Issue: 113
Helen Clark, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator and Chair of the UN Development Group, took part in high-level government meetings in Ankara and visited a refugee camp, near the Syrian border, before joining Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Republic of Turkey and other international leaders for the centennial commemoration ceremonies in Gallipoli.
The Administrator and Chair of the UNDG was in Ankara on 21 April where she met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and government officials.
Helen Clark was in Gaziantep on April 22 to visit a refugee camp, near the Syrian border.
Ms. Clark also inaugurated an energy efficiency incubation center in Gaziantep with the Minister of Development, Cevdet Yılmaz. The center was established under a technical cooperation project, funded by the Government of Turkey and implemented by the Southeast Anatolia Regional Development Administration and UNDP. The center will be used by energy efficiency audit companies, and will draw on modern testing and measurement equipment and a laboratory, which are necessary for conducting audits in the industry and building sectors.
The Administrator and Chair of the UNDG, Helen Clark and Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu then jointly inaugurated the new UN Istanbul Regional Hub on 23 April. Turkey and UNDP have a global Partnership Framework Agreement signed in 2011, which focuses on the country’s role as a global development partner. The result of a strategic partnership, the new Hub in Istanbul recognizes the increasing role and engagement of Turkey in shaping and contributing to global development issues.
The Hub operates within a framework that will help deliver quality, accessible and locally relevant services to the countries and territories in which UNDP works in Europe and CIS. The Hub also hosts UNICEF and UN Women offices.
The Istanbul Regional Hub covers the areas of sustainable development, governance and peace building, energy, disaster resilience and climate change. The Hub also works across thematic areas on gender, health, partnership building, protection of children’s rights and knowledge and innovation.
Helen Clark also joined the commemorative ceremonies to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Battles of Gallipoli, Word War I, and the Peace Summit that was held on April 23, in Istanbul and on 24-25 April in Çanakkale.
The Hub also hosts UNICEF and UN Women regional offices.
“By locating this knowledge and technical expertise in Istanbul, UNDP will be well positioned to support and engage with partners in Europe and the CIS on the post-2015 development agenda, which is due to be agreed in September of this year,” said Helen Clark, Chair of the UN Development Group and Administrator of UNDP, in her opening remarks at the inauguration of the Istanbul Regional Hub.
Developing and transition economies of Europe and Central Asia are showing poverty and inequality, even in some upper middle-income countries, as well as declining life expectancy relative to global averages in many countries, according to analysis in Poverty, Inequality and Vulnerability in the Transition and Developing Economies of Europe and Central Asia, recently released by UNDP. A changing climate and rapidly growing exposure to disaster risk also present the region with new and evolving challenges.
The support of the Istanbul Regional Hub will enable countries to pursue development paths that are responsive to these and other issues, including sustainable growth, governance and peace-building, gender equality and women’s empowerment, energy, disaster resilience and climate change, and the protection of children’s rights.
In addition, the Istanbul Regional Hub and the Republic of Turkey will jointly advance efforts to promote south-south cooperation and share Turkey's important development experience with other countries. This strategic partnership recognizes the increasing role of Turkey as an emerging donor for development cooperation across the world.
Helen Clark was joined by H.E. Mr. Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, and Mr. Kadir Topbas, Mayor of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, to inaugurate the new Hub and unveil a plaque on the premises in Key Plaza in Istanbul.
The Istanbul Regional Hub is co-located with other UN agencies, including the UN Population Fund, which will strengthen coordination within the UN development system. UNDP has other regional offices in Amman, Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Cairo, Dakar, and Panama.
Energy Efficiency Incubation Center, which is established to improve the energy efficiency sustainably across the region, was inaugurated today in Gaziantep by Cevdet Yılmaz, Minister of Development of the Republic of Turkey and Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator. The ceremony was hosted by President of Southeast Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration (GAP RDA).
The incubation center is established within the framework of “Utilization of Renewable Energy Resources and Increasing Energy Efficiency in Southeast Anatolia Region project. Project is being implemented by the Southeast Anatolia Regional Development Administration of Turkish Ministry of Development (GAP RDA), with the technical support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Establishment of an Energy Efficiency Incubation Center, which will be used by the Energy Efficiency Audit Companies, is one of the key project activities and it is established with the cooperation of Gaziantep Chamber of Industry and Gaziantep University.
