Issue: 98
“Right approaches to disability” trainings will be held on 8 February at the Beşiktaş Centre and 9 February at the Batı Ataşehir Centre.
The programme, venue, time and contact information for registration to these trainings can be reached via www.dreamsacademy.org .
Dreams Academy in Kaş
Dreams Academy’s new center will be opened this spring in Kaş.
Latest information on the new center and on how you can support the center can be found on the website: www.dreamsacademy.org
5th National Energy Efficiency Fair was held in İstanbul at the beginning of January 2014.
The energy efficiency projects that are implemented by Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, General Directorate of Renewable Energy with the support of UNDP and GEF (Global Environment Fund) were presented in this fair.
The stand drew great attention where the Market Transformation of Energy Efficient Appliances in Turkey, Promoting Energy Efficiency in Buildings in Turkey, Improving Energy Efficiency in Industry in Turkey projects were promoted.
Through this stand, projects were promoted to various fractions such as governmental institutions, private sector, non-governmental organizations and citizens.
Moreover, side event was organized to promote GEF supported energy efficiency projects.
Solutions for energy efficiency
Fair, which is organized by Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, General Directorate of Renewable Energy, is conducted on the second week of January every year, on the week that is known as the “Energy Efficiency Week”.
The fair gathered all representatives and experts of the sector together and formed an important platform where the developments in Turkey and in the world is monitored and challenges and solution suggestions were evaluated.
Fair is considered to be one of the most important components for mobilizing people on energy efficiency in Turkey.
Very important achievements were made in Foça Special Environmental Protection Area (SEPA) in terms of both ecosystem and economic development under the context of “Strengthening the System of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas of Turkey Project”.
Many important efforts were made within the project in Foça which is one of the few areas monk seals live.
Annual value of 9.5 million TL was provided to Foça from fishing by these efforts, which aim to sustainable usage of marine bio-diversity.
Annual economic value is nearly 60 million TL
The economic values began to increase in Foça by the protection of marine values. Annual economic values increased up to 59.5 million TL.
This amount includes 10 million TL from fishing, 655.000 TL from carbon capture, 8.5 million TL from erosion control, 1.5 million TL from waste water treatment and 39 million TL from tourism/ recreation.
Ayvalık Islands Nature Park is among the Marine and Coastal Protection Areas (MCPA) in the context of “Strengthening the System of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas of Turkey Project”.
Marine values, which are taken under protection within the context of the project in Ayvalık Islands Nature Park, also provide protection for economic values.
Ayvalık Islands Nature Park generates 81 million TL annual income.
This amount includes 72 million TL from tourism/ recreation, 410.000 TL from fishing, 7 million TL from waste water treatment, 643.000 TL from erosion control, 1.2 million TL from carbon capture and 270.000 TL from glasswort.
Unbelievable contribution of sea grass
The sea grass (Posidonia oceanica), which is endemic to Mediterranean basin and living in coastal areas, also exists in the area that is under protection by the project.
The sea grass provides about 2 million TL worth supportive service to Ayvalık with its erosion protective and carbon capturing feature.
In consideration of the Grant Programme budget limitation, the list of the qualified research projects to be supported by the Grant Programme is available in alphebetical order of the applicant universities below:
We thank to all universities for their kind interest and application to our Grant Programme.
| Applicant | Project title |
| ANKARA UNIVERSITY | Ankara Household Electrical Appliances Energy Efficiency Technologies Research Center |
| BOĞAZİÇİ UNIVERSITY | Climate Change and Household Appliances |
| İSTANBUL AYDIN UNIVERSITY | The Energy Efficiency and Increasing the Efficiency of Household Devices and Sustainability |
| KADİR HAS UNIVERSITY | Raising Awareness in Energy Efficiency of Household Appliances an Climate Change |
| ÖZYEĞİN UNIVERSITY | Raising Awareness and Transformation of Energy Efficient Television Technologies in Turkey (EVTV) |
The project “Barrier Free Life” was launched in 2013 by Peugeot Turkey with the support of the Ministry of Family Affairs and Social Policies of Turkey and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The project was awarded Jury’s Special Award in Association of Car Industry Distributors' Sales and Communication Awards, Gladiators 2013, the only award program in the car industry, and a very significant one.
