Sweden-funded program puts more than 4,600 entrepreneurs back in business, striving to spark a chain reaction to drive economic recovery in the earthquake zone

Gaziantep, 14 November 2023 – Nine months after earthquakes caused huge devastation across southern Türkiye, more than 4,600 small businesses in all 11 earthquake-hit provinces are able to restart their operations thanks to cash grants distributed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The first grants were awarded last week in Kilis, and award ceremonies were held today in Gaziantep and Hatay. Further events will be organized later in the week for Adana and Osmaniye; next week for Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Malatya and Şanlıurfa; and later in the month for Adıyaman and Kahramanmaraş.

Altogether, the total value of the UNDP “earthquake recovery grants” is US$10 million (TRY282.3 million). Businesses with up to ten employees that were legally registered before the earthquakes were eligible. Working in partnership with local chambers of commerce and industry, UNDP received a total of 23,644 applications across all 11 provinces, including a pilot initiative launched in Kahramanmaraş that awarded 257 grants already in August 2023. Applicants who satisfied the selection criteria were invited for face-to-face interviews, with the UNDP team conducting more than 5,000 interviews in just six weeks.

Grant amounts ranged from TRY35,000 to TRY200,000, with the average grant worth around US$2,000. Grantees may use the cash for any business need: purchasing equipment or raw materials, paying rent or refurbishing shops or offices. The provinces that experienced the most damage were allocated the lion’s share of the grants. 42 percent of all grants region-wide were awarded to businesses led by women.

“UNDP has designed these cash grants as a catalyst for a wider recovery of earthquake-hit communities,” said UNDP Türkiye Resident Representative Louisa Vinton. “While they cannot hope to meet the full scale of need, they are getting thousands of small businesses back into operation, restoring livelihoods for tens of thousands and, we hope, sparking a chain reaction that will drive a larger economic recovery.”

“We are grateful to Sweden for making this critical initiative possible,” continued Vinton.

Funding for the UNDP grant program comes from a US$15 million contribution by Sweden to support Türkiye’s earthquake recovery. In addition to cash, UNDP will be supporting grant recipients with follow-on coaching, mentoring and training in business skills. UNDP is also using Swedish funding to assist municipalities in meeting increased needs for social services for earthquake survivors, with a focus on the elderly and disabled, and improving waste management for communities devastated by the earthquakes.

“In a region that was lagging behind on many economic indicators even before the disaster, the US$10 million distributed in ‘earthquake recovery grants’ by UNDP will definitely create a trickle-down effect for small enterprises, providing a new regional impetus for development,” said Prof. Erinç Yeldan from the Department of Economics at Kadir Has University.

A “solidarity” event organized by UNDP and the Kahramanmaraş Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KMTSO) on 8 November 2023, which was attended by representatives from the Swedish Embassy, provided a forum for women entrepreneurs who received grants in August to share their experiences.

“The stories we heard of women rebuilding their businesses were inspiring,” said Nasrin Pourghazian, Head of Development at the Swedish Embassy. “Sweden is proud to support this grants program, which is delivering not only much needed cash to earthquake-hit communities but also, just as important, hope.”

For more information:

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