Issue: 71
The Report since its inception in 1990, presents Human Development Index (HDI) as an alternative measurement of national development, challenging purely economic assessments of progress such as Gross Domestic Product.
The Report presents 2011 HDI values and ranks for 187 countries and UN-recognized territories and argues that environmental sustainability coupled with equity is sine qua non for ensuring and securing the future of humanity.
This can be most fairly and effectively achieved by addressing health, education, income, and gender disparities. At the same time, global action on energy production and ecosystem protection is an absolute imperative for viable and sustainable development.
The Report also notes that income distribution has worsened in most of the world, with Latin America remaining the most unequal region in income terms, even though several countries including Brazil and Chile are narrowing internal income gaps.
Norway, Australia and the Netherlands lead the world in the 2011 Human Development Index.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger and Burundi are at the bottom of the Human Development Report’s annual rankings of national achievement in health, education and income.
The United States, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Germany and Sweden round out the top 10 countries in the 2011 HDI,
Turkey’s HDI value for 2011 is 0.699—in the high human development category—positioning the country at 92 out of 187 countries and territories.
Between 1980 and 2011, Turkey’s HDI value increased from 0.463 to 0.699, an increase of 51.0 per cent or average annual increase of about 1.3 per cent.
The report has a lot of guiding facts and figures in many policy areas, along with some other indices.
For free downloads of the 2011 Human Development Report please refer to http://hdr.undp.org
And you can always download it from UNDP Turkey’s website: undp.org.tr
* Shahid Najam, UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey and UN Resident Coordinator in Turkey
Design coordinator of Argande, also a stylist, Hatice Gökçe said ‘’Argande achieved this prize only after a work of five seasons and one or two years, and this is very valuable to us.’’
This initiative of Argande is based on the manufacture of designs of leading stylists of Turkey by women living in GAP region.
The Project is executed by the cooperation of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and GAP Regional Development Administration and financed by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
Accomplished by GAP women, Argande designs are offered to fashion lovers at Mudo Stores.
About the Prize
Retail Days; where Argande received the Special Prize is among the leading business organizations of Turkey since 2001.
Under this event; where expert speakers from Turkey and world discuss global improvements in retail world, International İstanbul Retail Conference and İstanbul Retail Exhibition is held during two days.
Within scope of Retail Days event, most successful retail products and retail entrepreneurs are awarded with prizes in 11 categories.
Prizes were given to their owners on Thursday, 20 October 2011- second day of the organization.
Argande received the Special Prize given on behalf of Card Finans, which is one of the main sponsors of 2011 Retail Days.
Developing “Project of Innovations for Improving the Women of GAP Region”, Argande met the audience at İstanbul Fashion Week on 7 September.
What is Argande?
Project of Innovations for Improving the Women of GAP Region has been conducted with the cooperation of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and GAP Regional Development Administration for purpose of improving the women of Southeastern Anatolia Region with regard to social and economic matters since May 2008. The project is funded by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). Products of the Project are gathered under the brand of Argande.
The Project intends to ensure participation of women in the labor market, branding of Southeastern Anatolia, and development of new sale and marketing opportunities.
The brand takes its name from Argande, which is the only Goddess of Kommagene Kingdom that ruled on Mesopotamia Territories. Today, it reborns in the hands of women of Southeastern Anatolia.
Supporters of Argande
Various corporations and people act with the awareness of social responsibility with regard to the production and development of the brand. Sale amount of the brand will be conveyed to the women producing the products of Argande brand.
Mudo organized sale booths for Argande products at 15 of its stores. Mudo offers the collection prepared by famous stylists at special show cases and shelves, in order to support the project. Supporting the project without requesting any charge, Mudo contributes to the development of a sustainable source for women of Southeastern Anatolia Region that work at the workshops of Argande.
Demir Tasarım is one of the volunteers for development of Argande brand and preparation of visual and printed documents. İTKİB provided training support at workshops established in Ömerli ÇATOM of Batman and Mardin for production of the collection. Batman Governorship contributed to all stages of the project.
Artistic Director and Choreographer Bilge Tuğsuz offered consultancy service with regard to brand profile during IFW fashion shows and catalogue shootings. Ahu Yağtu, Beril Kayar and Sema Şimşek were the faces of the brand. Gencer Bavbek committed photo shootings of the collection.
Under coordination of Dünya Olgaç, Sortie and Fratelli La Buffalo provided venue for the events of Argande. Ertan Çelikler and Can Hatipoğlu gave support in terms of music, while Jerry provided support for make- up stage.
Stojwilk provided support. İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality provided billboard support for the brand, while İstanbul Fashion Week Committee provided support through fashion parade.
Under brand coordination of Hatice Gökçe, leading designers of the sector including Berna Canok, Gamze Saraçoğlu, Gül Ağış, Mehtap Elaidi, Özgür Masur, Rana Canok and Rojin Aslı Polat develop clothes and accessories for the brand.
