The grassroots support that the Foundation to Support Women’s Work provides to more than 10,000 women and children has spawned partnerships with local businesses as well as the government and private sector. International bank HSBC Turkey teamed up with them last month to allocate $5 million in loans to young Turkish female entrepreneurs

  Retired postal manager Semra Üstündağ, 52, makes and sells candles from a small stand but does big business with bars, discos and hamams in central Istanbul. She is one of the most successful clients working with Maya, Turkey´s first microfinance program that is part of the Foundation for the Support of Women´s Work (FSWW).

  At the heart of the organization´s approach are women-run community spaces providing assistance with birth, childcare, craft and marketing training, as well as micro-credit and small business start-up. FSWW Executive Director Şengül Akçar said these women are meeting their own needs while solving collective problems. “In the process, they are learning how to negotiate with municipalities to open up both physical and political space for themselves,” she said.

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