PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Dear young people, valued partners, and all institutions and organizations interested in collaboration,

Since our establishment, Genç Gönüllüler Derneği has been working for a future where children and young people can access their rights, where equal opportunities are strengthened, and where social solidarity continues to grow. We are not an organization that observes problems from a distance; we are a volunteer movement that produces solutions in the field — in schools, disaster areas, rural regions, and universities.

Today, with thousands of volunteers across 57 cities, we carry out activities in many areas ranging from children’s rights education and teacher networks to high school social responsibility programs, occupational safety trainings in vocational schools, child support work in disaster zones, and rural development camps. Because we believe that a strong society can only be built through informed children, productive youth, and institutions working in solidarity.

Our aim is not only to implement projects, but to build a sustainable volunteering ecosystem where young people can discover their potential, contribute to society, and experience the power of collective action. Through digital participation opportunities, we enable young people to join our work without leaving their cities, while our field-based programs continue to generate tangible social impact.

In this journey, we invite young people to join us as volunteers and take responsibility. At the same time, we call on public institutions, universities, municipalities, student clubs, academics, experts, and the private sector to collaborate with us in developing joint projects, participating in research processes, and implementing education and field activities together.

We believe that by learning together with the world, producing together, and acting together, we can build a stronger future. As volunteering grows, equal opportunity will grow as well; every step we take to protect children, empower youth, and strengthen society will create a wider impact.

Let us carry this shared responsibility together.
Let us grow the power of young people together.
Let us build the future together.

Respectfully,
Eyüp Coşkun
Chairman of the Board
Genç Gönüllüler Derneği

WHO IS EYÜP COŞKUN?

Eyüp Coşkun, Chairman of the Board of Genç Gönüllüler Derneği, has extensive national and international field experience in civil society, child protection, youth policies, and rights-based work. A graduate of Anadolu University, Department of Public Relations, Coşkun serves within the advisory processes of the Istanbul University Child Protection Application and Research Center and provides social project consultancy to various public institutions and local authorities.

In 2010, he received training in child and youth participation at the University of the West of England Solar Centre. He has participated in international congresses, trainings, and study visits focused on children and youth in the United Kingdom, the United States, Malaysia, Belgium, and other countries, including the ISPCAN International Congress held in Edinburgh. He also conducted field visits in the Netherlands to examine good practice models for adolescent support, and has developed cooperation and institutional contacts with organizations working in the field of children and youth in a total of 45 countries.

In Türkiye, he has actively taken part in the preparation and implementation of numerous national and international projects in the areas of child protection, youth development, volunteering networks, social cohesion, and civil society capacity building, assuming coordination responsibilities in programs supported by the European Union, the Ministry of Interior, and various public bodies.

He continues to work actively on strengthening the protection and empowerment of disadvantaged groups — including Roma children, migrant children, children with disabilities, and children who are victims of neglect and abuse — and plays an active role in developing policy approaches, implementation models, and institutional guidance particularly for children and young people living in rural areas. He currently continues his work in children’s rights, volunteer network development, youth participation, and civil society capacity building.