More Than 250 Young People Receive International Youth Award

The International Youth Award Programme, which reaches over 13 million young people in more than 130 countries worldwide, held its 26th National Silver Award Ceremony and 7th National Independent Participants Bronze and Silver Award Ceremony in Turkey. Under the programme coordinated by TİKAV, over 250 young people qualified to receive awards.

The International Youth Award – Turkey ceremony was held on 7 February, Saturday at Novotel Istanbul Bosphorus. Young participants from 19 separate award centres across different provinces in Turkey and numerous volunteers gathered to celebrate their achievements. Certificates and badges were presented to participants who completed the Bronze and Silver categories under the voluntary-based programme supporting personal and social development of young people aged 14–24, by TİKAV Board of Directors Chair Hülya Kırçuval and Akfen Holding Board of Directors Chair and TİKAV Honorary Chair Hamdi Akın.

"Our hope for the future is strengthened"
Hamdi Akın, Board of Directors Chair of Akfen Holding and Honorary Chair of TİKAV, speaking at the ceremony, drew attention to the programme's role in young people's development and made the following statement:

"We consider it very valuable for young people to be strengthened not only through academic success, but also through their ability to take responsibility, their contributions to society and their approach to life. The International Youth Award Programme offers young people a long-term and meaningful journey that opens space for them to discover their potential. The picture we see here today further strengthens our hope for the future. We sincerely congratulate all our young people who have worked on this journey and wish that their path is clear at every step they take."

"Each young person writes their own story"
Nilüfer Yılmaz, National Coordinator of the International Youth Award Programme, speaking at the ceremony, emphasised the transformative impact of the programme on young people and said:

"The International Youth Award – Turkey is a personal journey in which young people discover their own potential and boldly step out of their comfort zones to move themselves forward. Awareness increases at every step, confidence strengthens and each young person begins to write their own story. At this ceremony, we came together to acknowledge the efforts our young people from different cities have made throughout this journey. We sincerely congratulate all of them."

Throughout the ceremony, the programme's contributions to young people's personal development, social responsibility and community awareness were conveyed through speeches and video presentations. Content prepared by the Alumni Group shared the experiences and transformations participants underwent during the programme. Views and suggestions from programme facilitators were also included.

Over 21,000 young people reached in Turkey
Akfen Holding, which believes that sustainable prosperity is possible only through contributions to people and society, not merely through economic investments, carries out its corporate social responsibility work under the umbrella of the Turkey Human Resources, Education and Health Foundation (TİKAV), established in 1999. While the International Youth Award Programme is implemented worldwide under the name The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, it operates in Turkey under the coordination of TİKAV.

To date, the programme has reached over 13 million young people in more than 130 countries worldwide and over 21,000 young people in Turkey; it aims to develop young people's social skills, help them gain self-discipline and increase their leadership competencies.

The programme, carried out with 181 active award centres, approximately 1,000 volunteer award leaders and 5,755 active participants throughout Turkey, invites young people to participate in this development journey in the new period as well.