopt a
programme’s results and solutions and use them in their day-to-day business are referred to
as “horizontal mainstreaming”. Activities trying to initiate a revision of the (national/regional)
policy through the solutions achieved by a programme are called “vertical mainstreaming”.
The Ex Ante evaluation in 2007 already criticised that the HRD OP did not contain a
Mainstreaming Strategy. It was regarded as a drawback in relation to “achieving long term
financial and – more important – policy sustainability.”125 In its reaction to this comment, the
Operating Structure explained that the Programming Unit had been established and that it
would be “the task of this unit to disseminate the results from the 12 NUTS II regions on
national level and manage mainstreaming activities.”
The development of a Mainstreaming Strategy has then been established as an eligible
activity under Priority 5 – the Technical Assistance component – of HRD OP. However, the
updated 2012 version of the HRD OP still does not contain this element.
Efforts in relation to the establishment of a Mainstreaming Strategy have only been started in
autumn 2012 in the framework of a TA project in the OS. Still, to date no Mainstreaming
Strategy has yet been agreed upon and published. Particularly in relation to the upcoming
second round of grant schemes and envisaged new TA projects it would be of utmost
importance to close this gap and provide the OS with a strategic approach towards
125
HRD OP Ex Ante Evaluation, section 5.3.3, p.101, Ankara, 2007
capitalising on results achieved and experience gained in the implementation of the HRD
OP.
Many of the findings of this report can and should – according to the evaluation team’s view
– be utilised for the further development and finalisation of the existing draft strategy in order
to unfold the full potential of the HRD OP in relation to having an impact on the general
practices of the labour market beneficiaries and the employment policies of the Government
of the Turkish Republic.
4.6
Good Governance
Among the several horizontal issues that the HRD OP deals with there is one which is
closely connected to the programme management: good governance. Yet, it is necessary to
define what the term actually means:
“Good governance” is an indeterminate term used in international development policies to
describe how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources.



Governance is "the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions
are implemented (or not implemented)."126
Good governance has 8 major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented,
accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive
and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of
minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society
are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of
society (see the following graph).
Yet, good governance must still be regarded as an ideal which is difficult to achieve in
its totality. Very few countries and societies have come close to achieving this ideal.
However, to ensure sustainable human development, actions must be taken to work
towards it with the aim of making it a reality.
Graph 109: Elements of good governance
126
United Nations UNESCAP, What is Good Governance?;
http://www.unescap.org/pdd/prs/ProjectActivities/Ongoing/gg/governance.asp
There is a sort of self-assessment undertaken by the OS that aims at displaying the elements
of good governance realised in the programme management of the HRD OP127. It covers the
following issues:








Establishing the policies based on analyses of the current situation being open to the
participation of all parties;
Identifying the problematic areas in the current situation and determining the relevant
measures to be taken;
Specifying the activities to be implemented under the measures in such a way that
public accountability can be achieved based on concrete measurable indicators;
Defining a set timeline and allocating the budget for the implementation of the
activities;
Conducting together with the contractors or grant beneficiaries the Operations that
have been planned by the Beneficiaries in line with transparent and reliable tender
rules;
Monitoring the practices of the contractor and the beneficiary under the guidance of
experts in accordance with the legal framework and the contract conditions;
Controlling the expenditures related to the implemented activities and rendering the
payments;
Providing input in the establishment of new policies by re-evaluating all the results of
the implementation.
Following the assessment of the evaluation team, there can be no doubt about the existence
and implementation of the first seven out of the eight mentioned elements:




127
The objectives of HRD OP have been defined on the basis of comprehensive socioeconomic analyses in the HRD OP 2007 version. The procedures have been
transparent, participatory and consensus oriented since all major stakeholders of the
Turkish labour market were involved into the elaboration of the programme.
Within this procedure, the labour market challenges have been analysed and the
responding measures have been developed. Thus, the responsiveness of the HRD
OP cannot be denied. That has been confirmed again by the Background Analysis of
this report.
Specific activities have been identified and projects have been implemented that
followed guidelines with set indicators. Although the evaluation has demonstrated that
the achievement of the indicators cannot really be confirmed by relevant data as of
today, we come to the conclusion that the accountability of the measures in general is
a given. It cannot be denied that indicators are subject to discussion but monitoring
teams and CFCU have checked all of the projects and no major problems have been
discovered.
The administrative procedures have been transparent. They were published in
advance and grant applicants were informed (or at least had the opportunity to
receive all the relevant information) so that it can be said that the tender procedures
followed the rules of law and were equitable and inclusive.
Akın, Melih: Human Resources Development Operational Programme and Good Governance. In: IKG PRO Dergi Magazine,
issue no. 3, March 2013, p.38-39




