Issue: 87
During the course of my career, I have witnessed with concern and pain, in the same space and time, the sordid concurrence of the abject poverty and starvation on the one hand and wastage and opulence on the other.
I feel enormously privileged and honored to have had my final stint of 3 years+ in Turkey- a country which has done marvelously well in recent years in terms of its assiduous pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals through people centered, inclusive and sustainable development and its commitment to help especially the least developed countries address their development challenges.
Turkey truly symbolizes, in policy and practice, an ardent aspiration to create a peaceful, prosperous and just world for the present and posterity.
It has also been enormously rewarding experience to be a part of a highly dedicated, motivated and competent team of UNDP colleagues who continue expanding the performance horizons in carrying out UNDP mandate; in traversing the path from good to great; and in establishing inclusive and resilient societies.
Many successful initiatives
Together, we have successfully pioneered a number of initiatives notably:
(a) articulation of a clear vision, operational strategy and roadmap to re-position the Country Office in the context of: post 2015 scenario based on value-addition and evidence based policy work; a Turkey+ role to facilitate delivery of Turkey’s ODA, experience, knowledge and expertise; and creating a body of knowledge and experience to inform UN system on how to engage with MICs including the countries likely to graduate to MICs status;
(b) conclusion of the global Partnership Framework Agreement (PFA) with the Government to help, inter alia, address development challenges of particularly LDCs and LICs; increasing Turkey’s contribution to the regional and global development capacity of UNDP; and assisting Turkey in realizing its national development goals;
(c) establishment of UNDP Istanbul International Centre for Private Sector in Development to maximize private sector engagement in achieving MDGs besides promoting inclusive business models and markets;
(d) adoption of programme approach with focus on providing upstream policy advisory support and pilot testing models and methodologies for up-scaling;
(e) aligning the business processes- HR, Financial and IT- to support programme development and project implementation.
Knowledge management and communication
In the process and in the wake of enormity of development challenges confronting the humanity and rapidly changing world, we have learned that it is absolutely imperative to make use of the vast reservoir of knowledge and successful experiences and share what has worked and what has not worked to address the development problems and ensure accelerated achievement of development goals.
Greater access to knowledge also means earlier achievement of MDGs; less poverty and hunger; more environmental sustainability; and greater equality and empowerment for women and the underprivileged. A Project Level Processing and KM system has been instituted as the first ever venture in the entire UNDP network to collate and disseminate the Knowledge Products.
Gender as a cross cutting theme
Our greater realization of importance of Gender as a crosscutting theme culminated in: mainstreaming gender in all initiatives of UNDP ranging from climate change to rural development; coherently addressing the existing structural inequalities; promoting greater participation of women in decision making and labor market. UNDP is now one of the lead agencies in Turkey on gender related issues and brings the global best practices and experiences to bear on the national processes while fully respecting the local cultural and anthropological perspectives and contexts.
Post 2015 development agenda
Last but not the least, our engagement in the articulation of post 2015 development framework provided us with a rare opportunity to contribute to shaping the future global agenda for development. Turkey is one of the countries selected for national consultations for the post 2015 development framework.
While MDGs, by focusing global attention on clear and measurable human development outcomes, have helped improve the lives of many, the development agenda to follow must be designed and fashioned through participatory, cohesive, voluntary and inclusive process to build a better future for all and advance human rights, democracy, and good governance as intrinsic elements for development. The national consultations process in Turkey has been globally considered as exemplary for having been inclusive and owned by the stakeholders; for reaching out through the online discussions, web portal (post2015turkey.org) and social media, a wide spectrum of society; for carrying out the advocacy work to align with the 'Future We Want' campaign launched by Secretary General; for organizing eleven thematic meetings and four regional meetings to engage government representatives, NGOs, private sector and local CSO; for organizing 5 university tours to benefit from the perspectives of youth, students and scholars; for arranging Instagram competition to seek the creative vision of the future by amateurs and artists alike; and for capturing the voice of the poor, the marginalized and men and women in streets and markets through street interviews. We believe that contribution from Turkey will constitute substantive input to the post 2015 development framework.
