TAMEB Handicraft Project in Istanbul

The project supported both the Syrian refugee and the Turkish women in rebuilding their lives and improving their socio-economic situation. Under the umbrella program "German Turkish Partnership for Vocational Qualification" (TAMEB), the women of SPI, Harmoni, and Ilk Adim women cooperatives professionalize their handicraft skills as well as their entrepreneurial knowledge.

The trainees participated in a wide range of activities. With the help of a professional designer, participants developed and implemented a home and textile collection. The product line comprised of a whole bag collection, T-shirts, scarfs, jewellery and home accessories like cushions, and they were sold with great success twice at the international B2C fair “Bazaar Berlin” in 2017 and 2018.

Thanks to the support of TAMEB, the groups upgraded their technical equipment and received training by local experts in sewing, weaving, printing, and fabric dyeing by local exports. Additional soft skills training in basics of entrepreneurship, intercultural competencies, pricing, and sales fostered the trainees’ entrepreneurial mindset. Besides that, the integration of the Syrian newcomers into Turkish society was an important objective of TAMEB. Therefore, social integration training and Turkish language courses for the Syrian participants were organized. Throughout the three years of TAMEB, approximately 400 women were influenced by the above-mentioned activities.