Energy Efficiency Incubation Centers play crucial role in conducting energy audits and providing consultancy services for increased energy efficiency in industry and construction sectors. Currently, there are no Energy Efficiency Audit companies based in the Southeast Anatolia region. In order to improve the energy efficiency sustainably across the region, it is critical to encourage establishment of the local Energy Efficiency Audit companies.
Hence, Energy Efficiency Incubation Center is established in Gaziantep.
“This is an excellent example of how UNDP can support the shift which our partners are making to green and inclusive growth. We call such examples ‘triple wins’ because they have the potential to advance economic, social, and environmental goals simultaneously,” Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator, said in her opening statement during the ceremony.
The Energy Efficiency Incubation Center will contain technical and modern testing and measurement equipment and laboratory which are necessary for conducting energy efficiency audits in the industry and building sectors.
The building of the center which is provided by Gaziantep Chamber of Industry is designed and renovated according to the German Passive House Institute’s EnerPHit criteria. The Energy Efficiency Incubation Center building will be the first and the only renovated energy efficient building to have the EnerPHit certification in Turkey.
Passive House is an internationally recognized energy efficient building standard provided by German Passive House Institute. Passive Houses make efficient use of the sun, internal heat sources and heat recovery, rendering conventional heating systems unnecessary throughout even the coldest of winters.
UNDP mobilized its team of top football players on 20 April to compete against a Saint Etienne All Stars, in France’s League 1 club to raise both funds for and awareness to help West African nations recover from the Ebola virus crisis.
UNDP’s 12th annual Match Against Poverty was live broadcasted by TRT Spor in Turkey. Mevlüt Erdinç from AS St Etienne, who is known well by the football lovers in Turkey was also among the worldwide renowned football stars who played in 12th Match Against Poverty.
Two thirds of the match proceeds will be used for recovery efforts in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone where more than 20,000 people have lost their lives to the deadly disease.
However, death and suffering are only part of the crisis. The outbreak has caused a wide spread socio-economic crisis of unprecedented proportion, with a real risk that economic and social gains achieved in the three countries could be halted or even reversed.
UNDP is leading the United Nations response on Ebola recovery and is coordinating early recovery actions in the three countries.
Speaking at the match, Gina Casar, UNDP Associate Administrator, said: “The international community must now stay the course and continue support for the three most-affected countries as they recover from this devastating crisis”.
“We must get to zero patients and stay at zero and at the same time help the countries build back better”, she added.
The first edition of the UNDP Match Against Poverty was held in Basel in 2003. Since then the match has taken place in Madrid, Dusseldorf, Marseille, Malaga, Fes, Lisbon, Athens, Hamburg and Porto Alegre, Brazil. Each match, which is televised around the world, has supported specific projects in different countries facing difficult challenges.
Although a friendly match, the players competed as if it were a World Cup playoff, ending with 7 goals for the team of all-stars from UNDP, and the Saint Etienne All Stars winning with 9 goals.
Training was held on 15-17 April 2015 at Harran University GAP Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Center (GAP YENEV).
Training, organized under the scope of “Utilization of Renewable Energy Resources and Increasing Energy Efficiency in Southeast Anatolia” project, which is implemented by GAP Regional Development Administration in cooperation with UNDP, was held within the framework of ‘Institutional Capacity Development Action Plan’ of the project.
The goal was to improve the abilities of mechanical, electrical-electronics and civil engineers, as well as architects on environmentally-friendly technologies, renewable energy, energy-efficient housing, sustainable architecture and certification processes.
40 engineers and architects, representing several public institutions and organizations located in the GAP Region were participated to the training.
Ecology İzmir 6th Organic Products Expo was held in İzmir on 16-19 April 2015.
“GAP Organic Agriculture Cluster” project is implemented by the GAP Regional Development Administration with the technical support of UNDP.
Organic products like organic olive, olive oil, pomegranate syrup, honey, almond, dried grape, grape molasses, cotton, lentil, wheat berry and chickpea from Kilis, Diyarbakır, Siirt, Şanlıurfa, Şırnak and Adıyaman were promoted and , such as organic olive, olive oil were presented and marketed.
In addition, “GAP Organic Agriculture Cluster” project was introduced to the institutions participated to the expo.
