World Refugee Day
Global Parliamentarians and Young Leaders working toward Common Goals
20 June 2016
In commemoration of World Refugee Day, AFPPD interviewed Ms. Hasret Saygı, a young pro-refugee activist from Turkey, who
participated in the Global Conference of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (GCPPD) toward the 2016 G7
Ise-Shima Summit in Tokyo on April 26-27. Ms. Saygi works for a grassroots organization combating racism and nationalism
in Turkey. She is a volunteer teacher in the Syrian-Palestinian-run Community Center, Ad.dar. She has taken an active
role in implementing projects to help Syrian children register and integrate into local schools and to provide them with
supplementary language and literacy education in their neighborhood in Istanbul. The project team works in close
coordination with parents, school teachers and the local branch offices of the Ministry of Education. Last year, the
project was expanded to include Syrian mothers to provide Turkish and literacy education. Ms. Saygi is also a researcher
in sociolinguistics, and a Ph.D. candidate at Bogazici University, Istanbul.
Ms. Saygi reflected on her participation in the GCPPD, sharing her views on the importance of global parliamentarians
and young activists working together toward the common goals.
AFPPD Secretariat’s Note:
The G7 Leaders’ Declaration reflected substantially the GCPPD Declaration and Recommendations to the G7, to which Ms. Hasret together with participating global parliamentarians made invaluable contributions. (See The GCPPD Conference Report).
ENDS