The actual project implementation has not always been efficient and effective as
outlined in previous chapters – but a sound assessment of the efficiency and
effectiveness of the fund utilisation cannot be subject to this evaluation. It will be
undertaken with a final evaluation after the programme reaches its end.
Monitoring has been carried out in the framework of the legal provisions and contract
elements. Although the quality of monitoring has been somehow questionable, no
inequitable treatment has been observed.
According to the reports that have been checked by the evaluation team there is no
doubt about the correctness of the controlling of expenditures; in relation to payments
there have been disagreements between CFCU and grant beneficiaries which have
been sorted out under the rule of law.
Only in relation to the last point of the description the evaluation team has not found
any evidence. The proposed re-evaluation of results and a strategic input into policy
development could not be identified. As discussed earlier in this chapter, the
development of an appropriate Mainstreaming Strategy appears to be a necessary
pre-requisite for achieving this objective. Of course, it is not yet too late to organise
such a process. However, in relation to the grant schemes implemented in 2011 the
lack of data, the lack of a comprehensive assessment as well as the vagueness of
expectations raised by the programme authorities will make it difficult to make clear
achievements. In relation to the finalised and/or on-going TA projects the evaluation
team has no doubt that policy impact can be achieved – provided the OS will promote
clear operational provisions to be taken by the OBs.
Thus in general the finding is that the programme management of the HRD OP followed the
principles of good governance.
C. Results and Consequences
The evaluation report has assessed various issues following the outline established in the
HRD OP 2007.
The evaluation team has looked after





The Background of the HRD OP
o The demographic and socio-economic development of Turkey between 2007
and 2012
o The development of the Turkish labour market between 2007 and 2012
The Strategic Cohesion of the HRD OP with
o National policies and strategies
o EU policies and strategies
o Domestic and donor funding
The Horizontal Challenges of the HRD OP
o Institutional Capacity
o Regional Disparities
o Monitoring and Sustainability
o Stakeholder Involvement
The Employment Challenges of the HRD OP
o Female Labour Force Participation
o Unemployment due to Agricultural Dissolution
o Unemployment of Young People
o Informal and Unregistered Employment
o Improvement of Public Employment Services and Labour Market Information
Systems
The Programme Management of the HRD OP
o Application Procedures
o Contracting and Advice
o Implementation Support
o Monitoring & Evaluation
o Mainstreaming
o Good Governance
In each of the chapters, findings have been summarised and the formulation of lessons,
conclusions and sometimes recommendations has been partly carried out.
This final chapter aims at summarising the results of the evaluation report. For reasons of
facilitation of reading, better access and overview the results will be presented in a table
consisting of five columns:





The first column presents the headline where the finding comes from (Issue).
The second column repeats the evidence-based quintessence of the evaluation of an
issue (Finding).
The third column formulates the consequence of what has been found as a
summarising experience (Lesson).
The fourth column provides the need which arises from the lesson learned
(Conclusion).
The fifth column explains what should be done (Recommendation).
LikeTopic
Socio-economic
Development
Migration within
Turkey
Target Groups
Policy Coherence
Institutional
Capacity (public
actors)
Institutional
Capacity (grant
beneficiaries)
Finding
Demographic development as
expected; steady socioeconomic development.
Rural-urban migration has given
way to urban-urban migration.
The group of disadvantaged
people is very diverse in Turkey
and contains various groups with
different integration problems. No
updated figures could be found in
order to calculate the amount of
the challenges.
HRD OP fully in line with national
and EU policy and strategies as
well as donor funding.
OS and SSI develop very well.
İŞKUR capacity development
hampered by continuous rotation
of staff at the expense of
institutional memory. Staff does
not always work along job
descriptions. In general: HRD OP
provides huge contribution to
institutional capacity
development.
 Capacity development
hampered as far as external
consultants are involved
 Portfolios extended
 Networks enlarged
 Communication with
stakeholders improved
 Success rates of certain
Lesson
HRD OP measures are still
relevant in 2013.
Conclusion
No need for changes in HRD OP
Priority 1 measures
Recommendation
Continue with the measures
1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.4
Target group of migrants from
rural (agricultural) areas loses
importance.
New target groups need to be
tackled:
 Natives of in-migration
provinces
 Women leaving home
for family reasons
Develop measures to promote
employability of these groups
HRD OP measures complement
Turkish and EU policies and
strategies and contribute to
achieving their objectives.
Quality of İŞKUR’s services
endangered by rotation and by
contractual arrangements (for
instance: JVCs). Cooperation in
the framework of HRD OP
negatively affected (particularly
with TATs and contractors).
Neither national nor EU policy
developments require any
changes in the HRD OP.
N/A
İŞKUR should ensure more
continuity in staffing (particularly
in relation to strategically
important positions – for
instance OCUs).



