Turkey enjoys the great advantage of a "demographic opportunity window" with its young population of 44.6 million under 35, which represents 53.4% of the overall population of 83.6 million. This young population of working age will take over the countries’ top leadership by 2050. Some are already instrumental, actively involved in the production of goods and services, or working as members of Parliament and taking on high-level roles in the decision-making process.
For the millions of young individuals of working age, empowerment, strengthened capacities and the development of 21st-century skills are crucial for self-improvement. Putting these priorities into practice requires a comprehensive youth policy that covers all aspects of youth empowerment and capacity building.
In the example of the Turkish case, everyone can acknowledge that Turkey is delivering effectively to achieve what it requires to empower these young people. In the last decade, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has been actively expanding its services and opportunities within Turkey by opening thousands of sports centers, cultural centers, youth centers, university clubs and so on. All these centers are enjoyed by thousands of young people every month, making these places a hub for young people to meet and participate in a wide range of activities.
This high potential and young population attract a lot of interest from other countries in the region and from around the world. Currently, more than 220,000 international students study in Turkey. In the last decade, a lot of international students have started to prefer studying in Turkey because of what is provided for them on a complimentary basis in addition to what the country provides in terms of education. The number of international students has increased by 800% in the last decade, and all young people in Turkey can also benefit from the services of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, including international students and expats.
Because of all these opportunities and this increasing interest, it is worth mentioning and understanding how services provided for young people, as well as youth policies, have sharply improved in recent years. The perspective has changed, allowing ideas to be realized, policies to be strengthened and young people to be empowered.
As of the beginning of December 2021, 394 youth centers across Turkey are currently running, with thousands of young people joining activities each month in each location. These youth centers are spread across 81 cities in Turkey, even in the smallest towns. Currently, the ministry has a policy of launching a youth center in every district of Turkey, either small or large, depending on the size of the population. In addition, small youth clubs are being launched across the country on the neighborhood level, making the services accessible even for hard-to-reach communities and disadvantaged groups.
Another important and major service provided by the ministry is youth camps. Across Turkey, 43 youth camps have been running as of December 2021, bringing together hundreds of thousands of young people from different regions of the country each year. These camps are provided free of charge for everyone, via an online application, in different settings and themes, including the sea camps, nature camps, mountain camps or thematic ones with music, culture or social services. Youth camp modality is a very important component shaping the youth policies of Turkey, making a wide variety of services attractive for all young people.
As all these services require a well-shaped and structured policy, back in 2012 Turkey launched its very first National Youth Policy Program. The first policy program of Turkey touched on almost all the issues affecting and related to young people. As the needs and circumstances have sharply changed in the past nine years, particularly amid the effects of COVID-19, the Ministry of Youth and Sports now aims to relaunch a participatory process to renew and update the Youth Policy Program in 2022. The process was designed from the bottom up, starting with small workshops on the local level to a national consultation and a launch event at the very end of the process. This methodology will help young people be involved with the policy-making process, and their voices can be heard and understood clearly by the policymakers.
Last but not least, a very important process that started recently is the participatory budgeting for the Ministry of Youth and Sports. At the end of each year in Turkey, ministries propose their budget plan for the upcoming year to Parliament and get approval for their expenditure and budgeting. As of 2021, the Ministry of Youth and Sports started a process to shape the budget priorities together with young people. Young people have been invited via an open and online call to shape the budget of the ministry for 2022, allowing them to prioritize their desired actions and programs within the budget plan. As of the beginning of December, more than 300,000 young people have joined the online consultation process, and the forum will remain open to anyone until the end of the year when the new budget will be put into practice.
As a very young, dynamic and productive country, Turkey believes in the power of young people and works hard to provide services for them. Whether it be on the local level, national level or even international level from time to time, it is a priority for the ministry to listen to what young people have to say and act accordingly. As a result, the ministry plans to improve its services in the coming years in accordance with yearly plans and feedback received from young people.