Availing the opportunity, I wish to express my profound gratitude to the colleagues who tirelessly and ably worked to constantly improve the format and substance of New Horizons; to the contributors and subscribers who enriched the quality of its contents; and above all to the readers who patronized us with their immense interest and support.
I will be carrying with me very fond memories of Turkey, the hospitality and generosity of its people and the warmth of many friends and colleagues who have been tremendous source of inspiration and encouragement during all these years.
Hoşçakalın,
* Shahid Najam, UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey and UN Resident Coordinator in Turkey
The meeting brought together senior UNDP official and other UNDP staff as well as representatives from Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Development, the Turkish International Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), and the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges.
In March 2011, the United Nations Development Programme officially partnered with the Government of Turkey to establish the Istanbul International Centre for Private Sector in Development, focused on advocacy, knowledge sharing and research.
The Centre is managed by UNDP, the UN’s development agency, and works closely with Turkish government, private sector organizations and academia.
“Turkey’s role in international development cooperation reflects the country’s commitment to support efforts to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the MDGs. Its distinct experience also inspires other countries as they seek to learn from Turkey’’ said UN Assistant Secretary General and UNDP Assistant Administrator Sigrid Kaag, who co-chairs the Executive Council. “The establishment of the Centre for the Private Sector in Development in Istanbul demonstrates the country's engagement and commitment to advance knowledge and share good practice on the role of the private sector in inclusive development.”
Other Executive Council members included co-chair H.E. Ambassador Mithat Rende, Director General of Multilateral Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Development Deputy Undersecretary M. Cüneyd Düzyol; and Dr. Serdar Çam, President of the Turkish International Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA).
The Centre works on finding innovative solutions to development challenges by tapping into the expertise offered by the private sector. It places a special emphasis on how business can help strengthen markets in least developed countries (LDCs).
The main aim of the New Horizons Podcasts is to raise awareness of UNDP works and local and global development issues by speaking to as many people as possible.
The audio files of every episode, which are in Turkish, are available on iTunes Store.
These programmes are produced by the UNDP Turkey Communications Office with contributions of Radyo İlef and Açık Radyo.
Thanks to its remarkably wide radio network, the New Horizons Podcasts has reached over 1 million people in Turkey every week.
There are currently eleven radio stations broadcasting New Horizons Podcasts, including one national radio, one local radio and nine university radios all around Turkey.
UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey Shahid Najam said that “New Horizons Podcasts, which became number one in the Government and Organizations category in iTunes Turkey store, serve as a potent channel of communication for the people in Turkey, especially those interested in developmental issues, helping them give expression to their voice and productively articulate their views on shaping a healthier and greener future.”
In the e-book, the transcripts of the first fifty podcasts that has already been broadcasted are compiled.
You may find Turkish and English versions of the e-book from the following links: Turkish | English
Transcripts and audio/video recordings of new and old podcast programmes can be followed on http://www.bit.ly/nhorizons or http://undp.org.tr.
The 2013 Human Development Report examines the profound shift in global dynamics driven by the fast-rising new powers of the developing world and its long-term implications for human development.
The 2013 Human Development Report identifies more than 40 countries in the developing world that have done better than had been expected in human development terms in recent decades, with their progress accelerating markedly over the past ten years.
The Report analyzes the causes and consequences of these countries achievements and the challenges that they face today and in the coming decades.
Each of these countries has its own unique history and has chosen its own distinct development pathway. Yet they share important characteristics and face many of the same challenges.
They are also increasingly interconnected and interdependent. And people throughout the developing world are increasingly demanding to be heard, as they share ideas through new communications channels and seek greater accountability from governments and international institutions.
The 2013 Human Development Report identifies policies rooted in this new global reality that could promote greater progress throughout the world for decades to come.
The Report calls for far better representation of the South in global governance systems and points to potential new sources of financing within the South for essential public goods.
With fresh analytical insights and clear proposals for policy reforms, the Report helps chart a course for people in all regions to face shared human development challenges together, fairly and effectively.
The Sustainable Tourism Support Fund was inaugurated on February which is implemented with the partnership of UNDP, Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Anadolu Efes.
As the Sustainable Tourism Support Fund aims to support the project ideas on sustainable tourism, the objective of the project is to promote the local product development and enhance job creation activities and create sustainable living areas.
