UNDP’s renewable energy training in Türkiye targets a total of 1600 trainees in more provinces in 2023

The new phase of renewable energy training for Syrians under temporary protection and host community members in Türkiye will be held from February to October in 2023. The vocational training programme on renewable energy is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) General Directorate of Lifelong Learning, with funding from the Republic of Korea.

The applied vocational and technical training programme, designed to eliminate the gap of the intermediate workforce in the renewable energy sector while supporting participants to gain new skills and access employment opportunities, is a blended learning programme which combines digital and face to face learning covering both solar and wind energy. Syrian refugees and host community members who successfully complete the training are entitled to receive internationally valid Europass certificate, strengthening their access to employment opportunities in the growing renewable energy sector in the country.

The programme was launched in March 2021 in the provinces of Bursa, Kocaeli, Konya, Hatay and Mersin for a total capacity of 500 trainees, half of whom would be Syrians and another half host community members with at least 25 percent women participation. In 2022, Istanbul was included in the provinces for a total capacity of 1000 trainees with the additional funding from the Republic of Korea. In 2023, new provinces including Izmir, Mardin, Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep will be added to the programme to reach a total of 1600 trainees in more regions of Türkiye.

The trainers, who will continue to work in the project in 2023, came together between 22-24 November as part of the preparations for the next year. They went over the training content and discussed how to make it better. The Public Education Center (PEC) Coordinators of the provinces that were newly included in the project were also informed about the project and training. The two-day meeting paved the way for an exchange of ideas, knowledge and lessons learned between the coordinators of the PECs. The meeting also provided an opportunity to celebrate the 24 November Teachers' Day with the trainers.

Under the initiative, 841 trainees have already completed the training and have been awarded the certificate of international validity by Europass so far.

Funded with US$2.8 million by the Republic of Korea, the Increasing Employability for Syrian Refugees and Turkish Host Communities in the Renewable Energy Sector project will continue to be a part of UNDP Türkiye’s initiatives aiming to improve access to labour markets, strengthen livelihoods, support public services, and build social cohesion in order ultimately to enhance the self-reliance of Syrian refugees and resilience of host communities.