Following the needs assessment interviews to establish the existing capacity of the partners of Meryem Women’s Cooperative on financial management and revenue sharing, face-to-face training sessions were held on 1-3 September 2021 on “Financial Concepts and Revenue Sharing at Cooperatives.” To assess the impact of training on participants, pre- and post-test forms were prepared in Turkish, Arabic and Persian, and a new roadmap was drafted based on test results.

Accordingly, it was established that a holistic training programme was delivered through which the partners’ competence on training increased, partners’ awareness increased about each other’s field of work, thereby empathy and social coherence improved, and the level of knowledge increased in associated subjects.

Training and consulting support will continue in the upcoming days on such topics as basic cooperativism, concept and awareness of partnership, cooperative governance, internal communications, decision making, team work, division of labour, team formation and conflict resolution.

Who is Meryem Women’s Cooperative?

Meryem Women's Initiative Production and Operation Limited Liability Cooperative was founded on 20.07.2020 in Adana by 37 partners on the principles of Solidarity, Equality and Production of Turkish, Syrian, Iranian and Afghan women with the support of International Labour Organization (ILO) Office for Turkey and Adana Metropolitan Municipality. Its objective is to create job opportunities for women in various production areas, and empower women. It implements the “Access to Livelihoods Project” and engages in such areas as open field farming, greenhouse farming, mask and face shield production, cultivation of culture mushrooms, and drying fruits and vegetables. The open field farming grows cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, pepperwort, roquette, fava bean.

Meryem Women’s Cooperative is supported under the project “Decent Work Opportunities for Refugees and Host Communities in Turkey” implemented by the ILO Office for Turkey with funding from the United States Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (USPRM).