“Barrier Free Life” was also awarded as the Best Volunteer Project in Awards from the Heart in the Corporate Volunteers Association.
Corporate Volunteers Association has been giving awards since 2007 under the name “Awards from the Heart” to acts of benevolence that make a difference in order support and promote private sector benevolence.
Involvement of the disabled in social life and volunteerism
The goal of the project “Barrier Free Life” is to ensure that matters relating to the disabled are involved in the business models of the management and are adopted by the management, the employees and other stakeholders and effectively implemented.
In line with this aim, significant steps were made thanks to the support of the Ministry of Family Affairs and Social Policies of Turkey and the collaboration of the General Directorate of Services for the Disabled and the Elderly and of UNDP to contribute to improve the involvement of the disabled in social life.
Photo: UNDP/Dylan Lowthian
The richest one percent of the world population owns about 40 percent of the world’s assets, while the bottom half owns no more than one percent.
The report Humanity Divided: Confronting Inequality in Developing Countries shows that if left unchecked, inequality can undermine the very foundations of development and social and domestic peace.
“Inequalities on today’s levels are unjust, and as demonstrated in this “Humanity Divided” Report, they also impede human progress,” said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark. “The Report explores the causes and consequences of the inequalities which divide us – within and between countries – and argues that there is nothing inevitable about growing inequality.”
Inequality goes beyond income
Adjusting for population size, income inequality increased by 11 percent in developing countries between 1990 and 2010.
A significant majority of households in developing countries —more than 75 percent of the population— are living today in societies where income is more unequally distributed than it was in the 1990s.
But high and persistent inequality goes beyond income.
Despite overall declines in maternal mortality in the majority of developing countries, women in rural areas are still up to three times more likely to die while giving birth than women living in urban centres.
Women are also participating more in the work force, but remain disproportionately represented in vulnerable employment and underrepresented among political decision makers, while continuing to earn significantly less than men.
Evidence from developing countries shows that children in the lowest wealth quintiles were up to three times more likely to die before their fifth birthday than children born in the highest wealth quintiles in some regions.
Social protection has been extended, yet persons with disabilities are up to five times more likely than average to incur catastrophic health expenditures.
Inequalities undermine development
High inequality undermines development by hindering economic progress, weakening democratic life, and threatening social cohesion.
Even as redistribution remains very important to inequality reduction, a shift is needed towards a more inclusive pattern of growth, one that raises the incomes of poor and low-income households faster than average in order to sustainably reduce inequality, key to the post-2015 development agenda.
Economic growth in developing and emerging countries is vital in achieving Millennium Development Goal 1, which aims to halve world poverty rates by 2015. But higher country income levels and faster economic growth do not always translate into lower inequality in education, health, and other areas of human well-being.
Global inequality trends were analyzed
In an unprecedented global conversation facilitated by the United Nations that has involved almost 2 million people across the globe, people are demanding a say in the decisions that affect their lives. People are indignant at the injustice they feel because of growing inequalities and insecurities that exist particularly for poorer and marginalized people.
The report analyzes global inequality trends while identifying causes and extent of inequalities, their impact, and the ways in which they can be reduced.
After illustrating the results of an investigation of policy makers’ views of inequality, it concludes with a comprehensive policy framework to confront inequality in developing countries.
[BAGLANTILAR]
The competition is open to Masters students and PhD candidates registered at Turkish universities, and the deadline is 10 March, 2014.
The competition looks for ideas for novel projects that will help tackle the urgent need to supply water and sanitation to communities, to help them adapt to climate change, and to raise awareness about using water responsibly.
The project ideas should be well thought out and clearly presented in the format outlined in the Guidelines.
Prizes will be awarded for the best ideas. The awards are not expected to fund the implementation of the project idea.
For application guidelines and further information, please click on this link.
The Awards look for identifying leading community-based initiatives from across the developing world that advance environmental conservation while fighting poverty.
Nominations are open from 146 countries through March 22, 2014.
The applications for the prize can be made in Turkish. Please click here in order to reach the Turkish application form.
Sustainable development projects are rewarded
“We are looking for local environment and development solutions that are having a big impact,” said Helen Clark, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP). “Communities across the planet are coming up with inspiring solutions to environment, climate, and poverty challenges, and we want to bring their efforts to the world’s attention.”
