Bab Rizq Jameel Turkey (BRJ Turkey) in Istanbul - an initiative of ALJ Community Initiatives (ALJCI) – the first BRJ branch in Turkey which opened at the end of last year, has successfully created its first 1,000 jobs during last month. BRJ Turkey launched its job creation operation in Turkey during the last months of 2010, and has been creating job opportunities since then through diversified programs, including the direct employment, vocational training ending with employment and entrepreneurship training. Lately, BRJ Turkey launched the productive household through the microfinance program. Since opening, approximately 5,000 job seekers have applied to BRJ Turkey, 1,055 of them benefited from the opportunities, when 685 job seekers were directly employed in companies, 104 job seekers received vocational training and then employed by several companies, while other 266 job seekers joined the entrepreneurship training program (small projects) and started their own businesses. Engineer Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel, President of ALJCI visited BRJ Istanbul branch, and delivered a number of job opportunities to beneficiaries. In addition, Engineer Jameel reviewed the 2012 action plan, which is targeting creation of 7,000 job opportunities through opening three branches in Turkey. Dr. Fatih Ghul, ALJCI director in Turkey, said that BRJ Turkey is specialized in creating job opportunities through diversified programs, and is communicating with job seekers, entrepreneurs and employers through the rich content of their website, www.brjkariyer.com and www.brj.com.tr, as well as the bilingual BRJ blog that address the public to provide information about Bab Rizq Jameel and the opportunities it creates. Tens of thousands of visitors have visited BRJ websites and BRJ page on the Facebook, which received 13,000 ‘likes'. Through the Facebook and Twitter pages, BRJ advertises the new job opportunities and sends messages to job seekers in Turkey to offer them equal opportunities. BRJ Turkey is protecting the environment through the paperless operation initiative, and has launched the “Online Job Creation Assistant” for the first time in Turkey. Dr. Ghul added that this website is the BRJ employment gate in Turkey, where job seekers find support and help to format their CVs and improve their chances to find a job. Important services provided by BRJ include microfinance for productive households and small bazaars for female entrepreneurs, where they can market and sell their products.
