Japan-funded effort strengthens women’s cooperatives and women-led firms while building bridges between refugees and host communities

Ankara, 7 December 2022 – Concluding a two-year joint initiative at an event in Ankara on 30 November 2022, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Turkish Ministry of Industry and Technology highlighted the importance of strengthening the resilience of women entrepreneurs and women’s cooperatives to ensure economic growth and social development. The initiative was supported by US$1.1 million in funding from the Government of Japan.

Designed to help small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic, the “Business to Social Cohesion” project provided training, coaching, consultancy support and small grants to help 58 women’s cooperatives and 22 women entrepreneurs improve their operations and expand their markets. Matchmaking events were organized to give participants a chance to showcase their products to major retail chains and e-commerce platforms, and a digital catalogue of local products was also produced. An online platform (anadoludakiler.org) created to reach new markets has won praise as a vehicle to promote the traditional crafts and heritage of Anatolia.

“Women are badly underrepresented in business in Türkiye," said UNDP Resident Representative Louisa Vinton. "This is not because they lack strength or skills but rather because they lack outlets and opportunities. Our efforts are designed to help women apply their talents to support themselves and their families while contributing to the wider economy."

“Business to Social Cohesion” is just one of many projects that UNDP implements with the General Directorate of Development Agencies in the Ministry of Industry and Technology. “This project reflects our Ministry’s vision,” said Çetin Ali Dönmez, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Technology. “In striving to develop an entrepreneurship ecosystem over the past four to five years, we have been prioritizing women and youth entrepreneurship.”

One of the success stories of the project is the Seyhan Üreten Kadınlar women’s cooperative, which was featured in a short documentary film. The cooperative produces soaps scented with homegrown herbs such as mint, lavender, sage, chamomile and thyme. The plants are grown in organic compost that the cooperative makes from grass and clippings collected from local parks.

Participation in project activities was open to Syrian refugee women as well as women from Turkish host communities. As with many other UNDP projects, the aim was to promote the self-reliance of refugees while helping to integrate them better into their host communities.

“Türkiye has made an outstanding contribution in hosting the largest number of refugees in the world,” said Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiro Suzuki. “Japan continues to highly appreciate Türkiye’s great effort here and we will continue to support the people and regions affected by refugee issues in close cooperation with UN organizations and the international community.”

To watch the project video please click here.

To watch the stories of women entrepreneurs who benefitted from the project, please click here and here.

For more information:

Esra Özçeşmeci, Communications Assistant for UNDP in Türkiye, esra.ozcesmeci@undp.org