Building Resilience Through Initiatives Defining Growth Potential of Economic Solutions For Syrians in Turkey (BRIDGES)

completed

The project sponsor, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), has been active in Turkey since 2013 in the provinces most affected by the influx of refugees. The SI measure BRIDGES (Building Resilience through Initiatives Defining Growth potential of Economic Solutions for Syrians in Turkey) has been running since 2016. With the support of the BMZ, the project was significantly expanded in five provinces (Hatay, Kilis, Sanliurfa, Mersin and Kahramanmaras) between 2017 and 2019. BRIDGES is an integrated project approach that focuses on promoting the social and economic independence of individuals in order to create sustainable opportunities for refugees to earn a living without being dependent on state or humanitarian aid. The training and vocational training measures offered are intended to enable them to be placed in the regular labor market or, by financing initial equipment (productive asset support), to start self-employment (especially in a home environment) (home-based businesses). The activities essentially include legal, economic and social advice, short-term courses (languages, IT and computer skills, CV preparation, etc.), vocational training (technical and craft training in the form of medium-term courses with final certificates), job placement (including local job fairs; placement of internships), start-up advice, workshops on self-employment and support for start-up projects within the framework of business incubators (home-based businesses & start-up support program), support measures through contact mediation between producers and buyers as well as cash-for-work measures and subsidies for wage costs and social security contributions when hiring project participants.