Full Support for Employment and Entrepreneurship Despite the Pandemic

INGEV, one of the most important addresses in Refugee entrepreneurship in Turkey, continues to be the main point of access for the Syrians SMEs and Business representatives, thanks to the entrepreneurship activities it has performed for over 1.5 years within INGEVGDM.

While we provide the refugee entrepreneurs with consultation services in the fields of company establishment (corporation), business development, finance and law, business as part of the project implemented in cooperation with UNDP, we also further expand the scope of the project by meeting the needs of Syrians for work permit under Temporary Protection.

As of April 2020, 53 entrepreneurs were provided with company establishment support; 220 Syrian SMEs and entrepreneurs were provided consultation assistance by means of personal experts, and more than 400 Syrians under Temporary Protection were provided with support for work permit application.

The scope of the project, which will continue until February 2021, was expanded with the support received from the expertise of the partner institution United Work, in terms of job placement and work permits. We also focus on the digitalization of the companies, which has become critical in the period of Corona Virus Pandemic, by aiming to help the Syrian entrepreneurs and SMEs to survive this period with the least amount of loss and to focus back on growth and work on employment creation process.

INGEV CHATS Reached More Than 1 Million People

While the Corona Virus Pandemic is still effective worldwide, we continue to jazz up the life in isolation with knowledge-based conversations. While the value of digitalization has further increased in this period, we have begun to introduce various experts, academics and journalists, all specialists in their fields, to our social media followers via “INGEV CHATS”, a chat program published regularly on INGEV’s Facebook page. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Erkan Saka, Rashid Hamwi, Burcin Buke, Tugrul Eryilmaz, Vural Cakir, Prof. Dr. Fuat Keyman, Prof. Dr. Halil Nalcaoglu and Salim Kadibesegil were the guests of April.

INGEV CHATS hosted Prof. Pınar Okyay,  İbrahim Elbaşı, Duygu Eren, Ozan Sönmez, Şehnaz Tuna and Dr. Aylin Dağsalgüler in the month of May.

In the month of June and July, INGEV CHATS’ guests were Emine Erdem, Arda Kutsal, Murat Şahin, Prof. Dr. Fikret Adaman, Ayşe Sabuncu Saraçlar, Ezgi Arslan, Merve Batıkan, Levent Kahraman, Orkun Doğan, Başak Saral and Kerem Avcıergun. Within this two months, INGEV CHATS focused on topics such as The Digital state of Turkey, Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Priorities, Needs and Cooperativism, New Models, Trends.

You can visit the following links to watch the streams that are highly appreciated and each of which rolls out a new perspective. Please be advised that our live streams are in Turkish language.

http://ingev.org/ingev-chats/

Covid-19 Trend Charts from INGEV

At 9 pm each day since the beginning of April, basic indicators and trend charts are broadcasted in INGEV’s social media accounts soon after Ministry of Health publishes the official pandemic data for the day. In this way, the INGEV followers get a more detailed view of the daily changes.

In addition to the daily variation, the trend charts allow for easier monitoring and interpretation of how the pandemic progresses. The indicators examined are the ratio of the number of cases to the number of tests, the ratio of mortalities and recoveries to the numbers of cases to name a few. While, at the time of this bulletin, the number of cases found among those tested was at its lowest point, the rate of recovery exceeded 50 percent. We hope that we will get more promising figures in the very near future.

To follow Covid-19 Trend Data: http://ingev.org/korona-trend-verileri/

“Free but unreliable”: Research on Trust in Social Media

“Trust in Social Media” Research conducted by INGEV TAM in collaboration with Istanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Communication has been concluded. The most appropriate definition that can be attributed to social media is “free but unreliable”.

While 56% of society define social media as a “free news source”, 61% think that social media is “full of fake accounts”. The research also points to a “post-truth era” and the reality of an “echo chamber”; one third of the society trust the news on social media if it is compatible with their own opinions.

We also observe the low level of trust in media overall; those who say they trust the traditional and digital media as a source of information do not even reach 40%. However, traditional media tools are one step ahead of social media within Turkish society in terms of trust. This however mostly stems from lack of familiarity with digital tools prevalent in the lower income groups with limited internet access.

Only one out of every four people in Turkey is an “active” user in social media. The fact that the majority consists of passive users means a vocal minority sets the tone in the social media environment in Turkey. A significant majority of society uses social media to “get” and “verify” information.

