Taiwan to give Turkey sewing machines to support women's empowerment

Tel Aviv, Dec. 27 (CNA) Taiwan has signed an agreement to donate sewing machines and equipment to support the livelihoods of women in a municipality of Istanbul province in Turkey, according to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Mission in Ankara.

The donation agreement was inked by Taiwan's representative to Turkey, Huang Chih-yang (黃志揚), and İsmet Yıldırım, the mayor of the municipality of Ümraniye that is receiving the aid, during a signing ceremony held on Dec. 23.

Taiwan's mission in Ankara has worked with the Turkish government and non-governmental organizations on humanitarian aid as well as programs for the empowerment of women for many years, Huang said.

In 2023, Taiwan's charitable donations to Turkey for its post-disaster reconstruction efforts received a lot of praise locally, leading to Turkish parliamentarian Tuğba Işik Ercan to reach out to the mission for help, Huang said.

At the time, she wanted to enhance employment opportunities for disadvantaged women in Turkey, to not only promote women's empowerment and gender equality but also help achieve United Nations' sustainable development goals, Huang said.

The municipality offers various vocational training programs for local residents, and courses on sewing happen to be especially popular among women in Ümraniye, Yıldırım said at the event.

But because there is a lack of professional sewing machines and teaching equipment, the municipality turned to Ercan for assistance, who is passionate about women's empowerment, he explained.

Ümraniye has a population of approximately 750,000 people and covers an area of about 58 square kilometers.

The area has a high concentration of manual laborers and a large female population, and it is also one of the relatively economically disadvantaged regions of Istanbul.