REGIONAL HIGHLIGHTS:
During November, the Government of Jordan and UNDP convened the first Resilience Development Forum at the Dead Sea. The event was attended by ministers and officials from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt and by representatives from donor countries, aid organizations and civil society. Following two days of discussions and high-level panels, the event closed with participants uniting behind an agenda for building resilience in the countries directly affected by the Syria crisis.
This month in Turkey, the Ministry of National Education has agreed to provide a certificate to trainees on completion of vocational training courses. Preparations for certification are underway and workshops will be ready and operational by mid-December 2015. Training activities also continue in various locations across the country, with a focus on language courses and building vocational skills. In November, over 1,700 individuals participated in livelihoods activities.
In Iraq, 3RP partners provided support to establish and scale-up 20 small and medium-sized businesses owned by Syrian men and women in both camp and noncamp settings. Syrian refugees continue to benefit from English and Kurdish language trainings as well as vocational trainings in the areas of sewing, hairdressing, electrician training and computer-skills trainings.
In Egypt, visits were conducted to partner organizations to explore vocational training programmes and their linkages with the labour market. Programmes are currently offering handicraft and cooking courses to Egyptian refugee women and plan to expand their activities by providing grants and increased market linkages.
In Lebanon this month, 750 people benefitted from rapid income generation activities in 30 villages, while 624 people have been supported to access employment, through skills training, apprenticeship schemes and career guidance.