New EUR2.5 million program will support women entrepreneurs, persons with disabilities and cultural heritage artisans

31 October 2024, Ankara - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today launched a EUR2.5 million French-funded initiative to support the recovery of lives and livelihoods in the earthquake-affected provinces of Adıyaman, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya. The aim of the new program is to support women entrepreneurs both in rebuilding businesses that were destroyed in the February 2023 disaster and in launching new startups.

“Women everywhere face barriers in the business world, and the earthquakes made an uphill climb much steeper,” said UNDP Resident Representative Louisa Vinton. “But with targeted support, we are confident women can help spearhead an economic recovery in the region.”

“From the first hours after the earthquake, France has been engaged in international efforts to support the devastated regions and their populations,” said Julien Cats, Deputy Head of Mission at the French Embassy in Ankara. “We reaffirm that commitment today, and we remain fully committed to the region, particularly through the French Development Agency (AfD).”

The French-funded program has three components. First, UNDP is partnering with the Kahramanmaraş Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KMTSO) to establish a Women's Business Development Centre (KİGEM) that will serve as an incubator for up to 17 promising women-headed businesses while offering additional training, coaching and mentorship for hundreds of women entrepreneurs. Childcare services will also be provided. The center will be housed in a complex of prefabricated buildings that were erected during the emergency response in a container city constructed by the Needs Map civil society organization. 

Second, UNDP will partner with the Confederation of Turkish Tradesmen and Craftsmen (TESK) to award US$2 million “earthquake recovery grants” to small businesses seeking to overcome earthquake-related setbacks and establish common-use facilities for small-scale producers. This initiative will meet two persistent needs in the disaster-affected region: a lack of capital that small businesses can access, and the physical destruction of thousands of workplaces. Enterprises headed by and employing women and persons with disabilities, and artisans working in traditional crafts based on cultural heritage will be prioritized.

The grants program builds on the successful experience of a previous Swedish-funded initiative by UNDP to support small business recovery, in which US$10 million was distributed to 4,625 small businesses across all 11 earthquake-affected provinces in the second half of 2023.

Third, UNDP will provide funding for the Antakya Civilizations Choir, a renowned multicultural ensemble whose members represent the region’s diverse religious communities, to organize a series of concerts in each of the earthquake-affected provinces. UNDP support will also enable the choir to replace instruments and costumes destroyed in the disaster. The initiative is meant to address a deficit of cultural events in the most-affected provinces, where traumatized survivors are experiencing huge stress and a range of mental health challenges. 

“We must not forget that earthquake survivors have spiritual needs alongside their material ones,” said Antakya Civilizations Choir Conductor Yılmaz Özfırat. “With support from UNDP, we will be able to ensure that our voice of diversity again resonates here and around the world." 

For further information: 

Deniz Şilliler Tapan, UNDP Türkiye Communications Specialist, deniz.tapan@undp.org