Numbers of Umut Foundation
The 10th anniversary of the Umut Foundation, which aims to contribute to the development of our youth as individuals, develop their sense of citizenship, foster a belief in the primacy of law and culture of peace, solve problems through peaceful accords rather than violence was celebrated in various activities.
The Umut Foundation, which has drawn public attention to social problems and produced solutions to them since its foundation, reports all of its activities in a presentation entitled “Ten Steps in Ten Years”.
Nazire Dedeman, the founder president of the Foundation, which was founded in December 1993, stated that the foundation was started with the purpose of raising youth, our assurance for the future, as individuals who embrace the primacy of the law, are sensitive to the environment and humanity, and favour peaceful means in the resolution of conflict.
She spoke in the anniversary, held in Lutfi Kirdar International Congress and Exhibition Palace, and emphasized that in ten years, the foundation has carried out valuable work on the primacy of law, the culture of peace, the sense of citizenship, the methods of reconciliation, youth and leadership, individual disarming, improvement of civil society, environment, Umut Foundation publications, and sharing information. She said “The primacy of law is actually not only an issue for the jurists but for all citizens. We worked hard for the development of the consciousness of ‘being a citizen’ in each and every individual of our society who are aware of her rights, knows and exercises her rights and duties, and is sensitive to the problems of society.”
She underscored the following statistics about the Foundation’s work in ten years:
In ten years, Umut Foundation
- travelled 126, 000 km,
- held 46 meetings,
- organized 10 contests
- organized four protest marches for the Silent Shoes,
- organized three campaigns,
- published eight books,
- attracted approximately 28,000 people to its activities,
- attracted 83, 270 visitors to its website,
- organized 60 educational sessions,
- educated almost 2,000 people,
- donated 20,000 books,
- planted 22,800 trees in the Umut Forests,
- received 17 plaques and awards,
- produced approximately one and a half trillion TL worth of surplus value,
- organized 113 activities in eleven cities in Turkey, and in seven countries abroad.
Mrs. Dedeman thanked everyone who supported the activities of Umut Foundation and emphasized the fact that the media has overwhelmingly supported the Foundation’s activities which are in the interests of the general public. She furthermore stated that the power of the media renders the media’s support invaluable for any work in the interests of the society.
For the tenth anniversary of the Umut Foundation, a painting contest was organized under the title “Individual Disarming: Recognize the Right to Live” in 2004. Sixty one paintings were deemed worthy of exhibition and they were shown in Lutfi Kirdar International Congress and Exhibition Palace until December 20th, Monday.