Through visibility of local cultural inheritance, the Project intends to ensure branding of the region and contribute to the development of a more positive perception for the region which matches up with local cultural prosperity, diversity and production of women.
Photo Caption:
UNDP Project Manager Gönül Sulargil, with Special Prize of Retail Days. 20 September 2011, İstanbul
For More Information:
Gönül Sulargil, Project Manager gonul.sulargil@undp.org
[BAGLANTILAR]
On 25 October, UNHCR handed over to the Red Crescent Society 2000 tents, 10,000 blankets and 10,000 bed mats.
Another consignment of 2000 tents and 40,000 blankets from UNHCR is ready to be dispatched from Dubai.
In addition, UNFPA will also supply 250. OCHA will also dispatch 400 tents for the earthquake victims.
Football stars Ronaldo and Zinédine Zidane announced that the ninth annual Match Against Poverty will take place in Hamburg, Germany on 13 December 2011, with most of the proceeds going towards addressing the ongoing food crisis in the Horn of Africa.
HSV is one of Germany’s oldest and most successful clubs, and the only one to have consistently played in the country’s football league, the Bundesliga, since it was founded in 1963. The 57,000 tickets for the match at the club’s Imtech Arena go on sale today.
The annual Match Against Poverty seeks to mobilize the public to fight against poverty and promote action on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - eight internationally-agreed goals which seek to end extreme poverty worldwide by 2015.
Football legends will play for Somali
Football legends Ronaldo and Zidane have been the driving force behind the Match Against Poverty since its inception in 2003.
“I am proud of the success of the Match Against Poverty and very honoured that clubs such as HSV have offered to host the event,” said Ronaldo, who recently retired from professional football, and is eager to return for this latest edition of the match.
This year the organisers and players have joined the global effort to address the ongoing crisis in the Horn of Africa, where more than 13 million people have been left in need by famine, drought, conflict and high food prices.
“Through the 2011 edition in Hamburg we hope we will be able to raise both awareness and funds for the people in need in the Horn of Africa,” said Zinedine Zidane, the current Director of Sport for the Real Madrid football club. “And, while I obviously hope to win, the Match Against Poverty is much more than a game: it is part of the global fight against poverty.”
The UN is working on longer term development plans
Two thirds of the match proceeds will be used to bolster humanitarian and recovery activities in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
The UN is working in these countries to provide emergency food aid, water, shelter and health services, while working on longer term development plans.
“We need to scale up these humanitarian actions to reach those in need before it is too late,” said UNDP Administrator Helen Clark. “At the same time, we must also focus on longer term solutions so that families are better able to cope when this kind of crisis hits.”
HSV will donate the remaining 33 percent of the event’s profits to the club’s initiative, Der Hamburger Weg (The Hamburg Way), to promote corporate social responsibility among its sponsors/partners, and to support diverse community development projects focused on sports, youth, education and protection of the environment.
Carl-Edgar Jarchow, chairman of HSV, said the entire team is honoured to be a part of this important event. “We are glad to join in UNDP’s efforts against poverty this year. Football is a great way to get people together for a good cause,” Jarchow said. “The players are also really excited to be playing against legendary champions such as Zidane and Ronaldo.”
Proceeds from the previous eight Matches Against Poverty have benefited projects in more than 27 developing countries, including recent recovery efforts in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake and Pakistan floods.
As in past years, the Match is supported by football’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).
The Match will take place at the Imtech Arena from 20:30 local time on 13 December 2011.
lRonaldo and Zidane are part of an elite group of UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors, which includes other soccer stars Didier Drogba, Iker Casillas and Marta Vieira de Silva, Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway, Japanese actress Misako Konno, Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova and Spanish actor Antonio Banderas.
Several UN agencies including UNDP has been working in Kars for some time in collaboration with the relevant public authorities to promote culture and nature tourism.
The aim of these activities is to promote income generation for the Kars and surrounding region, one of Turkey’s less developed regions.
Millenium Development Goals Achievement Fund is being financed by the Spanish government and is the main funder of the project.
To read the relevant article on MDG-F website:
http://mdgfund.org/country/turkey/story/%22IamoneofthefirstbusinesswomeninKars%21%22
Training was based on the inclusive growth and the role of private sector in development.
The training held at IICPSD, Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development in October.
The group included students from Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia, Uganda, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Experience of GEF funded “Enhancing Forest Protected Areas Management System in Turkey Project” implemented in Küre Mountains National Park and its buffer zone has been presented as a case study in various international congress and workshops.
Protected area management, sustainable tourism applications, ecosystem service and economic evaluation work, and sustainable forest management experience of Küre Mountains National Park was shared globally in two different international meetings.
First of these meetings was “Ecosystem Services Partnership Conference 2011” held in Netherlands at the first days of October 2011.
