Initial situation/problem
TAMEB supported Turkey in coping with the consequences of the Syrian war, during which Turkey took in around 5 million refugees. Together with partners from the German private sector and Turkish organisations, sequa implemented measures for vocational training and social integration. The project was aimed at both refugees from Syria and disadvantaged Turkish people.
Project objectives
The project contributed to improving economic and social prospects in communities in Turkey affected by the Syrian refugee crisis. The aim was to ensure that refugees and host communities benefit from the refugees' improved socio-cultural and professional skills, which in turn should lead to an increase in income and employment.
Approach
sequa cooperated closely with institutions of the German private sector that have expertise in the field of vocational training. In close cooperation with Turkish organisations, each German partner organised vocational training measures tailored to the target group in various sectors. These vocational training programmes were supplemented by upstream Turkish language courses and accompanying social integration courses. In addition, job coaches were deployed to make it easier for participants to find a job and thus integrate into the labour market. TAMEB's objectives were aligned with the cooperation agreement between the Turkish and German governments to jointly tackle the Syrian refugee crisis in Turkey.
Project content
The project was divided into 2 phases and 17 sub-projects, had a duration of 82 months and a total volume of EUR 38.7 million. The project was funded by the BMZ. The project was active in 6 project regions: Ankara, Istanbul, Hatay, Izmir, Mersin and Kilis. Five German partners (Bildungswerk der baden-württembergischen Wirtschaft, Berufsförderungswerk der Bauindustrie NRW, Bildungswerk der bayrischen Wirtschaft, Bundesverband Berufsbildung International and Global Project Partners as well as 18 Turkish organisations were involved.
Vocational training measures were carried out on the basis of needs analyses in the project regions in the following sectors: Building cleaning, catering (cooks, service, confectioners), food (dried fruit), construction (bricklayers, plasterers, tilers, installers, installation of PV systems), welding, IT (word processing, web design), textiles and handicrafts.
The German partners concentrated on training Turkish trainers, who in turn imparted the skills to the participants in the programme. After successfully completing and passing the final examinations of the qualification measures and language courses, national certificates recognised in Turkey were awarded.
The course material for the social integration measures did not exist at the start of the project and first had to be developed in cooperation with Turkish organisations (including Bilkent University, Ankara University and Marmara University).
The educational measures were rounded off with internships, job application training and support programmes for job hunting and self-employment.
During the SARS-COV19 pandemic and the associated contact restrictions, all programmes were continued on digital platforms or in face-to-face events with appropriate distancing rules.
Impact and results
The project was very successful overall and can boast impressive figures:
7,450 Syrian refugees reached the Turkish A2 level.
4,755 people successfully took part in the social integration courses developed as part of the project.
6,977 people obtained a state vocational training certificate; 56% of these were Syrians; 63% were women.
127 trainers and around 50 job coaches were trained.
At the end of the project, 2,761 (40%) of the certified graduates had taken up employment, were self-employed or had completed an internship. Of these, 44% were women.
2,931 graduates of vocational training programmes took part in further training courses (entrepreneurship, digital marketing).
