Issue: 76
The Forum was particularly timely and important and it provided a unique opportunity to debate the messages we want to take to Brazil, reflecting on what we have learned since the Stockholm Conference in 1972 and the Earth Summit in 1992.
Over the years Turkey has hosted a number of important global conferences and events, contributing to the development of the concept of human development. Indeed it was again in Istanbul, in 1985, that 50 distinguished thinkers, brought together by UNDP, prepared the “Istanbul Statement on Development: the human dimension.”
The 20th anniversary Human Development Report in 2010 looked back 40 years and highlighted the remarkable gains in Human Development over the last four decades. It also showed that the poorest countries improved their overall HDI by 82 percent, twice the global average improvement narrowing the human development divide.
As the Global Sustainability Panel report underscores, by 2030 the world will need at least 50 per cent more food, 45 per cent more energy and 30 per cent more water given the projected population growth and consumption patterns. Moving towards inclusive and sustainable development is not simply a ‘moral’ imperative; it is in fact the only development possible.
That is why the Global Sustainability Panel report and the 2011 Human Development Report argue that progress in human development cannot be sustained without bold action today. Future generations will not be able to live as prosperously if the ecosystems on which they depend are irreparably damaged, and if inequities leave our societies unstable, unproductive and unjust.
Rio+20’s two themes — a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and the institutional framework for sustainable development — are a call to scale up what has been incubating for 40 years.
We need to take stock of what has worked and what hasn’t, and share, tailor and apply the working solutions. To succeed, we need to reset the development discourse and inject long-term perspective into policy making and development planning.
We have lost the ability to think long term – instead we focus only on immediate, short term solutions. Rio+20 can give us guidance on where we need to be in 2030 and how we get there.
Within this framework for resetting the global agenda in Rio, in Istanbul during two days we have generated concrete proposals for achieving equitable, sustainable, human development.
At the end of this conference we have agreed upon the “Istanbul Declaration” – a declaration that will have a genuine influence in Brazil.
Global Human Development Forum also helped to establish new partnerships across sectors, and paved the way for fruitful discussions and this declaration home to capture the imagination and interest of a much broader audience.
* Shahid Najam, UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey and UN Resident Coordinator in Turkey
“It is time to reset the global development agenda,” the Istanbul Declaration states. “The world needs a renewed commitment to sustainable development and strong political leadership to implement it.”
The Istanbul Declaration was adopted by consensus at the conclusion of the two-day Global Human Development Forum, a gathering of more than 200 leading development experts, civil society activists, government ministers, private sector representatives and UN officials from all regions of the world.
The Forum was organized by UNDP’s Human Development Report Office and Bureau of Development Policy in partnership with the Government of Turkey’s Ministry of Development.
Today’s Istanbul Declaration was supported by the Government of Turkey as a key contribution to the UN debates and discussions leading up to the Rio + 20 conference in June. Negotiations on the conference agenda and proposed resolutions resumed this week at UN headquarters in New York.
The Declaration stresses the need for global and national development strategies to put “strong emphasis on social inclusion, social protection, and equity, in recognition of the fact that economic development has too often gone hand in hand with environmental degradation and increased inequality.”
Achieving those goals will require better-coordinated “mobilization of global capital and local resources,” good governance on the local and global level, and full empowerment of women “through access to education, health care, basic services and their participation in the labour force,” the Declaration says.
“I hope that this Forum will help establish new partnerships across sectors, and that you will take these discussions and this Declaration home to capture the imagination and interest of a much broader audience,” UNDP Associate Administrator Rebeca Grynspan told Forum participants.
The Declaration endorses the recommendations of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability and UNDP’s 2011 Human Development Report on Sustainability and Equity, and stresses “the need to maintain progress towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals in 2015, while building a consensus for a new post-2015 global framework that:
In a personal message to Forum participants, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “Sustainable development recognizes that our economic, social and environmental objectives are not competing goals that must be traded off against each other, but are interconnected objectives that are most effectively pursued together in a holistic manner. We need an outcome from Rio+20 that reflect this understanding and that relates to the concerns of all.”
More than 120 heads of state and government have confirmed their participation in the Rio conference, making it one of the largest such gatherings of world leaders in recent times.
“The most important question that needs to be decided is, are we going to advance and develop economically for now, or are we going to focus on sustainable development while considering future generations?” Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan, a member of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel of Global Sustainability, said at the Forum. “As long as development and the economy do not progress at the same pace, it is difficult to achieve prosperity.”
Measuring development is vital
Government and civil society leaders from developing countries have strongly urged that the Rio conference address not only ecological threats such as climate change and pollution, but place equal emphasis on such critical social concerns as hunger, preventable disease and endemic poverty. The 2011 Human Development Report, cited in the Declaration and analyzed in depth at this week’s Forum, argued that simultaneous progress on both fronts is essential. The 2011 Report showed that reducing social and economic inequalities within and among nations should help reduce environmental risks, while a failure to slow environmental deterioration will further widen social and economic inequalities around the world.
“This is also a matter of intergenerational equity,” said Khalid Malik, director of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office. “What we do today as a world community will determine what kind of societies and environment will be inherited by those who come after us, and their opportunities for further human development should not be restricted by our failure to make the right policy choices now.”
The Human Development Report has pioneered new approaches to measuring development since its introduction of the Human Development Index more than two decades ago, and participants at the Global Human Development Forum stressed the importance of continuing innovation in this area, at the Rio + 20 conference and beyond.
“We manage what we measure—and, in turn, what we measure affects what we do,” the Istanbul Declaration stated. “It is therefore vital that we measure progress towards sustainable development in a more comprehensive manner. Measures are required that go beyond GDP to capture a fuller picture of human development, and emphasize sustainable and equitable outcomes. We urge greater support for the work underway around the world, in the United Nations and elsewhere, to design and use more appropriate measures of progress, and for countries and communities to collect data accordingly.”
Commented Thakur Singh Powdyel, Bhutan’s Education Minister, who introduced the Declaration for adoption at the Forum today: “What we measure is what we value. We can’t steer a course without a reliable compass.” Among other featured speakers at the Global Human Development Forum were Tarja Halonen, the former President of Finland; Kandeh K. Yumkella, Director-General, United Nations Industrial Development Organization; Brian Atwood, Chair, OECD Development Assistance Committee; Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for Development Cooperation, Sweden; Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya, Minister of Planning, Kenya; Muhammed Asghar, President of the National University of Science and Technology of Pakistan; and Senator Cristovam Buarque of Brazil.
“In 2011 and so far in 2012, we have heard clear warnings from Nature that humanity is arrogantly pushing her boundaries, just as we have heard societies demanding human rights and justice, opportunities and decent jobs, affordable health care and energy access,” said Olav Kjorven, director of UNDP’s Bureau of Development Policy. “Responding successfully will require decision-makers from across the environmental, social and economic divides coming together to create the future we all want”.
[BAGLANTILAR]
Sustainable development is one of the top priorities for my second term. The world stands at a crossroads. We need everyone – government ministers and policy makers, business and civil society leaders, and young people – to work together to transform our economies… to place our societies on more just and equitable footing… and to protect the resources and ecosystems on which our shared future depends.
Connecting the dots between these issues -- between water, food and energy security, climate change, urbanization, poverty, inequality and the empowerment of the world’s women – lies at the heart of sustainable development. But it will take resolute will from all sectors of society.
Sustainable development recognizes that our economic, social and environmental objectives are not competing goals that must be traded off against each other, but are interconnected objectives that are most effectively pursued together in a holistic manner. We need an outcome from Rio+20 that reflects this understanding and that relates to the concerns of all.