From all around the world, more than 300 scientists, experts and government representatives participated in this conference under this year’s theme of “Ecosystem Services: Integrating Science and Practice”.
The second meeting that Küre Mountains work shared was “Regional Workshop for Central Asia on Updating National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans” held in İstanbul on 17-20 October 2011.
Main national experts of Convention on Biodiversity from 7 different countries participated in the workshop.
“Blending Climate Finance through National Climate Funds” is based on UNDP’s experience in setting up, managing and advising 750 funds and providing services for over US$5 billion in contributions pooled from multiple donors.
A step-by-step guide on setting up national climate funds, the publication is a key resource for policymakers, economists, investors and donors involved in national responses to climate change.
“We’re giving governments a recipe on how to access more funding and how to improve management of climate change activities,” said Olav Kjorven, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of Development Policy. “This guidebook can fundamentally change the way governments plan, finance and deliver on their climate policies.”
More than 50 international public funds, 45 carbon markets and more than 6,000 private equity funds provide billions of dollars for national-level climate change actions. Between 2009 and 2010, clean energy sector investments worldwide grew 30 percent to a record US$243 billion.
However, only about one tenth of these investments went outside of countries that are members of the G20 grouping to areas of the world highly vulnerable to shifts in climate patterns, such as the Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States.
Challenges Faced
Challenges for developing countries seeking to take climate finance actions include collection of funds from hundreds of sources, coordinating activities funded by them and accounting for results.
While a national climate fund with clearly defined objectives, resources, standards, and monitoring and reporting would help meet these challenges, responsibility for climate finance and planning in many developing countries governments is often spread among multiple ministries.
“Through national climate funds, countries can access more financing and accelerate their response to climate change,” said Olav Kjorven. “This can be a major contribution to setting the world on a cleaner, more equitable and sustainable path.”
Examples of successful national climate funds in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Indonesia and other countries are highlighted in the guidebook. The guidebook is part of a series of practical manuals, guidebooks and toolkits intended to support countries to transition toward green, low-emission and climate-resilient development available at www.undp.org/climatestrategies.
Blending Climate Finance through National Climate Funds: A Guidebook for the Design and Establishment of National Funds to Achieve Climate Change Priorities
Investing in sustainable development is no longer a question of choice. It is the only option. That is why a meaningful outcome from the Rio +20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil next June is so critical.
Twenty years after the 1992 Rio Earth Summit set a forward looking agenda for sustainable development, we have a unique opportunity at Rio+20 to review progress on that agenda, examine the gaps in it and the new needs, and reach agreement on how to move ahead together.
At UNDP we believe that truly sustainable development for present and future generations must safeguard ecosystems while also enabling economic and social progress. Sustainable development will also build countries’ resilience to external shocks and protect development gains.
It is particularly critical to ensure that the most vulnerable are not left behind. Social protection systems are a vital investment in sustainability, as they enable poor people to keep their children in schools during economic downturns, maintain their health, and better plan for and invest in the future.
UNDP works across the three pillars of sustainable development in 177 countries and territories. We partner with governments and communities to build institutional capacity, strengthen governance for sustainable development at national and local levels, catalyze finance, advance access to clean and affordable energy for all, promote women’s empowerment, reduce vulnerability to natural disasters, and support recovery from shocks and disasters, including during and after conflict.
In India, for example, UNDP supported the Government of India in their implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, whose benefits spread to over 52 million poor, rural households in 2010-11. In Malawi, UNDP helped implement agricultural subsidies to raise maize production. In Bangladesh, we have long worked with governments on disaster risk reduction – with good results.
By committing to action on sustainable development, we can tackle the many challenges our world faces – economic crises, climate change, ecosystem decline, continued energy poverty, and conflict and despair in many places.
UNDP will be an active participant in the whole Rio+20 process, and in delivering on a vision for sustainable development in which equity, sustainability, and inclusiveness are secured for all.
With those signatures, a highly important contribution was provided to the United Nations Global Compact.
The project aims to increase the level of knowledge of social responsibility principles of the companies via reaching the ten thousands of SME’s through local seminars in 81 provinces.
Within the context of the project, a series of principles in the field of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption are targeted to be incorporated to the business process of the enterprises in Anatolia.
By means of the project, it is aimed to both improve the environment and social impact of the companies and increase the competitiveness of businesses in national and international markets.
Training for Trainers
The project which is planned to be conducted with the support of the 40 Rotarians, who were trained in the UNDP Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development is the only nation-wide operation in this field.
Within the project which will be financed by the Rotary and will last for 2 years, there will be cooperation with the Corporate Social Responsibility Association of Turkey, Chambers of Industry and Commerce, local professional associations and institutions.
Through 100 seminars in 81 cities, it is aimed to train the SMEs and conduct studies to confine the present structure of Turkey in terms of compliance with the CSR principles on environment, labour standards, human rights and anti-corruption.
