Issue: 122
Since that time, we’ve played a transformational role in eradicating diseases, reducing hunger, creating jobs, empowering women, cutting infant mortality, protecting the environment, and lots more in the nearly 170 countries where we work.
On the occasion of our 50th anniversary, UNDP is looking toward the future of people and planet. That future is uncertain. On the one hand, climate change, political turbulence, economic inequality, and other challenges. On the other hand, technological advances, tremendous economic growth, and an unprecedented global consensus about the best way forward.
At UNDP, we are committed to finish the job we started 50 years ago, and end poverty once and for all. We imagine a world where all people prosper, societies are more inclusive, and the planet is protected from the worst effects of climate change. We want to leave no one behind.
This is the agenda of the Sustainable Development Goals, also known as Agenda 2030, and it’s what guides our work for the next 15 years. Agenda 2030 is the most ambitious effort on development in world history. UNDP is prepared to lead the way to achieve this global agenda.
We will connect the dots and integrate diverse efforts internationally, such as on health, energy, work and climate—so that we’re advancing development on all fronts.
We’ll constantly look for multiplier effects that yield big benefits—such as our work on women’s and girls’ education, which advances life in other areas, such as health and governance.
And we’ll identify points where we can accelerate our progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The final result: a more prosperous, fair, and inclusive world for all.
This is a job not just for the poor countries or the rich counties. Not only for the people or their leaders. It’s a shared vision of the future of humanity. And you have a part.
The trucks, which will support the municipalities to easily manage big amounts of waste in a very effective way, were purchased and transferred to the Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep municipalities under the European Union funded “Mitigating the Impact of Syrian Crisis in Southeast Anatolia Region Project” and United States Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (USPRM) funded “Effective Urban Waste Management Project”It is implemented by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in cooperation with Southeastern Anatolia Development Project Regional Development Administration (GAP BKİ), the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and with local partners Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, Kilis Municipality, Gaziantep Chamber of Industry, and Şanlıurfa Metropolitan Municipality.
The aim of the project is to decrease the pressure on local resources of Kilis, Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa, which are highly impacted by the population influx due to Syrian crisis and to support both local population and Syrians under temporary protection. Primarily, the target is to improve the livelihoods in order to increase the employability of the impacted communities including the Syrians under temporary protection and to provide vocational trainings for industry and service sectors in Gaziantep in order to increase vocational skills for local population and Syrians, to enhance their employability chances and to support livelihoods in the short and long run.
Secondly, with the waste management component, it is planned to provide assistance in enhancing local administrations capacities in Şanlıurfa, Kilis, Gaziantep, and provide the local communities and the Syrian population to benefit from the better services.
“The empowerment of the world’s women is a global imperative,” said Mr. Ban in a press release, issued while he attends dozens of events at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“Yet despite important progress in promoting gender equality, there remains an urgent need to address structural barriers to women’s economic empowerment and full inclusion in economic activity,” he added. “If the world is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we need a quantum leap in women’s economic empowerment.”
According to UN Women, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, the panel will provide recommendations for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to improve economic outcomes for women and promote women’s leadership in driving sustainable and inclusive, environmentally sensitive economic growth.
It is backed by the United Kingdom, the World Bank Group and UN Women, with the President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, and the CEO of IKEA Switzerland, Simona Scarpaleggia, as the panel co-chairs. They will be joined by a diverse range of eminent gender and equality actors, economics experts, academics, trade union leaders, business and government representatives from all regions.
The report points out that important achievements were made through rural infrastructure initiatives, which increased agricultural productivity and promoted commercialization. In Turkey, agriculture is the second most important source of employment in rural areas and the largest employer of women.
UNDP in Turkey has been working with Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock since 2003 to deliver implementation support services and technical assistance to rural development projects financed through loans provided by the IFAD together with the national contribution from the Republic of Turkey. In line with the national priorities and policies UNDP targets to create sound policies for reducing regional disparities and improving economic empowerment in least developed regions.