The Support Fund will also give necessary consultation and communication support and education opportunities to the projects if needed.
In the media launch of the Support Fund, UNDP Resident Representative Shahid Najam stated that the sustainable tourism is one of the important sectors that can lead an enhanced development impact on the lives of marginalized and vulnerable segments of the society.
He noted that “The Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development and emphasized the potential of well-designed and well-managed tourism strategies to promote economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Global experience amplifies that well planned and competently executed tourism strategies and programmes invariably lead to pro-poor and inclusive sustainable development.”
Onur Gözet, Head of Foreign Relations and EU Coordination Department in Ministry of Culture and Tourism, underscored that while sustainable tourism contributes local economy, it is also an important factor to create new destination places for tourists.
As T. Altuğ Aksoy, the General Director of Anadolu Efes emphasized that they support local economy and development by promoting sustainable tourism.
He said that “Turkey has enormous tourism potential and resources. To unlock this potential, we need to explain the importance of sustainable tourism.”
You may apply to the Support Fund via http://www.gelecekturizmde.com
This year, Valentine’s Day was celebrated with dance.
“One Billion Rising” campaign aims to raise awareness about one billion women who are victims of violence of every kind during their life time.
This global movement was organized by V-Day movement by virtue of its 15th anniversary on 14 February 2013.
Numerous events to support this global movement were organized all around the world by non-governmental organizations and people.
One of the biggest events was organized in India especially to call for an end to sexual violence against women.
In Turkey, people joined this global movement by participating to 33 different events in 20 cities.
The United Nations Turkey participated the event at Middle East Technical University (METU) which was organized by Gender and Women Studies, Radio ODTÜ and Audio-Visual Research and Production Center.
Gender equality is one of the major areas worked in by UN agencies in Turkey .
UN Turkey will organize a joint event with Middle East Technical University and European Union on 8 March International Day of Women to raise awareness about gender equality issues.
The conference brought together representatives of the private sector, public sector and non-governmental organizations, focusing on implementing social responsibility principles, developing social partnerships.
Hansın Doğan from UNDP Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development also participated to the meeting.
He explained why Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mattered in Turkey to become globally competitive.
Other presentations focused on CSR reporting and main trends surrounding CSR in Romania and Europe.
The project which takes its name from Argande, which is the only Goddess of Kommagene Kingdom that ruled on Mesopotamia Territories, completed its first phase by providing social and economic empowerment of women in the GAP Region.
In its second phase, Argande again aims to increase women participation in the labour market, re-brand Southeastern Anatolia Region and create new sales and marketing opportunities.
At Markafoni on 8 March
Designed by leading stylists in Turkey and manufactured by Southeastern women, products of Argande designs are offered in Markafoni website on 8 March which marks the International Women’s Day.
The return from this sale will be transferred to Argande by Markafoni which is one of the main supporters of the project.
At Istanbul Fashion Week on 15 March
The 2013-2014 Fall-Winter collection of Argande will be exhibited in the Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week İstanbul on 15 March.
The collection is prepared by leading designers namely Özgür Masur, Gamze Saraçoğlu, Mehtap Elaidi, Gül Ağış ve Nihan Peker with the coordination of Hatice Gökçe.
The meeting was organized in order to get inputs from relevant institutions on forest-water interaction to develop water function in the scope of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) and to support SFM activities in Turkey.
The meeting was held with about 35 participants in total from General Directorate of Forestry, State Hydraulic Works (DSİ), General Directorate of Combating Desertification and Erosion (ÇEM), and NGO representatives.
Prof. Dr. Ünal Asan, Prof. Dr. Yusuf Güneş, Doç. Dr. Yusuf Serengil and Doç. Dr. Sedat Keleş made presentations at the meeting and the subjects of developing water function in forest management plans, improving current institutional policies and cooperation in governance of water resources in forest lands and identifying silvicultural activities in sites where designated for water function were discussed.
The meeting had an important role to identify afforestation and reforestation activities in terms of their effects on quality and quantity of fresh water resources through better management and ensure their sustainability as well as the future of sustainable forest management in Turkey.