Within the context of the initiative, a solution assessment seminar will be held at the end of trainings, which will provide a strategic road-map for the advancement of the CSR compliance in Turkey.
Preparing and presenting of public policy recommendations, which define the support mechanisms that are needed for the sustainability in the SME’s, with the data gathered from the enterprises in Anatolia, are also among the objectives of the project
With the project, it is expected providing of opportunity in many subjects which are ranged from increasing the brand value and reputation of the companies to creating of new job opportunities through the interaction with social partners.
The forum hosted the high level participation of practitioners in the region including the representatives of UNDP Country Offices, Ministry of Justice, high courts, bar associations and civil society organizations.
There was also a considerable interest to the event from the Ministry of Justice and Justice Academy of Turkey as co-organizers of the 2011 Regional Community of Practice on Rule of Law and Access to Justice.
In his opening speech, Ahmet Kahraman; Undersecretary of the Ministry of Justice underlined the importance of impartial, fast and efficient justice system for ensuring the rule of law and promoted a justice system which inspires confidence among the citizens themselves and facilitate their access to basic services provided.
In his address to the international participants, Kahraman also emphasized the significance of such platforms and community of practices for the share of knowledge and experience in the field of judicial reform processes, which has been accelerated in recent years due to shift in traditional understanding of justice around the globe.
Turkey’s progress
The forum provided an opportunity to reflect the recent progress in the field of judicial reform in Turkey including but not limited to the restructuring of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, promotion of e-justice system, probation services and prisons workshops, which are considered as milestones in facilitating access to justice in Turkey.
The Community of Practice also provided inputs for new programming in UNDP`s support to the countries in the field of access to justice and rule of law in the region.
The discussions on challenges faced by disadvantaged groups, with a special focus on women and youth in accessing justice system provided an important insight for the participant countries in the development of new programmes targeting the disadvantaged groups of children, youth, women and disabled.
Apart from showcasing the best practice and identifying challenges for UNDP development programming in the region, the forum also featured presentations from experts in the field of rule of law, access to justice, Universal Periodic Review (UPR), gender, minority, and other issues.
Transition period
The forum has created further synergies among the practitioners with some of the catalytic initiatives being implemented at the country level.
In the past decade equitable and accessible justice has increasingly been recognised as key component in promoting good governance, the rule of law and poverty reduction.
Transition positioned justice sector reform as a priority for many countries in Europe and the CIS which have succeeded to a large extent in creating effective and efficient governance systems that respect the rule of law and human rights.
UNDP Turkey: Hello. Welcome to the New Horizons Podcast, prepared by United Nations Development Programme Turkey. The first program of the new season, and our topic in this episode is October 24 UN Day, do we really know enough about this organization that we talk about and hear about on the news everyday? We will ask our guest, Ahmet Parla, UN Turkey spokesman. Welcome.
Ahmet Parla (A.P.): I am glad to be here, Thank you for hosting me in the first program.
UNDP Turkey: We are opening the season with you.
A.P.:Thank you.
UNDP Turkey: Why is 24th of October UN Day?
A.P.: As you know, UN is an organization that was established in order so that things like World War II, which had been such a war that had caused an enormous devastation, would not happen again. The founding date of UN coincides with the end of World War II. Initially, 51 countries, one of them is Turkey, came together in San Francisco on June 26. They adopted the UN Charter, and 24th of October has gone down in history as the date on which almost all of these 51 members, including 5 permanent members ratify the charter. Thus, we celebrate the 24th of October as the founding day each year. We will celebrate the 66th this year.
UNDP Turkey: October 24, 1945. We have refreshed our memories. 66 years have passed, United Nations was established but there is a question everybody asking, what has it achieved. Organizations are founded, they have certain aims and afterwards I wonder whether they can accomplish them sufficiently? When considered from this point of view, what has and what hasn’t United Nations accomplished in these 66 years? Has it learned lessons from what it couldn’t achieve?
A.P.: I think that UN has continuously increased its reputation in the eyes of the international community over the course of 66 years. One example of this is that this organization which started off with 51 countries has reached to 193 members today, in 2011. And this shows that the international community still maintains its respect for and confidence in United Nations. Over the course of these 66 years our world has suffered a wide range of wars, and natural disasters. Positive developments have been experienced in many countries. When United Nations was established it was considered that its main objective could be based upon three foundations. These are International Peace, Human Rights and Development. We see that dissents, conflicts follow one after another, incessantly when any one of these diminishes.
UNDP Turkey: There should be peace, human rights should be abided by and we should stick to the development principles.
A.P.: Yes.
UNDP Turkey: When we consider globally, the economic crisis, conflicts, drought, famine, climate change and so on are some of the questions probably most frequently asked of you. The world is confronted with huge problems. UN is a committee that aims to struggle against all of these problems. Can it accomplish this, can it solve these problems with its own resources?
