WOULD YOU LIKE TO DONATE TO 9,778 MICRO-ENTREPRENEUR WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN AFFECTED BY THE EARTHQUAKE AND LOST THEIR FINANCIAL LIVELIHOOD IN SOUTHEASTERN TÜRKİYE?

Established under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus as a joint venture between Turkish Foundation for Waste Reduction (TISVA) and Grameen Trust, Turkish Grameen Microfinance Program (TGMP) has worked towards empowering financially challenged Turkish and Syrian women for more than 20 years. As the biggest microfinance institution in Türkiye, TGMP has disbursed TRY 1 billion 478 million (EUR 74 million) in microcredit and an overall repayment rate of 99.7% as of February 2023.

A devastating earthquake of 7.8 magnitude struck the southeastern part of Türkiye at 4:17 a.m. on the 6th of February 2023 that affected a 500-km radius, including the major cities of Türkiye, namely Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Malatya, Hatay, Kilis, Osmaniye, Adana, Adıyaman, Şanlıurfa and Diyarbakır where about 12 million people live, including about 2 million Syrian refugees.

Türkiye has declared a “level 4 alarm” after the thousands of deaths and injuries. The earthquake has caused damage and losses beyond repair, thousands of buildings have collapsed including hospitals, many businesses were also lost and approximately 13.5 million people were affected.

TGMP heavily operates with 24 branches in 10 cities that are severely affected due to the earthquake. A total of 90,622 micro-entrepreneur women has received a total of TRY 546,897,004 in microcredit and managed to be lifted above the poverty line by engaging in income-generating activities.

According to our preliminary assessments, 9,778 Turkish and Syrian micro-entrepreneur women out of a total of 13,453 (which makes up %37 of total micro-entrepreneurs of TGMP) have been harshly affected by the earthquake and have lost all of their financial livelihood.

In light of this disaster and in efforts of assisting the worst-affected micro-entrepreneurs, TGMP is appealing for emergency financial assistance of EUR 1,473,839 to respond to the urgent needs of 9,778 Turkish and Syrian earthquake victims in Southeastern Türkiye.

We will be grateful for your invaluable support to donate to 9,778 Turkish and Syrian women micro-entrepreneurs to get back on their feet by starting income-generating activities and be lifted above the poverty line.