The concept of human development originated in well-founded dissatisfaction with using only gross domestic product as a measure of human progress. Though this understanding has become something of a benchmark in our thinking about development, there remains a need to dramatically change the way we value and measure progress.
That is among the messages put forward by the just-issued report of my Global Sustainability Panel. And it is a message we should take to heart as Rio+20 approaches.
I look forward to the recommendations that will emanate from this forum, and I count on you to continue to champion them when you leave here.
I wish you a successful Forum.
Delivered by Rebeca Grynspan, Associate Administrator, United Nations Development Programme
[BAGLANTILAR]
The report, From Transition to Transformation: Sustainable and Inclusive Development in Europe and Central Asia, was launched at the first Global Human Development Forum which brought together high-level experts from governments, corporations, civil society and international organizations to examine the global policy changes required to ensure a sustainable future for people today and for generations to come.
The report finds that a sustainable economy can increase competiveness, and lower the incidence of cardiovascular and respiratory disease. It also demonstrates that removing harmful subsidies can create savings that can be used to increase equity.
“The more we postpone this transformation, the more it will cost,” writes Jan Kubis, Executive Director of the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe, and Kori Udovicki, UNDP Bureau Director for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States, in the foreword to the report.
“In the medium- and long-run, new lifestyles and production and consumption patterns will emerge. It is therefore wise to accelerate the transformation by taking incremental policy measures or, for low income countries, by bypassing outdated brown development altogether,” they write.
Eastern Europe and Central Asia is the only region of the world to see a large decline in carbon emissions over the past 20 years, while also experiencing the greatest increase in income inequality.
The report, supported by 13 U.N. agencies, calls for a transformation to integrated policy making, where social equity, economic growth and environmental protection are approached together.
The report finds that such a transformation is not only necessary but also possible —even in such a diverse region. It calls for:
The report is a contribution of governments, experts, researchers and development practitioners ahead of the ‘Rio+20’ U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development in June in Brazil where more than 110 heads of state, along with thousands of parliamentarians, mayors, UN officials, CEOs, and civil society leaders will come together to discuss and shape new policies and measures to promote prosperity, reduce poverty and advance social equity and environmental protection.
The “One Day on Earth” Project is a time capsule for the whole world to better understand itself. It strives to find out who people are as human beings as it is beneficial to the sustainability of humankind as a species.
The project is free and open to all people, cultures, creeds, and nationalities. It has been established to empower people’s voice. Every individual is given a chance to put something in the world's time capsule. Everyone has one day to document what matters most to them. It is a celebration of individual beliefs, expression and perspective.
“One Day on Earth” strives to connect people through both their differences and similarities to create and support future collaborations amongst participants. It aims to create a community that fosters communication.
The movie, which is created using only the footage recorded by people all around the world on October 10, 2010, will be shown in every country this Earth Day, on April 22.The screening in Turkey will take place in Istanbul Bilgi University.
Cihan Sultanoğlu is currently serving as the Director of Human Resources in UNDP’s Bureau of Management.
Prior to this, she served as Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Director, RBEC (2007-2010); UN Resident Co-ordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Belarus (2004-2007); UN Resident Co-ordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Lithuania (2000-2005); Deputy Resident Representative in Morocco (1995-2000); Deputy to the Director of the Office of the Administrator (1993-1995); Staffing Specialist for Junior Professional Officers (JPO), Division of Personnel (1988-1993); Recruitment Officer, Division of Personnel, (1986-1988); Administrative Officer, UNDP Malawi (1982-1985); Administrative Trainee, New York and Bangkok, UNDP (1981-1982); Research Assistant and Programme Director, Center for Sex Roles and Social Change, School of International Affairs, Columbia University, New York (1980-1981).
Ms. Sultanoğlu holds a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from the School of International Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University as well as a BA in Economics from Barnard College at Columbia University, New York.
UNDP’s Resident Representative Shahid Najam and representatives from UNDP International Centre for Private Sector in Development accompanied Grynspan during her visit.
After visiting the Dreams Academy facilities where different art classes and activities take place for supporting social inclusion of disabled women and men, Grynspan participated in the rhythm workshop. Here, a group of mentally disabled students organized a short rhythm and dance performance for their guests.
Grynpsan also participated in jazz dance and ballet workshop where a group of socially disadvantaged boys and girls continue rehearsals to perform Grease Musical. Grynspan and her co-workers were heartily welcomed by the young dancers and had a small conversation with the group.
Meeting with Programme Coordinator Sercan Duygan, Grynspan also received information on Best Buddies Programme, an international volunteer initiative implemented in Turkey by Alternative Life Association (Ayder).
Ercan Tutal, Founder of Ayder and Project Coordinator of Dreams Academy, provided information to the group about disability issue in Turkey.
Grynspan also visited a small photo exhibit within the building which showcased activities of Dreams Academy.
Lastly, a short meeting was held with Dreams Academy project team, where ongoing collaboration of Ayder and UNDP was presented and discussed in detail.
[BAGLANTILAR]
English subtitles were added to the Küre National Park introductory video.
The introductory videos were shot by Cengiz Tapan inside the national park on 11.11.11 for the 2011 International Year of Forests activities and One Day on Earth project.
The introductory videos have been uploaded to Küre Mountains National Park's channel on Vimeo and YouTube with embedded subtitles.
You can watch the other video on the following link:
5 meetings were held in Amasra, Bartın, Ulus, Pınarbaşı and Cide centers for effective participation of all related stakeholders that will take part in the management of Küre Mountains National Park. In these meetings, Küre Mountains National Park draft management plan was shared with local decision makers, government institutes, NGOs and villagers.
More than 200 people participated in these meetings. General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks, Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs 10th Regional Directorate officials and project management unit presented Küre Mountains National Park, PAN Parks process, management planning process in Turkey, Küre Mountains National Park draft management plan and draft zoning map.
After the presentations of draft management plan and zoning map, under the facilitation of experts and project management unit, participants’ views and recommendations were gathered and draft plan was discussed.
The results of these meetings will be reflected in the draft management plan to finalize it.
[BAGLANTILAR]
PAN Parks verification by independent international experts will be done at 17-21 April 2012. During this mission, experts will carry out fieldwork and discussions to make the last decision on PAN Parks certificate.
What the PAN Parks are
Protected Areas Network (PAN) Parks is a network of Protected Areas to protect Europe’s wilderness, the continent’s most undisturbed areas of nature. PAN Parks applies a truly integrated approach to mobilise sustainable tourism development for strengthening wilderness conservation.
PAN Parks quality standards have five main principles:
Principle 1 - Rich Natural Heritage: PAN Parks are large protected areas that ae representative of Europe’s natural heritage and the international importance for wildlife and ecosystems, having at least 10.000 ha wilderness area.
Principle 2 - Nature Management: Design and management of the PAN Parks aims to maintain and, if necessary, restore the area’s natural ecological process anf its biodiversity with the action listed in a management plan.
Principle 3 - Visitor Management: Visitor management safeguards the natural values of the PAN Parks and aims to provide visitors with a high-quality experience under a visitor management plan.
Principle 4 - Sustainable Tourism Strategy: The protected area authority ans its relavant partners in the PAN Parks region aim at achieving and synergy between nature conservation and Sustainable Tourism by developing and jointly implementing a Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy.
Principle 5 – Partnerships: The local business partners aim at offering high-quality tourism packages based on the appreciation of nature.
[BAGLANTILAR]
The Convention in Ankara aims to share experiences of the national gender equality machinery to overcome the challenges and enable full-fledged implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women CEDAW).
Celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Turkish Grand National Assembly Equal Opportunities Commission for Man and Woman, the Convention aims to develop dialogue and partnership amongst national gender equality machinery of different countries and exchange best practices and lessons learnt in the functioning of national gender equality and implementation of CEDAW.
The vitally significant issues of the role of national gender equality machinery for a more equal society, with particular emphasis on the countries and their coping strategies to fulfill the transformative role and full implementation of CEDAW will be also discussed in the Convention to be organized with kind presence of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The International Convention on Gender Equality is expected to host Melanne Verveer, Department of State Office of Global Women’s Issues, USA; Barbara Selden, Federal Ministry for Women and Civil Service, Austria; Chairpersons of the Equal Opportunities Commissions of Parliaments from various countries, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bahrain, Macedonia, Sweden, Costa Rica, Canada, Germany, Members of Parliaments; representatives from international community including different institutions of the United Nations; relevant public institutions, civil society organizations and academics.
The Convention hosted by Turkey is expected to establish a network between different national gender equality machineries to ensure a sustainable knowledge and experience sharing platform which is designed to discuss different issues on gender equality among international and national participants in three paralel sessions and three plenary sessions.
The Joint Programme, implemented with the cooperation of UNDP, UNIDO and ILO, aims to increase the competitiveness of textile and apparel industry.
Established in line with the Millennium Development Goals, the Joint Programme, “MDGF-2067 Harnessing Sustainable Linkages for SMEs in Turkey’s Textile Sector,” is implemented by Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporters Unions under the cooperation of the United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Industrial Development Organization and International Labor Organization. Kahramanmaraş Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the regional coordinator, as well as the local executive of the Joint Programme. MDGF-2067 aims to increase the international competitivness of the SMEs in textile sector as they remain a part of the national and international value chains. Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman, Gaziantep and Malatya are the pilot provinces of the Joint Programme.
It is expected that the wide-ranging activities of the Joint Programme, concentrated mainly in Kahramanmaraş, Adıyaman, Gaziantep and Malatya, raise the level of competitiveness of the textile and apparel industry, which is vital for the economic development of these provinces.
The meeting has been organized in the context of the Strengthening the System of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas of Turkey Project.
The sustainable and environmentally-friendly activities for Muğla SEPAs were outlined and the business development activities were explained in the “The Assessment of the Sustainable and Environmentally-Friendly Activities in the Project Sites Workshop”.
The results of the “Socio-Economic Overview and new Income Generating Activities Analysis in the Project Sites” and the “Economic Analysis of Gökova SEPA” were also unveiled in the workshop.
The socio-economic studies were conducted in Gökova and Datça-Bozburun SEPAs.
The fishery should be monitored
In the research reports, it was stated that the monitoring system should be launched to collect the data, which are required for fishery management.
It was also underlined that the socio-economic characteristics of fishery should be known and monitored.
Micro-credit for women’s contribution
It was reported that there is no any fishery based micro-credit implementation in Gökova and Datça-Bozburun SEPAs and the conditions for micro-credit implementations required to be further studied.
It was underlined that the efforts to strengthen the small-scale fishery and family-business type fishery can be beneficial. “The studies should be made for the micro-credit implementations for women to contribute fishery activities” is stated in the report.
Ankara, April 2012- The play was presented at Akatlar Culture Center of the Municipality of Beşiktaş.
It was performed by the students and volunteer trainers of Dreams Academy to raise awareness for different kinds of disabilities.
The play, a new output of Dreams Academy, was performed for the first time on March 27.
All profit from this campaign will be donated this project.
Argande is named after the only goddess of the Komagene Kingdom that reigned over the region of Mesopotamia.
The trademark Argande, developed under the Innovations for Improving the Women of GAP Region project, is advancing under Hatice Gökçe’s coordination and with the support of pioneering designers of Turkey.
Argande apparel is designed by famous designers such as Hakan Yıldırım, Gamze Saraçoğlu, Özgür Masur, Simay Bülbül, Mehtap Elaidi, Zeynep Tosun, Günseli Türkay, Gül Ağış and Rojin Aslı Polat.
Women of Southeast Anatolia region produce these designs using special Anatolian fabrics, such as the organic “Kutnu” fabric, and uniquely Anatolian patterns.
All profit from sales is also donated for the continuation of the project.
The lecture mainly focused on volunteering and its impacts around the world. This lecture was realized as to give an insight about volunteering, in addition to inspire these young artists for a competition, which will be held in April.
As the theme of the competition will be about volunteering, sustainability and environment, this lecture had a particular importance for the attendants. Hakan Yurdadoğan, instructor of the art and culture course, underlined the fact that not many students know and understand what volunteering is about and without understanding the theme itself creating an artwork to express ones inner world can become an excruciatingly hard task.
In this competition students are expected to create life size sculptures. Their work will be one of a kind as it will be the first examples of art focusing on volunteering.
Over the last decade, globally, tangible progress on many fronts related to gender equality has been recorded. Life expectancy and fertility rates have improved. More girls are enrolled in primary education. More women are benefiting from economic development.
However, several global malice, including violence, discrimination, poverty, and hunger continue to victimize women.
Women’s economic self-reliance may offer pathways out of societal constraints and domestic abuse and subjugation.
However, violence against women has been on the increase even in countries where women have achieved financial independence and high social status. That forces many successful women to lead double lives. In public they are regarded as role models among the top echelons of society. In private they are humiliated and attacked.
As we mark March 8 International Women’s Day, global statistics, demonstrate that to turn the tide of violence and discrimination, a collaborated and dedicated effort by all international, national and local leaders, including decision makers, NGOs, and academia is required.
Global statistics testify that more efforts should be exerted for the empowerment of women
In Turkey, despite many gains, there are areas that still require improvement to achieve empowerment of women
United Nations agencies in Turkey are working with the government, NGOs and media to empower women and for gender equality
The way forward: Gender equality
In Turkey, throughout the years, a lot has been achieved to empower women. And, the United Nations, by working together with government agencies, the private sector, NGOs and, the media, is helping to reach nationally established goals.
The United Nations’ efforts also continue globally. We know that achieving gender equality and empowering women is a global goal in itself. It is also a condition for building healthier, better educated, and more peaceful and prosperous societies. When women are fully empowered and engaged, all of society benefits. Only in this way can we successfully take on the enormous challenges confronting our world.
Together we can change this world toward the world we want, a world better for all.
Number of association members has increased from 48 to 1026 in a year, due to various incentives provided to dairy sector beneficiaries in the scope of Dairy Strategic Investment Plan, resulting with a great success for Sivas.
Sivas Erzincan Development Project, in which UNDP is an implementing partner, has been a stimulus for local farmers to venture into dairy cattle breeding, since milk productivity and marketability in Sivas region has significantly increased via a series of dairy sector investments.
Artificial insemination programme
In the scope of the programme, 8,350 doses of bull semen have been procured and injected to 4,050 cows for 500 members of SCBA.
Artificial insemination of cows significantly reduces the rates of abortion and decreases mortality of calves.
In economic terms, artificial insemination supports the sustainability of milk production by helping lactation period of cows extend over 12 months.
Milk collecting organization
For an effective milk collection and cooling, as a pilot project for Sivas, members of SCBA were provided with 4 on-vehicle milk carrying tanks with 3,000 liters capacity, 22 milk cooling tanks with 15,000 liters capacity, installed to various locations in Sivas where milk production is promising.
As a second phase of the organization, deployment of 37 additional milk cooling tanks is about to finalize in 2012.
Construction of modern cattle barns
In the scope of Dairy Strategic Investment Plan, 58 modern semi-open barns with free-stop have been constructed in Sivas.
Likewise, 6 existing barns were restored within the same scope. Construction of 13 barns in Sivas is also on the way.
