Under its entrepreneurship training and grants project, IOM is working to build business skills among young people helping make their business ideas a reality. For the latest cohort, teams attended training programme through Learning Management System (LMS) and Virtual Classes. In this way, over 400 participants with tech-based or innovative business ideas benefitted from the trainings in subjects such as financial planning, marketing and business model validation.

The cooperation with local universities such as Gaziantep University, Mustafa Kemal University and Cukurova University, ensured the contribution of academics and field-experts. In this way, participants gained insights about the sectors they are planning to implement their ideas and expanded their network.

Although the project aimed to increase participants’ employability through improved skills and enhanced understanding of business opportunities, it also enabled Syrian and Turkish participants to work as teams. In this way, it created a common ground for communication and cooperation between migrant and host communities.

At the end of the training programme, each team pitched their ideas to expert juries to be evaluated. Finally, the winner teams have been awarded cash-grants to be able to establish their businesses and implement their innovative ideas.