A.P.: Let us start with international peace, if you like. When we look at the last 66 years of UN, we see that it has prevented 150 regional wars. We see that it has prevented a nuclear war, and prevented war during the cold war period by acting as an important forum. Today nearly 16 peace force operations are continuing across the globe. There are more than 100 thousand soldiers in these operations.
UNDP Turkey: In fact this is a spectrum ranging from peacekeeping to peace settlement.
A.P.: Yes.
UNDP Turkey: Missions like this, economic crisis, drought, famine, climate change… There are so many problems! Actually the basic question is this: Does UN have enough resources to wrestle with all these problems?
A.P.: Yes... The problems facing the world are big. Yet these problems are not getting smaller, some are even continuing to get bigger. You know, the world population is expected to reach 7 billion at the end of October.
UNDP Turkey: The seven billionth baby will have been born within a few days.
A.P.: Yes, it will have been born after few days. We are waiting excitedly wondering who he or she will be… Furthermore, while climate change used to be a part of science fiction movies or novels, today it has started to affect the daily lives of people all around the world as a reality that no one can deny.Too much precipitation take place, you know, something like 1/5 of Pakistan was flooded, or severe droughts take place, for example almost not even a glass of rain has fallen on Somalia for four years. However, despite all these problems, there are financial means, man power, technical ability and knowledge, experience, to overcome all these problems. The important point here is that in which direction the political will shall take steps. United Nations takes a very important role right at this point. UN organization, as you know, is not a government of governments, it is an international forum that 193 countries create by coming together. Also, it is an unprecedented forum for the time being. We think that, within the frame of this forum, it has an eye to channel the political will on all issues such as resource designation, manpower designation and so on for the solution of all those problems that we mentioned. Of course we expect the international community to use this power as well as it can.
UNDP Turkey: It is good to hear this! An optimistic message, there are sufficient resources, knowledge accumulation. When only the political will is added on this, it is possible to fight against a great majority of these problems. Let us come back to Turkey. You are participating in the program as the Turkey spokesman of United Nations. Turkey has started to place emphasis on cooperation with international organizations in recent years; she strengthened her relations with United Nations. In this context, for example, there are conferences being held in Turkey. There are some UN organizations arriving in Turkey. Can we summarize the last few years in Turkey with respect to UN?
A.P.: Sure, the UN organizations in Turkey traces back to 1950’s. At the present time, around 10 UN organizations are involved in activities actively. In the recent period, as you emphasized, Turkey has reached the position of a support providing country within the UN system. Turkey provides serious amounts of support to developing countries in terms of financial suppor,t as well as in terms of material aid and experience assistance. This is stated to have reached up to a level of around three billion dollars. This is, of course, a very significant amount. Additionally, Turkey has started to incorporate increasingly the regional offices of UN organizations.
UNDP Turkey: I think especially Istanbul.
A.P.: Yes. Istanbul probably will become one of the important regional centers of UN in future. The regional center of UNFPA population fund settled in there. The UNDP private sector and development center was opened there. In Ankara, there is a sub-regional office of food and agriculture organization, and this region comprises Central Asia countries..
UNDP Turkey: Our definition for region is not only Turkey, all the centers comprising Turkey and its peripheral countries.
A.P.: Yes. When we mention region, I think we should understand that Southeastern Europe as well as Central Asia, Caucasus and the Balkans is included in this.
UNDP Turkey: We have a short time remaining… Now, we are talking about these centers opening in Turkey, the young people listening to us might be thinking, how I can work in these centers. What should you do to work in UN?
A.P.: In order to work for UN, if you ask me, if these young people do not have any work experience, if they are starting for the first time, I recommend them to try the UN Volunteers system. This system is a programme that was created to direct the voluntarily working personnel to meet the requirements of the organizations within UN. There is representation of it also in Turkey. It is possible to reach detailed information through UN Turkey’s internet page un.org.tr. UN works in all areas; from humanitarian aid to agriculture and stockbreeding, from international peace to space works; in all areas affecting the daily lives of people. Maybe the first step to understand which of these areas they can contribute to more, and in which they will be most successful, is to try to take part in these volunteers system.
N.H.: Starting from there, then they can start to chart out a course for themselves. There is a system called UN Volunteers. At un.org.tr through your pages they can learn how to take part in it; also I think it is available on your twitter link.
A.P.: Yes.
N.H.: They can get in contact with you through there, too.
A.P.: That’s right.
N.H.: Thank you very much for participating; happy October 24 UN Day.
A.P.: Thank you. I hope we will discuss more positive good developments next year.
N.H.: Ahmet Parla, UN Turkey spokesman has been our guest today, we have come to the end of the New Horizons program prepared by UNDP Turkey. We prepared the program in the studios of Ankara University Communication Faculty’s Radio – Radio İlef. You can reach to our program on open radio on FM band and internet, through radios of agreement universities, over Itunes in podcast form and also via undp.org.tr address. Our user name on social media is undpturkiye. Hope to be with you again after a week, goodbye.