Past recipients of the Equator Prize over the last 12 years have come from more than 60 different countries and included community protected areas, agriculture and farming cooperatives, wildlife protection initiatives, local water committees, community-managed forests, locally-managed marine areas and seed banks.
The Equator Prize has been supported by former heads of state Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norway) and Oscar Arias (Costa Rica), philanthropists Ted Turner and Richard Branson, a host of Nobel laureates, and celebrities like Gisele Bündchen and Edward Norton.
The theme of this year: Local climate action
Equator Prize is unique for recognizing collective action rather than individual achievement.
The Equator Prize 2014 will be awarded to twenty-five community-based organizations from across the world, each of whom will receive a cash prize, with five selected for ‘special recognition’.
The theme of this cycle of the Equator Prize is local climate action.
Winning communities will be supported to participate in a community meeting during the UN General Assembly and Climate Summit in New York in September 2014.
The Equator Initiative is a partnership that brings together the UN, governments, civil society, businesses, and grassroots organizations to advance local sustainable development solutions for people, nature and resilient communities.
[BAGLANTILAR]
Ideation camps which start off with the motto “3rd Generation Idea Generators” aim to increase the frequency of idea generation in Turkey.
34 business ideas are generated
Ideation camps organized among universities of İstanbul, İzmir and Eskişehir focused on challenges namely non-timber forest products, re-cycling of domestic waste, household energy efficiency, citizen interest in e-government services, active participation of people with disabilities, and re-integration of youth in the university life.
34 business ideas are generated by 243 young people who actively enrolled in ideation camps.
Ideation camps, developed and implemented by Intel worldwide, are exercised within the project titled Enhancing Youth Entrepreneurship Based on ICT Usage Culture in Turkey, which is implemented in partnership with UNDP, TC Ministry of Development, Habitat Center for Development and Governance, and Intel in 2012.
Ideation camps are multiplied within the framework of the International Entrepreneurship Initiative in 2013.
What is International Entrepreneurship Initiative?
International Entrepreneurship Initiative (IEI) is a five year innovation based entrepreneurship support project of UNDP, TC Ministry of Development, Habitat Center for Development and Governance, and Turkey Vodafone Foundation.
International Entrepreneurship Initiative works toward the development of an efficient entrepreneurship ecosystem cooperating with more than 70 active stakeholders.
IEI contributes to the sustainability of entrepreneurial activities through research, capacity development and support mechanisms.
"Economic exclusion compounded by political exclusion can be a toxic mix – as a number of uprisings in recent years suggest. Yet little progress has been made in combating inequality in its various forms,” Clark said.
“Evidence suggests that income inequality impedes long-term growth; is associated with poorer health outcomes; generates political instability; contributes to higher rates of violence; erodes social cohesion; and undermines the capacity for the collective decision-making necessary for effective reform.”
Global income inequality remains high, with 8% of the world’s population earning half the world’s income, leaving 92% earning the other half.
According to a report released yesterday by Oxfam International, the 85 richest people on Earth now have the same amount of wealth as the bottom half of the global population.
“Such a distribution is rightly viewed by global civil society networks as unacceptably high, as it is both unjust and undermines development progress,” she said.
Using the inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, which takes into account not only the average achievements of a country on health, education, and income, but also their distribution, the 2013 Human Development Report concludes that the average loss to human development worldwide due to inequality was 23%.
Clark concluded that inequality could not be addressed solely by social policies, but also needed inclusive, job-rich growth and fairer rules internationally in a range of areas from trade to finance to tackling climate change.
She suggested that the new post-2015 development goals being developed by the international community and taking into account the voices of people around the world could be instrumental in tackling inequality and development at large.
“They will set the global sustainable development agenda for the next fifteen years – years when we need decisive breakthroughs on poverty eradication in all its dimensions, on achieving greater equality, and on ensuring we live within nature’s boundaries while advancing human development.”
To see Helen Clark’s full remarks, click here.
To see all vacancies, click here.
Editor: Faik Uyanık
Assistant: Nazife Ece
Intern: Nihan Cabbaroğlu
Contributors to this issue: Başak Saral, Deniz Tapan
Cover photo: Helen Clark launches "Humanity Divided: Confronting Inequality in Developing Countries" report.
© 2014 UNDP Turkey
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