In addition to the above mentioned activities, practice of concentrated fodder, installment of cattle troughs, purchasing of various milking equipment and agricultural machines for the advantage of Association members have contributed to the effectiveness of Dairy Grants Programme in general.
With the help of those investments, the amount of milk that is collected by the Association has increased from 14 tons to 55-60 tons per day in summer time, from 2 tons to 14-15 tons per day in winter time in average.
As records of the Association reports, there is also 25-30 percent increase in milk yield as an average after the implementation of the project.
Milk prices
The increasing productivity of milk has been reflected in milk prices as well: the milk price has increased from 0,43 liras to 0,74-0,80 liras per liter as of 2012; corresponding to a 72-86 percent increase in milk prices before and after the implementation of Dairy Strategic Investment Plan in Sivas.
In addition to the increase of milk productivity, these figures also denote a significant improvement in the marketability of milk in Sivas.
The rise in milk prices reflects the increasing interest of milk dealers towards the milk produced in the region.
This interest is grounded to a high-quality and regular milk production, peaked not only during high season but extended to a whole year.
These investments have helped marketing groups formed/strengthened in the region.
As the producers have increased their profits, they have been encouraged to invest more in dairy production.
The Association has signed yearly contract with the processing companies on behalf of their members which has also provided assurance to the producers for the sustainability of their activities.
Since the lactation period of cows has been spreading for 12 months in a year by the way of artificial insemination programme, farmers have started to provide milk continuously to the processing companies.
That means in overall the target of the Dairy Strategic Investment Plan is met in Sivas.
This programme will contribute to corporate capacity building in the field of clustering. Strategically important key local stakeholders will undergo this training on the issue of increasing competitiveness and the number of sectors already in forefront that have a potential to grow.
Trainings on “Clustering” and on the “Relation between Sectorial Developing and Competitiveness” were given by two internationally experienced experts. So we asked experts about the meaning of “clustering,” a term frequently used in recent years, and what is being done in Antalya.
Can you tell us about who you are?
Ümit Evren - I am a food engineer with a master’s degree on HR Management. The engineering formation along with a degree on social sciences topped with international NGO experience helped me develop a different viewpoint on my own career. After working at manufacturing industry for a while upon graduation, I found myself willing to create a larger impact and started to get involved with entrepreneurship, SME and sector development projects. I was involved with many projects related with SME development and clustering carried out in various regions of Turkey since 2008. Nearly 20 years of experience on working with private sector, public institutions and NGOs surely helps understanding the perspective and dynamics of different economic actors. In addition, experience in economic development projects contributes to understanding the importance of activating and effectively using all kinds of resources available.
Ifor Ffowcs-Williams: I am a New Zealander and have been working on cluster development for 20 years. This work has taken me to 45 + countries around the world.
What does clustering mean?
Prof. Porter from Harvard University defines cluster as; “a geographically proximate group of interconnected companies and associated institutions in a particular field, linked by commonalities and complementarities”. In this sense, clustering is the organized efforts for bringing interconnected companies and associated institutions for moving forward together to improve overall efficiency for the aim of contributing to the development of local economy.
What exactly you are doing in Antalya?
Our mission in Antalya mainly involves raising awareness for clustering as an appropriate approach for economic development and job creation, and training potential cluster facilitators from institutions related with the pilot clusters.
What are you aiming at with this work?
Our main aim is to bring clustering to the short-term agenda for the economic development of the province. Our specific objective in this relatively short term mission is to prepare the grounds for effective cluster development in Antalya.
Why it is important?
Economic and social development can only be achieved by collaborative efforts and by bottom-up approach in every sense. Clustering stimulates collaboration among different firms, institutions, and NGOs to move towards shared vision by activating and effectively using different kinds of resources.
What did you do so far?
We have visited the institutions that are interrelated with the pilot clusters, raised awareness on clustering and trained potential cluster facilitators in the region.
What are the conditions that make Antalya suitable for this kind work?
In every province/region, certain sectors flourish in natural process, and clustering is about improving and speeding the natural development through bringing forces and resources together. Therefore; clustering can be and should be carried out in every province/region for their own specialisation. Antalya has suitable natural and economic conditions for each of the four pilot clusters. Climate, long season, accumulated knowledge, availability of supporting industries are only a few common examples. The sector scan (carried out in November 2010) has in-depth analysis of the conditions that make Antalya suitable for each cluster.
Who are the local actors involve in the process?
İŞKUR is the project beneficiary. Public institutions, business associations, education and research institutes are the actors involved in the process. BAKA, ATSO, BATEM, TSÜAB, SBİB, ASBIAD, Free Trade Zone, Governorate, Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, KOSGEB, Akdeniz University and Teknokent are some of the actors involved.
What exactly you hope to achieve?
We hope that organized clustering efforts start for the pilot clusters and with the lessons learned from the pilots, the efforts continue in other local clusters, other regions or provinces.
How can we say that the activity actually works?
The overall aim of clustering is to contribute to the economic development by increasing the competitiveness of individual firms and it is not a sole remedy - the complementary factors should be in place as well. Therefore; the first and ultimate success indicator is the improved competitive power of the firms, but this can only be observed in the long term and many other factors can affect the result as well. The following can be more specific indicators: improved collaboration among local actors, more effective use of local resources (knowledge, social capital, financial and human resources, etc.), recognition in the international market, increased revenue (especially export revenues) and employment.
Tell us more about the things you’ll prepare.
We are currently working on a Cluster Development Business Plan for BAKA, and a Guideline for İŞKUR on how to integrate employment generation / management policies with clustering initiatives.
Following Adana, Gebze, Eskişehir, Samsun and Gaziantep another seminar was held at Antalya chamber of Commerce and Industry on March 9.
Bayrampaşa Rotary Club President Semra Baysan and Kuruçeşme Rotary Club President Attorney Ulya Selçuk explained the concept of corporate responsibility to participants.
Representatives of local municipalities and managers of producing SMEs took part in the seminar.
In the second part of the seminar, Attorney Ulya Selçuk, trainer, talked about the terms and advantages of the Global Compact.
Corporate Responsibility for a Sustainably Competitive Turkey Project, aims to ensure that SMEs in Anatolia include social responsibility principles to their working process.
The project is comprised of the following phases: Corporate Responsibility (CR), Sustainable Awareness Workshops; CR Situation Assessment and Analysis; CR Strategy Developing and Resolution Generating Seminar; and Communication and Inclusion to International Networks.
The training program is provided to establishments in Anatolia free-of-charge.
Among the targets set to be achieved until April 2013 are organizing 100 CR trainings in 81 provinces of Turkey, 50 of them being in Marmara region, and making sure that the SMEs, important actors in Turkey’s development process, include CR principles to their governance plans at the end of the project and sign the Global Compact.
The impact of economic crises on income distribution and poverty, as well as measuring poverty were among the topics discussed at the conference.
While the conference touched upon new approaches to measuring poverty, poverty in terms of income and time were also debated.
Experts, conducting research on the topic and working on policies and strategies to combat poverty, participated in the conference.
The conference was jointly organized by Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences Department of Economics, Women’s Studies Center (KASAUM), Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, Union of Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences graduates (Mülkiyeliler Birliği), UNDP Turkey and Levy Institute of New York.
For more information, please click here.
In this part we talk about the planned cooperation between UNV (United Nations Volunteers) and the Flying Broom Women Communication and Research Association.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. In this episode, we will talk about the activities being carried out by United Nations Volunteers (UNV) and the Flying Broom Women Communication and Research Association. The Flying Broom Womens Communication and Research Association carries out a lot of projects in a wide range of areas including women’s image in the media. Today, we have two different contributors from this association: Selen Doğan, the Flying Broom’s Editor and Coordinator of Local Volunteer Women Reporters Network, welcome!