"Enhancing Implementation Capacity of General Directorate of Forestry for Sustainable Forest Management in the Context of Water Use of Forests in Turkey” project is carried out by The Ministry of Forestry and Water Works, General Directorate of Forestry in collaboration with UNDP Turkey and supported by The British Embassy.
The presentations done by experts can be reached through this link:
http://web.ogm.gov.tr/birimler/merkez/Amenajman/Sayfalar/ormanvesu.pdf
The training was held with the support of the “Strengthening the System of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas of Turkey Project”.
Worldwide success was shared
16 participants from Libya, 1 from the USA, 2 from Italy and 15 from Turkey attended to the training.
The successful results, which were achieved by the project and appreciated by the related circles in the world scale, were also shared in the training.
The views were exchanged about the similar problems and phases in terms of the marine coastal areas in the participants’ countries.
Gökova SEPA was visited
Following the presentation about the Gökova Special Environmental Protection Area (SEPA) the participants visited Akyaka Fisheries Cooperative to share experinces.
Furthermore, through a site visit Gökova SEPA was introduced to the Libyan specialists.
The TV spots prepared to call attention to and raise public awareness on energy efficient products have been broadcasted.
The TV spot which is prepared under ‘Market Transformation of Energy Efficient Appliances in Turkey’ project is broadcasted at the prime time period on Show TV, ATV, Star, Kanal D, Samanyolu TV and Fox.
Through these TV spots it is aimed to raise public awareness on energy efficiency, while both emphasizing the role of energy efficiency in combating climate change and increasing familiarity with A+ and higher energy performance products, thus influencing consumers' preferences.
UNDP together with non-governmental organizations working on women issues has already started working on the preparations for the meeting which will be held with the participation of over 250 representatives from women institutions.
The meeting aims at strengthening the capacity development of women’s movement in Turkey and intends to break all the prejudices on gender issues especially on women’s employment and women’s political participation.
UNDP Resident Representative Shahid Najam indicated that the project which started in 2011 aims at integrate the perception of gender equality in all levels of policy making and decision making processes.
German ambassador Eberhard Pohl said that they are honored to support this important project and they see this as an important step to strengthen the relations between UNDP Turkey and German Embassy.
UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator Shahid Najam ended the university tour, where the post 2015 development agenda is discussed with students, academicians and citizens, in Ege University on 13 February.
After Shahid Najam’s presentation, there was a lively discussion with the participants about the development agenda after 2015 with the moderator, Associate Prof. Dr. Meneviş Uzbay Pirili from Ege University.
How did it start?
The university tour of post 2015 development agenda was organized in five universities in Turkey during the whole year.
The tour was started in Muğla University on 31 October. The tour continued in Pamukkale University, Karadeniz Technical University and Bilkent University and ended in Ege University.
The tour aimed to have a discussion with the university students and academicians about the post 2015 development process and have their views and thoughts on the ‘Future They Want’ after 2015.
In this way, the tour aimed to contribute to the national consultations process in Turkey which has launched within the framework of post 2015 development agenda.
The cook book written by Neziha Özsoy, a retired teacher living in Uzundere, contains many delicious and healthy recipes of the traditional local cuisine, from main dishes to vegetables, from deserts to practical hints regarding winter season preparations.
Capacity development activities carried out in this region, included a number of on the job trainings and capacity building activities.
Also, inventory studies and various cuisine activities were held in order to develop the traditional cuisine culture and to identify the cultural values of the local cuisine.
For more information please visit www.datur.com / www.coruhvalley.com
Tourism Development in Eastern Anatolia Region project has carried out a series of activities for the development of nature and culture based sustainable tourism since 2007 in İspir Valley, Tortum- Uzundere Valley and in Yusufeli district.
The main purposes of project are to determine the tourism treasures, preparing the inventory, mapping and developing and promoting proper tourism products.
Therefore, various hands-on trainings and visioning programs have been performed in order to develop labor force and social capital.
The incredible flora and fauna richness of Çoruh Basin and the cultural heritage make the region a favorable tourism destination for many tourism activities, such as trekking, biking, rafting, nature tourism, bird watching also with its historical artifacts from medieval, authentic architectural structure and traditional cuisine culture.
The book prepared by the project team represents the beauties of Çoruh Valley also with biking and trekking route map to its readers.