External consultants prevent
ownership of applicant
institutions
GBs generally benefit from
participating in GS projects

Ensure continuity of OCU
staff and continuous
involvement of affected
departments throughout
GS and TA
implementation.
Ensure continuity of
provincial directorate’s
staffing and involvement
into GS.
LikeTopic
Finding
types of institutions are
significantly lower than those
of others
Partnership
Approach
Partnership approach works in
principle. Partners mostly provide
what they are supposed to
provide.
Regional
Disparities
(Growth Centre
Approach)

Regional
Disparities
(Support)
Regional
Disparities
(Transfer of
results)
Lesson
 Those who are successful
either own capacities/skills or
receive support from local
actors or centralised roof
organisations
GBs generally benefit from
partnerships by extending
networks and communication.
Conclusion
Low capacity institution types
require support in order to
improve their performance.
Recommendation
Tailor-made application
support for these types of
institutions should be
provided through TA
Partnership approach should be
maintained.

Distribution of funds to
growth centres and
hinterlands is in line with the
SCF and HRD OP rules.
 Yet, significant differences
between eligible regions
unrelated to their neediness.
Successful regions receive
support at provincial level
Hence regional disparities are
sometimes increased rather than
decreased.
Absorption capacity in less
successful regions needs to be
raised.
Provincial support positively
influences success rates.
Provincial support should be
encouraged where it doesn’t
exist.





Tools for transfer are not yet
in place.
Mutual learning between
provinces is not promoted.
No tools for West-East
transfer of good practice other
than applications

GBs long for inter-institutional
exchange of experience and
learning
Without comprehensive tools
no transfer of experience will
be possible in both directions.

Opportunities for mutual
learning and communication
need to be established.
Tools for transfer of
experience and results need
to be developed.
Partnership agreements
should follow rules and be
explicitly formulated in
writing (contract)
 Partner selection should
follow stricter rules in
order to be more effective
(guidelines)
 Partnership development
and implementation
should be subject to
monitoring
Use TA to develop capacities
in unsuccessful regions.
Directly target governors and
MoEU in terms of raising
awareness of benefits of HRD
OP funding and positive
examples from other
provinces.
 Use TA to promote
regular meetings of GBs
in a GS.
 Establish intranet platform
for exchange of
experience.
 Establish Mainstreaming
Strategy
LikeTopic
Finding
Lesson
Conclusion
Sustainability

Financial sustainability
appears to be a given.
Content sustainability: 60%
Institutional sustainability:
70-80%
Outsourcing of preparation and/or
implementation of projects lead to
lack of ownership, loss of
institutional memory. Projects
cannot gain sustainable effects.

About 1/3 public and 2/3
private sector institutions;
structure reflects OP/SMC.
Strong benefits in terms of
cooperation and
communication.
Cooperation with OBs
whenever needed but not on
a continuous basis.
No connection between GS
and TA projects.
Stakeholder participation and
cooperation has been satisfactory
but has great potential for
improvement.
Closer cooperation between
OBs and GBs would most likely
improve the quality of projects
significantly.
Focus on well-known familiar 
activities, reluctant to do more
innovative activities, hence
mostly VET
No distinction for activities
matching with GBs. Every GB
involve in any activities.
Wide range of potential activities 
is not being fully explored
Once more innovation is

needed, OS/OB will have to
formulate concrete expectations
Low level of GS experience




Stakeholder
Involvement






Grant Schemes
General
Observations

General lack of expertise in
GS implementation

Applicants must ensure that
permanent staff is involved
into preparation and
implementation.
OS/OB must make sure that
evaluation criteria cover
sustainability more
comprehensively.
Concrete project experience
would most likely enhance
Recommendation
 Encourage transfer of
experience from West to
East through TA
(conferences, mentoring
projects, etc.)
 Better guidance on
sustainability issues need
to be provided
(guidelines, training,
application form,
evaluation criteria).
 Monitoring has to cover
sustainability (agreement
on and documentation of
milestones, staff
continuity)
Mechanisms to establish
closer cooperation between
OBs and GBs should be
established:
 Provide TA to OBs in
terms of building their
own capacities
 Synchronise TA projects
with grant schemes in
terms of timing and
support to grant
beneficiaries
Guidelines for applicants
should encourage innovative
actions in order to distinguish
the GS from other
programmes and pursue
specific objective which
needs to be described.