Selen Doğan (S.D.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: And Ceren Kocaman, the Flying Broom’s Coordinator of Volunteers, is here with us. Welcome.
Ceren Kocaman (C.K.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: First of all, before talking about what you have planned with United Nations Volunteers (UNV) let’s talk about you, if you like. We might have heard about the Flying Broom Association, but how many of us are aware of what you are doing, this is open to discussion. If you wish, you can tell us about the association starting with its upcoming events. It is April now, and the Flying Broom is organizing a notable festival in May. Could you please give us some information about this festival?
C.K.: Of course. The Flying Broom has been organizing International Women’s Film Festivals for the last 15 years. This year, the Flying Broom International Women’s Film Festival will celebrate its 15th anniversary. This is very important for us. Carrying this film festival on in Ankara, where cultural and art activities are very limited, plus it being a women’s film festival, make this a very important thing for us.
UNDP Turkey: So, it has been organized for 15 years running.
C.K.: Yes, for 15 years in a row. So, what do we do in this festival? We hold film screenings of full-length films, short films, documentaries and animated films shot by female directors. As a matter of principle, we don’t hold any competition among women, but there is this Fipresci Prize awarded by international film critics. This is the only women’s film festival in the world where the Fipresci prize is awarded.
UNDP Turkey: It sounds great; let me underline this once again. The Fipresci Prize is awarded at this women’s film festival organized by you. The festival will take place in May, in Ankara. By the way, when we say women’s films, we are not only talking about women-themed films, but that the films shot by women directors.
C.K.: Yes, the interesting thing in the festival is to see everyday life through the eyes of women. Here, the main objective is to make women’s work visible in the cinema industry.
UNDP Turkey: At this very moment, you do not have a finalised programme but we do know that some important films will be screened at this festival. For those who are interested in this festival, your website is ucansupurge.org, isn’t it?
C.K.: Yes.
UNDP Turkey: They can obtain information about the festival from that website. Now, let’s talk about volunteerism. What is the role of volunteers in the Flying Broom Women Communication and Research Association?
S.D.: This is a very important role because we, as a womens communication and research association, have limited time and resources. Our staff is also made up of a limited number of people. Therefore it is impossible for our staff to get through it all. At this point, volunteers step in and they take the load off our shoulders. We do not only refer to their contribution to daily functioning and some physical activities. We also get volunteer support from academicians. They offer consultancy services for us. We have a consultative committee during the festival and they enrich us with their precious views and ideas. They open up our horizons with their ideas. There are also high school students, university students and female and male grown-ups. They support us voluntarily, too. All these people are very important because they have a complementary role with their contributions. Because when you are working in a certain field, you cannot do everything in that field. There may be inconveniences; your time, energy and pace can be insufficient. At this point, volunteers are very important. Furthermore, they bring in new vision. Because when you are working on the same project all the time, you do not recognize your faults or you start drawing circles around the same topic. Getting an outside opinion is quite valuable.
UNDP Turkey: It is a great contribution. Now, let me get back to Ceren Kocaman, the Flying Broom’s Coordinator of Volunteers. As we all know, the most important fields of activity, or the most challenging areas for associations are finding a source of financing and secondly, human resources. Namely, forming volunteer teams… Because professional staff run the business with a very limited budget. So, is it hard to coordinate the volunteers? What kind of work is this?
C.K.: It is quite hard to coordinate volunteers. As Selen mentioned before, we have very limited resources in the office, our staff are made up of a limited number of people and there is always a lot to do. Thus, volunteers play a key role for us. Coordinating them is hard because everybody in the office wants to devote their time to each and every one of them and to express their gratitude. To make it possible, we should get organized and proceed with a good plan. That was how we got to know UNV. They began supporting us and we created our first connection in this way. We started out with the thought of how to ensure better volunteer coordination. We shared our ideas. Then we discussed how to conduct this business more professionally. Thus, this is a difficult field but the result is satisfying. I know it too since I am a volunteer as well. Selen may explain it better.
S.D.: Yes, I have such a background in the association, too. Both of us were volunteers and then we started to work in the permanent staff. Of course, everyone has different capabilities, needs and expectations. There may be hundreds of people around you and you have to arrive at a consensus with them all. This is quite difficult.
UNDP Turkey: The Flying Broom is a womens association. Are women more likely to volunteer than men?
S.D.: There are men as well. But yes, there are more women.
UNDP Turkey: What are their motivations? You can also give your own examples from your life.
C.K.: Mostly, they are interested in women’s rights. They may have disturbing problems in their lives and they hear about us. Both for festivals and other projects, they come to us and tell us about their willingness to make a contribution. This is priceless because it diversifies our work.
S.D.: Well, there is a song: “We gotta do something.” That is our motivation, we should do something.
UNDP Turkey: For instance, I would like to join your association. How can I apply? All the relevant information is on your website, right?
C.K.: Yes, there is. Apart from that, we send you a volunteerism form when you apply. We have a network where we inform volunteers regularly. We are trying to maintain it and when we need their help, we want them to get back to us. So, there is a system of mutual benefit.
UNDP Turkey: A reciprocation… Once again, your website is ucansupurge.org. United Nations Volunteers (UNV) mobilized many volunteers for gender-oriented projects in 8 UN institutions in 26 different countries. We should highlight that this United Nations institution is quite new and it would like to work with you because they have a lot of common goals. Though you have been working on some projects, you haven’t issued any together. I suppose that we will see more concrete steps taken by these two institutions in the following years. We have two more minutes. Let’s talk about Local Women Reporters Network. You are also carrying about some projects on improving women’s visibility and the image of women in the media. Ms. Selen, I know that you work on this subject. You are a communicator, journalist and editor in the association. What kind of an analysis do you do?
S.D.: Yes, I have been a witness, an employee and editor of Local Women Reporters Network since 2003. I have been through the whole process. This was one of the best organizational activities within The Flying Broom. This network still continues. We call for women on our website. We inform them about the fact that they can also make their own news. Because we know that we, as women, are not equally represented in the mainstream media. There are a lot of violations, violence and discrimination cases. Therefore, this network exists as a womens media. Everything can be a part of news, everything about women’s lives. We receive applications from everywhere in Turkey and we have over 500 voluntary women reporters.
UNDP Turkey: Great! They don’t have to be professional journalists.
S.D.: None of them has to be so. We don’t have any criterion for this work. They don’t have to be students or sector employees. They should be literate and should see things through a woman’s perspective. Among our reporters, there are retired bank employees, high school students and activists. A various profile. They become active slowly. Unfortunately, not all of them can produce news easily but they do so gradually. We are preparing some online courses to mobilize them. So we will equalize the information available for everyone, strengthen this network by keeping in touch with all of our reporters.
UNDP Turkey: Then, let us call for everyone who is interested in journalism and women’s problems, and who feels uncomfortable with women’s problems and would like to talk about them. They have an opportunity: Local Women Reporters Network. They can apply on the website, ucansupurge.org. Thank you very much, Selen Doğan and Ceren Kocaman from The Flying Broom Association.
S.D.: Thanks a lot.
C.K.: Thanks!
UNDP Turkey: We have come to the end of this episode of the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This program has been recorded at the studios of Radyo İlef of Ankara University Communications Department. You can follow our program on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency, on university radios in our broadcasting network, on iTunes under podcasts and on undp.org.tr. Our username for social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you next week, goodbye!
This week, we ask if ecotourism is possible in Eastern Anatolia and we will hear the answer from our contributors. In fact we will witness a success story from Çoruh Valley, Erzurum.
UNDP Türkiye: New Horizons (N.H.): Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of the United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This week we will be asking whether ecotourism is possible in eastern Anatolia and hear the answer from our contributors. We will hear a success story of ecotourism in Çoruh Valley, Erzurum. Our contributors today are Prof. Erol Çakmak from the Department of Economics at Atatürk University, and he is also a consultant for the Development of Tourism in Eastern Anatolia Project (DTEAP), welcome!
Erol Çakmak (Er. Ç.): Hello.
UNDP Türkiye: Egemen Çakır, welcome to you as well.
Egemen Çakır (Eg. Ç.): Hello.
UNDP Türkiye: You are the Project Field Manager; you are also from Erzurum, joining our program. The DTEAP Project, the Development of Tourism in Eastern Anatolia project, Mr. Egemen. I want to start from the end of this project. The project of course has a back story, a story that goes back perhaps 10 years, but what point are we at now with the project In Eastern Anatolia, in your projects' region in Çoruh Valley in Erzurum, has ecotourism developed?
Eg.Ç.: Yes, we have created opportunities for ecotourism in Çoruh Valley. At the moment in an area that had no accommodation facilities, we take in at least 1,000 people for a night during the year. And our guests return with an almost 100% satisfaction rate.
UNDP Türkiye: They are mostly guesthouses, aren’t they?
Eg.Ç.: Exactly, in people’s guesthouses. So for example 2 rooms, 3 rooms, 5 rooms, whatever they have available, people open their homes for guests, and we think this is very important for local development. Alongside this, we also have nearly 30,000 daily visitors that come to see the Tortum Waterfall and the Tortum Lake. Because of these daily visitors we also put on education sessions for local business owners and we made efforts to help develop opportunities for local businesses.
UNDP Türkiye: The natural beauty and the cultural values are the things that attract visitors, don’t they? You mentioned the waterfall in the Tortum Valley, but the area also has cultural values that have been put on our maps now.
Eg.Ç.: Yes, we have in our inventory the Öşvank Monastery and its historical artifacts, and also the Haho Church, we have historical mosques and we have side projects that restore these historic places. These projects are ongoing. In our brochures, our inventory and in the latest phase, at fairs, we are finding ways to promote ourselves internationally and are using these opportunities to our advantage.
UNDP Türkiye: In that case, we talk about ecotourism being active in this area of Çoruh Valley. I would like to ask you now, Mr. Erol Çakmak. Let’s talk about the story behind this project. How did it come about? You produced a map, which shows your resources and what you need still. Could you talk about that for us?
Er.Ç.: Yes of course. These are all part of the Development of Tourism in Eastern Anatolia project. Also known as DTEAP, it is a human development project that has come about from the cooperation of UNDP and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, with the support of Efes Pilsen. Within this project, first and foremost is the development of alternative tourism, readying Çoruh Valley for the arrival of ecotourism and raising the living standards and quality of life of the local residents. To reach this aim we had three main goals and applied ourselves to achieving these. The first of these aims was to assess the resources we had for tourism and produce an inventory of these. The second was to then use this inventory to develop tourism products. I will put it like this, because tourism is a service industry, and the service industry has a broad scale. For these tourism products to develop, we have to develop the capacity of the area, the workforce, the knowledge and skills of these people. So we have to develop the human capital there.
UNDP Türkiye: So now can see why an economist has been chosen as the consultant on this tourism project. Actually, the point of view is that tourism can be used as a way to support development.
Er.Ç.: Yes, definitely. This is a project aimed at local development. For this project to be a success we had to promote the region as well. For this, we used the inventory that we had collected and produced promotional material, and then used this to promote the region to the target markets and target audience. Of course this was not enough. For this project to succeed we needed to develop the local capacity and sense of appropriation of the local populace, and then to ready the local actors of the project in time. In this frame of the main strategy of this project we especially with the local Uzundere Municipality –
UNDP Türkiye: By the time this project ends, it’s very important for you to make sure that the resources and the local population is mobilized and they have a sense of ownership over the project. Mr. Egemen, I would like to return to you at this point. Of course this project can be seen as an extension of the Eastern Anatolia Development Program (EADP). This program also had three components: rural development, tourism and another component, and so to have such a result that comes under this tourism component we can say that this program has also been in the background of your project. We heard from the professor about the determining of resources, the drawing of a map, the analysis of resources and needs, what happened next? We are talking specifically about the district of Uzundere when we talk about Çoruh Valley. What kind of mobilization has there been in Uzundere district? Could you tell us about the training, about that period of time?
Eg.Ç.: The latest phase of education has been about gastronomy and local foods, and how the value of these can be increased.
UNDP Türkiye: For visitors to be able to try local delicacies there must be some kind of training needed?
Eg.Ç.: Yes. Eastern Anatolia has a Mediterranean climate and it is also a historical transit path, so they have a lot of different produce available. We have also been educating people on how to run a guesthouse, how to keep it clean and the importance of hygiene in restaurants. We have educated people on the importance of bird watching and raised awareness of this. We have educated people on ceramic works. There was no traditional souvenir of the area. We undertook activities to find out local motifs and using local products –
UNDP Türkiye: As motifs, if anyone listening has been to the area they will know, that the area has its native birds of prey doesn’t it? What is the most important one of these?
Eg.Ç.: The golden eagle.
UNDP Türkiye: We notice the motifs including the golden eagle, and places such as the Öşvank Monastery and Georgian churches, on souvenirs and ceramics. This is why education on ceramic production has been included in this project. Let’s talk about your collaborators apart from the UN Development Program, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is of course involved, Efes Pilsen is involved and as the project field manager you are working with local cooperatives and associations such as Uzundere District. Let’s talk about other projects that you have going on particular to this region.
Eg.Ç: In Uzundere, we have the Uzkader association and the Uzundere Association for the Support of Women’s Work. There is also a new cooperative that has just been founded called Uzetik, it supports a model for development which combines the municipalities work and civil society organizations efforts, and also efforts to support sustainability are continuing.
UNDP Türkiye: You mentioned sustainability; I would like to ask you Prof. Erol about this.
Er.Ç.: Above all else, we had aimed to develop the local capacity and with the activities of this project encourage locals to mobilize in the area. For us, we began with civil society organizations found in Uzundere Municipality such as the Uzundere Association for the Support of Women’s Work, Uzundere Nature Sports Club Association and Uzundere Uzetik Cooperative, another important actor in development is Uzundere Prefecture, and we created further capacity in the civil society and private sectors. These organizations were able to secure financing projects with our help. Northeastern Anatolia Development Agency has presented different projects and program to the value of nearly 2 million TL, and these have been accepted. Some of them have already begun, and some of them are going to begin soon.
UNDP Türkiye: So as this project of the DTEAP comes to an end, the funds given by the Development Agency will ensure that other projects continue. When you visit the region now, you can participate in trekking, rafting and bird watching. You mentioned a lot of different elements in the beginning as well: reducing poverty, to eliminate differences between regions, and we have been talking about this project that does this by utilizing tourism. The DTEAP project, datur.com, coruhvadisi.com you can find more info here. Erzurum may be far away, you may not have heard of Uzundere District, but everyone knows about this project when you mention Çoruh Valley. We spoke to the champions of this project today. My contributors today were Prof. Erol Çakmak from the Department of Economics at Atatürk University, and a consultant for the Development of Tourism in Eastern Anatolia Project (DTEAP), and also Egemen Çakır who is the field project coordinator. We have come to the end of this episode of the New Horizons Podcast of the United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This program has been recorded at the studios of Radyo İlef of Ankara University Communications Department. You can follow our program on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency, on university radios in our broadcasting network, on iTunes under podcasts and on undp.org.tr. Our username for social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you next week, good bye!
In this episode, we will discuss with our contributor the concept of inclusive markets, which is a description of a body of six countries, including Turkey, and our contributor will enlighten us further about what it actually means.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. In this episode, we will talk about the concept of inclusive markets, which encompasses a description of a body of six countries, including Turkey, of Southeast Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States region. The body covers other regions as well. We will ask our contributor what this means and what inclusive markets are. Today we welcome Mr. Gökhan Dikmener, United Nations Development Program Inclusive Markets Region Coordinator. Hello, Mr. Dikmener.
Gökhan Dikmener (G.D.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: Let me start with the first question. What are inclusive markets?
G.D.: I would like to start with a definition of inclusive markets. We can then proceed with extending that definition. Inclusive markets bring together disadvantaged groups as customers on the demand side, and hardworking entrepreneurs from different levels of the value chain on the supply side. So it is a two-way body. To give a simpler definition, we can say that inclusive markets produce with the poor, for the poor.
UNDP Turkey: By disadvantaged, we mean the poorer segment of society in this case.
G.D.: The disadvantaged group is comprised firstly of poor people. And those who can’t have…
UNDP Turkey: And then young people, women and even disabled people…
G.D.: Yes, it is important to include disabled people as well. The disadvantaged group is comprised of people who dont have access to goods and services, and those to whom these are not made available.
UNDP Turkey: So this is a business model aiming to make these people productive and to raise their living standards and purchasing power to turn them into buyers and customers from a demand outlook. We are talking about a program based on supporting this initiative. So which regions does this initiative focus on? Turkey is included in the region I just cited, but which regions does it cover especially?
G.D.: This is a global UNDP initiative. UNDP has three global private sector initiatives. The first one is the Inclusive Markets programme, which is the one we just mentioned. The second one is Growing Inclusive Markets programme, which is our research and advocacy movement. We are aiming to show that it is lucrative to develop business with the poor and to produce services oriented towards them by giving examples of companies that have succeeded in this way, so that more companies and entrepreneurs become active in this area. Additionally, we have a programme called ‘business call to action’, especially targeting multinational companies. We advertise, follow and report the results in this field and share them with a wider audience.
UNDP Turkey: So we are talking about a business model still being developed and brought to maturity, right? In the meantime, it is also very important to share the success stories in this field. Since we made a definition, now can you give one or two examples about how this initiative will be put into practice? What sort of a business model should be developed to establish an inclusive market?
G.D.: First of all when we say inclusive markets or inclusive business models, we don’t have any restrictions regarding goods, sectors or services. We are trying to facilitate the disadvantaged groups’ access to goods and services. At the same time, we are trying to help make the goods they produce available in the market. In this way, we decrease the cost and increase the quality of the goods and services they use, so that their lives get better. In addition, by ensuring that the goods they consume reach the market in a better way, we make sure that they gain more and that this reflects positively to their lives. Now, I will give examples of both these groups. At the basis of this concept lies a business model we call the bottom of the pyramid. The author of this model is strategy professor Prahalad. His work in this field started with an article he co-wrote with Stuart L. in 1994.
UNDP Turkey: What does ‘bottom of the pyramid’ mean?
G.D.: To explain what it means, we can say that the bottom of the pyramid stands for the most crowded group of people with an income of less than 2 dollars a day. There are different ways of grouping them but, according to the most far-extending grouping, 4 billion people live at the bottom of the pyramid. Most of the economic activities we observe now target the 2 billion people at the top of the pyramid. The remaining 4 billion people are neglected and ignored in all these economic activities. And the goods they produce can’t reach the market in appropriate conditions. Therefore, there are two different worlds in the economic sense. One of them is completely neglected, while goods and services are developed for the other. But we are working to ensure that the bottom group has access to these services as well. This started off as a realization that the poor, firstly regarded as consumers, should have access to the goods and services produced by what we call multinational companies. Then after a few criticisms, the concept was redesigned and became an objective to ensure that the goods they produce reach the market, from which stemmed business models oriented towards the bottom of the pyramid. So this initiative is one of them.
UNDP Turkey: We have talked about business models in an abstract manner. Is it possible for you to give some concrete examples?
G.D.: One of the most well known examples in this field is the emergence of the concept of mobile money as a result of widespread use of cell phones. As many of you know, in most regions of Africa settlement is dispersed to a great extent. Therefore, it is not possible for a financial establishment to operate there. You need to walk quite a few kilometers to make a very small money transfer. When someone in your family sends you money, you will maybe walk for 20 km to get it and on your way back this money will constitute a very serious safety risk. And when you finally come back safely, you will have no place to spend or to securely store this money. What has widespread use of cell phones brought? It facilitated easy money transfer between individuals. It works just like the way we transfer credit between cell phones in Turkey. In this way, people living in any village in Africa can receive money without having to go anywhere and meet their needs at a nearby supermarket or convenience store.
UNDP Turkey: So we are talking about solutions that touch people’s lives in a practical manner. At the same time, it is possible to say that the private sector’s role in development has become indispensible from a philosophical point of view. The experts you mentioned have developed this model and now others are building on it. If the private sector is indispensible and is a fact of our world today, how can we integrate it into development? Here are models developed by experts who have pondered upon this question. In the case of Turkey, United Nations Development Program has a partner: Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA). It will be useful to consider this partnership a little bit.
G.D.: This regional project we touched upon started in 2009. The region we are talking about here is southeast Europe and the countries of CIS. We started a project in this region to extend the implementation of the business models we mentioned, to increase their popularity and to implement new models. The project had two outputs. The first is sharing these types of business models from the region. This falls under the scope of Growing Inclusive Markets that we talked about. We collected 20 cases from this region, being southeast Europe and the countries of CIS, and shared some exemplary ones. One of them is from our country: Hey Tekstil. You can find the case study of Hey Tekstil on our website.
UNDP Turkey: Let me give the address of your website. It is iicpsd.org or www.growinginclusivemarkets.org. You can reach the business models we covered here, including Hey Tekstil’s from Turkey, from these websites. You didn’t stop there and wrote a publication on social entrepreneurship, which will be published shortly under Bilgi University. This publication also includes some examples of social entrepreneurship about Growing Inclusive Markets from Turkey, right?
G.D.: We approached social entrepreneurship as a subset of inclusive markets. As you know social entrepreneurs, too, work to facilitate the disadvantaged groups’ access to goods and services. We selected 5 social entrepreneurs who fit this description because their activities in Turkey are quite popular and since the concept of social entrepreneurship is new to Turkey, we want it to be understood correctly, and we thought these 5 social entrepreneurs would be good examples as sources of inspiration to beginners. Each one of them are large, well known organizations. Also, we developed a methodology as a part of this process. Collecting and analyzing case samples is normally a very long process that requires hard work.
UNDP Turkey: How do you write a success story? Yes, the story is about succeeding but how can that success repeat itself, how can it become a story? I guess that is what you are telling.
G.D.: Yes, exactly. If you think of this as a recipe, at certain points intervention becomes critical. We need to identify those points. When you listen to a story, you can identify some of them but not always. The important aspect of this case analysis is to gather the lessons to be learned in the most appropriate way and this should be accomplished through a methodology.
UNDP Turkey: Underlining the essential, analyzing the data accordingly and writing success stories depending on the data analysis constitute one of the objectives of our initiative. We tried to paint a picture of social entrepreneurship in the best possible way and to answer the question of ‘what are Growing Inclusive Markets?’ Our time is up. Thank you Mr. Gökhan Dikmener, UNDP Inclusive Markets Coordinator for Southeast Europe and countries of CIS, for your contribution. We have come to the end of this episode of the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This program has been recorded at the studios of Radyo İlef of Ankara University Communications Department. You can follow our program on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency, on university radios in our broadcasting network, on iTunes under podcasts and on undp.org.tr. Our username for social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you next week, good-bye!
