26 July 2018•Update: 26 July 2018
By Gokhan Kavak and Zuhal Demirci
JOHANNESBURG/ ANKARA
Turkey’s aid agency is doing good work in a wide variety of areas in South Africa, from education to health and from art to sports.
Over 20 projects have been realized in the last six months, Mehmet Akif Sekerci, the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency’s (TIKA) coordinator in South Africa, told Anadolu Agency.
The projects were conducted by TIKA’s Pretoria Coordination Office in the provinces of Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Cape Town, as well as Lesotho and Swaziland in southern Africa, Sekerci said.
“We aim to support the development of South Africa’s health sector with key strategies like building hospitals and clinics as well as technical cooperation in health care,” he said.
He also said projects for equipment support, healthcare screening, providing vaccines and medications, and supporting the education of medical experts are ongoing.
Telling how TIKA is trying to spread the wisdom, heritage, and culture of Anatolia all over the world, Sekerci said the agency is active in 170 countries with 60 coordination offices, including 22 in Africa alone.
Promoting education and culture
“We have met the renovation and equipment needs of the Mohau Child Care Center, which cares for orphans and HIV-infected children,” Sekerci said.
Highlighting TIKA’s efforts in education, Sekerci said: “We built new classrooms for preschool children in Pretoria.”
“We’re setting up a library in Johannesburg, and we’re also working as the partner of the nationwide ‘read to lead’ campaign and we're cooperating closely with South Africa’s Basic Education Ministry to realize more projects, especially in low-income areas.”
He added that TIKA is carrying out projects supporting culture and sports in the country, by -- for instance -- renovating the Bo Kaap Museum in Cape Town and building new club facilities as well as supplying sports equipment.
“For all these projects, TIKA expects nothing but to strengthen brotherhood and cooperation between our two nations,” Sekerci said.
Disaster and Emergency Course in Sudan
As part of TIKA’s activities in Africa, the agency has completed the third phase of Disaster and Emergency Management training, done with the support of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Statistical Economic and Social Research and Training Center for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), and the Turkish and Sudanese health ministries.
According to a TIKA statement, participants in the program included 33 trainees from various cities in Sudan and 14 trainer candidates who showed promise in earlier training.
Sudanese medical personnel also contributed to the program, as well as Turkish experts.
