Ankara, Turkey, 19 September 2019 – Turkey’s Minister of Family, Labor and Social Services, Her Excellency Zehra Zümrüt Selçuk, on 19 September, granted audience to a delegation from the IsDB’s Women and Youth Empowerment Division led by Ms. May Ali Babiker Eltahir, Acting Director, Resilience and Social Development Department and Mr. Saleh Jelassi, Regional Manager, Regional Hub Turkey. At the meeting, promotion and facilitation of the activities and interventions of the IsDB Group in the field of women and youth empowerment took center stage and both sides vowed to explore further avenues for closer collaboration with the IsDB stakeholders in Turkey. Furthermore, Her Excellency the Minister highlighted the firm determination of the Republic of Turkey to enhance the bilateral relations with IsDB as the two sides agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding in the near future paving the way for bolder steps required for further coordination regarding the upcoming mutual activities.

The visit of IsDB’s May Babiker and her team displayed a great potential to contribute to furthering the ongoing relevant collaborations for women and youth empowerment and to figure out the major areas of partnership with other IsDB stakeholders in Turkey including: the EU Delegation to Turkey; the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Republic of Turkey; the Turkish Red Crescent (TRC)  also known as KIZILAY; the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA); the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Center for Islamic Countries (SESRIC); the Islamic Conference Youth Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation (ICYF); and the Research Center For Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA).