"Psychosocial Support Pilot Project in Earthquake-Affected Regions in Türkiye" is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project is coordinated by the General Directorate of International Organizations and Foreign Relations and implementation units are General Directorate of Education Research and Coordination and General Directorate of Youth Services. Our project is being implemented in the provinces of Konya, Adana, Adıyaman, Malatya, Kahramanmaraş and Hatay. The application for our project, aimed at establishing cooperation between our Ministry and JICA, was submitted in February 2022. As part of this, site visits were conducted in August 2022 to our Provincial Directorates in Adana and Konya with Japanese experts. The pilot study of long-term support program is planned to be finalized during this process. As of July 2023, the project activities have commenced in Adıyaman, Malatya, Kahramanmaraş and Hatay, selected as pilot provinces and the most affected by the earthquake.

As part of the pilot project, a Psychosocial First Aid (PFA) Workshop was first organized with the participation of psychologists and youth leaders working in the pilot provinces. Following this, training sessions on Psychological First Aid and Psychological First Aid for Children were conducted by Japanese experts. After both training sessions were completed, workshops on Psychological First Aid and Psychological First Aid for Children were organized for youth workers by trained psychologists in the pilot provinces. Another outcome of the project was the Disaster Risk Reduction Training. To facilitate this, Japanese experiences were shared and disaster education was linked with psychosocial support. Various workshops were conducted, focusing on disaster risk reduction training for youth, facilitated by Japanese experts. Additionally, a visit to the Konya Science Center was organized to make presentations on the activities carried out by young people under the guidance of psychologists and youth leaders in the pilot provinces and to enhance awareness of disasters.