Turkish charity donates work equipment to disadvantaged women in South Sudan

(aa.com.tr)

JUBA, South Sudan

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) has donated work equipment to disadvantaged women in South Sudan to help them earn a better living.

TIKA donated sewing machines and chemicals for making soap to the Women for Change organization to help them train underprivileged women in the capital Juba.

Mary Sebit, one of the beneficiaries and a mother of three, said the support will help them with their jobs, which they hope will support them financially and raise their living standards.

“This support from TIKA is going to help us to sustain ourselves financially, and we will remember Turkiye forever for what they did for us. The skills we are going to learn from here will help the whole nation at the end of the day,” Sebit told Anadolu Agency.

She said the equipment given to them by the Turkish agency will improve their lives once they complete their training.

Angelina Achan, another beneficiary, said the project is very important for them because it is going to change their lives.

“This is something very important to us. It’s going to help us and the entire nation. The skills we’re going acquire here are a big benefit to South Sudan, and we appreciate the Turkish government for supporting us as vulnerable people in the country,” she said.

Mary Ayen, who benefited from one of TIKA’s projects last year, said she is now stable financially.

She makes liquid soap and sells it to people in Juba.

Ayen said that with the skills she gained from the TIKA project, her parents are not suffering like before, because at least they have something to eat.

“My situation is not bad like previous years. I joined one of the TIKA projects in 2021, and I managed to learn how to make liquid soap, and this is the work I am doing now to feed my family and I will not forget TIKA in my life.”

- TIKA support will benefit 100 vulnerable women

Anna Tazita Samuel, executive director for Women for Change, said their main mandate is to empower women through entrepreneurship.

She said the support provided by TIKA will first benefit 100 women, and afterwards a targeted total of 500 women in Juba.

She said TIKA’s project ensured that justice is served for disadvantaged women.

Erdem Mutaf, Turkiye’s ambassador to South Sudan, said during the handover ceremony of the equipment to Women for Change that women’s empowerment is one of their priorities in South Sudan.

“With this project, we will be donating a number of machines, a number of equipment to the Women for Change organization. At the Turkish embassy, women’s empowerment is one of our priorities in South Sudan. We believe that if you support the women, you support society,” said Mutaf.

He disclosed that these essential items will provide women great opportunities to acquire skills and generate income for themselves and their families.

- To achieve economic development, women must be empowered

Cafer T. Besli, TIKA program coordinator in South Sudan, said that disadvantaged women have a special place in their heart and their activities.

“As the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, we have been implementing different projects for women throughout the years since we started our activities in South Sudan in 2017,” said Besli.

In 2020, TIKA started a slipper and sandal making workshop as well as a soap making workshop at the LuLu Care Women’s Center.

TIKA also provided tailoring materials and sewing machines for the St. Vincent Vocational Center.

Besli disclosed that in 2021, TIKA provided tailoring, beadwork and handicraft making materials, pottery making machines, shoe making machines, sewing machines and embroidery machines and beadwork machines to the South Sudan Women Entrepreneurs Association.

“Women’s empowerment is a very important field for the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, and we pay special attention to it in South Sudan. Therefore, it is our pleasure to stand before you today after completing yet another women’s empowerment project,” said Besli.

He revealed that to achieve economic development, women must be empowered.

Besli said that these women will learn how to make clothes and soaps, adding they will be able to sell their products at bazaars, fairs and charity events.