TİKA Has Implemented 50 Projects in Mexico Since 2016

Since 2016, Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) has implemented 50 projects in Mexico, where its first regional office in Central America and the Caribbean is located.

Operating in Mexico since 2016, TİKA has assumed important roles within the framework of Turkey’s humanitarian diplomacy and implemented tens of projects in different parts of the country to contribute to health, education, and social development. After the 7.5-magnitude earthquake in September 2017, which was one of the biggest disasters in Mexico’s history, TİKA was the first international organization to assist the earthquake victims and distribute food aid and search and rescue boxes. In 2017, TİKA built and equipped two greenhouses in the municipality of Iztapalapa in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico. Locals grow various greens as well as organic vegetables such as radishes, carrots, and tomatoes in these two greenhouses and distribute them to those in need. Thus, approximately 70,000 poor families benefit from the production of an average of 60 tons of tomatoes and 10,000 sacks of vegetables each year.

Women's empowerment and employment projects

In 2018, TİKA donated bakery and pizza ovens to Modam Teotlacualli in Iztapalapa, Mexico City. Within this framework, approximately 300,000 widows and unemployed women in the region were employed. The culinary and pastry training courses organized for women contribute to the improvement of the socio-economic statuses of the participants. TİKA also organizes training courses on rural production, small-scale farming, and vertical and hydroponic gardening.

TİKA gave hope to the Mexican people in healthcare 

As part of its healthcare projects in Mexico, TİKA built a health center in the municipality of El Espinal in Oaxaca State last year. The center is expected to serve a large number of people in the future. The center boasts two general medical clinics, a dental clinic, a gynecology room, a delivery room, a treatment and preventive healthcare room, an employee training hall, a pharmaceutical warehouse, and a sterilization room. The center also provides housing for its staff. In October 2019, TİKA provided a mobile clinic service with ultrasound and X-Ray devices to treat approximately 4,500 homeless people in Mexico City.

Cooperation with Mexico in education 

In 2018, TİKA provided computer equipment and equipped 142 digital libraries in cooperation with the National Council of Education Promotion (CONAFE) as part of its training activities. Thus, TİKA contributed to the improvement of the reading, writing, verbal argument, and mathematical abilities of students in the states of Morelos, Puebla, and Mexico. TİKA also built a public library in Guadalajara, the second-most populous city in Mexico. The library, which is called “the Mexico-Turkey Friendship Library,” contains Spanish translations of works by famous authors in Turkish literature. Turkey also shared its experience in security with the Tamaulipas State Police in Mexico through TİKA. As part of the International Police Cooperation Project, 10 people from the Tamaulipas State Security and Public Order units attended the Basic Training for Juvenile Law Enforcement, which was held in Turkey in May 2019 in cooperation with Turkey’s General Directorate of Security.