Sida's support to Civil Society Organisations in Turkey was part of the overall support to preparing Turkey in its EU accession process. Special focus was on human rights, gender equality, free media and legal reform.

The purpose of the assignment was to provide Capacity Building Support to Turkish Human Rights NGOs. The NGOs should be able to develop a Results Based Framework, linked to strategic planning, monitoring and reporting against outcomes.

The assignment's duration was two years and included six prominent Turkish NGOs. Of these, four worked specifically on women's human rights (participation in the labour market, political participation, civic and political rights and women's human rights in the Kurdish areas).

Out of the four, one organisation was the leading national alternative news provider on human rights and press freedom with a special initiative to track and give voice to jailed journalists to lobby for increased press freedom.

Another partner organisation was the Human Rights Foundation in Turkey (HRFT) which is one of the longest established and biggest human rights institutions in the country, specifically focusing on the prevention and rehabilitation of torture victims.

They also worked actively on shadow reporting in relation to official Turkish human rights reporting, and provide a scientific evidence base on the issue of torture and human rights in Turkey which led to the development of the Istanbul Protocol around the legal and medical investigation of torture cases.

The NGOs showed a common need for overall strategic planning processes, including definition of outcomes, results and relevant indicators, as well as organisational assessment, M&E support and organisational development interventions such as technical support, training, M&E sessions, and leadership development.