Evaluation meeting started with the speeches by Dr. Nihat Pakdil, Deputy Undersecretary, Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock. Dr. Metin Türker, Acting Director General of Agricultural Reform, Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock; Dr. Taylan Kıymaz, Director of Agriculture Department, Ministry of Development; Lakshmi Menon, Associate Vice-President, Corporate Services Department of IFAD; Oscar A. Garcia, Director, Independent Office of Evaluation of IFAD (IOE).
Turkish and IFAD officials emphasized the importance and mutually beneficial to increase, widen and deepen the cooperation between Turkey and IFAD.
IFAD officials also said that they want to open a country office in Turkey to show the significance of their commitment to further enhance the bilateral collaboration.
Evaluation report was presented by Miguel Torralba, IOE Lead Evaluation Specialist and evaluator responsible for the Turkey Country Programme Evaluation.
The report highlights that the long-standing partnership between IFAD (an international financial institution and specialized agency of the United Nations) and the government of Turkey is strategically important to both. Beyond IFAD's financing role, there has been demand for IFAD to be a more active player in sharing its technical expertise and international knowledge and experience, as a way to enrich the partnership, especially in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Turkey.
The largest IFAD-supported investment in the country has been in rural infrastructure, which includes building village roads and irrigation and improving markets and transport in several provinces in eastern Anatolia, including Ardahan, Artvin, Batman, Bingöl, Diyarbakir, Elâzığ, Erzincan, Kars, Mus, Sirt and Sivas.
"At IFAD we know that our work to support rural woman and men to build better lives can only be improved by assessing our programmes and projects in an independent and accountable way," said Lakshmi Menon, Associate Vice-President of IFAD. "These workshops allow us to reflect on the impact of our work in areas such as infrastructure development, agricultural productivity and access to markets, to pave a better path as we move forward."
The portfolio of four projects evaluated demonstrated more modest achievements with other objectives, such as increasing rural employment and building and strengthening self-sustaining institutions of the rural poor. Despite continued government support, the report found that the scope for sustainability of interventions was limited by weak operation and maintenance arrangements in infrastructure and insufficient collaboration with the rural financial sector.
The current focus of targeting on an area basis is appropriate and needs to continue until poverty reduction is fully achieved in poor rural areas of the country. However, there is income disparity even within project areas, and projects that target ‘poverty pockets’ need to be carefully designed and implemented to avoid capture of benefits by less-poor farmers.
“The IFAD partnership in Turkey needs to be strengthened and diversified, including co-financing opportunities with international and new Turkish partners such as Regional Development Administrations and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency on South-South Cooperation.” said Oscar A. Garcia, Director of the Independent Office of Evaluation. "In particular, IFAD would benefit by engaging suitable private sector and non-governmental organizations that have relevant skills in such areas as participatory village mobilization, inclusive development, the environment and niche markets,” he added.
Over the last 30 years, IFAD has supported 10 projects in Turkey for a total of cost of US$661.1 million, of which IFAD has provided $189 million. Activities have directly benefited 1.3 million households. The geographical focus has been on the economically lagging regions and provinces of the country.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development IFAD invests in rural people, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided US$17.6 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached about 459 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agriculture hub.
The Independent Office of Evaluation (IOE). IOE conducts evaluations of IFAD-financed policies, strategies and operations to promote accountability and learning. The main purpose is to contribute to improving IFAD's and its partners' performance in reducing rural poverty in recipient countries. IOE's independent evaluations assess the impact of IFAD-funded activities and give an analysis of successes and shortcomings – to tell it the way it is – as well as identify factors affecting performance. Based on the key insights and recommendations drawn from evaluation findings, IOE also communicates and shares IFAD’s knowledge and experience in agriculture and rural development with a wider audience.
The fellowships are available to radio, television, print and web journalists, age 25 to 35, from developing countries who are interested in coming to New York to report on international affairs during the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly. The fellowships will begin in early September and extend to late November and will include the cost of travel and accommodations in New York, as well as a per diem allowance.
