labor/economy

09:50

Zeynep Akıl, who preserved the stone mill inherited from her grandmother, spends the winter with the bulgur she mills in summer at the mill. She now teaches her grandchildren how to mill the wheat at the mill.

15:13

The unemployment rate in Saudi Arabia decreased to 11.7% in the first quarter compared to 12.6% in the fourth quarter according to data from the General Authority for Statistics. In the first quarter, male unemployment increased slightly to 7.2%, while among women the rate fell to 21.2%.

11:08

In Kurdistan Region, women’s participation in the labor force is less than 11 percent. Even if women are university graduates, they have difficulties finding a job so they try to find a way to economically stand on their own legs. Meryem Kerim, who has a bachelor's degree, is one of these women.

13:11

Women of Gever bake lavash (thin bread) in underground tandoors to keep this tradition alive. The women spend hours baking lavash.

13:36

Women continue to struggle in every part of working life. In Lebanon, engineer women struggled against the patriarchal mentality and won a great victory in the Engineers' Union elections, which had been postponed six times. “There will not be favoritism, sexist attitudes, and corruption in our union anymore,” engineer Maryam Nammour said, “As unionized women, we will carry the light we found everywhere we go.”

10:21

15-year-old Gaza blockage continues to negatively affect the region, with a population of more than 2 million. The average unemployment rate is about 50 percent, according to the UN, even working people can no longer make a living due to economic crisis. The ongoing land, air, and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip has affected mostly women and children. The ongoing economic crisis has deepened due to the coronavirus pandemic.

10:54

International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No.190, the first international treaty to recognize the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment, came into force on 25 June 2021. Ebru Özberk Anlı, ILO’s Senior Programme Officer in Turkey, talked about why Turkey should ratify the convention.

12:51

Women have produced olive oil soap in Idlib for thousands of years. For women living in the city, producing olive oil soap has become a cultural ritual. 60-year-old Suheyla El Tabel is one of the representatives of this culture. “We want to protect our culture. We earn a livelihood by olive oil soaps. We use them to clean our house and for our personal hygiene,” Suheyla El Tabel said.

09:44

Hot weather begins and the Covid-19 pandemic has been slowed down a little bit. It is time for cold drinks and ice cream. If you have a chance to go to Halabja, you should visit the cold drink shop of Sîdar. All products, including fruit ice cream and cold drinks, she sells in her shop are organic.

10:24

Berivan Yardımcı is a beekeeper in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari province. She takes care of her beehives for four seasons; she makes a living by selling honey she collects from the beehives. She is the only woman doing this job in the city and her aim is to expand her business.

10:24

Ömür Özdemir had a private business with her husband. After getting divorced; she entered a hard life with her daughter İdil. The heavy debt left from the private business caused economic problems for her. She began to sell apricots of her hometown to overcome her economic problems. “Don’t turn back even if an avalanche engulfs your way,” she told women despite her difficult journey.

11:08

Safiya Ereğli has made a living from her grain milling facility she opened 20 years ago in the Suüstü village of Hakkari’s Yüksekova district. Despite her age, she keeps working on graining wheat, chickpeas, and corn and she feels bad when she doesn’t work.

11:47

Female domestic workers are called slaves of this century. They are among those who have been forced to work for peanut and cope with their poverty alone. June 16th is International Domestic Workers Day and we try to explain the working conditions of female domestic workers in this article.

15:47

When someone talks about Libya, we first remember how its oil reserves and rich territory, and surely Libya’s civil war broke out in 2011. Do Libya’s rich oil reserves affect women’s daily life? Of course no! Women have been deeply affected by poverty in Libya. According to the statistics regarding poverty in Libya, about 33 percent of Libyans live at or below the poverty line. Female micro-entrepreneurs have been organizing under the umbrella of the “Uniqueness Empowerment Organization” against poverty in the country. Women working from home, women having a profession but unable to find a job come together under the same umbrella to have their economic freedom. We spoke to Hind Albshari, the Program and Projects Director for Al Mezan Development Organization, and the Founder and Chairwoman of the Uniqueness Empowerment Organization, about their projects.

09:12

Hüsna Dolan, who was forcibly displaced from the Daralan village of Amed’s Lice district to Mersin province years ago, worked in Mersin as a seasonal farmworker and decided to return to her village a year ago. She built a greenhouse in her village and now she grows green peppers, tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers. She sells these products to sellers of vegetable markets to earn a livelihood.

10:01

The wood painting was a hobby for Selahat Bayram but she managed to turn her hobby into a business. Now, she has a workshop and provides inspiration for many women. “Having my economic freedom is a great feeling,” she said.

15:41

When we go to flea markets, we hear men shouting, “Dirt cheap” but the situation in Tunisia is different because women sell used goods at flea markets. 20,000 women make a living by selling used goods at flea markets.

11:47

49-year-old İlham Yûsif is a mother of four and much known for being a hardworking woman, she struggles to make a living. She lives in the Hemra village of Hasekê’s Til Temir district and raises her children alone and holds on to life by working.

09:00

Zuzax is an herb growing on the mountain highlands of Amed’s Kulp district. The women of Kulp beat Zuzax in a mortar after collecting them. Hayriye Tekin is one of these women, “People can use this herb to heal themselves and make money by selling them,” she said.

12:52

Zahra Marwa has worked as a taxi driver in Lebanon for 17 years. She also raises her three children. She was forced into child marriage when she was 14 years old and she is now a member of an association working to stop child marriage.