Shell Türkiye Support Centers

Shell Turkey Stands By Children, Youth, and Women with Support Centers Established in 20 Different Locations in the Disaster Zone in Collaboration with Shell Turkey, TEGV, TOG, and TKDF 

Shell Turkey stands by children, youth, and women with support centers established in 20 different locations in collaboration with civil society organizations in the region following the February 6 earthquakes. The opening ceremonies of Hatay Aşağı Ekinci 1 Container City Shell Learning Unit, Belen Basketball Village Container City Shell Support Center, and Hatay - Izmir Container City Shell Purple Campus were held on September 7.

Shell Turkey offers specially designed social and emotional support programs to meet the needs of children, youth, women, and the society for recovery and development following the February 6 earthquakes in collaboration with civil society organizations. In this context, Shell has established a strong solidarity network with Turkey's leading civil society organizations such as the Turkish Educational Volunteers Foundation (TEGV), the Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG), and the Turkish Women's Associations Federation (TKDF). At the same time, in collaboration with the Women's Hand social initiative, Shell plays a role in enabling women entrepreneurs affected by the earthquake to sell their products in Shell Select Markets to generate income.

The opening ceremonies of the Shell Learning Unit established in Hatay Aşağı Ekinci 1 Container City in collaboration with TEGV, the Shell Support Center established in Belen's Basketball Village Container City in collaboration with TOG, and the TKDF Shell Purple Campus in Hatay - Izmir Container City were held on September 7. Speaking at the press conference held for the openings, Shell Turkey Country Chairman Ahmet Erdem pointed out that their solidarity movement continues to strengthen: "As Shell Turkey, with a sense of responsibility towards our society, we continue to implement social projects for the development of the region after the disaster. We have taken action to provide social and emotional support to the people of the region, especially children, youth, and women. Our goal is to reach at least 100,000 people within 2 years. Additionally, in order to ensure the economic empowerment of women in the region, we are excited to bring the products produced by women cooperatives in collaboration with the Women's Hand social initiative to our Shell Select Markets."

Ahmet Erdem also stated, "As Shell, for 100 years, we have been working with the goal of contributing to the social and economic development of our country. Today, we are working to bring our society in the disaster zone to a future full of trust and hope. We sincerely believe that we will succeed together."

Shell Turkey Works for Recovery and Transformation in the Disaster Zone

Shell, in collaboration with the Turkish Educational Volunteers Foundation (TEGV), has completed 8 of the total 12 learning units in container cities in Hatay, Adıyaman, Kahramanmaraş, and Malatya, and 4 are in the process of being established. TEGV General Manager Sait Tosyalı, stating that they contribute to the recovery process by providing education and social interaction opportunities for children in these centers, said, "Since our establishment in 1995, we have provided quality education support to more than 3 million children. We continue our work with our experienced volunteers in 66 activity points in 27 provinces. Our 17 Education Mobile Units, our Firefly, provide social-emotional activities to our children and try to alleviate the effects of the trauma they experienced. We are very excited that more than 15,000 of our children will benefit from our learning units, which we are establishing with the support of Shell Turkey, annually. We thank all our stakeholders, especially local administrators and Shell Turkey, for trusting and not leaving us alone."

Establishing 2 support centers in Kahramanmaraş and Hatay for children and young people aged 6-17 and 18-25 in collaboration with the Community Volunteers Foundation (TOG), Shell provides development-oriented training and workshops. Speaking at the meeting, TOG Foundation General Manager Ayşe Kırımlı said, "Since the first day of the disaster, we have participated in volunteer work in the field with thousands of Community Volunteers to reduce the negative effects of the earthquake. Seven months have passed since the earthquake, and we believe that solidarity needs to be longer-lasting now to contribute to recovery and healing. The idea of Support Centers emerged with this belief. With our Support Centers, we aim to provide social and emotional support to everyone affected by the earthquake, especially young people and children. These centers, which include libraries, computer work areas, and workshop areas where young people can learn and create, will contribute to the empowerment of the local people for a minimum of 2 years. We are very pleased to be part of such a valuable and long-term project with Shell Turkey, which strengthens this solidarity."

Shell Supports Women Entrepreneurs in the Disaster Zone

In order to support commercial activities and women entrepreneurship in the region after the February 6 earthquakes, Shell collaborated with the social initiative named Women's Hand to bring the products produced by women cooperatives in the earthquake zone to consumers at Shell Select Markets. The sale of these snack products, offered since May, contributes to economic development in the region with the support of Shell guests.