Closure Meeting of the “Increase Self-reliance and Improve Agricultural Livelihoods of Refugees through Employment Opportunities (Phase III)” Project

The Closure meeting of the project on ‘Increase Self-reliance and Improve Agricultural Livelihoods of Refugees through Employment Opportunities (Phase III)’ Project which is co-financed by the European Union and the Republic of Turkey and implemented in close collaboration with the UNHCR, the Directorate General of Migration Management, Ministry of Family and Labour and Social Services and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry will take place in Ankara on 17 December 2019.

The main objective of this three phased project was to combat poverty of refugees and vulnerable host communities through an economic sustainable empowerment mechanism, which also enables refugees to exit from the state of aid dependency.

This project provided and opportunity for skills development to 2880 beneficiaries where nearly 70% are from the refugees and 30% from the host community. Out of this group close to 30 % are women. The vocational trainings focused on 21 topics on food and agriculture sector to provide beneficiaries with sustainable employment and income generation opportunities in targeted eight provinces. (Adana, Bursa, Mersin, Şanlıurfa, İzmir, Manisa, Kilis and Gaziantep)

The average employment rate during three phases of the project has reached almost 23% (662 trainees out of 2880 are employed formally). (Approximately 20% of the 2017, 22% of the 2018, and 23% in 2019). In addition to enhance the employability of SuTP and vulnerable Turkish citizen, the project also resulted in the following impacts;

• Increased productivity and quality of products from enterprises that employ trained refugees and host community members.
• Increased household income level so that food security is increased and quality of life improved.
• Improved social cohesion between refugees and host communities by creating employment for both communities.
• Increased capacity of government and civil society partners in maximizing the potential of the present and future labour market.
• Both refugees and employers understand the process for obtaining work permit exemptions for the agricultural sector.
• For the refugees, the skills learnt will be in demand upon repatriation, and they will contribute significantly in recovery of the agricultural sector in Syria.
• Enhanced competitiveness of small emerging food and agriculture companies locally and regionally.