The expo was beneficial for developing bilateral cooperation on organic agriculture and for marketing exercises.
‘Future is in Tourism’ project started in 2007 with the partnership of Anadolu Efes, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
‘Future is in Tourism Sustainable Tourism Support Fund’ aims to increase the number of best examples in the field of sustainable tourism through cooperation local tourism actors and civil society organizations with public and private institutions.
Applications for Future is in Tourism Sustainable Tourism Support Fund will start on 12 May this year.
Non-profit civil society organizations (including NGOs, chambers, unions, cooperatives, professional associations, federations and foundations) who are registered and has a legal entity in Turkey, as well as universities and research institutes/centers can apply to the fund.
For detailed information and applications, please click on this link.
Which projects are we supporting?
In addition to support fund for the projects, implementation support, like education, communication and mentoring are also provided within the scope of the fund. Besides, the process of projects is being monitored by an expert team which enables to measure their impacts and results.
In the first calls, %100 Misia’ project, ‘Creating Women- Led Sustainable Tourism Initiatives in Mardin’ project and ‘Traditional Kitchen of Seferihisar’ have been selected for support.
“Stonemasonry at Göbeklitepe, the Oldest Temple of the World”, “Malatya’s Legacy, Arslantepe” and “A Souvenir from Safranbolu” have been selected for the support in the second period.
The delegation consisting of world leading air conditioner manufacturers, Daikin, Arçelik-LG, Vestel, Alarko-Carrier, Baymak and Bosch stated their positive impressions with DGRE, MoSIT, TSE and Energy Efficiency Appliances project management.
They also discussed with the MoSIT representatives the market surveillance issues as well as the future market surveillance action plans of the MoSIT after the visit.
All manufacturers who visited the test laboratory, jointly stated that the air conditioner test laboratory developed under UNDP/GEF Energy Efficiency Appliances project has been an extraordinary step towards strengthening the conformity assessment infrastructure in Turkey in the field of air conditioners and it will make a valuable contribution to market surveillance activities of the MoSIT to ensure fair competition on the market.
You may compute your income and expenses of your budget using the app and follow the saving targets. There are also up-to-date briefings from financial markets.
‘I can manage my money’ project started in 2009 with partnership of Ministry of Development, UNDP, Habitat Development and Governance Association, Visa Europe Turkey and its member banks and it works to increase financial literacy.
With the project, public institutions, private sector companies and NGOs came together for the first time in Turkey to raise financial awareness among young people.
‘I can manage my money’ project offers trainings to young people between 15-35 years old to support them on budgeting their personal financial resources and efficient use of financial services.
Budgeting, financial planning, managing and combatting with informal economy, contribution of financial awareness to sustainable development trainings are given with the support of volunteer peer trainers, City Council Youth Assemblies, university clubs and local NGOs.
70,000 young people were reached out with the Project until now and online trainings, which can be found at http://paramiyonetebiliyorum.net, are completed by 26,000 people.
The energy audits, which are one of the important components of the Project, are seen as an effective tool to enhance the awareness of the importance of improved energy efficiency in industrial plants.
In order to test the developed audit methodology appropriate for Turkish conditions, a pilot phase was designed in 2014.
The pilot phase started with walk-through audits in nine selected industrial plants. The pilot phase will continue with detailed energy audits if the findings of walk-through energy audits assess the need for detailed measurements because of the expected high potential for improvements.
The detailed energy audits in the pilot phase will allow the relevant parties to assess the accuracy, thoroughness and suitability of the audit reports according to the developed format.
In the first months of 2015, a tender was realized to select energy efficiency consultancy (EVD) companies to undertake energy audits in the pilot phase.
For the tendering, several quality criteria were defined and eligible companies were allowed to propose bids onto the mentioned tender.
The names of selected industrial companies, their main products and the dates of walk-through energy audits are given below:
The next step of the pilot phase will be the assessment of the walk-through audit reports by the evaluation committee, which will be comprised of both local and international experts.
Click here for the pictures of the site visits and field studies.
To see all vacancies, click here.
Editor: Faik Uyanık
Assistant: Nazife Ece
Intern: Semra Melike Koç
Contributors to this issue: Ceren Gökçe, Deniz Tapan, Necmettin Tokur
© 2014 UNDP Turkey
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