The fellowship program is open to journalists who are native to one of the developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America/the Caribbean and are currently working for media organizations. Applicants must demonstrate an interest in and commitment to international affairs and to conveying a better understanding of the United Nations to their readers and audiences. They must also have approval from their media organizations to spend up to three months in New York to report from the United Nations.
In an effort to rotate recipient countries, the Fund will not consider journalist applications for 2016 from nations selected in 2015: Brazil, India, Ghana, and Kenya. Journalists from these countries may apply in 2017.
Journalists are selected each year after a review of all applications. The journalists who are awarded fellowships are given the incomparable opportunity to observe international diplomatic deliberations at the United Nations, to make professional contacts that will serve them for years to come, to interact with seasoned journalists from around the world, and to gain a broader perspective and understanding of matters of global concern. Many past fellows have risen to prominence in their professional and countries. The program is not intended to provide basic skills training to journalists; all participants are media professionals.
Information about the Fund, including fellowship eligibility criteria, documentation requirements, and the application process can be found on the Fund’s web site at www.unjournalismfellowship.org.
Questions can be directed by email to fellowship2016@unjournalismfellowship.org.
Two of the companies -Hes Kablo (Kayseri) and Çemaş Döküm (Kırşehir)- already have energy management systems that are certified to the international standard ISO50001. Hes Kablo is the biggest cable manufacturer in Turkey whereas Çemaş Döküm is a leading casting manufacturing company supplying manufacturers such as Mercedes. Their participation in the program is designed to optimise their energy management system in order to maximise the savings that they generate.
The other 2 companies -Atlantik Halı and Orta Anadolu Tekstil (both located inKayseri)- are currently implementing formal energy management systems with a view to having their systems certified to ISO50001 during the next 12 months. Atlantik is a leading Turkish carpet manufacturer exporting worldwide and Orta Anadolu is the 2nd biggest denim manufacturer in Turkey.
All 4 companies are participating eagerly in the programme and were found to be making good progress with their energy management. The visits highlighted several energy saving opportunities for improvement in each location which will now be further investigated by the companies.
Approximately 4,000 participants representing energy efficiency firms and consultancies, NGOs, academia, and public and private sector institutions participated in the forum. The fair and the forum were pivotal to enable new partnerships among the market’s various actors, raise awareness, and strengthen the brand perception of energy efficiency firms, engineering companies and consulting firms. It was also profoundly informative for participants to find out about the latest developments in the energy efficiency sector.
The project team of the “Improving Energy Efficiency in Industry in Turkey”, which is jointly implemented by UNIDO and UNDP, was among the participants. They effectively represented the project by promoting its activities and energy management systems training so as to receive attention of more firms and consultants and contacted with new participants.
On behalf of the project the international consultant, Erik Gudbjerg, delivered two presentations to the participants, one on energy management systems and another on non-energy benefits of energy efficiency. His presentations were celebrated with a lot of attention and a large audience, and consequently contributed to the awareness for the project.
During the fair, the newly published booklet of the project was also promoted and disseminated to the participants: “Energy Audit Guide and Checklist.” The mentioned guide and checklist was previously prepared by the international consultants recruited by the UNDP. It is expected that the energy auditors would enhance their performance by this booklet in their industrial operations.
Training of market inspectors of the Ministry of Science Industry and Technology (MoSIT) on Enforcement of EU Eco-design and Energy Labeling Regulations took place in 2012 under the EE Appliances Project and MoSIT integrated this training into their regular in-service training programmes.
EU Eco-design and Energy Labeling Regulations are still included in the training programme for market inspectors organized by MoSIT in Antalya between 13-16 January 2016.
In addition to this training, the MoSIT also integrated the Proactive Market Surveillance Plan (PMSP) developed and implemented under EE Appliances Project into their Annual Market Surveillance Plans and Programmes and the Eco-design and Energy Labeling Market Surveillance developed under EE Appliances Project into their Market Surveillance Strategy Document.
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Editor: Faik Uyanık
Assistant: Nazife Ece
Intern: Gülce İpci
Contributors to this issue: Birce Albayrak, Deniz Tapan, Necmettin Tokur, Pelin Rodoplu