Issue: 136
The 10th anniversary was celebrated for “Future Lies in Tourism” project launched a decade ago in order to identify the tourism potential in Turkey, increase job opportunities in tourism, and promote local development through sustainable tourism projects. The book “10 Years, 10 Cities, 10 Stories” was launched as a 10th year specialty for the Project jointly implemented by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, UNDP and Anadolu Efes.
The book features the stories of projects supported and lives changed through “Future Lies in Tourism” across Turkey as written by such celebrities as Sunay Akın, Refika Birgül, Mutlu Tönbekici, Saffet Emre Tonguç, Günseli Özen, Derin Sarıyer, Yaşar, Mete Horozoğlu and Ayşe Arman, and eternalized by the famous photography artist Mustafa Seven.
To access the book: http://www.gelecekturizmde.com/ebook/
Gaziantep- Part of the $ 3 million project, funded by the United States and implemented by the UNDP in partnership with the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality, GAP Regional Administration and the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), the construction of the facility aims at prevention of the usage of wild dumpsites in Gaziantep province, namely Islahiye and Nurdağı districts, so as to alleviate the pressure faced by the Gaziantep Municipality in waste collection and management.
The large number of Syrians staying in the Southeast Anatolia region of Turkey, has been increasingly straining the capacities of local municipalities to provide the required services for the Syrians in addition to the needs of the host communities. Yet, strengthened municipal services and infrastructureare among the most pressing needs of the provinces that host high number of Syrians under Temporary Protection in Turkey.
At the event, “We are pleased today to inaugurate one of the most important facilities within the scope of UNDP’s response to Syria crisis in Turkey.
In Gaziantep, the waste generated by over 350,000 Syrians hosted in the two provinces has been posing some challenges for waste management systems designed before the Syrian crisis.
This project, dated back to July 2015, helps to meet the extreme strains on waste management, including the transportation of solid waste, by the provincial administration.
This inauguration represents further a reflection of a joint effort and objective shared with our generous donor the United States and in local level, Gaziantep Municipality, AFAD and GAP RDA, to respond to the impacts of the Syrian crisis as well as build on the opportunities emerged through the crisis in the region. This increased human resources and infrastructure capacity will contribute to stronger and resilient regional economy as well as inclusive and sustainable development” said, Claudio Tomasi, UNDP Turkey Country Director.
The project is funded by the United States and implemented by UNDP in cooperation with South-eastern Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration (GAP BKİ), the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) and with local partners such as Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality. The Project, focuses on increasing the solid waste management capacities of Gaziantep and Kilis Municipality started in July 2015 and will be completed by July 2017.
About the station:
The station facilitates the efficient transport of 164 tons/day of solid waste originated from Islahiye and Nurdağı districts along with two temporary accommodation centers also located at Islahiye with a combined population of 17,433 Syrian residents. Annual savings with this enhanced capacity is estimated as 1,612.000 USD for Gaziantep Municipality as it has prevented construction and operation of two additional sanitary landfill sides. 1,1 million USD of investment has been made along with construction of waste transfer and supply of 4 solid waste transfer vehicles along with one backhoe loader.
Gaziantep province, the focal area of the project, host more than 350,000 Syrians. The ratio of Syrian population to that of host communities in each province is higher than 15 %. The additional volume of waste generated due to unprecedented level of population increase with Syrian population influx amounts to more than 550,000 tons per year in Southeast Anatolia region. Thus, strengthened municipal services and infrastructure appeared as among the most pressing needs of the provinces that host high number of Syrians, as well as host communities.
The project of “Effective Urban Waste Management for host communities” focuses in 2 provinces:
-Kilis: Solid waste separation in two temporary accommodation centers in Kilis (Öncüpınar and Elbeyli) is implemented in order to reduce waste generation in the centers and extending lifecycle of Kilis sanitary landfill site by providing waste compactor.
-Gaziantep: Solid waste transfer station in Fevzipaşa district of Gaziantep is constructed along with the delivery of the solid waste transfer vehicles and backhoe loader.
The 2016 Human Development Report is the latest in the series of global Human Development Reports published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1990 as independent, analytically and empirically grounded discussions of major development issues, trends and policies.
Human development has enriched human lives but unfortunately not all to the same extent, and even worse, not every life.
It is thus not by chance but by choice that world leaders in 2015 committed to a development journey that leaves no one out central premise of the 2030 Agenda. Mirroring that universal aspiration, it is timely that the 2016 Human Development Report is devoted to the theme of human development for everyone.
the Report then raises two fundamental questions: who has been left out in progress in human devel- opment and how and why did that happen.
The barriers to universalism include, among others, deprivations and inequalities, discrimination and exclusion, social norms and values, and prejudice and intolerance.
To ensure human development for everyone, the Report asserts that merely identifying the nature of and the reasons for the deprivation of those left out is not enough.
The Report rightly recognizes that national policies need to be complemented by actions at the global level.
The Report complements the 2030 Agenda by sharing the principle of universalism and by concentrating on such fundamental areas as eliminating extreme poverty, ending hunger and highlighting the core issue of sustainability.
Ardahan Kars Artvin Development Project (AKADP) -which was signed on the April of 2010- will begin supporting agriculture and livestock farming at Artvin with 12 sub projects this year. The project is financed by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and expected to conclude on September 2017.
The project supported by UNDP is planning to provide Artvin region with 4 blueberry fields with a total area of 7.6 cartesians, 37 greenhouses with a total area of 9.3 cartesians, 45 fruit gardens with a total area of 151 cartesians, 21 vineyards with total area of 50.5 cartesians and an animal market with an area of 18 cartesians. Also, the products grown in these fields are planned to be sold in 4 sales centers -36 square meters each- for the protection of nature and good agricultural practices. This way, improvement of the eco-tourism in the region, decreased unemployment caused migration, transformation of the region to an attraction center and thus sociocultural and socioeconomic improvements are expected.
The project is proposed to the ministry a few days ago under the name of “Artvin Bahçesi” and is expected to be approved within the upcoming days.
511 mine fields which are located in the Eastern border of Turkey with Armenia, Iran and Nakhichevan, had been laid for border security concerns in the early 1990’s and are currently being demined; financed by the European Commission in cooperation with Turkish Mine Action Center, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Interior and UNDP. In line with the Ottawa Treaty signed on the 3rd of December 1997, all signatory states -including Turkey- need to demine their territories and exterminate all the landmines per international standards. The project is using different methods to achieve the expected results.
Demining activities in Socioeconomic Development through Demining and Increasing the Border Surveillance Capacity at the Eastern Borders of Turkey – Phase I project includes manual demining, mine detecting dogs and mechanical demining methods in its inventory. The team of manual deminers -which are expected to clean an area of 15 million square meters- are mostly composed of local citizens which were educated and certified during the project.
Until the expected end date of the project, December 2017, it is expected to detect and exterminate over 220.000 landmines in the Turkish borders with Armenia, Iran and Nakhichevan.