Outcome TUR_D_1.2

By 2025, Persons under the Law on Foreigners and International Protection are supported towards self-reliance.

In Gaziantep and Izmir, more than 1,800 women and girls from refugee and host communities who benefited from services provided at UN Women-supported women only centers improved their resilience capacities and reported that they feel more empowered and confident. They took a step towards empowerment and participation in public and economic life by developing their Turkish language, digital and technical skills and by receiving social support and accessing basic services to better cope with the challenges. Baseline and endline surveys in 2021 and 2022 with women who participated in livelihood activities at these two centers demonstrated that overall gender sensitive resilience index score increased by 7%. The number of households with sources of income through employment/self-employment increased from 22% to 38%. Surveys also demonstrated significant increase in access to protection, legal assistance, healthcare as well as empowerment of women in decision making at household level. In 2022, refugees and host communities increased their knowledge and skills to exercise their leadership, support each other and to advocate for their needs with local decision-makers. Peer-to-peer support that involved around 100 women leaders from Gaziantep and Izmir municipalities were the main catalyser of this result. More specifically, the Eve Women Committee in Izmir, Tomorrow’s Women Committee and SADA Women’s Cooperative in Gaziantep, as grassroots women’s organizations and groups, demonstrated their leadership role and agency in strengthening resilience of their communities and developing community-based solutions. As organized peer support groups consisting of Turkish and Syrian women, the Committees in both locations played an important role in identifying and supporting women and girls in hard-to-reach areas. The Committees have been supported by UN Women on various thematic areas such as leadership, gender mainstreaming, and need assessments which have strengthened the capacities of women as community leaders. The committees regularly conduct events on critical topics such as violence against women, child, early and forced marriages, income generation, social protection, and social cohesion. These events aim to provide a platform for women to come together, share their experiences and learn from one another while also raising awareness on the issues they face. The committees also work closely with local authorities and service providers to ensure that the women and girls they support have access to the necessary resources and support. Additionally, SADA Women Cooperative from Gaziantep adopted a five-year business plan with revised internal procedures of procurement and finance. The shareholders of the Cooperative composed of Turkish, Syrian, and Afghan women, continued to expand their reach to international markets and increased profitability with the support of UN Women. Besides, in five districts of Gaziantep and one district of Istanbul, priority needs (sanitary sewerage, lightning, pedestrian crossing, recreation areas and others ) of women from refugee and host communities were became key components of municipal Action Plans. These are results of the effective implementation of ‘Neighbourhood Resilience Programme’. The women involved in the programme become focal points of information and referral for the most marginalized women in their communities, communicated their needs to the local authorities and provided assistance in accessing to services and opportunities. UN Women’s gender sensitive service delivery model applied at two women-only centers and neighbourhoods reaching out to the most excluded and marginalized women that have little or no access to existing services recognized as a best practice for effective and holistic service provision model in previous regional and country level evaluations. To this end, UN Women partnered with Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, the Association for Solidarity with Asylum Seekers and Migrants, Refugee Support Center, Reach Alternatives and Foundation for the Support of Women Work and provided oversight, financial and technical support to the partners as well as coordination of the relevant local and national stakeholders. Theory of change is still valid. However, Ukrainian crisis has had a significant impact on resource mobilization for the Refugee Response Programme of Türkiye Country Office, as donor attention and resources have been focused on the conflict and its aftermath. This has led challenges regarding continuation of the Refugee Response Programme which the Country Office paid utmost attention and efforts during the reporting period.

By 2025, Persons under the Law on Foreigners and International Protection are supported towards self-reliance.

There has been some progress towards achievement of the outcome. Earthquake affected refugee women and girls have access to multi-sectoral services and referrals, with UN Women’s support, as well as income through the continuation of innovative income generation models, namely the SADA Cooperative in Gaziantep. This was done under UN Women’s Refugee Response Programme (RRP - which was completed by 31 March 2023), which mainstreamed the rights and needs of refugee women under other programmes in line with the protracted nature of the Syria crisis and by leveraging its coordination mandate. UN Women has ensured the sustainability of actions under its RRP by transferring the services of its women’s centers to the respective local authorities or local CSOs in Gaziantep and Izmir and by expanding business networks and connecting women to national and international private sector companies for sustained income generation. Additionally, two grassroots organizations, Tomorrow’s Women and Eve Women Committees, played an active and crucial role in using the skills and knowledge they gained in leadership and participation under the RRP project to communicate the needs of women survivors under temporary protection to the public administration and civil society organizations in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes on February 6 th . Despite some advancements, the overall context in the country and the devastating earthquakes from February 6 th has led to increase in multi-dimensional poverty and the erosion of gains made in the past, affecting refugee and migrant women and girls disproportionately. In the remaining two-year period of its Strategic Note (SN), UN Women will continue to integrate the LNOB principle in its entire country programme and will intensify cooperation with other UN agencies to ensure gender mainstreaming under the Turkiye chapter of the 3RP (Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan). In line with the strategic direction of the CO following the Mid-Term Review of its SN in 2023, this Outcome will be inactivated in the remainder of the SN period.