The support to civil society is an important priority of EU financial assistance to Turkey. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are key actors in expressing the demands and needs of citizens and encouraging active citizenship; they can stimulate and expand the space for dialogue and cooperation on matters of public interest, including on the EU accession process.
As highlighted in the Revised Indicative Strategy Paper for Turkey 2014-2020, EU support to civil society has 3 objectives:

• Support the development of civil society allowing its more active participation in democratic policy and decision-making processes
• Promote a culture of fundamental rights and dialogue
• Enhance civil society dialogue and inter-cultural exchange between civil societies in Turkey and Europe

A key objective of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance II (IPA II) was to support reforms in the 'enlargement countries' that bring them closer to the EU and help them converge with EU rules and standards. IPA II set a framework for providing pre-accession assistance for the period 2014-2020 and put specific emphasis on the need to further support civil society.
The main objectives of this evaluation were to provide the relevant services of the European Union, the interested stakeholders with:

• An overall independent assessment of the past and on-going performance of the actions funded under CSF 2016 Turkey, paying particular attention to its intermediate results measured against its expected objectives; and the reasons underpinning such results
• Key lessons learned, conclusions and related recommendations in order to improve current and future actions.

In particular, this evaluation focused on progress to date and, by explaining why progress happened or did not happen as planned, provided recommendations on how to improve the actions during their residual duration in order to achieve the expected objectives, taking into account problems and opportunities. They were also supposed to serve to prepare new actions and encompass both forward and backward-looking perspectives.
The main users of this evaluation are the EU Delegation to Turkey as well as the 6 implementing partners.