For more information please visit www.datur.com / www.coruhvalley.com
Launched on 21 January at here, UNDP is offering its new, free service to public and private sector organizations, civil society groups, the media and the general public.
The web-based roster of speakers currently features 75 UNDP experts based in 26 countries who are available to share their expertise and insights in different languages either in person at events, or via Skype or video conference.
The Speakers Corner is designed to provide unprecedented access to experts on vital development topics – from crisis prevention and recovery to the Millennium Development Goals, democratic governance, microfinance and gender equality – to raise awareness of these and other vital human development issues and the results UNDP and its many partners are achieving.
UNDP’s Associate Administrator, Rebeca Grynspan, said that as the UN's global development network, UNDP has a diverse workforce who offers global perspectives and local insights to help empower people’s lives and build resilient nations.
“UNDP has a motivated and knowledgeable workforce and many of our people take pride in sharing their first-hand experiences about their work, whether it involves practical solutions at the country level or policy and other thought leadership at the global level,” Ms. Grynspan said.
Managed by UNDP’s Bureau of External Relations and Advocacy, the Speakers Corner website features information on each expert, including a biography, language skills and identified areas of expertise.
The site features, on each profile, an easy-to-use ‘Request this Speaker’ online form which allows users to reach out to particular experts for speaking engagements, interviews or questions.
MELSA, the public company, which was founded in 1995 by Muğla Provincial Administration, will be shown as a successful model at world scale, which provides rational and regular utilization and supervision of the coasts.
Protects tourism and culture
MELSA contributes to tourism by successfully managing many facilities and sites.
MELSA also provides support to production in the area of weaving, which is an important cultural heritage for the region, and protects the reputable historical places.
Two million Turkish Lira for social responsibility in 2012
Most of the income from the facilities and sites is delivered to the National Education schools, state institutions, villages and districts, associations, festivals, activities, sport clubs, disabled people, relatives of the martyrs, the people in need of aid and the university students.
The amount distributed in 2012 was 2.241.000 TL.
Model for the least developed countries
UNDP aims to present the MELSA management system as a model and a best practice for the least developed countries for the management of daily facilities in and around marine protected areas.
Ban stated in his message that “growing inequality undermines the international community’s effort in lifting millions out of poverty and building a more just world”.
Ban stressed that “falling wages for women and young people and limited access to education, health services and decent jobs are the fault lines that will cause a global catastrophe.”
He added that “we must strengthen and build institutions and develop policies that promote inclusive development.”
He reminded that in adopting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), world leaders have committed to create a more equal and just world.
Much progress has been made in enhancing decent work opportunities, strengthening social protection and improving public services since 2000.
At the end of his message, he noted that “despite these advances, billions of people desperately depend on our focused and tireless efforts. We must accelerate our work to meet the MDGs by the 2015 deadline and also look beyond by beginning to define new goals for sustainable development”.
In this part, we talk about food security and nutrition which is one of the nine thematic areas of Post 2015 Development Agenda.
New Horizons (N.H.): This is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. In this programme, we will talk about food security and nutrition which is one of the nine thematic areas in post 2015 development agenda. Today, our contributor is Dr. Ayşegül Oğuz, Assistant FAO Representative for Turkey. Welcome.
Ayşegül Akın (A.A.): Thank you.
N.H.: We have always experienced hunger, poverty and also food poverty throughout history, however, so many experts state that these were not as widespread and deep-seated as today. The numbers are so dramatic. More than 1 billion people in the world live on less than $ 1 a day. The food security and nutrition have become a global problem. Let’s start with defining the concepts, if you like. What should we understand from food security and nutrition in the context we talk, because it is important to see the difference between food security and food safety. How do you define these concepts?
A.A.: At first, let’s distinguish the food security and food safety. Food security is defined in terms of physical and economic access to food that meets people's dietary needs to continue their livelihoods and we accept that people live on under less than $ 1 a day cannot access to enough amount of food in accordance with the calculation principles of United Nations. Of course, the $ 1 threshold changes from country to country related to their economic conditions. While this number is $ 1 for African countries, for Turkey, it can be $ 2.35 or $ 2.70 proportional to daily purchasing powerparity of people. However, food security is more about the food we daily consume and the access to the enough amount of quality food that has enough vitamins to provide us the energy that we need.
N.H.: Therefore, when we say food security, we mean that every single person on earth get access to enough and nutritious food.
A.A.: On the other hand, food safety is more about hygiene. In reality, these concepts cannot distinguish from each other very easily.
N.H.: Thus, we emphasize that we talk about the guarantee for access to food. Today, providing access to food and sustainable agricultural production have become a necessity. Moreover, this necessity has been turning into an obligation as the world population will be 8.5 billion within 10-20 years. When we look at the world in general and Turkey in particular, where are we today in providing food security and nutrition?
A.A.: We announce related numbers every year. Last year, there were nearly 1 billion people who are hungry and malnourished in the world. This year, there is a little decline in the numbers and we announced 930 million people who are hungry and malnourished. However, in 2000, when the first Millenium Development Goals were determined, this number was 840 million and our goal at that time was to reduce this number at the rate of 50 percent.
N.H.: In other words, instead of decreasing, the number of hungry and malnourished people has increased.
A.A.: There is a constant increase in this number. In Turkey, there is no massive starvation as it is a developed country now. I do not want to call Turkey as a developing country because when I compare Turkey with other countries in the international meetings, as an officer of an international instutition, I must say that the situation of Turkey is so different and it can be counted as a developed country. But, of course, there is a poverty in Turkey. When we look at the numbers, today in Turkey, 0.14 percent people live on less than $ 2.15.
N.H.: Thus, the number decreased to under 1 percent.
A.A.: It is not even 0.5 percent.
N.H.: When we look at the number of people who are in absolute poverty and absolute starvation, we see a proportional decline eventhough the numbers are still high. In 2000, eight Millenium Development Goals were determined and even if eradicating extreme poverty and hunger were determined as one goal, there was no specific topic about food security. Since 2000, what has been changed to create a possibility that food security and nutrition are specifically included to post 2015 Global Development Agenda?
A.A.: Agricultural production has become an important issue that induces economic crisis. The instabilities of and speculations on the food prices cause various economic fluctuations in the world because what countries produce have become a source of power for them.
N.H.: Indeed, we cannot think about the food security and nutrition apart from the commerce.
A.A.: That is right. Recently, as it is realized that agricultural products, especially bryndza in Turkey, can be used for biogas energy - they are not just for nutrition, but also a source of energy - and thus the food security in the global area has come under threat. Because…
N.H.: In line with the increase in food prices, biofuel has lost its importance.
A.A.: It has also been discussed as an another problem. The instabilities of food prices, constant ups and downs and also the changes in the consumption patterns make food security a separate issue from poverty. In fact, poverty is definitely related to food security, because the more you have economic resources, the more you consume. However, you cannot buy a thing which is not existing, even if you have a lot of money.
N.H.: Therefore, related to these trends in the world, no country has the power to determine its policies without considering food security and nutrition issues. Let’s now talk about Turkey as you organized a thematic meeting on “Food Security and Nutrition” in Ankara in November 2012 with participation of more than forty public and private sector institutions and non-governmental organizations. In this meeting, what kind of observations did you make and what kind of suggestions were determined in line with the results of this meeting?
A.A.: We had more than forty stakeholders in the meeting which was very efficient. We realized that we have been discussing the same issues all the time. We asked the question “Which basic issues are more important regarding the problem of food security and nutrition in Turkey?” and the discussions have been evolved around the basic problems such as the negative effect of small lands, declining agrarian population, abandoned agricultural lands and most importantly the issue of self-sufficiency.
N.H.: And then, increasing productivity and maybe also an advice or a goal for every single country and region are involved in these discussion.
A.A.: Actually, production planning has been discussed for many years to provide different production methods for every region regarding to the regional, climatic and geographical conditions and the characteristic of labour force to reach a balanced production in Turkey. And today this production planning has been trying to be implemented and some studies on planning have been conducted by the Ministry.
N.H.: All the suggestions expressed in the meeting can be found in the report you will prepare, is that right?
A.A.: Of course, they can be found in the report.
