Turkiye has been host to the world’s largest refugee population since 2014. Official numbers suggest that there are 3.6 million Syrians under temporary protection, over 330,000 refugees from other nationalities, and asylum seekers under international protection. According to the information provided by PDMM, more than 100.000 registered refugees are in Kayseri. Among those, around 60% are Syrian, 20% are Iranian, 10% are Afghan, and 10% are Iraqi.
Unregistered 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. Women are disproportionally affected. According to a recent study on “Women Entrepreneurship in Turkey”, the main obstacles facing women entrepreneurs in Turkey are socio-cultural aspects such as stereotypical gender roles as primary caregivers of children, limited participation in the labor force, lack of financial access, lack of social networks, lack of business and management skills, lack of female role models and lack of awareness about acquiring knowledge. These obstacles increase for refugee women since there are more gaps in education, livelihood, and opportunities due to their refugee status.
RET has developed the project “Multi-sectoral Approach for Fostering Resilience among Non-Syrian Refugee and Vulnerable Host Communities,” aimed at increasing the resilience of non-Syrian refugees and host communities in Kayseri. The project proposes (1) increasing access to the labor market of women from refugee and vulnerable host communities, (2) fostering sustainable and lasting social cohesion, while preventing gender-based violence and promoting sexual and reproductive health. The project will target non-Syrian and host communities during the one-year project life cycle.
RET will support women from non-Syrian refugee and vulnerable host communities by providing them with Technical and Vocational training focused on artisanal and natural local products complemented with soft skills training. Furthermore, RET will deliver capacity-building activities to members of cooperatives, women’s enterprises, and Afghan and Iraqi refugees on multiple topics, including entrepreneurship, marketing strategies, and business plan development, while promoting social cohesion and an inclusive work environment.
RET will work towards advancing social cohesion by organizing structured awareness-raising sessions while involving members of public institutions and civil society actors working with refugees. RET will provide a quick language learning program to help non-Syrian girls and women learn the Turkish language for faster integration.
RET will advance the prevention of gender-based violence and promote sexual and reproductive health in Kayseri through awareness-raising sessions on gender-based violence and information dissemination sessions on sexual and reproductive health.
This project, implemented between April 2022 and March 2023, is funded by the UK Embassy in Ankara and implemented in partnership with the Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality and LEAP (LNGO) in Türkiye.