Suggested activities
should be assigned to
LikeTopic
Finding
Lesson
Conclusion
quality
Recommendation
specific institutions
already in the guideline
(according to expertise,
know-how, experience)
 Project experience
should be looked for,
and the evaluation of
the applications should
assess it






Low experience with
partnership, resulted in low
expectations
Partnership selection did not
always follow the guidelines
Supply side beneficiaries
followed partnership rules
while demand side tended not
to
 Regions with more diverse
information sources have
been significantly more
successful

Partnership obligations have
not been described
comprehensively
GS evaluation did not cover
most important features of
partnership approach:
Supply/demand
 Websites of OS, OBs, EUD are
not sufficient as source of
information
In order to be more
effective, partnership
expectations needs to be
described by OS/OB
 GS evaluations need to look
after supply/ demand
partnership
 Demand side partnership
needs to be observed more
closely
 Additional sources of
information are required in
these regions who performed
poorly

Describe roles, activities,
of partners, provide
indicators (in the
guideline)
Score partner selection in
line with supply/ demand
requirements (already at
first stage/ concept note)
 Governorates should be
encouraged to organize and
ensure provision of HRD
OP related information (+
support) / MoEU
LikeTopic
Finding
 Economic sectors did not play
a distinctive role in the GS
Lesson
 If sectors with a LM demand are
to be supported they need to be
descripted
 Probably there is not enough
LM information in terms of
sector analysis
Conclusion
 Sector demands analysed on
the basis of research might be
used as potential sources of
employment for FBs
 Sector analyses need to be
undertaken
Recommendation
 OS should think about
whether or not economic
sectors should have priority
– if yes, guidelines need to
be precise (maybe even on
certain sectors in certain
provinces)
 OS should think about
whether or not LM analyses
might be a subject for GS
 G-MIS, project reports and
monitoring reports do not
contain sufficient information
 Utility of results is very limited
 Indicators of success need to
be established, monitored,
recorded and reported upon
 GS results should be set in
relation to explicit expectations
 By the beginning of a GS
project the outcome / result
indicators need to be
agreed. Monitoring need to
check them. Reports need
to contain indicator
achievement. GBs need to
follow up on participants.
 Expectations need to be
formulated at GS level in
relation to utilisable
outcomes for the benefit of
the OBs
 Horizontal issues have not
been observed
comprehensively by GBs
 GS design has not taken
horizontal issues into account
 GB need to be prepared if
horizontal issues are to be
observed
 Programme authorities need
to explain and assess
horizontal issues.
 Fund allocation did not follow
 Women employment constitutes
 Allocation rules should be
 Application Form,
Guidelines, Reporting
templates and monitoring
guidelines need to cover
horizontal issues in a
coherent way
 Revise fund allocation rules
 All 3 GS’ projects have been
relevant in relation to GS
objectives and target group
 Not possible to give evidence
for achievement of objectives by
indicators
 Project results in general do not
provide potential for
replication
Grant Schemes:
LikeTopic
PWE
Grant Schemes:
PYE
Grant Schemes:
PRE
Supply Contracts
Finding
rules (46% GC/54%HL)
 PWE projects claim to have
achieved the outcomes
promised in applications
 PYE projects generally
underachieved the foreseen
outcomes
 Vocational training was more
expensive but had lower
standards as when
implemented by İŞKUR
 SGK provincial offices rarely
participated in activities
 Vocational training took broad
space in PRE project
implementation
 There was no content-related
connection with the TA project
Lesson
bigger challenges in Hinterlands
Conclusion
adapted to reality
Recommendation
for women employment
promotion in guidelines
 PYE has been relatively less
successful than the other
schemes
 PYE training has been less
efficient than usual İŞKUR
training
 Future youth employment
schemes should be designed
with a view to achieving more
efficiency and effectiveness
 Oblige future youth
employment promoters to
follow at least İŞKUR
standards in VET or justify
aberrations by demanding
for compulsory innovation
 Efficiency of projects suffered
from lack of SGK input
 Focus on VET diverged projects
from targeting important issues
 Innovative ideas of TA project
had no influence on GS
 SGK should connect with
future projects much closer
 Future activities should put
focus on activities other than
VET
 Innovative strategies
developed under TA should be
utilised for future GS
 Make SGK obligatory as
associate for future PRE
projects
 Limit or even delete the
focus on VET in future PRE
schemes
 Formulate new activities
along strategies formulated
by TA project
 Refrain from new supply
contracts under HRD OP.
 Focus them on visible
objectives.
 Focus on items which
cannot be purchased with
national budget.
 Supply contracts provided

beneficiaries with administrative
burdens that were regarded as
unbalanced with actual benefits. 
 Effects were hardly visible due
to geographical distribution.