N.H.: While post 2015 Development Agenda has been discussed in Turkey through nine thematic areas, the consultation process still continues. And we will have a chance to read the results of the “Food Security and Nutrition” consultation in your report very soon. Those who would like to participate on this discussion can express their personal opinions via using #2015sonrası or #yeniufuklar hashtags on Twitter. Also they can join to the survey on 2015sonrasiturkiye.org to present their suggestions and opinions about all nine thematic areas and hence, everybody can contribute to the report that Turkey is going to submit to the United Nations.
A.A.: Definitely. In fact, our report has already been published on our web site and this report includes the results of our discussions based on the indicators and reports prepared by our stakeholders. We can say that the report is a general summary of the researches made by important institutions and thus, it reflects the real situations and real suggestions. In that sense, the need to strengthen the cooperation has been emphasized. Additionally, we want to determine a specific indicator for post 2015 goals and we asked our participants to define the indicators necessary for them. One of the suggestions for an indicator is decreasing the unregistered employment in agriculture at the rate of 25 percent. The other suggestions are decreasing the number of hunger and malnourished people in the world by 50 percent, making every producer a member of cooperation and increasing the contribution of cooperations to economy from 9 percent to percent25. It would be so good, if we could achieve all these goals. And if we could perceive our goals, these would be presented in the world report as the summary of all fifty reports prepared by the other countries. Maybe higher indicators and also more goals can be determined for Turkey, however, at minimum level, these goals we mentioned before are determined and between the years 2015 and 2025, our goal is to increase the income level at a specific number, especially to increase the income in the rural areas to 75 percent of the income in the urban areas.
N.H.: These are very crucial goals and we hope that they will be included in the post 2015 Development Agenda. Thank you very much Dr. Ayşegül Akın to join our programme.
A.A.: It is my pleasure to have this kind of opportunity.
N.H.: We talked about “Food Security and Nutrition”, one of the nine thematic areas of post 2015 Development Agenda in this programme. And we have come to the end of this episode of New Horizons which is prepared by UNDP Turkey. This program has been recorded at the studio of Radyo İlef of Ankara University Communications Department. You can follow our program on iTunes under podcasts, on FM frequency in İstanbul, on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on internet, on nearly fifty Police radios and also on university radios in our broadcasting network and on undp.org.tr. Our user name for social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you soon, good bye!
In this programme, we will talk about the report, titled “Way Out from the Middle Income Trap : Which Turkey?”, which is prepared by Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TURKONFED).
New Horizons (N.H.): This is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. In this programme, we will talk about the report, titled “Way Out from the Middle Income Trap : Which Turkey?”, which is prepared by Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TURKONFED). Our contributor is Assoc. Prof. Ebru Voyvoda from Middle East Technical University (METU). Welcome.
Ebru Voyvoda (E.V.): Thank you.
N.H.: You are a member of this research team and can you please tell us about other members?
E.V.: Other members of the team who prepared this report, are Prof. Dr. Erinç Yeldan from Yaşar University and Kamil Taşçı from Ministry of Development and Mehmet Emin Özsan.
N.H.: Therefore, four people who are experts and academicians built a team and prepared a report titled “Way Out from the Middle Income Trap : Which Turkey?” on behalf of TURKONFED. Now first of all, what is middle income trap? Why is it important?
E.V.: Although there is no clear definition of middle income trap and “trap” as a concept, considering the development or growth adventures of countries and the common points of these adventures, the middle income trap can be assumed as a transition from agriculture to industry as a starting point and then the rapid growth and capital accumulation with the transformation of mass of labour force in agriculture to industry and also to cities and at last, with capital accumulation, the increase in the productivity of this labour force become the main source of the growth. This growth or development can transform lower income countries into middle income countries in a relatively easy way. However, from this point, the growth or development adventure becomes a period in which the transition from villages to cities or from agriculture to industry and the labour flow have slowly become limited, the reduction of return of capital has began with the effect of concentration of capital and labour force in cities and the usage of import technologies has come to the limits, and as a result, the country cannot maintain any growth by capital-based, traditional and cutting age technology.
N.H.: Here you mention countries, on the other hand, the cities are also included in this issue, therefore, I guess middle income trap, in quotation, should be identified with cities and regions addition to the countries.
