UNDP provides vocational training funds to rehabilitate textile workers affected by Earthquake

A new US$2.5 million initiative prioritizes vocational training to meet industry needs while bringing vulnerable groups into the labor force
To fill up to 3,500 vacant positions in the textile industry and related sectors the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announced a new US$2.5 million initiative sectors for integrating women and other underserved groups into the labor market. The new initiative was announced today at a UNDP-convened meeting of textile producers in Istanbul.

The new program, provided by the Government of Sweden in addition to contributions from Korea and Finland, is aimed at addressing the acute labor shortages that have emerged with the outward migration of skilled workers from the south and southeast after the devastating earthquakes of February 2023.

The program builds on an ongoing UNDP partnership with the Education Foundation of the Istanbul Apparel Exporters’ Association (IHKIB) that was forged in 2022 to find durable employment for unemployed Syrian refugees and host community members in “labor-absorptive” industries like textiles.





UNDP Resident Representative Louisa Vinton said we see an entire region where industrial producers are growing desperate to find and retain employees. We aim to apply together with our private sector partners to provide vocational training particularly to bring women and other underrepresented groups into the workforce.



“The goal of the initiative that we are launching today is to create decent and sustainable job opportunities in the Turkish apparel and textile sectors for people who have been left jobless by the earthquakes, including refugees,” said İlker Karataş, IHKIB Education Foundation Board Member.

Based on a range of studies and guidelines presented at the meeting, UNDP plans in the short term to provide on-the-job vocational training to 500 newly hired textile workers in the earthquake zone, while extending broader life skills training and psychosocial support to 3,000 textile workers and their families.

The UNDP also plans to expand the vocational training program to ensure employment of at least another 3,000 people in the textile sector and also to roll out a support program oriented specifically to the needs of producers of handmade shoes in Hatay.