 Goods could have been
purchased with national budget.
Good cooperation between

beneficiaries, TATs and stakeholders
in most cases has led to the
successful achievement of results. 

Supply contracts were not
appreciated highly by
beneficiaries.
Visibility of effects could not be
achieved.
Added value of EU funds was
therefore not recognisable.
Coordination of the efforts of
OB/OS is crucial in
developing relevant projects.
Consultation with the
stakeholders and social
partners is also important to
this end.
Stakeholders and social
partners benefited from the
 Future supply contracts should
be financed from national
budget.
 Should be concentrated on
more visible objectives.
 Supply should be focused on
items not purchasable with
national budget.
There is always a potential to
improve the relevance of the TA
projects by enhancing the
coordination and consultation
activities.
Broader participation of
stakeholders and social partner
institutions in projects will
enhance the results in achieving

Make sure that the
general management of
the participating
institutions is directly
involved into project
planning and
implementation with a
view to ensuring concrete
results of cooperation.
LikeTopic
Finding
Lesson
TA projects
Conclusion
objectives.
TA projects bear great potential
for impact on the strategies and
service delivery of the
beneficiaries.
Projects suffered delays and
required extensions of their
duration.
The potential needs to be
discovered systematically.
Operationalization of the
potential impact needs to be
observed.
Implementation period of TA
projects was too short.
Future TA projects should be
designed with a longer duration.
Amount of results and activities
in some cases were hardly
possible to be implemented in
time.
TA projects were not
synchronised with GS projects.
No assessment of GS results was
foreseen.
Time between ToR development
and start of implementation
covered up to 3 years.
Amount of results and activities
was not appropriate in relation to
the planned duration.
Future TA projects should be
planned with a reduced number
of results and activities.
No assessments of GS results
have been implemented although
TA projects were in operation
when GS ended.
Some objectives and results were
already outdated when
implementation started.
Future TA projects should be
designed with a connection to
GS and at least assess GS
results.
Procedures need to be
shortened or result revision be
done already in inception phase.
Parallel implementation of several
TA projects creates challenges for
capacities of beneficiary.
Personal continuity was lacking
in TATs.
Even big beneficiaries should not
have more than one major TA
project at a time.
Necessary mutual understanding
and cooperation was hard to
achieve.
Future TA projects should not be
assigned in parallel to one
institution.
TA teams should be more
carefully selected and continuity
should be aimed at.
Technical
Assistance –
General
Observations
Recommendation
 Contributions of the
stakeholder and social
partners should always be
encouraged in formulating
upcoming TA projects.
 The methodologies of
stakeholder participation
should be improved for
increasing the benefits of
stakeholders and social
partners in TA projects.
Make sure that OBs develop
an Operational Plan how to
make use of the envisaged
results of TA projects.
Plan TA projects with an
implementation period of 3
years rather than 2 years or
less.
Plan TA projects with a more
comprehensive focus and
reduced number of results
and activities.
Plan the assessment of GS
results as an activity in TA
projects once these start later
than GS.
 Accelerate tendering
procedures for TA projects.
 Allow for easy revision of
results in inception phase.
Make sure that beneficiary will
not have more than one
project at a time.
Put a stronger focus on
appropriate KE team
selection.
LikeTopic
Finding
Beneficiaries claimed that NKE
identification was not always
sufficient.
Personal continuity was lacking
in OCUs
The required level of
cooperation between OBs and
other public institutions has not
been able to be achieved for
particular activities of PRE and
PYE TA projects.
Even distribution of project
activities in eligible project
regions was secured as far as
possible.
Pilot provinces did not always
form a representative sample.
The impact of study visits has
been limited due to shortcomings
in the preparation as well as lack
of a consistent follow-up on the
experience gained during the
visits.
The number of envisaged
internships has been
significantly underachieved.
PES and PWE project achieved
most of their results.
Lesson
NKEs should not be utilised in
several projects in parallel.
Conclusion
NKE selection requires broader
and more intensive efforts.
Recommendation
Contractors need to provide a
broader basis of NKEs.
Necessary mutual understanding
and cooperation was hard to
achieve.
The possibility in achieving
success and effective results of
activities that requires
involvement of the public
institutions is low without securing
effective cooperation among
them.
All eligible regions have benefited
from the results of TA projects.
OCU staff should be more
carefully selected and continuity
should be aimed at.
Projects should be formulated to
secure the cooperation of other
public institutions in realistic and
effective way.
Oblige OBs to care for
continuity of OCU staff
Study visits’ cost-effectiveness
ratio is not positive as long as
there is no comprehensive system
in place that ensures proper
preparation of study visits and
utilisation of results.
Internships are very difficult to
organise due to reasons in the
sphere of both host and
beneficiary institutions.
Study visits in general need to
be prepared more professionally
in order to unfold their full
potential and achieve real
impact.
OS should utilise TA in order
to develop a comprehensive
study visit impact
improvement system and
apply it to all TA projects.
If internships have to be
undertaken, beneficiaries need
to invest more efforts into the
preparation in cooperation with
the TATs.
OS should aim at avoiding the
inclusion of internships into
TA ToR or instruct the OBs to
significantly improve their
participation in the
preparation of internships.
Pilot provinces need to be
representative.