To read the white paper written by Prof. Halil Nalçaoğlu.

For questions and information, please contact can.cakir@ingev.org

New Level in Our Entrepreneurship Supports

We place emphasis particularly on Entrepreneurship supports among the sources of livelihood. Vocational trainings that are provided without creating workforce competition, without resulting in making one person more advantageous compared to the other within the labour market, and with the basis of correct labour analyses are of great importance without doubt. Such projects conducted by also taking into account the perspective of employer demands provide contribution to the development of livelihood sources. Entrepreneurship is of particular significance in this regard. An enterprise started up correctly, ensured to live and develop may make contribution with a multiplier effect on both employment and economic growth. Thus, we care much about the entrepreneurship support programmes at İNGEV. We will be able to take important steps in regards to entrepreneurship and employment in the year 2020 through the cooperation we established with UNDP. We believe that the present businesses finding new sales channels and support of their digitalisation will provide significant contribution at short and medium terms to the employment of both Turkey citizens and the Syrians.

Sustainable Livelihood Sources for Disabled People

Within the context of İNGEV’s studies, strengthening the livelihood sources of particularly vulnerable society segments play a crucial role. People forced to leave their homes constitute the most vulnerable segments of society. People who were forced to leave everything behind with only a few things they could carry and to escape to a country they do not even speak the language of, with almost no money… In case these people are also disabled, the vulnerability even more aggravated. İNGEV initialised a project aiming for disabled Syrians to reach sustainable livelihood sources. In the project titled “Development of Means of Access of Disabled Refugees to Sources of Livelihood” coordinated by Relief International, the experience of İNGEV in the subject of livelihood sources will be used at maximum extent. Contribution of employers and companies interested in human resources to the project is of great importance.

Raising Effective Awareness

During periods when immigration movements get extraordinarily intense, economic, social and cultural problems increase. Reducing such tensions that may arise among the society due to various reasons, raising social awareness and strengthening social cohesion are objectives that are strategic as much as they are urgent. In the study conducted by İNGEV Social Research Centre (TAM) with persons in charge in nongovernmental organisations and public institutions regarding the Syrians under Temporary Protection Status in the 10 provinces that were impacted the most from immigration, the present mutual cohesion between the two societies and the effective awareness studies conducted were examined. One of the key findings of the study has been that the local populace had uncertainties regarding the immigration wave they faced and that they suffered misinformation, and accordingly many facts thought as wrong or many wrongs thought as fact turned into urban legends without basis. The study presented to the Directorate General of Migration Management in cooperation with Norm Consulting aims to combat against all these prejudices and false beliefs and make contribution to the topic of how to increase social awareness.

İNGEV England Representative

Dr Emre Eren Korkmaz assumed the duty of İNGEV England Representative. Korkmaz, academician at Oxford University, will work on developing the relationships between İNGEV and relevant organisations in England in line with our human development vision.

HDI and Measurement of Sustainable Development Objectives

Preparations for the Human Development Index (HDI) 2020 are underway. The workshop held under the hosting of Marmara Municipalities Union provided the roadmap for the new period context through a wide participation and efficient group studies. Two separate reports will be published within the scope of HDI 2020; for districts (HDI-D) and metropolitan municipalities (HDI-MM). There are significant developments in terms of sub-indexes. The addition of the sub-index of gender and study of environment as a separate topic are among the primary context expansions. Utilisation of an artificial intelligence program for data analyses is also among stipulated developments. Another important development is that a special section will be present in both reports dedicated to sustainable development objectives (SDO). During the studies conducted in cooperation with UCLG, the opportunity to relate HDI and SDOs was defined. HDI-D has been met with widespread interest since its first year, and made significant contribution to the spread of human development concept.

Social Media Reliability, Gender and Social Cohesion

Human Development Monitor (HDM) began the new period in cooperation with İstanbul Bilgi University Faculty of Communication. First period topics consist of social media reliability, gender, social cohesion and refugee perception. The reports will begin to be published as of March. İstanbul Bilgi University and İNGEV will share the reports through joint activities. HDM aims to monitor social developments in fields of priority regarding human development and to develop social policy recommendations in line with this. The reports are prepared by assessing a field survey representing Turkey.