Issue: 137
Products that are hand-crafted in Multi-Purpose Community Centres (ÇATOM) serve as a source of income for the women of Şırnak while enabling them to occupy their free time. Nergiz Ertaş, who is one of the women from ÇATOM, said about these products that are mostly beadwork: "As housewives, we took on this work to contribute to our households. We want contribute to our households as housewives. It is better than to sit and do nothing. As housewives, we are very pleased to be doing this. We were able to morph our handicraft, which we already had, to a lovely outcome. Thanks to the income we receive from these works, we can better contribute to our children's education."
At the ceremony, during which a facility visit took place following a detailed briefing regarding the project and the building, the project's introductory film that was prepared by UNDP attracted the most attention. The most striking point of the film were the students that are expected to be the beneficiaries of the project and surprise beneficiaries, which are the workers from the construction of the building. The workers pointed out that they will be the ones to be called in case of future green building projects and mentioned that they learned about many new construction methods and information about green energy technology thanks to this building.
Regarding the project that aims to provide integrated resource efficiency in agriculture and agro-based industries, Mehmet Açıkgöz, the Vice President of the Regional Development Administration of GAP, said: "This is an important project for our region. In agriculture and agro-based industries resources must be used in an effective and efficient manner, especially during manufacturing processes. We initiated this project to ensure that."
Turkey's Engineer Girls Project, which was developed in order to improve the employment conditions for qualified women, aims to disseminate mainstreaming, advocacy and success stories on gender equality for the private sector operating in service and manufacturing industry for an inclusive and sustainable growth. The project also aspires to raise the awareness of the private sector on gender equality by gathering university students, their families, actors from the business world, political decision-makers and mentors and implementing inclusive business models that support capacity development on the industry's leading companies.
Gaziantep, 10 May 2017-Government officials, businesses, private sector organizations, NGO leaders, social enterprises and entrepreneurs gathered in Gaziantep, to discuss the increased employment and livelihoods opportunities for Syrians and host communities with focusing on how decent work and economic growth can turn into reality for them. “The Business and Employment Forum”, which was held in Gaziantep Chamber of Industry Vocational Training Center on 10-11 May 2017, presented diverse perspectives and showcased inspiring stories on creating livelihoods and decent jobs for Syrians and host communities in Turkey
The Forum, organized in the recently completed Vocational Training Center of Gaziantep Chamber of Industry, started with the speeches of Mr. Adil Sani Konukoğlu, Chairperson of the Executive Board of the Gaziantep Chamber of Industry, as well as Mr. Claudio Tomasi, UNDP Country Director, Mr. Sadrettin Karahocagil, President of the GAP Regional Development Administration and Ms. Simona Gatti, Head of Cooperation / Minister Counsellor at the Delegation of the European Union to Turkey.
At the event, Mr. Claudio Tomasi, UNDP Country Director, said “the objective of UNDP Turkey’s support in response to the Syrian refugee crisis is not to provide temporary assistance but to improve the lives of both Syrians and host communities with longer term perspective through promoting livelihoods and self-reliance of individuals and the resilience of institutions and businesses.
The key aspect of UNDP’s resilience strategy is to invest in national and local systems to improve livelihoods, employment and local economic development.
Thanks to the close collaboration with our local partners Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, GAP Regional Development Administration and Gaziantep Chamber of Industry as well as the European Union as the donor of our project, we hope that this event- which is hosted in Gaziantep as the one of leading industrial centers of Turkey-will catalyze the efforts of the creation of longer term livelihoods options to Syrians and host communities in strong collaboration with private sector across the country. Moreover, it may also help develop broad perspectives for Turkey and its businesses to have a diverse, dynamic and qualified workforce that access to decent employment opportunities to contribute to the sustainable development of the country”.
The discussions throughout the two-day forum underlined the importance of public-private partnerships in expanding job opportunities and strengthening livelihoods options through a comprehensive program composed of different components, such as The Business Marketplace, Sessions for Jobseekers, Sessions for Employers and Entrepreneurs, and General Sessions.
The Forum addressed the key role of private sector in facilitating the access of Syrian and host community members to decent employment opportunities, and to facilitate public-private partnerships and to help cooperation among Syrian and Turkish companies and entrepreneurs. Besides, it created a platform that enables interaction of job seeking Syrians and host community members with employers, establish connections between entrepreneurs and companies and highlight the employment opportunities for Syrians living in Turkey in the private sector.
UNDP Syria Crisis Response and Resilience Programme in Turkey includes dedicated support to livelihoods and job creation by direct provision of vocational trainings with investment on local vocational training infrastructure in order to enhance the local capacity in that regard, to create better employment opportunities for both Syrians and host communities.
UNDP’s support under the overall the Programme so far, 6413 Syrian and 961 Turkish individuals have been provided vocational training and education.
The project "Mitigating the Impact of the Syrian Crisis on Southeastern Anatolia Region" is one of the interventions funded by the EU to complement humanitarian response throufh resilience-based approach to alleviate the impact of the Syrian refugee influx in Turkey. It has been implemented since July 2015, targeting cities bordering with Syria; Gaziantep and Sanliurfa, where a high number of Syrian refugees resides.
These provinces are highly impacted by the sudden influx of the Syrian refugees, especially where there is a need for increased income opportunities and livelihoods for both Syrians and host communities, as well as strengthening municipal services.
Prog Specialist(Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding, EUR-CIS) (Deadline - 16-May-2017)
Junior Communication Consultant for Implementation of Communication Strategy of the Global Support Program (Deadline - 17-May-2017)
Project Associate (Deadline - 19-May-2017)
Consultancy Services for Setting up Content for Mobile Application for Improved Access to Agricultural Value Chain Information for Farmers in Turkey (Deadline - 22-May-2017)
Project Consultant for Kapuscinski Development Lectures (Deadline - 23-May-2017)
Programme Specialist, Local Governance and Decentralization (Deadline - 23-May-2017)
Project Assistant (Deadline - 23-May-2017)
Project Manager (Deadline - 28-May-2017)
Project Associate (Deadline - 28-May-2017)
Editor: Faik Uyanık
Assistant: Ömer Kavuk
Reporter: Bora Akbay
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