PWE and PES significantly
contributed to the
improvement of the capacity
of İŞKUR and relevant
stakeholders and functioning
of PEVTBs.
PWE and PES TA projects
Ensure the methodology of
cooperation at the phase of
project development by
making pre-agreement
protocols + even revisions in
the legal framework where
necessary.
TA projects should try to
distribute services evenly.
Once pilot provinces have to
be selected the selection
should be representative.
LikeTopic
Technical
Assistance Contracts
Programme
Management –
Application
Procedures
Finding
PYE project has failed to
achieve some of its results to
date.
Particularly the cooperation with
KOSGEB did not work as
foreseen.
Some particular project activities
under PRE project were delayed,
and this affected the quality of
outputs:
 Working group did not fully
accomplish their tasks
 Overly long TL replacement
process
 Unsuccessful cooperation
efforts with other public
institutions (RA)
 No sequential delivery of
outputs
 Incomplete activities
(database)
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Lesson
Lacking communication and
cooperation between the acting
parties has resulted in inadequate
outputs.
Conclusion
will have significant impact
on İŞKUR’s Institutional
Strategy for better services.
Effective cooperation of parties
is crucial for better project
results.
Recommendation
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Well performing project

management structure with
capable staff is crucial for
successful results.
To secure the cooperation
between acting parties is
beyond the control of TAT.
Sequential delivery of activities
is crucial for complete outputs
and better results.
Project should have got
more time to complete the
results and activities
accordingly.
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Main source of information
on calls for proposal is the
web pages of CFCU, EUD,
OBs, OS
Use of local media is very
limited
A considerable number of
GBs have been informed of
the call for proposal on the
info days

Beneficiaries wish that Info
Days would be organized
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The announcements and
information on these web
pages is useful and needed
Local media is neglected as
the source of dissemination of
information
Ideally, the information days
should be the occasions
where the informed project
promoters asks details on the
GS programme
Timing of info days is
important with a view to
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In order to be more effective
these web pages should be
made more functional
Local media may play a key
role for efficiency of
announcement
Info Days should be the
second step of information

İnfo days should be
organized in a way to give
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New/ innovative methods
of result oriented
cooperation should be
introduced.
Introduce more promising
alternative approaches.
Project management
structures, methodologies
and team composition
should be handled
precisely in tendering
phase.
Composition of
participants of group works
and guiding principles
should be precisely set.
SGK should adopt,
update, revise and
disseminate the project
outcomes to make them
operational.
These web pages may be
designed in a more user
friendly way by
considering the IT literacy
level of audience
Programme promoters
should include the local
media into the
communication plans
OS and OB and TA
(where available) have to
LikeTopic
Finding
earlier in order to be more
useful for project promoters
Lesson
ensuring maximum impact
Conclusion
enough time for project
development activities

40% of GBs say that
Application Guidelines were
not easy to understand.

Guideline for applicants are
the only reference document
and critical for the preparation
of relevant projects.


Application form is criticized
widely by the grant
beneficiaries mainly because
of repetitions.

Application form is fixed by
PRAG but does not represent
optimal solution.
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Grant beneficiaries have not
been provided adequate
project development
support.

Project preparation training
and help desk services by
OBs/OS and/or regional
institutions for project
promoters have been very
limited
Whenever additional support
was provided, success rates
rose.

Support for project
development is crucial for
successful applications.

