Turkiye has hosted the world’s largest refugee population since 2014. According to UNHCR, there are currently 3.7 million Syrians under temporary protection, more than 300.000 refugees from other nationalities, and asylum seekers under international protection. According to The Presidency of Migration Management, more than 100.000 registered refugees are from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran in Kayseri. However, Iranian, Afghan, and Iraqi refugees are disproportionally disadvantaged when accessing rights, services, and opportunities due to registration problems and limited services designed only for refugees under temporary protection. Additional gaps in education, livelihoods, and economic opportunities are prevailing. Refugee women face sociocultural obstacles, including stereotypical gender roles, limited participation in the labor force, lack of female role models, and limited financial access, skills, and awareness about acquiring knowledge.
Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
RET has been implementing a project entitled “Multi-sectoral Approach for Fostering Resilience among Non-Syrian Refugee and Vulnerable Host Communities,” funded by the UK Embassy in Ankara between April 2022 and March 2023. RET has successfully provided technical and vocational education and training (TVET) focused on artisanal and natural local products, complemented with capacity-building training for 96 non-Syrian refugee and host community women in Kayseri.
RET established two ateliers within the framework of the project: a sewing and embroidery atelier and a local food production atelier. The TVET programs provided opportunities for the beneficiary women to gain new skills and become financially independent. RET and Leap Women’s Co-Operative supported the atelier by marketing the products on Leap Natural’s shopping website (shopier.com/leapnatural) and via its Instagram account (@leapnatural). Through the sale of the products, the beneficiary women have been provided a stable source of income.
For many refugee and local women beneficiaries in Kayseri, the “Sewing and Embroidery Atelier” was their first and only working experience. While receiving the TVET and working on a new product spectrum, the women participants sewed new clothes for themselves and their families and amended and repaired their clothes to practice. Following the TVET provided by RET, the women participants started to produce handmade products and earn a sustainable income. The participants’ products were of high quality, made of %100 cotton muslin swaddles. They also crafted handkerchiefs for newborn babies, shirts, and block-printed %100 cotton & viscose blend kimonos.
Moreover, the refugee and local women beneficiaries received technical and vocational training on food production in RET’s atelier in Kayseri. RET also provided professional training on hygiene and sanitation, occupational health, safety and equipment use, and food preparation. The food atelier’s production focused on preparing noodles and kinds of ravioli with different fillings suitable for the local taste of Kayseri. RET identified new channels to market the products through partnerships with the private sector, including local restaurants in Kayseri.
Turkish Language Courses
RET provided Turkish Language courses in Kayseri based on an innovative quick language learning program. The main objective of these courses was to support the refugees in communicating effectively, thus increasing peaceful co-existence between the refugee and host communities. More than 309 refugees enrolled in the Turkish language courses, improving their communication skills and confidence level, which positively impacted their social life.
Social Cohesion, Gender-Based Violence, Sexual and Reproductive Health
RET delivered social cohesion training to more than 2300 beneficiaries from the host and refugee communities living in Kayseri, raising awareness against gender-based violence and promoting gender equality and women’s rights, reaching more than 1500 people from the refugee and host communities. RET also reached more than 1450 women and men in Kayseri through information dissemination sessions on sexual and reproductive health, including awareness of genital hygiene, contraceptive methods, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Access to Healthcare
Moreover, RET assisted beneficiaries with difficulty accessing healthcare services due to identity and/or language barriers by securing them with appointments and referring them to medical care at the migrant health center and/or various hospitals.
Psychosocial Support
On February 6, 2023, two massive earthquakes and continuous aftershocks caused significant damage in South and Southeastern Turkiye. The earthquakes caused widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure, displacing thousands of people, including refugees in the affected area and the surrounding provinces, including Kayseri.
RET team in Kayseri responded promptly by providing on-site psychosocial support to 604 affected individuals (nearly 82% of them were refugees) in 3 different locations.
We thank the UK Embassy in Ankara for their support in making these interventions a concrete reality and positively impacting the lives of the most vulnerable n Turkiye. We express our gratitude for your constant support.