We shared the findings of our “Hand in Hand” project, which has been ongoing since November 2022 for young women aged 18-29 who are not in education nor employment (NEET) living in Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa and Mardin, at the Minerva Han, hosted by the Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) on February 12th.
We listened to young women participants from the three provinces and other experts who have conducted successful projects in the NEET area.
In the program implementation, we discussed the importance of localization, the necessity of correct NEET segmentation for a proper beneficiary definition, thinking outside of traditional job patterns for women’s employment, the importance of the private sector’s involvement at the local level in all stages from needs assessment to implementation, and establishing a correct balance between home care economy and wage.
In the “Hand in Hand” project, various economic empowerment activities were offered to 110 NEET women in Mardin, Şanlıurfa, and Gaziantep to access the labor force, employment, and livelihoods.
The project included activities such as career webinars, employment counseling, and vocational training certificates approved by e-Devlet (e-Government), and the employment conversion rate was promising.
As of February 2024, within the scope of the project:
- It was revealed that 372 women living in Gaziantep, Mardin, and Şanlıurfa need support for access to the labor force, employment, and livelihoods.
- 62 partnership meetings were organized with representatives from relevant public institutions, municipalities, the private sector, and NGOs.
- 971 women applied for the project to benefit from the offered services; 349 women were selected to participate, and 260 women joined the project’s online platform.
- 77 NEET women gained knowledge about job searching and applications by participating in various career webinars.
- 110 NEET women received certificates by completing vocational training courses in Basic Accounting and Digital Marketing, Social Media in October and November 2023.
- 103 women accessed mentor support through 201 career planning sessions.
- 97 women aged 18-29 increased their employment participation capacity with career roadmaps prepared together with their mentors.
- 14 NEET women accessed permanent employment opportunities using the knowledge and skills they acquired.
The “Hand in Hand” project is implemented within the framework of the “Strong Civil Space for Gender Equality” project by UN Women with the financial support of the European Union.
We continue to work to spread “Hand in Hand” throughout Turkiye and to create collaborations in this field with our stakeholders.
“Hand in Hand” Project’s Press Reflections: