Issue: 75
The MDGs are not only a promise -- they are a test of our collective capacity and global solidarity will to advance human well-being at an unprecedented scale and pace.
The challenges for sustainable human development are severe. It is therefore vital that countries build their productive capacities to support vibrant economies.
To do that, they need private-sector growth. But economic growth and business development must be pursued in ways that are sustainable in the broadest sense -- economic, social, and environmental.
Business is a primary driver of innovation, investment and job creation. There is no longer any doubt that business plays an integral role in delivering economic and social progress.
Investment and business activity must include commitments to corporate sustainability and responsibility and the highest standards of business ethics.
These are the principles embodied in the United Nations Global Compact.
The United Nations is working with committed business leaders, within the framework of Global Compact, on a range of matters that are directly relevant to the MDGs and upcoming Rio+20 agenda.
Collaboration with the private sector has evolved based on an understanding that although the UN’s goals are quite distinct from those of the private sector, there are overlapping objectives including building markets, combating corruption, safeguarding the environment, increasing food security and ensuring social inclusion.
The moral validity of the Global Compact is now compounded by a strong business case. Proactive corporate policies and practices that respect human rights and ensure safe and decent work conditions, environmental protection and good corporate governance create a more sustainable value and benefits for workers, communities and society at large.
Critical actor in sustainability
Since the Global Compact was launched in Turkey in 2002, corporate responsibility has grown both as a concept and practice here, too. The UN Global Compact in Turkey has been a successful one with over 180 actively reporting signatories making Turkey one of the ten largest networks globally.
Here in Turkey we are addressing a number of pressing issues such as the regional variations in the poverty rate, the number of poor which are women, increasing Turkey’s Democratic Governance capacity as well as tackling the high unemployment rate of the Youth in Turkey which represents 50 percent of the Turkish population, as many of you know.
Already, many businesses have advanced employment and income generation, improved health outcomes and gender parity, provided access to safe water and sanitation and advanced environmental sustainability.
We are working with thousands of companies in the value chain of Turkey’s one of the largest conglomerates for the integration of 8 million disabled people into the economy of Turkey, as producers, employees and as well as customers to benefit from the services and products of the private sector.
In the slightly more than eleven years since its launch, the Compact has sought to make the private sector a critical actor in advancing sustainability. I believe that we can do even more to ensure that the skills, leadership, resources and innovation of business contribute to our efforts to build a more sustainable global economy and achieve truly sustainable development.
* Shahid Najam, UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey and UN Resident Coordinator in Turkey
The Rio+20 conference, coming two decades after the first UN Sustainable Development Conference there, is seen as an opportunity for the world community to push the reset button on the stalled global environmental agenda and long-term international efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, hunger and preventable disease.
The Istanbul forum represents the first opportunity to discuss the critical issues that will be on the table in Rio by influential leaders of countries deeply involved in the negotiations as well as many top UN experts and agency heads.
The linked issues of social inequalities and environmental stewardship that were raised by the recent 2011 Human Development Report - “Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All” - will be analyzed in depth at the Forum in the context of the new global development agenda being shaped at Rio.
The forum will include the unveiling of a detailed new report by the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on the urgent sustainability challenges facing developed and developing countries alike.
The organization will conclude with an Istanbul Decraration on Equity and Sustainability setting out clear goals for the 2012 Rio conference.
Global Human Development Forum is co-hosted by the government of Turkey and the United Nations Development Programme.
Click here for the related press release.
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey, Mr. Shahid Najam, also attended the ceremony.
MTSO Executive Board President Serafettin Asut, who delivered the opening speech of the ceremony, said that their objective is to be a party to this convention, to raise awareness and to ensure that all firms and institutions become a part of this initiative.
Resident Representative Mr. Najam expressed his trust that this signature would ensure the participation of a greater number of establishments, institutions and organizations to this initiative.
Followig the signing of the Global Compact, the ceremony continued with the performances of Light of Hope Choir and Chamber Choir of Mersin Polyphonic Choirs Association.
The UN Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption.
UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey, Mr. Najam, himself made the introduction and presentation of 2011 Human Development Report entitled ”Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future For All.”
Following the introduction and presentation in Mersin, Asst. Prof. Dr. Süleyman Değirmen, conveyed his opinion and assessment regarding the content and method of the report. Asst. Prof. Dr. Serdar Ulaş Bayraktar from Mersin University moderated the introductory seminar.
In Izmir, Prof. Dr. Turhan Subaşat participated in the panel discussion, while Prof. Dr. Oğuz Esen from Izmir University of Economics moderated the introductory seminar.
The report was introduced for the first time in Turkey by the United Nations in Istanbul Bilgi University on November 2nd, 2011.
Following Izmir, the introductory seminars will continue in Çanakkale, Konya, Trabzon, Gaziantep and Erzurum.
In the report, Turkey ranks 92nd in 187 countries with a value of 0.699 according to the Human Development Index (HDI). In Gender Inequality Index, Turkey places 77th in 146 countries with a value of 0.443. The report also includes other indexes such as Inequality-adjusted HDI and Multidimensional Poverty Index.
On February 22, a panel discussion, entitled “Sustainable Development: Owning the Future,” was organized in Ankara by the Ministry of Development.
Representatives from the public circle, business community, non-governmental organizations, the academia, European Union, World Bank and the United Nations attended the panel discussion.
The panel discussion is highly significant for pinpointing instructive global policies and discussing the need for sustainable development in a world where poverty and wealth, as well as risks and opportunities exist side by side, before the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) takes place in Brazil on June 20-22, 2012.
For each episode, United Nations Development Programme Turkey Office selects stories from the works of UNDP, which aim for a more productive, healthier, more educated and greener future, to share with its audience.
The 10-minute episodes feature interviews with people who have success stories about fighting against poverty, environment and sustainable development and democratic governance.
The podcasts broadcasted in mp3/podcast format in Turkish can be followed here. UNDP Turkey Communications Office organizes broadcasting programs in cooperation with the Radio İlef, University of Ankara and Open Radio.
Podcasts are being recorded at studio of Radyo İlef of University of Ankara.
One can follow the podcasts on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency in Istanbul, on university radios in our broadcasting network, or on the internet on undp.org.tr, on iTunes as podcast format, besides on YouTube in video format.
University network
• University FM (Akdeniz University)
• Radio A (Anadolu University)
• Radio Vesaire (Istanbul Bilgi University)
• Radio Dumlupınar (Dumlupınar University)
• Radio Ege Campus
• Radio ITU
• Radio KTÜ (Karadeniz Teknik University)
• Radio Marmara (Marmara University)
• Radio Mersin University
• Radio SDÜ (Süleyman Demirel University)
Each week, new episodes are released on Facebook and Twitter too.
Free rebroadcasting opportunity
For more information about UNDP podcasts in Turkish, please visit: http://bit.ly/yeniufuklar
The Küre Mountains National Park Directorate participated for the first time in EMITT organized in TÜYAP Exhibition site located in Beylikdüzü İstanbul, on 9 – 12 February 2012. EMITT is the world’s 5th largest tourism exhibition and was visited by 128.000 people. 4.500 participants from 62 different countries were participated in the 16th EMITT.
Küre Mountains National Park acting director Umman DEDE stated that Küre Mountains National Park, one of the ecotourism centers in Turkey was effectively communicated in EMITT with the support of Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs 10th Regional Directorate.
Küre Mountains National Park PAN Parks certification progress, to be completed by the activities of Global Environment Facility (GEF) supported “Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System in Turkey Project”, natural values and tourism potential of Küre Mountains National Park were shared with visitors and tourism companies in a visual show by using presentations, films, brochures in English and Turkish, posters, and banners.
Additionally, municipalities of Bartın and Kastamonu sub provinces located in the national park’s buffer zone and local NGOs supported under “Pilot Applications Programme” participated in the exhibition to introduce their work and support national park’s communication activities.
All these activities enhanced communication of the national park by reaching visitors of and tourism companies. They were invited to the region for operating different tours.
Social Inclusion Band serves under Dreams Academy supported by UNDP.
Dreams Academy is a project designed to make disabled and socially disadvantaged young people get involved in social life and to support their employment.
The project has been developed by Alternatif Yaşam Derneği (AYDER) and United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and implemented with grant support taken from Vodafone Foundation in Turkey.
Dreams Academy trains people at places allocated by local municipalities like Ataşehir, Beşiktaş and Kadıköy.
Dreams Academy is an international social responsibility project in which professional trainers give free culture and art education to disabled and socially disadvantaged young people. Its workshops include rhythm, dance, drama, movie, photography, DJ, instrument, painting, and design.
The project has been awarded 2009 Golden Compass and 2011 “This is Social Innovation” prizes and also has been mentioned as a success story in social inclusion report of UNDP in 2011.
All organisations, regardless of size or location, engaged in innovative business models that are delivering both commercial success and helping improve social, economic and environmental conditions are eligible to apply online by 25th March 2012.
The award ceremony will be held on 19th June, when governments convene in Brazil at the Rio+20 Conference, closing the Business Action for Sustainable Development Business Day.
Celebrating a decade of biennial award giving, the World Business and Development Awards are organized by the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership this year with the Netherlands Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the UN Global Compact.
The Awards demonstrate how companies can, through their core business activities, help achieve the Millennium Development Goals — eight internationally agreed targets to reduce poverty and environmental degradation and improve education, health conditions and gender equality by 2015.
International judging panel
The 2012 Awards will be given explicitly to companies delivering inclusive business models: sustainable, commercially-viable business initiatives that expand access for low-income people to goods and services, or improve their livelihoods by engagement in value chains as direct employees, suppliers or distributors, while also generating sales and profit growth.
In honour of the Rio+20 host country, there will be a special category designated for Brazil-based companies.
An international judging panel made up of representatives of the organising partners as well as non-governmental organisations, universities, business entities, and international institutions will determine this year’s winners. A workshop on inclusive business will take place prior to the Awards ceremony.
In 2010, the Awards received an unprecedented 172 nominations, representing a variety of business and commercial endeavours undertaken by business associations, non-governmental organisations and individual companies from more than 42 countries.
Diverse in nature, the 10 winning initiatives ranged from low-income housing in Mexico and assisting farmers in Sierra Leone, to offering affordable maternal health services in India.
In the aftermath of the economic crisis, the global youth unemployment rate saw its largest annual increase on record in 2009, resulting in around 75.8 million unemployed youth.
“Today we have the largest generation of young people the world has ever known,” said UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon. “They are demanding their rights and a greater voice in economic and political life. We need to pull the UN system together like never before to support a new social contract of job-rich economic growth. Let us start with young people.”
For the first time, inputs gathered from young people around the world through an extensive online consultation form the core of the report, entitled Youth Employment: Youth Perspectives on the Pursuit of Decent Work in Changing Times. The report, published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), also outlines the situation of young people in the labour market and youth employment trends.
Young people and representatives of youth-led organizations were invited to share through digital and social media platforms their views, experiences and recommendations on preparing for, entering, and remaining active in the workforce.
A total of approximately 1,100 contributions (as well as photos and videos) were received from young people around the world during the four-week consultation period.
New Opportunities:
The report reveals that young people are worried about the quality and relevance of their education, as mentioned by Amadou, a 24-year-old man from Senegal: “Today it should be easier to find a job because our generation is the most educated but there is an inadequacy between the training offered and the needs of the labour market.”
Other subjects of concern include job vulnerability, labour migration, delayed marriage, and the rural divide, as well as age, gender and racial discrimination.
But opportunities offered by green jobs, new technologies and entrepreneurship contribute to providing hope to young people, who also underline the need to be proactive and keep a positive outlook in order to find decent jobs, as expressed by Leo, 28 years old, from Spain: “We need to innovate, to risk, to create, to search.”
Through this process, participants also had the opportunity to interact online with UN Youth Champion Monique Coleman, and the Special Advisor on Global Youth Issues to the United States Secretary of State, Ronan Farrow, about their own experience and advice.
The report is available in English online at unworldyouthreport.org where, for the first time, readers are invited to interact and share their reactions.
This publication features success stories from 16 countries where UNDP support has resulted in transformative changes, including by fostering the growth of institutional and human capacities.
To qualify as a transformational success, a story needed to demonstrate tangible and sustainable achievements, substantiated by data and personal testimonies.
Since these depend on significant changes in institutions, attitudes and behaviours, which require long-term efforts, each story chronicles a development intervention that generally spans a 5-to-10-year period.
Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) evaluation was one of two country portfolio evaluations conducted in 2010 examining the support given in the Europe and Central Asia region.
The publication covers the period between 1992 and 2009.
Turkey was selected on the basis of its historically large and diverse portfolio with a biodiversity and climate change emphasis, and its participation in major GEF regional international waters projects.
The evaluation found that GEF support in Turkey has been relevant to the national sustainable development agenda and its environmental priorities, with the exception of the land degradation focal area.
The evaluation also found that the GEF has paved the way for implementing environmental aspects of Turkey’s accession process to the European Union.
In this episode, we will talk about corporate social responsibility with an expert in this field. What does signing the United Nations Global Compact mean for a private sector company? What will be the impact when this compact is put into effect? We will ask our contributor these questions.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. In this episode, we will talk about corporate social responsibility with an expert in this field. What does signing the United Nations Global Compact mean for a private sector company? What will be the impact when this compact is put into effect? We will ask our contributor these questions. Today’s contributor is Aylin Gezgüç, Koç Holding External Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Coordinator. Welcome.
Aylin Gezgüç (A.G.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: As I just mentioned, what kind of difference does it make for a private sector company to sign the UN Global Compact? Let me start by raising this question. Let us remind ourselves about the Global Compact once again and explain what it means.
A.G.: The Global Compact, which was signed in 2000, is a strategic policy initiative of the United Nations that broadens UN’s task area. As you know, United Nations is generally known to struggle against poverty, wars, political and economic problems and so on. With the Global Compact, we are talking about an inclusive and receptive approach including the private sector and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and this is proof that United Nations is closely monitoring global developments. There are 10 principals in this compact. It is possible to examine them under four main headings and these are human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
UNDP Turkey: Every single firm which signs this compact undertakes to abide by these principles.
A.G.: Yes, they do, and this commitment includes making a serious effort to progress further. How do we understand whether the firms are making a serious effort or not? Reporting is a must. Therefore they should be reporting that they abide by all the principles of the Global Compact, they make an effort with all other stakeholders to be a good citizen and they should also report their progress.
UNDP Turkey: It would be good to remind ourselves that the chapters under the labor heading prevent forced labour, child labour, discrimination in recruitment and uphold unionization, the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. There are many other principles aiming to make firms adopt these kinds of statements through UN Global Compact, however, we do not have time to talk about all of them. Now, let’s talk about the UNDP issue, if you wish. We should emphasize that you have been working together with United Nations Development Programme within the context of social responsibility for a long time. What are the areas of cooperation during this period? Let’s talk about that.
A.G.: Our first area of cooperation was within the scope of Global Compact. We cooperated with UNDP on various subjects, from the ratification process up to the present day, such as reporting progress, explaining the importance of the Global Compact to other stakeholders, finding new companies to sign up to the Compact, and creating a network in Turkey within the scope of UN Global Compact as a corporate structure. To give an example, we have organized a conference for the 10th anniversary of the Global Compact.
UNDP Turkey: Global Compact +10 Conference.
A.G.: Moreover, we keep cooperation ongoing by organizing at least one event a year, in order to support the functionality of the local network in Turkey. We continue our cooperation not only with UN Resident Representative, but also with the Special Programme Coordinator Hansın Doğan and Deniz Öztürk from Global Compact New York Office, we have very close relations with them and mutual understanding.
UNDP Turkey: The audience may ask this question: “You mentioned all these things, but how will they affect my life?” There are many projects within the scope of this cooperation. Could you please talk about these projects?
A.G.: Sure. The most important objective of these projects that we carry out as a team is to individualize the administrative heritage we have. We have two well known projects: “Vocational Schools: A National Issue'' project (Meslek Lisesi, Memleket Meselesi) and “For My Country'' project (Ülkem İçin).
UNDP Turkey: “Vocational Schools: A National Issue'' project (Meslek Lisesi, Memleket Meselesi) was like a tongue twister when it was first introduced. Many people around me were aware of this project. Let’s talk about this a little bit. What is this “Vocational Schools: A National Issue'' project, and what kind of a cooperation was started with United Nations?
A.G.: “Vocational Schools: A National Issue'' project is in its fifth year now. When this project was envisaged as a seven-year project, it started with scholarship and internship opportunities for 8,000 students from hundreds of schools in 81 cities. Priority in employment was also one pillar of this project. However, the main objective is to bring vocational schools into view, to understand the importance of acquiring a profession and to attract the attention of parents, directors, administrators, business firms and everyone who is even slightly interested in vocational education, to make vocational schools more respected.
UNDP Turkey: Let’s underline how important vocational education is for individuals, organizations and community development. I would like to add that there is this website which is one of the UNDP’s projects: http://www.bilenlerbilmeyenlerbilgisayarogretiyor.net. You cooperated with UNDP also about computers within the scope of “Vocational Schools: A National Issue'' project. A partnership was created. What is the “For My Country'' project? It may not be known about since it is quite new.
A.G.: It could be. “For My Country'' project has a difference: we are continuously carrying out this project by changing its theme once every 2 years. So what does that mean? We conduct a needs analysis every 2 years. As Koç Community, we get together with our dealers, employees, and companies to find a solution for the needs and problems of society. That’s why you may recall some memories of this project when we are talking about “Vocational Schools: A National Issue'' project. however we have separate applications for the “For My Country'' project. For instance, we organized a campaign on regular and safe blood donation together with the Turkish Red Crescent. To be precise, we raised awareness of blood donation for 80.000 people. What does that mean? That means training them and making donors out of them for the Turkish Red Crescent.
UNDP Turkey: This is a raising awareness campaign not only for the employees of foundation.
A.G.: The main objective of “For My Country'' project is to reach as many people as possible by means of our branches, and the people that they can reach out to in their immediate surroundings.
UNDP Turkey: You also carry out a tree-planting project with TEMA.
A.G.: Actually, we should call it “creating forests”. Because at first we targeted 7 forests in 7 regions. We came to an agreement with TEMA to plant 700.000 seedlings. However, just planting seedlings is not enough for creating forests. We need to keep an eye on them all the time, until they become forests. We started out with 700.000 seedlings but in the end, we planted more than 1 million seedlings. Now we have created 7 forests in 7 different regions and we are very proud of this. You asked about our partnership with UNDP. I cannot go into details, but this year’s “For My Country Project” will be carried out with UNDP.
UNDP Turkey: After it is announced, we will know all the details about what kind of activities will be carried out within “For My Country'' project. We tried to answer the question of “How does the UN Global Compact affect people's lives?” today. Aylin Gezgüç, Koç Holding External Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Coordinator was our contributor. 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 will be talking about the UN Global Compact and the concept of Social Entrepreneurship.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This week we will be talking about the UN Global Compact in higher education and the concept of Social Entrepreneurship. Our contributor today is the director of the Centre for Applying and Researching Sustainability at Istanbul Bilgi University, Dr Gresi Sanje Dahan. He is also the UNDP representative at Bilgi University. Welcome.
Gresi Sanje Dahan (G.D.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: Let’s begin with the title of this podcast. UN Global Compact in higher education. What is the UN Global Compact, maybe we need to be reminded of that. The United Nations developed a set of 10 principles for the business world, concerning working standards, human rights and malpractice. The principles cover the standards that the signatories of private sector businesses have to abide by. How did this get carried over into higher education, how was it implemented and customized for this purpose and when did this begin?
G.D.: There are 400 universities who signed the UN Global Compact. But because it was designed for business purposes, its very hard to customize all ten of the principles to suit us.
UNDP Turkey: So because of this the universities who signed up to it did so taking into consideration their business side.
G.D.: This also includes non-governmental organizations. The UN Global Compact leaves the door open for exceptions, so if you are a business or organization that does not work for profit, then you can still sign up to it. But its also helpful to note that unlike other businesses you are not required to carry out the implementations set out in the COP agreement. You are saying that we as a university will do the best that we can do in terms of being a business.
UNDP Turkey: This report is the report of the obtained results.
G.D.: Yes. Every year, the businesses put together the things they have done right, or the things they were not able to do, into a report.
UNDP Turkey: There are two main principles covered by the Human Rights Principles. For example, it says that human rights must not be infringed upon. Regarding working standards, there must be an end to discrimination when recruiting staff and placing them in jobs. They must support unionization and collective bargaining, as well as banning child labour. Of course, under the heading of environment they must support approaches that are kind to the environment and support technologies that are eco friendly. Finally they must fight against all kinds of malpractice within business such as bribery and extortion. You remove the term business from this and insert university and customize it for yourselves, don’t you?
G.D.: Yes, this is the basic logic behind it. But there are a few small details. For example the problems of malpractice, under this we have included intellectual copyright. We also included plagiarism in this. For example we have done training for the people on the advancement of women’s and children’s rights. A university is a business, but it is also a place of education, so this is a new initiative to bring the two together. This initiative started in November of 2011, when the director of the UN Global Compact George Kell put out calls to the whole world. Our university is one of the ones that received this invitation. Then 14-15 academicians from 10-11 countries met in New York. Since January 2011, every month there is a teleconference and twice every month a face to face meeting in order to work towards implementing the UN Global Compact in higher education.
UNDP Turkey: It might be useful to give examples. What has Bilgi University done to implement these four main and ten other principles? Are there now mechanisms in place that weren’t there before?
G.D.: I can give you examples of things that we have done concerning the environment branch of the compact. Our university uses green electricity anyway. We are also implementing incentives to increase recycling and decrease the use of paper in classes. I am also part of the advertising department and a faculty member: we designed a project with our final year students to decrease printing and also to encourage recycling of the things that we do print.
UNDP Turkey: Actually if you type your name into YouTube, you can see statements that you have made concerning these projects you have done.
G.D.: There is more to come. The paper that we collected from this campaign is donated to the Lokman Hekim Health Foundation, and so we are supporting the work that Ayhan Beyler does for the health services. We also have an ethics committee. We have to get approval from the ethics committee before we embark on projects we do in the general population.
UNDP Turkey: And this could come under the working conditions heading, too.
G.D.: As I have already mentioned one of our projects, let me say that we are organizing many different and interesting projects in all of our locations. One of them is organized by our Youth Department, called ‘the Walking Library’. They tour around different neighbourhoods talking to people from different social backgrounds, in order especially to break down stereotypes. We had the resources and so we can’t exactly say that we have produced something entirely new. We grouped these under the different headings.
UNDP Turkey: You grouped these under the heading of the UN Global Compact. Our listeners can find these headings if they search for UN Global Compact. And now we have learnt how these principles are customized for higher learning institutions from you.
G.D.: At the moment the initiative has not been launched yet. There will be an announcement about it at the Rio conference. We are just carrying out the pilot project. A leaflet on how to implement this initiative has been drawn up, The UN is finalizing it. Five of the ten schools that participated are running pilot projects and we are one of those five. So this initiative is going to be launched at the conference.
UNDP Turkey: The answer to the question of how to implement the UN Global Compact in higher education will be given there at the conference in June. So let’s move on to our second topic. You have a project going on the UNDP, let’s just give an overview of it now. You are conducting activities under the title of Social Entrepreneurship. If you could give us an understanding of what this means first of all.
G.D.: Social Entrepreneurship is a concept that is starting to really develop. For example, non governmental organizations try to produce resources in the spirit of entrepreneurship, so not as donations but as incentive for individuals to come up with their own sources of income and to produce resources for the less fortunate members of society. We can say that this is a model of entrepreneurship given to benefit these people. It differs from normal entrepreneurship in that is has a social element to it. But the rules of entrepreneurship are also found here. The goal is to produce your own resources instead of going round and asking for it from others. So this produces projects that are both sustainable and that produce new resources.
UNDP Turkey: Entrepreneurship that produces its own resources and that is beneficial to the society is the crucial point I think.
G.D.: Exactly.
UNDP Turkey: So I think we are beginning to see examples of this. There are some very successful examples. You are taking notes of all these projects, researching them and seeing how they could be shown as examples elsewhere, then broadcasting them. Could you talk about this for us?
G.D.: At the end of our work with the UN, we are going to publish a book from Istanbul Bilgi University.
UNDP Turkey: When will this book be published?
G.D.: We think we will have it in our hands in a few months time, in the spring. For this we had five different case studies. I want to talk about a project called ‘Rubbish Madam’. This project takes women who have never worked and trains them, and they can then make various things out of discarded rubbish such as bags, boxes and frames. Unilever has stepped up to this project. Unilever sends all of its discarded rubbish, its wrongly printed labels for example, from its studio in Ayvalık and sends them to Rubbish Madam. So women who have never worked before can these things that they make and earn some money for themselves.
UNDP Turkey: So this becomes a perfect example of Social Entrepreneurship. I think that if you search the internet for Rubbish Madam (Çöp Madam) you may be able to find some links to this project. All of this is an example of entrepreneurship in Turkey, and you work to show how this can be done and in an ethical way as well. We would qualify this as a form of Social Entrepreneurship. And there we are even if it was a little short. Thank you very much for joining our program. Our contributor today was Gresi Sanje Dahan, and they participated from Istanbul Bilgi University. We have come to the end of this episode of New Horizons Podcast of 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, good-bye!
This week we talk about the linkage of ethics and reputation management in business as well as a decisive fight against corruption with social development.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is New Horizons Podcast of the United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This week we talk about the linkage of ethics and reputation management in business as well as a decisive fight against corruption with social development. Our contributor today is Tayfur Zaman, the coordinator of TEİD, otherwise known as the Ethics and Reputation Society. Welcome.
Tayfur Zaman (T.Z.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: Corruption and abuse of authority are two different things. We find things like bribery, kickbacks, and extortion and these can sometimes come under corruption, and sometimes abuse of authority. We are going to explore all of these things with you in this programme but first I want to ask you about your society. You haven’t yet started a project with UNDP, but we are still talking about the problems that plague the world of business and trade. How severe was the problem that you felt that you had to form a society?
T.Z.: Although we haven’t started a project with UNDP yet, our principles and work ethics run parallel to each other. So it’s true that we share the same circles. What kind of need did we see that we formed our society? We saw that there is a lack of ethical management especially since this latest financial crisis. We also noticed a lack of ethics in general from this as well. If we consider the fact that our national economy is 98% dominated by family run businesses and these families project their own values onto their businesses, then we can’t say that there is an ethics problem as such, but rather that we need to assess these ethics and use them with discipline, report on them and monitor their progress, and so we came together under one roof to form this society for these purposes and are continuing to work towards these aims.
UNDP Turkey: So you cover not just ethics but ethical management and the business world. UNDP project, or rather the UN Global Compact. You are one of the signatories to this as a society. This compact has ten basic principles and covers human rights, working standards, the environment and the last one, the fight against corruption. You are concentrating on this one mostly. The tenth principle of the Global Compact covers all kind of malpractice in the business world including bribery and extortion. How do you fight this corruption and what kind of corruption is there?
T.Z.: When we talk about corruption, we are generally speaking talking about the interactions with the public. Corruption and bribery, a public official using information that they have for a negative purpose or lining their pockets with the profits of a large company are all included. But we are not only limited to corruption.
UNDP Turkey: You are not just limited to corruption in terms of relations with the public. And the rest of it comes under abuse of authority.
T.Z.: Yes, the interactions between businesses, the interactions between workers or the relationship between workers and their firms comes under abuse of office. But there are also some overlaps between these two; using your power negatively, for example to fire employees, to target individuals or sometimes to cause mass redundancy. Why is it important to work on this area? I’ll give you an example; the corruption industry is the world’s fifth biggest industry. It’s bigger even than the French our German economies.
UNDP Turkey: This is a serious economy; it’s like we are talking about a national economy.
T.Z.: Yes. In developing countries 7-8% of a company’s income goes to corruption, while in developed countries this is about 5%, and in undeveloped countries this rises to about 25-27%.
UNDP Turkey: As we look at these figures we can see why we have both arrived at the same point. Social development hinges on fighting corruption and to remove corruption where we find it. You have signed up to the UN Global Compact, what kind of activities are you doing to fight corruption, and what is your opinion on corruption and social development?
T.Z.: We gave a few figures relating to corruption. Let’s take a quick snapshot of society. There are about a billion children who have died because of insufficient vaccines or living in unhealthy conditions; a significant amount of the world’s population is fighting starvation, another smaller but still grave section of the population is living under the poverty line, and many cannot reach clean water. Together with these, we know that one of the world’s biggest economies is corruption. We do not look at ethical management as just a way of doing business honestly. Ethical management is a discipline of work management. We can only measure and see what works when we have written proof of working ideals and conditions, and form an administrative setup to manage this. Together with the tenth principle of the UN Global Compact, we have also shared a plan with other countries as well. Our ideals are also in line with the compact. Ethical management is actually a way to manage how work is done.
UNDP Turkey: And this way of working, the removal of bribery and eliminating it are a very important factor in nations’ development. We have to highlight this. You spoke about your organizations goals. Now let’s talk about the situation in Turkey. What was behind the formation of such an organization and which companies have supported you?
T.Z.: Our first target in Turkey was the well entrenched firms, the firms that use foreign partners in order to secure a place here and then bring them together with their foreign wings and gain an understanding of the local culture. With this target in mind all the prestigious firms that we invited to join us answered. Big firms like Borusan Holding, Anatolia Industrial Holding, Sabancı Holding. Leading firms within their own industries such as Siemens, Bosch, Microsoft and HP opened up their resources for us to research this cultures’ development and spread. Then we went on to reflect this culture.
UNDP Turkey: TEİD, the Ethics and Reputation Society, is a society that has managed to bring together all of these firms under one roof. You can find out more from teid.org.tr. There is also etikblog.com which has a lot of material to be discussed. You are also a society that is very active on social media sites. The website LinkedIn where a lot of business contacts are found is the source of much discussion on ethics in business. I see these as quite eye-opening things. You can also access this information on LinkedIn. What are the debates most centred on? It is quite important to set a good example in Turkey I think but which category should we focus on? Should we concentrate more on the corruption within the business world or should we focus on the problems with competing for contracts? Or have you not made such an order of importance?
T.Z.: First we need to look at identifying and acknowledging these problems. Some sectors work more with the public than others because of contracts they have gained. The risk factor rises here. Some sectors work far away from the public for example the industrial sector; they are doing business directly with the private sector and the consumers of their products. And so we need to look at competition. A company can use certain factors to give it an unfair advantage and can put itself or its customers at danger of corruption. But we should look at it this way; in some areas the risks of these happening have become part of everyday life and become the norm. This is where we fight back. There may be open corruption, open abuse of power. We try to disrupt this ‘normal’ state of affairs with small gestures and these have a great effect.
UNDP Turkey: So what conclusion can we come to with this? The companies that you have chosen to keep an eye on, have you put to them concrete measures or given them a handbook on principles and what constitutes corruption?
T.Z.: The ethical standpoint of all of the companies in Turkey, and the ethical politics linked to this, all lead to the creation of an ethical code to be followed, an ethical code that encompasses all aspects of a business and for these to create a chain of provision of ethical management. Also, every part of the chain that is included in this ethical management will spread these ethics to others and we hope to create a shared ethical culture. We also wish to form a relationship with all firms to achieve this, whether we work in partnership with them or not.
UNDP Turkey: Your door is still open to organisations and firms that are not members of your society?
T.Z.: It is always open for everyone.
UNDP Turkey: You are ready to work with Chambers of Commerce and Industry, development agencies and other such organizations. We can also highlight that fighting corruption is a way of helping development. The UN Global Compact is what brought us together today, its tenth principle includes the ideal of fighting all types of corruption. Our contributor today was Tayfun Zaman, the coordinator of the Ethics and Reputation Society, thank you for joining us. 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, good bye!
For most people, during high school or college years, one of the biggest challenges is how to manage pocket money or the money we earn. The habits we gain during these years can stay with us a lifetime. This week we talk about a project dealing with this issue: I Can Manage My Money.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is New Horizons Podcast of the United Nations Development Programme Turkey. For most people, during high school or college years, one of the biggest challenges we face is how to manage pocket money or the money we earn. The habits we gain during these years can stay with us a lifetime. This week we talk about a project dealing with this issue: I Can Manage My Money. Our contributors this week are Berna Ülman, the Regional General Manager of Visa Europe, and Hansın Doğan, acting interim Deputy Director of UNDP Istanbul International Centre for Private Sector in Development. Welcome.
Berna Ülman (B.Ü.), Hansın Doğan (H.D.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: Ms Berna, I would like to start with you. I spoke a little bit about the project just now. Like I said, the money that we earn and how to manage our budgets is something that we really work hard to learn in our early years. But where did the idea for a project like this come from? I want to start by talking about what’s behind this project.
B.Ü.: We as Visa are an organization that values the ideas of corporate social responsibility and hold these values within our business culture. Because of this, we are trying to analyse the needs of the population that we live in and try to come up with projects that will cater to them. And we bring these projects to life by working with our stakeholders. Financial awareness has long been on our agenda. We had been carrying out much academic research, conferences and cooperative projects with business organizations, but we also realized that there was a need to educate our youth, and this became clear after our research as well. And feedback that we received from banks and consumers also confirmed this. For us to get closer to this, we decided to cooperate with UNDP on this project.
UNDP Turkey: So you discovered that this is a problem in Turkey? You found out that there are many who use credit without much knowledge of how it works and then you embarked upon this educational project?
B.Ü.: We discovered something. You know, however a tree is planted, that’s how it will grow. We find it very important to know how people manage things when they are young. The things that also come to the fore are of course being able to budget well and having an understanding of personal finances. We saw these as important factors for these people’s future happiness and prosperity, and for national development and sustainable growth, and for funds to be able to be diverted to the right places. For example, in our research we encountered such a result; 87% of young people do not have any kind of even minimal savings, but they are still dreaming about making big purchases.
UNDP Turkey: Could it be that they aren’t making any savings because they don’t have any money?
B.Ü.: Well, the ability to manage your budget is even more important for those with less money. We need to differentiate between necessary things and unnecessary things. We found that there is a problem when it comes to separating these two things.
UNDP Turkey: So we should be able to make savings on small things for example. Now I want to turn to Mr. Hansın. We are going to discuss the specifics of the project but first, let’s discuss the other partners in this project. UNDP is not doing this project by themselves. They have partners besides Visa Europe. Let’s make this very clear.
H.D.: This is a project that is made possible by public and private sector coordination. The advisor on information for the Presidency is responsible for bringing us together on this project, we founded the project and included the Ministry of Development in this as well. Our intention was to make the field of financial literacy available to the public, there was no example of this to be found in the world. We were awaiting this especially from the community and public partnerships. Our fourth partner was responsible for the projects implementation, the coordination of training and managing regional organizations, Habitat Youth Association. We have been working with this group since 1996 to form a network of young people in Turkey. We have a strategic partnership with them. We benefit from the dynamism, the energy and the advantages of having a youth network. They help us with everything on the ground, from finding educational institutes to help us, finding places where we can teach and finding people willing to give us teaching for free.
UNDP Turkey: UN, Ministry for Development, Visa Europe and Habitat Youth Association, these are all partners and actually, asks youths to teach other young people on how to create a budget for themselves. How did this begin? These young people can apply for help from you, go to www.paramiyonetebiliyorum.com and reach you. Ms Berna, how did this progress after this?
B.Ü.: First the educator teaches the young people. We have a curriculum that we prepared with academicians. Ahmet Buldan made great personal sacrifices to create this entirely from scratch, and very fine and detailed curriculum. This curriculum teaches young people, and they can then go and teach other young people as well. This tale about two days.
UNDP Turkey: Exactly 2 days, isn’t it?
B.Ü.: Yes.
UNDP Turkey: There is an evaluation both at the beginning and the end of this process. How does this teaching take place? Mr Hansın, you have witnessed this teaching, could you tell us about it? Can you really see a change in a young person after just two days?
H.D.: Between the first and last tests that we do, we can see a significant increase in the amount of knowledge that has been gained in this time. For this to reach the stage of affecting behavior this takes a bit of time. We don’t want to be limited to just two days, we want young people that participate in our programme to use this knowledge in their lives and also spread what they learnt to their friends and family, so this will in turn spread throughout the community and positively affect their decision making as well.
UNDP Turkey: I'll return to you Ms Berna, are there people that come and tell you that they are learning something entirely new which they have never encountered before? Or anything similar to this? What kind of an experience was this? Because this is a programme that has been going on for some time.
B.Ü.: We hear a lot of different anecdotes from young people. But more important than this is if we look the figures, we can see that: the number of young people that see themselves as financially capable after taking the I Can Manage My Money course rises to 72%. This is really very important.
UNDP Turkey: It started off very low…
B.Ü.: The figures for people who kept an eye on their monthly outgoings was less than 50%, now it has risen to 84%. It’s important for them to make a budget but we can especially see that the number of those that keep a close eye on it have risen as well.
UNDP Turkey: I think that making a budget at that age is a very big thing. It’s an important thing in terms of personal development for a young person aged about 15 to be making their own budget. To look at how much you earn and what you spend it on should be an aim of this two day training.
B.Ü.: Definitely. The aim of this project was to increase financial understanding of young people, but we want to use the observations we have to take this forward and bring it into the public sphere. We are aiming for this project to be integrated into the general curriculum and reach even more young people this way.
UNDP Turkey: You want to set a good example. You have reached thousands of young people by including this into the curriculum of selected places so far. So tens of thousands of people have benefited from this. This model has been used in nearly 50 regions and is aiming to be a model for everyone. I want to ask you Mr Hansın, what is the reason for UNDP being involved with this project?
H.D.: Our most basic aim is to eliminate poverty. We were developing this project in the midst of a global financial crisis, and this made people even poorer. When we were looking for the source of the problem with Visa Europe we realized that people did not know how to manage their money and that this caused them to become poorer. We see this as a fight against poverty and therefore we wanted to develop this model in a country like Turkey. From this angle, there is no corresponding project to this anywhere in the world. We founded this program as partly a public private sector partnership, partly a corporate social responsibility project and partly a fight against poverty.
UNDP Turkey: I want to ask Ms Berna one final question. It looks like we are starting to see the benefits of this project. You are going to continue this work in another country within your region very soon. Tell us about that and then we will finish.
B.Ü.: After the success of the programme here, both we and UNDP are sharing this formula as a model of best practice. There was some interest in Romania for this programme. We came together with UNDP and coordinated the export of this programme to Romania. We, the Turkish contingent, are very proud of this achievement.
UNDP Turkey: Visa Europe and UNDP Turkey will be carrying this success over to Romania. Thank you very much for joining us, Berna Ülman, the Regional General Manager of Visa Europe, and Hansın Doğan, acting interim Deputy Director of 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, good bye!
In this episode, we will talk about two social responsibility projects jointly led by Vodafone Turkey Foundation. One aims to form a knowledge-based society now that it has reached 1 million young people, while the other is a workshop of artist, who know no boundries, namely Dreams Academy.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. In this episode, we will talk about two social responsibility projects jointly led by Turkey Vodaphone Foundation. One aims to form a knowledge-based society now that it has reached 1 million young people, while the other is a workshop of artist, who know no boundries, namely Dreams Academy. Our contributor is the Chairman of Vodafone Turkey Foundation, Dr. Hasan Süel. Hello, Mr. Süel.
Hasan Süel (H.S.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: Mr. Süel, I'm going to ask you about these two projects but before, let's talk about how Vodafone Turkey Foundation is participating into development projects. What is your perspective on participation?
H.S.: Thank you very much. As you know the region we live in has certain social responsibilities and social needs. Our point of departure was to render the private sector accountable as well as the state for social responsibility. Therefore, in 2007, during Vodafone's first year of activity, we founded the Vodafone Turkey Foundation and tried to map Turkey's social needs. As the private sector, as Vodafone and as the Vodafone Turkey Foundation, we thought about the fields we could contribute to. And at that point, our philosophy was to reach those who were left outside. We attached great importance to projects that aim to bring opportunities closer to the people who cannot benefit from them. There were two reasons for this: education and disability. Vodafone Turkey has a particular feature: the social assistance activities of the group we invest in gain a legal status and are led accordingly.
UNDP Turkey: The Vodafone Foundation operates in more than 20 countries.
H.S.: We are one of the 27 Vodafone Foundations and we have a legal personality of our own and a separate administrative structure. This allows us to handle social responsibility projects with a different vision and manner. I would like to underline this different vision. As you know, it is very important to choose the right business partner and to do your work professionally just as it is important to choose the right subject and field. We aim to come up with sustainable projects with long-term effects and to be able to measure the impact of those effects.
UNDP Turkey: So it is possible to talk about a unity and partnership as far as objectives go. United Nations Development Programme is also an international organization that believes in partnership with the private sector. And sustainability is one of the main topics that UNDP attaches great importance. Now, if you would like let's talk about how these objectives are put in practice. There are surely those out there who haven't heard of Dreams Academy. So what is Dreams Academy and how did you get involved in it?
H.S.: Now, there are more than 8,5 million registered disabled people in Turkey. This figure indicates that they constitute more than 10% of the whole population. When we go out in the street we don't see most of these people because they can't go out of their homes. So that's where we came in to develop a project that will allow them to bond with life and involve them permanently with social life. We looked at the projects, which have been developed on the subject until now. They were mostly private sector projects dependent on donations of benefactors. However, what we wanted to accomplish was a sustainable project, focusing on education. And so we came together with AYDER and UNDP.
UNDP Turkey: You started out with various municipalities in İstanbul. You came together with different organizations at venues assigned by the municipalities to start working on the project. What does Dreams Academy involve? How did you design it to be?
H.S.: As the name indicates, this is an Academy with an academic calendar and trainers. Vodafone Turkey Foundation gives its biggest support through meeting the educational needs. It provides various educational programs and workshops in different areas.
UNDP Turkey: Here we should underline that these programs and workshops include art too.
H.S.: Yes, here we have determined certain multifaceted areas, like music, theatre, dance and sports, oriented towards the needs of the people in the Academy. Thanks to our volunteering and professional trainers, we have had more than 620 graduates and we are still counting.
UNDP Turkey: Under this Academy, some brands also started to emerge like the Social Inclusion Band. It is an orchestra of disadvantaged young people. They play whatever you want them to and they are just amazing. So let's talk about them a little.
H.S.: The Social Inclusion Band is a product of Dreams Academy that we are absolutely proud of. As you said, they play in music festivals and music halls and receive a fee for their performance. So what I would like to underline here is that they turn what they do into an income and thus ensure sustainability. We are very proud that we have made a contribution to them to accomplish this. And they already have the capacity to move on without us.
UNDP Turkey: Last year, you released an album under the label of the Social Inclusion Band. Cahit Berkay also took part in it. So if you would like, let's listen to the Social Inclusion Band. We will be back… And we are back with the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. Our contributor is Dr. Hasan Süel, Chairman of Vodafone Turkey Foundation. So that's how professional the Social Inclusion Band plays. There are also certain sub-bands like the Dreams Company. What does the Dreams Company do?
H.S.: The Dreams Company is a theatre group and as I have said, one of our sub activity groups is theatre. We noticed that students of Dreams Academy have enthusiasm and potential for theatre. So we created a workshop and turned theater into a training programme. And we began to reap the fruits after a short while. They performed many plays, which were all well received. And we are going to come up with surprises soon.
UNDP Turkey: Let's underline the surprise part because even if we know what they are going to be, we are not telling. But let me just say that they have a great surprise prepared. You can follow Dreams Academy on Twitter by typing "Dreams Academy" and the Social Inclusion Band by typing "SIB." We don't have much time left but there is one project that you conduct jointly with UNDP. It has reached hundreds of thousands of people but still it remains largely unknown. It is called "Everyone Will Have Computer Skills." So what kind of a project is this?
H.S.: I would like to repeat what I said ta the beginning. To come up with a successful project, you have to find the right partner, subject and time. "Everyone Will Have Computer Skills" is a combination of all three. We have observed that computer literacy was very low in Turkey. So we thought of what we could do to bridge this gap and came up with a web-based training programme online because the internet provides a platform for people to gather around. This programme, recognized by the European Union, is comprised of modules. So people can include this certificate in their CVs. This project was much appreciated by the public and, as a result, we have had an influence on more than one million people. Here I would like to point out the majority that women and children form. This is a step taken towards equality of opportunities by bridging the digital divide, which is an important problem in Turkey. We regard this project as a very significant activity of sustainability.
UNDP Turkey: So this is a project that has influenced more than one million young people in 81 provinces. You can still register at the website to receive trainings. Just go to bilgitoplumu.net. And for Dreams Academy, go to duslerakademisi.org. Lastly, I would like to ask you how your partnership with the UNDP will continue?
H.S.: We will continue to come up with sustainable projects by determining the right themes. What is important is to interpret our country's problems in the right way. The successes we have had is the guarantee of our future accomplishments. So stay tuned.
UNDP Turkey: Our contributor for this episode was Dr. Hasan Süel, Chairman of Vodafone Turkey Foundation. We have come to the end of this episode of New Horizons Podcast of 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, good-bye.