Projects written by
professional do not address
the regional needs in most of
the cases
Projects written by
professional do not provide
any capacity development for
the GBs and raise difficulties
during the implementation

Projects developed by the
grant beneficiaries
themselves are more
valuable in terms of
institutional sustainability
and the sustainability of
project results.
Ownership needs to be
strengthened among grant
beneficiaries.
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Project promoters frequently
seek for the services of
professional project writers
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Application guidelines
should be formulated to
reflect the strategy of the
programme and provide
clear directives as to how to
prepare a successful
application.
Application form should
avoid repetition.
Recommendation
coordinate info days’
organization as early as
possible.
 Application guidelines
should be formulated
more precisely and raise
clear expectations
towards the outcomes.

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OS should check to what
extent application form
can be revised or at least
better guidance be
provided.
OS should either organize
regionalised project
development support
particularly for
inexperienced project
promoters and regions
with low capacities using
TA, or encourage
experienced NGOs and
provincial governorates to
provide support.
Potential project
promoters should be
encouraged to draft their
own proposals by
providing consistent
support.
Evaluation procedures
need to highlight the
necessity of taking
ownership for the project.
That needs to be reflected
in the scores
LikeTopic
Contracting and
Advice
Implementation
Support
(CFCU)
Implementation
Support
(OS/OB/TA,
provincial actors)
Finding
Evaluation of applications has
been criticised as in-transparent.
OBs participated but did not have
final word.
Lesson
Professional knowledge and
expectations of OB staff were not
sufficiently utilised. Innovative
applications were rejected.
Conclusion
OBs should have a stronger
position in the final selection of
grant scheme projects.
In general, cooperation with
CFCU was satisfactory. Duration
between call for proposals and
contracting took roughly a year.
Final approval of final reports has
been delayed significantly due to
disagreement on the eligibility of
expenditures.
Grant beneficiaries perceived the
duration between submission of
application and the contracting as
too long.
Many grant beneficiaries are still
waiting for the final tranche or are
threatened to pay back (2 years
after completion of projects).
Process should be accelerated
in order to ensure project
relevance.
CFCU’s capacities were too
small in order to respond to
project queries in time (or at all).
Contracting Authority must be
able to provide timely response to
queries.
OS provided support to grant
beneficiaries during the
implementation through TA. 70%
perceived this support as positive.
Yet, many said it came too late.
 One third of the GBs
established relationships
with Governorate or RDA.
 Among those who established
a relationship, 75% claim to
have benefitted from
implementation support.
TA support has been useful for
the grant beneficiaries.
It was provided at a late stage in
the implementation process.
Contracting Authority should do
everything in order to answer
standard questions in a
standardized procedure with a
view to being able to do the
formal work in time.
In order to raise implementation
quality more and timely support
would be appreciated.
Relationship with provincial actors
has usually improved the quality
of project implementation.
Financial expenditure
assessment needs to be
completed faster.
Involvement of provincial actors
should be promoted.
Recommendation
Contracting Authority should
share final funding decisions
with the respective OB and
respect their professional
verdict.
OS should make sure that
procedures will be
accelerated.