The topic of this episode is a project that aims at activating tourism in Eastern Anatolia.
UNDP Turkey: Hello, this is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. The topic of this episode is a project that aims at activating tourism in Eastern Anatolia. While doing this, they cover various topics such as guesthouses, local cuisine, outdoor sports and bird watching. We will discuss the details with our contributors. Pelin Kihtir Öztürk, welcome.
Pelin Kihtir Öztürk (P.K.Ö.): Hello.
UNDP Turkey: You are representing DATUR Eastern Anatolia Tourism Development Project by means of UNDP. Süleyman Ekşioğlu, welcome to you as well.
S.E.: Hello, thank you.
UNDP Turkey: Süleyman Ekşioğlu is responsible for monitoring and protecting species as part of the Nature Research Society. First of all I would like to start with you, Ms Pelin. Can you explain the project a little. In what way does your project aim at developing tourism in Eastern Anatolia?
P.K.Ö.: Yes. Now, Eastern Anatolia Tourism Development Project is a project that has been conducted since 2007 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and Efes Pilsen. This project is carried out with various subtitles, such as various inventory studies, studies for developing service sectors, promotion of souvenir production and local foods.
UNDP Turkey: There are lots of areas here. In the beginning you took an inventory and then you kept to a plan.
P.K.Ö: Yes. Coruh Valley was chosen as the field of work. First, all of the natural beauty, historical, social and economic inventories of Coruh Valley was taken. Georgian churches which have been in the region since the Middle Ages, trekking, rafting, bird watching routes for outdoor sports...
UNDP Turkey: You mean, actually, you have made an incentory of things that may attract tourism.
P.K.Ö: Yes.
UNDP Turkey: Maybe these are not the first things that come to one’s mind when Eastern Anatolia is mentioned. In a sense, you uncover them and put them on show.
P.K.Ö.: Yes.
UNDP Turkey: Apart from these, you said outdoor sports.. Let’s open up the outdoor sports subject a little. What does it include?
P.K.Ö: It first begins with trekking and mountain bike routes. On the Southern face of the Kackars, particularly, in fields that have not been studied much before, the potential of the region was assessed with the support of both academicians and professional experts. While this assessment was taking, flora and fauna of the region was studied as well.
UNDP Turkey: Diversity of flora and fauna?
P.K.Ö: Yes. Particularly edible wild fruit species and their effects on food culture, to uncover how local culture has developed. In terms of animal diversity, there are particularly diversified existing activities such as bird watching potential, the discovery of approximately 207 species and then, determining bird watching points.
UNDP Turkey: When we say bird watching, an expert is with us. Süleyman Bey, who is from the Nature Research Society, I would like to ask you: As a bird watcher, what attracts your attention in Eastern Anatolia?
S.E.: First of all it is a different geography. It has bird species that you cannot see in any other part of Turkey. To give an example, if a bird watcher wants to observe a Mountain Chiffchaff or Blackcock, s/he needs to go to Eastern Anatolia. Other than that, of course we go there for bird watching, but experiencing a different geography is also a good experience. It is very different to any other place.
UNDP Turkey: Until recently, the name of your association was Bird Research Society. Your name changed to Nature Research Society and let me highlight, your association can be found in dogaarastirmalari.org.. How did your project coincide with this project?
S.E.: Yes, previously they organized this project in different forms. They ask us whether we want to take part in this organization with other friends.
UNDP Turkey: The Bird-watching Festival- do you organize it under framework of the project?
S.E.: Yes. Our association founded in 1998, and our communication with bird-watchers is very good both in Turkey and in the world. In this sense, to spread the word about this project, and to respond to their demands are easy for us. So we have a collaboration this year.
UNDP Turkey: You gave an introduction but how many birds can be observed in Turkey? Native birds, as well as the total number of migratory birds, and how many of these are in Eastern Anatolia? In this region, I mean, Coruh Valley…
S.E.: Up to now, 463 bird species have been seen in Turkey. This number contains birds that show up on a regular basis, and also includes those which have been seen only once. But the total number is 463. Other than that, we say that the number of breeding birds in Turkey is 304. Because most of the time, actually, in terms of bird presence in a country, the number of birds sighted is as important as breeding birds.
UNDP Turkey: You mean native birds.
S.E.: Yes.
UNDP Turkey: Birds that settled in Turkey.
S.E.: Some of them only arrive to breed then go back to other geographies. But some of them are always with us. As Pelin mentioned a little while ago, as a result of a detailed bird study carried out in this region and in the scope of the project area, 207 distinctive bird species were sighted which is a great number for the region. We should take into account that there is not any great wetland in this region. Because there is usually a great amount of diversity of species existing in wetland areas. Nevertheless, to reach such a number in a mountainous region is very good.
