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Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep are two provinces in Southeast Turkey where the ratio of Syrians in relation to the local population exceeds 19 percent and the needs of the both population as well as municipal infrastructure are increasing constantly. So are the responses too.
A long-term project named “Strengthening Social Stability in Southeast Anatolia” is funded by the Government of Japan and implemented by the UNDP and GAP Regional Development Administration since 2016 in Şanlıurfa, Gaziantep, Kilis and Hatay, the provinces where the influx of Syrians heavily affected. During the implementation of the project, from the beginning to the end, local institutions, municipalities worked in close collaboration to deliver effectively vocational trainings, social cohesion activities and municipal services supports. Throughout 2 years, most comprehensive vocational trainings in the region were held for 1,750 people in 33 different fields, 2 waste transfer stations in Birecik, Hatay-another province in the region- were constructed and municipal services and infrastructure were supported in 4 provinces Kilis, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa and Hatay.
A group of high-level representatives from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Government of Japan, Şanlıurfa Governorship, Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality, GAP Regional Development Administration (GAP RDA) and Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality came together to reveal these prominent outcomes of their long-term partnership on 27th July.
As one of the remarkable achievements of the project, in partnership with Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality and municipal enterprise BELTUR, at the “Local Food Production, Freezing and Packing Facility”, 10 Syrian and 10 Turkish women were provided with job-trainings and employed after the trainings. Thanks to the production facilities and trainings, trainings on marketing, storage and logistical support, local tastes specific to Şanlıufa are now being produced more in quantity, in an efficient and hygienic way as well as with the closer goal to be known among international cuisines.
Mrs Irena Vojáčková-Sollorano, UN Resident Representative, Mr. Akio Miyajima, Ambassador of Japan in Turkey, Mr. Viorel Gutu and Mr. Sadrettin Karahocagil, President, GAP Regional Development Administration (GAP RDA), visited the “Hard-working Hands Social Facility of the Municipality”, that was established with the support of the project and met with the Syrian and local employees.