OS should ensure that
each monitoring visit
already checks the
eligibility of expenditures
undertaken so far.
 Contract management
unit needs to be equipped
with sufficient number of
staff in order to finalise
assessment timely.
 Contract management
should be sufficiently
staffed.
 Standard questions
should be answered in
advance (FAQ).
Use TA projects within OS
and OBs to provide more and
timely implementation support
to GBs.
OS should encourage
provincial actors to
systematically establish
relationships with grant
scheme projects in the area.
LikeTopic
Finding
The Implementation Manual of
the OS was perceived as useful
by more than 50% of the GBs.
Yet, they thought it came too late.
GBs claimed that procurement
procedures constituted the
biggest challenge in project
implementation.
GBs do not know how to follow up
on employment of project
participants. Hence it is difficult
to identify employment success.
Lesson
Implementation Manuals can be
very supportive provided they are
distributed as early as possible.
Conclusion
Implementation Manuals should
be prepared early in the project
cycle.
Procurement procedures are
apparently perceived as overly
complex and administrative
burden.
Without appropriate tools and
obligatory usage of them
employment success cannot be
proven.
Direct support in the preparation
of tendering documents would
be appreciated.
Support provided by Monitoring
Teams has been perceived more
critically and mostly covered only
technical details.
Members of Monitoring Teams did
often not have the adequate
experience.
Monitoring Teams often did not
provide the quality of support
required by grant beneficiaries.
OS monitors should provide
comprehensive support
(covering technical + content
related questions)
Monitors should have adequate
experience with grant scheme
implementation.
OBs did not provide sufficient
amount of monitors to teams.
Monitoring Teams lacked specific
experience of OB service delivery.
Monitors should know exactly
how grant scheme projects can
provide benefits to OB strategies
and business
Provincial EU Coordination
Offices and RDAs have staff with
the necessary qualification. They
also have capacities to monitor
GS – but they have never been
asked to participate in monitoring
teams.
G-MIS was established only when
Monitoring Teams lacked specific
experience provided by staff of
EU Coordination Offices and
RDAs.
In order to improve the
capacities of Monitoring Teams
the potential supply of
experience should be initiated by
opening teams to staff of other
institutions.
Recommendation
OS should revise the
Operation Manual before the
next generation of grant
schemes is launched.
OS should check if support on
tendering can be provided by
TA or Monitoring Teams/Help
Desk.
Future grant scheme
beneficiaries should be
obliged to follow up on their
participants’ employment
status six months and 1 year
after the project’s end.
Monitoring of grant scheme
projects should combine
technical and content-related
support.
OS should carefully select
monitors with the adequate
experience and/or provide
substantial training to them.
 OS should invite more
qualified OB staff into
Monitoring Teams.
 OBs should be
encouraged to invest
more into monitoring of
grant schemes.
OS should intensify
cooperation with, for instance,
MoEU in order to integrate
experienced staff of their
affiliated institutions into
Monitoring Teams.
G-MIS therefore could not meet
G-MIS usage needs to be
OS should make G-MIS
Quality of advice provided by the
Monitoring Teams was limited.
Obligatory follow up on
participants with the support of
İŞKUR’s statistics could solve
the problem.
Monitoring &
Evaluation
LikeTopic
Finding
grant scheme implementation was
already in operation. Usage was
not obligatory.
Data collected in G-MIS were not
sufficient and incomplete particularly in relation to outputs,
results, and financial progress –
while on the other hand asking for
obsolete information.
G-MIS has not been perceived as
a project management tool by
the grant beneficiaries.
Lesson
the requirements.
Conclusion
obligatory in order to provide a
tool for the measurement of
progress.
G-MIS needs to contain data
that allow for the assessment of
indicator achievement related to
outputs, results and expenses.
Recommendation
usage obligatory in the grant
contract.
G-MIS has the potential to be
used as a management tool by
grant beneficiaries.
Grant beneficiaries have to be
convinced that G-MIS usage can
be a benefit for them.
Monitoring reports do not provide
substantial evidence about
findings and hence are lacking
relevance for the assessment of
outcomes and results of grant
schemes.
No systematic evaluation of grant
scheme achievements has been
undertaken under Priority 1 of
HRD OP.
Monitoring reports currently
cannot fulfil their functions
appropriately.
Monitoring Report templates
need to be improved and
monitors trained in order to meet
quality requirements.
OS should make sure that GMIS’s quality as project
management tool for GBs is
understood.
OS should develop clear
indicators that need to be
reflected in G-MIS, monitoring
reports and project progress
and final reports.
Grant scheme achievements can
only be assessed in close timely
conjunction with the end of the
implementation period.
Grant scheme achievement
assessments have to be
foreseen by OS and OB.
Mainstreaming
No Mainstreaming Strategy has
been in place in order to organise
the transfer of best practice into
policy and practice.
A Mainstreaming Strategy needs
to be developed in order to
facilitate the achievement of
actual impact of the HRD OP.
Good Governance
The programme management has
demonstrated that the eight
elements of good governance
are given (accountability,
transparency, responsiveness,
equitability and inclusiveness,
efficiency and effectiveness,
following the rule of law,
participation, and consensus
Without a proper Mainstreaming
Strategy it is difficult to ensure the
dissemination of good practice
and transfer into policy
development.
Some of the elements of good
governance lack evidence in
terms of hard data but can be
assumed to have been observed
due to additional findings.
G-MIS does not provide sufficient
information in order to assess
project outcomes but requires
time and resources to fill in
unnecessary information.
In order to prove that the
programme management can be
characterised by the term “good
governance” it is necessary to
improve the availability of hard
empirical data.
OS need to make sure that GMIS will contain the relevant
data in future grant schemes.
OS should make grant
scheme achievements’
assessments obligatory and
plan in TA resources to carry
them out.
OS should establish a
Mainstreaming Strategy as
soon as possible.
OS should make sure that the
shortcomings in the areas of
data collection, G-MIS usage,
and other elements listed in
this table will be eliminated.
LikeTopic
Finding
orientation).
Lesson
Conclusion
Recommendation