UNDP Turkey: This year you observed the migration of birds of prey in September, right? It is rich in this regard, too.
S.E.: Of course, that’s the most intense region in occurrence of birds of prey. The places where terrestrial migrators, which in general are non-predatory birds such as the pelican and stork, are less likely to pass through. In general, they prefer the Bosphorus. But there is intense predatory migration to this region. In a season more than two hundred thousand birds are sighted and pass through here. You can see more than ten thousand migrating birds in one day.
UNDP Turkey: Well. I would like to go to Eastern Anatolia, Ms. Pelin and I would like to experience various beauties in the region, bird-watching opportunities, and other possibilities in regard to outdoor tourism by myself. But, is there enough infrastructure out there? Who will show me around out there, who will introduce the region to me? Could you tell us about your work on this topic?
P.K.Ö: Yes, particularly for the training of tour guides, trainings were added into the inventory studies that have been carried out since 2007. Local youth have been trained in all these areas. For example, for bird-watching you can easily communicate with a local guide to bring you to wherever you want and you may have the chance to watch any bird you want.
UNDP Turkey: Actually, you can be taken from Erzurum Airport and you can spend whole weekend with them. Let’s talk about local guesthouses a little.
P.K.Ö.: Yes. In scope of the project, we also tried to develop accommodation facilities. Particularly, Uzundere and its environment is the focal point of the project in recent years. Guesthouses have developed. In these house pensions you have the possibility to reach local cuisine, and also to observe and experience local living conditions. Absolutely, there have been great results for us.
UNDP Turkey: There's no way to mention all of them.. So, datur.com… It can be reached from datur.com, the short name of Eastern Anatolia Tourism Development Project; or Coruh Valley, right? On coruhvadisi.com.
P.K.Ö.: Yes, all of our inventory studies are on coruhvadisi.com.. I mean, it is open to anybody who is interested in the topic. From datur.com, one can find more information about our project activities.
UNDP Turkey: Well, let me pose a final question to you, Süleyman Bey. What is the headline of this year’s Bird-watching Festival, what excites you most?
S.E.: What excites me most is not about the birds but about the participants. Each year, different people come… I more or less recognize previous participants. Most of them were my friends, but this year to see new participants makes me very happy.
UNDP Turkey: How can people participate, people who want to contact with you.. Let’s tell them again.
S.E.: They can reach us from dogaarastirmalari.org, our contact information is all on there.
UNDP Turkey: Thank you very much for joining us. We discussed a project aimed at activating tourism in Eastern Anatolia and within this scope we also touched on bird-watching. From the Nature Research Society, Süleyman Ekşioğlu was with us and one of the project authorities, Pelin Kıhtır Öztürk. Thank you very much. We have come to the end of the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. This podcast has been recorded at the studio of Radyo İlef of the University of Ankara. You can follow our podcasts on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on FM frequency, on university radios in our broadcasting network, or on the internet on undp.org.tr, on iTunes as podcast format, as well as on YouTube in video format. Our username on social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you next week, good bye!
In this episode, our topic is the Van Earthquake that happened on Sunday, October 23, 2011 at 13:41 hrs, and the UN’s aid campaign for the region that suffered from the earthquake.
UNDP Turkey: Hi, this is the New Horizons Podcast which is prepared by UNDP Turkey. In this episode, our topic is the Van Earthquake that happened on Sunday, October 23, 2011 at 13:41 hrs and the UN’s aid campaign for the region that suffered from the earthquake. We will talk about our topic with our guest speaker in detail. Ms. Halide Çaylan, UN Resident Coordination Officer, welcome.
Halide Çaylan (H.Ç.): Thank you.
UNDP Turkey: Van Earthquake was a very severe earthquake, 7.2 on the Richter Scale. Several hours after the earthquake, UN General Secretary Ban Ki Moon made a declaration about the Van Earthquake and he has also offered assistance to the Turkish Government. My question is how did the coordination of UN been developed in Turkey in terms of the Van Earthquake?
H.Ç.: After this offer of assistance was declared by the General Secretary, the UN Resident Coordinator of Turkey Mr. Shahid Najam has demanded an appointment from the MoFA. But the Turkish Government did not have any demand of assistance from any of the organizations in International Arena at that period of time right after the earthquake. However, they also declared that if they will need any assistance, they will announce to us this and in these cirmcumstances, we ended our first meeting. Thereafter, we demanded a second appointment from the MoFA and this was 2 or 3 days after our first meeting. In this meeting, the possibility of any assistance demand from UN had increased, because the situation of the region had worsened during the intervening time, as we had seen from the media. MoFA declared to us that they are open to any offer of assistance from the International Arena, but the purpose of those aids need only to provide tents and prefabricated houses, because they do not need any other type of assistance. In this respect, as a result of our meeting with the Turkish Government, we contacted any organisations that can help with this subject, and our first contact was OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) which is one of the most important organizations concerning humanitarian aid. The regional office of OCHA is situated in Cairo, and Turkey is one of their areas of responsibility. In these circumstances, we immediately called them and they sent 400 tents that same night.
UNDP Turkey: Despite the fact that only a few days had passed from the day of the earthquake, correct?
H.Ç.: Yes it is true. Thereafter, UNCHR entered the process. They had already sent 2000 tents to the Turkish Red Crescent for the Syrian Refugees’ issue, but there was not a need for tents at that time for them, and as a result those tents were immediately sent to Van. In addition to that, 2000 more tents have also been sent to the region. So this was the start of this process. Thereafter, all of the other organizations such as UNFPA and IOM have also integrated into this process and they have met all of the needs of the region. I think that right now, there is no need of any aid assistance but if there will be, we will try to do our best to meet the needs of the region.
UNDP Turkey: To summarize, organizations like UNFPA, IOM and UNHCR have been integrated into this process and maybe OCHA was one of the first and most important contributors for this humanitarian aid mission as you already told us. Of course, the coordination of this process has been overseen by UN Turkey Resident Office, related to that, can you inform us about the process of this coordination? And you are also providing the coordination between the Turkish Government and UN Agencies, are you not?
H.Ç.: Both the coordination among agencies, and between the government and our agencies are our areas of responsibility. This coordination has been coordinated by our Resident Coordinator and we tried to assist him as much as possible and as quickly as we could. We have all benefited from a fund in order to act collectively as a group to answer any possible future demands, and we are also obliged to apply to this fund collectively as a group as well. We will use this fund to build much more prefabricated houses and schools. In this respect, this fund will be transferred to us as a whole unit of the UN and the budget will be used according to the projects that we will implement.
UNDP Turkey: Of course, the negative effects of such severe earthquakes endure for a much longer period of time. That’s why we are also trying to talk about a much more broader period of time and you are really experienced in such emergency situations. In the Marmara Region Earthquake of 1999, you were again responsible for the coordination of the aid campaigns of UN for the Marmara Region, and thanks to those experiences that you got in the Marmara earthquake, can you inform us about the ongoing process of the coordination of aid campaigns for Van Region?
H.Ç.: In fact, both cases are really very different from each other, because the scale of Marmara Earthquake was very huge compared to the one in Van. I started to work for the UN in 1997, and so the 1999 Marmara Earthquake was the first big experience of my professional life in UN. That’s why, in my opinion, the Marmara case was a really difficult case in which we really experienced a lot of difficulties. Moreover, I should confess that we were not so successful with the Marmara earthquake because the scale of earthquake was so huge, so no one could deal with such negative effects alone. Unfortunately, the Marmara Earthquake was a really hard case for us, but on the other hand we have learned and got lots of useful experience and training from that earthquake. The government of Turkey has really improved itself for such emergency cases. As I already said, it is impossible to compare and contrast both cases. Accordingly, the Van case is progressing under the control of much more organized and experienced organizations, and that’s why official organizations of government have reached to the region in a very short period of time. In this respect, they have really reached Van very quickly and that’s why we did not have so much to do for the Van earthquake. However, when they saw that the needs of the people of Van regarding shelter was much more than the expected, they asked for help from us and from other international organisations to intervene into the Van region. Not only UN, but also approximately 30 countries have offered to help or have directly helped the Turkish Government. Approximately an amount of 18 million USD of financial aid have been made available so far; but of course those informations are from official social sources, not from our own sources. The government of Saudi Arabia has sent 50 million USD to the Turkish Government. You asked me what are we doing? We are trying to coordinate this process because if you look at the whole process of sending clothes, food or meeting other survival needs, we do not have enough for such emergency situations. There are many more things that need to be done by more sophisticated organizations, because for example right now, there are people who are need psychological support in that region.
UNDP Turkey: This earthquake has multiple effects in the region going beyond societal health. And the UN and its agencies are ready to offer help to the country in all areas. We obviously understand that you, as resident coordination officer of Turkey, are ready to provide assistance and lead the coordination. The amount that you already mentioned to us, is the official amount of November budget which is available to help the region. While the number of deaths goes beyond 600, the number of victims has passed 4000 right now, while we are recording this program. Moreover, the number of negatively affected and damaged buildings is more than 2000. You have shared the UN contribution to the country in terms of meeting the demands of Turkish Government. We are really grateful for your participation in our program; thank you very much. We are now at the end of the New Horizons Podcast which is prepared by UNDP Turkey. We have made and recorded this program in the studios of Ankara University’s Faculty of Communication Radio (Radyo İlef). You can follow our program on regular radio FM frequency and on Open Radio on the internet, university radios inside of our broadcasting networks, on iTunes and as well as on undp.org.tr. Our username on social media is undpturkiye. See you next week, good bye!