This week, we will talk about UNDP’s Istanbul International Centre for Private Sector in Development which has been inaugurated exactly one year ago. Why this centre has been formed in Istanbul, what the targets are, which works are carried out, we discuss these issues with our contributor.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is New Horizons Podcast of the United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This week we will be talking about UNDP Istanbul International Centre for Private Sector in Development. Why was it founded in Istanbul, what are its aims and what progress has it made? We will discuss these questions and more with our contributor. Our contributor today is Hansın Doğan, the Deputy Director (a.i.) of UNDP Istanbul International Centre for Private Sector in Development and also the program manager of the UNDP Private Sector Program. Welcome.
Hansın Doğan (H.D.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: Now before we start talking about this new centre, which just celebrated its first year anniversary last week, let’s talk about what came before that. This centre has been created as a result of something else. We are referring to a story that began with the UN Global Compact and ended in Istanbul. Could you start by explaining the story of the UN Global Compact itself and how it has been reflected in Turkey?
H.D.: UN Global Compact is a strategic approach that encompasses all private sector work. It has a structure that connects all of the organizations of the United Nations. Its seeds were first sown in 1999; we could say that it was Kofi Annan’s personal enterprise. He made the first announcement about it himself at Davos and highlighted that the UN needs to cooperate with the private sector more. He then made the necessary arrangements and announced it formally in 2000.
UNDP Turkey: The groundwork and the background of this cooperation is actually the basis of this principles contract. If a firm or an organization adheres to these principles, then they will find it easier to work with the United Nations.
H.D: There are certain components of the mission of the UN that need to be adhered to as well. The Millennium Development Goals of 2000 are made up of 8 goals. These principles are very close to the ones that are listed as one of the 8 Millennium Development Goals, and so they are thus linked. The purpose of this is to encourage everyone on this earth involved with development to come together and look for a solution and spring into action.
UNDP Turkey: For cooperation between international private sector organizations and for cooperation between states and governments we are talking about the eighth aim of the Millennium Development Goals. It’s helpful to note that UN Global Compact sits right underneath this and supports this. It includes human rights, working standards and fighting against malpractice. After 1999, how was this reflected in Turkey?
H.D.: After the preparations were announced in Turkey, in 2002 the there was a cooperative publicity campaign with the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions and with this we managed to share the UN Global Compact with the Turkish business world. After this publicity campaign in 2002, fifty businesses committed to signing the contract. It was a fast start. With the fifty businesses commitments to sign up to the Compact, we started to work towards increasing understanding of it. Because of this, in 2005 UNDP Turkey made a decision. To make our work faster and to make them richer in content, they decided to open an office in Istanbul. This office opened in 2005 to manage our dealings with the private sector only. Since 2005, our operations have been continuing from our office in Ulus.
UNDP Turkey: How far has the UN Global Compact come in Turkey? How far has a firm come that has signed up to the compact now that we are in 2012?
H.D.: UN Global Compact is first and foremost a platform. It is a platform that brings together different firms and different sectors and also brings them together with universities, public and civil society organizations. So from this we can see that there are many national meetings being held every year, and also workshops that are being held within sectors. Especially in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries we have seen several results from these kinds of efforts. The textile industry likewise. We need to point out that some of these have now become projects of their own. The cooperation between public and private sectors, civil society organizations and other running operations have begun to fill up our portfolio. At the moment there are about thirty active projects going on. We can talk about there being thirty projects that combine with the public sector to find solutions to development issues. One of the results of this platform therefore is to oversee the implementation of these projects.
UNDP Turkey: Tens of businesses have signed this Compact and many companies you have counted have started to be involved in development projects with the United Nations, so much so that the role of the private sector in development work cannot be denied. In fact international organizations have begun to adapt to this reality. We talked about the private sector working with UNDP. This probably occupied you until March of 2011. UNDP Turkey then opened an international centre. What are the aims of this centre, and what is its purpose?
H.D.: We opened this centre in March in Eminönü. The purpose of this centre is to share the successes of the last ten years, to form a pool of experts and to break away from the UNDP private sector work in New York and form an independent centre, to be able to implement our actions with better momentum. There were certain headings that we identified and that we decided to work under. These are headings that were chosen to run alongside the UNDP’s strategies for the private sector chosen in 2007. One was to do with general markets. These are a number of strategies that target the approach that companies have to their customers and help to develop and enrich these relationships. For example, the section of our public that is in poverty, that is disabled, that is at a disadvantage should be able to have to same access to products and to be able to benefit from them in the same way as others. These people should also be able to contribute to our production and gain employment.
UNDP Turkey: The International Centre in Istanbul is continuing its work under these headings and also concentrates on its main endeavour, working to build bridges between development and the private sector. I had a question at the very beginning: why was the centre founded in Istanbul? You can perhaps guess a part of this answer. You want to host many of the international organizations that come to Turkey and be able to gain access to funds for this. These are probably some of the reasons. But the UN had certain reasons to open the centre in Istanbul. What were those reasons?
H.D.: There are a few reasons for founding the centre in Istanbul. I mentioned one of them already, the fact that there was such an accumulation of experience there and the need to share this experience. Before we were doing this through other channels. But now we have named this as a strategic approach. And we have in the past years done this with many other countries. Apart from this, there is of course the fact that, Istanbul is Istanbul. There is an atmosphere of being a bridge between two cultures, it has a fast moving and developing economy and it has many activities that other countries are looking to as examples for themselves. Developed countries were sharing their activities with developing nations. Now Turkey is at this point. There are many countries that accept this. We wanted to take advantage of this environment, ensured that the centre was opened in Istanbul and are giving a good service to meet the demand.
UNDP Turkey: We have returned to the concept of the ‘bridge’. Your work forms a kind of bridge between the private sector and development work, and it is also seen as a bridge between eastern and western cultures. You even have a bridge in your centre’s logo. You can find the purpose and the goals of the centre at iicpsd.org. One year has gone by. This is of course a short amount of time to get the name of your centre out. You have some projects that are just starting. You can tell us a bit about these new projects.
H.D.: Along with founding the centre we had a very important item on our agenda. We had a side project to do with the private sector and the Conference of Least Developed Countries. We had a lot of activities to do with this and put on some side activities. We talked about an international meeting about conditional money transfers. We put on a meeting to coordinate with donors. We are following all of the results of these. We started a nice project with Rotary. At the first phase we started to put together the implementation of these principles. All of the Rotary Clubs in Turkey signed up to the UN Global Compact. They committed to being loyal to all of the ten principles, as well as offering to promote knowledge about this through their own communication arms. And we also started an educational program. About 30 experienced people were chosen from Rotary to give seminars about our work on a voluntary basis, and these people have committed to carry these on in their cities, we started this kind of system.
UNDP Turkey: This is an important project you have told us about, in the term before us you will set up a project entitled the Entrepreneurship Academy to give technical support and spread education. We thank our contributor, Hansın Doğan, the Deputy Director (a.i.) of the UNDP Istanbul International Centre for Private Sector in Development. We have come to the end of this episode of New Horizons Podcast of the United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This program has been recorded at the studio of Radyo İlef of Ankara University Communications Department. You can follow our program on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency, on university radios in our broadcasting network, on iTunes under podcasts and on undp.org.tr. Our username for social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you next week, goodbye!
You may monitor current job vacancies via the link below:
All Vacancies