E.V.: Definitely. In other words, the term “middle income trap” can be related to different countries and regions and also the regions in a specific country. Thus, at some point, the source of growth has to be changed and depended on the high productivity technics instead of traditional and capital-based technics. And this change in the source of growth brings the transition to a high income country. Hence, with research and development technologies, human capital and education, the growth is regenerated by the increase in productivity of labour force and in capital and the development of technology. The countries which are not able to transit to the high level income category and to the industry with cutting edge technology, can be named as the countries caught in the middle income trap in general.
N.H.: Parallel with the beginning of the report, a theoretical introduction is given with these definitions. For more information, you can visit the TURKONFED web site and download this report. If you’d like to, we could continue with the findings of the report in Turkish context. You mention middle income trap, but here the definition of trap is an important issue that should be explained. I think, the trap means that the countries cannot upgrade themselves to a higher level. What kind of classification you make, is it like high income, middle income and low income groups?
E.V.: You are right that the notion of “trap” carries a meaning of caught in the middle and also the inability to upgrade. There are also several other definitions in the literature and we have been trying to determine the situation of Turkey related to these definitions, however, mainly we have benefited from two specific definitions; one is the definition of Barry Eichengreen and his friends which indicates more concrete numbers that income per capita should be equal to the 58 per cent of the gross national income of America or in terms of fixed prices in 2005, the real income per capita should be equal to 16.000 $ and the industry ratio in value-added should be approximately 23 per cent to determine a country in middle income trap. The other definition we benefited from also gives a numerical definition and the values of trap that if the income per capita is between 2000 $ and 7250 $, it reflects a middle low income area and if it is between 7250 $ and 11.150 $, this means a middle high income area.
N.H.: So you determined the theoretical part in this way and then specified the criterias and made at regional analysis to find out the situation in Turkey. In the report, you mention three different Turkey. The most interesting thing that drew our attention is that the sum total of the fourteen cities in Turkey which have higher ranks of development than Switzerland and Singapore. On the other side, twenty seven cities are at poverty line, when fourty cities are caught in the middle income level and all those cities from Artvin to Çanakkale, from east to west, have different characteristics. And as you expressed, why these cities cannot step up onto the middle income trap?
E.V.: You are so right. In fact, when we try to associate the question of “which Turkey” and the general picture of Turkey in the middle income trap, we see three different Turkey. One of them is the industrialized and nearly fully-integrated to the world production network with its high technological capacity and qualified labour force. And Kocaeli, İstanbul and Ankara are the cities included in this category. And the west side of the line drew from Hatay to Zonguldak does not face a total middle income trap and have the potential to be intergrated to cutting edge technology. Besides this, acccording to the definitions I mentioned before, especially the regions such as Denizli, Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş with an economic structure concentrated on traditional industry in textile, clothing and metal sectors are identified as the middle income cities and regions. Additionally, it is plausible to say that especially the Eastern and Southeastern cities which are almost non-industrialized, even have so little capacity for traditional industrialization and carry out agricultural activities with low-qualified labour force, are caught in the poverty trap. Hence, when we look at the general situation in Turkey, it is impossible to see a homogeneous picture. Related to the qualifications of capital, labour force and natural resources at different levels, for each region, there are several traps existed.
N.H.: Another finding that drew our attention is the fact that Turkey stayed at low middle income level for fifty years, while Turkey reached that level in the year 1955 and then in 2005, it succeeded to step up to the higher level. And there are so many other findings in the report. Compare to the other countries, can you tell us briefly that how come an exist for the cities in middle income trap can be possible?
E.V.: Actually, this report and study consist of two parts and the part we discussed about...
N.H.: I suppose, the second part will come later.
E.V.: Exactly. At first, in this part or report, we aimed to make a situation analysis. We hope that the other report which will be ready in 2013, involves some kind of package of suggestions. Therefore, with asking some questions such as how the tools we have or policy-makers have can be used and what kind of suggestions can be given, we aim to study in a more detailed way in the context of a regional macro-economic model reflecting regional differences we presented in the report. However, regarding to your question, I try to give a general answer in macro-economical terms. As you mentioned, when we look at the experiences in country level, we see that Turkey is the one of these countries which have been stayed in the middle income trap for a long time. For instance, similar to Turkey, Bulgaria and Costa Rica are the other countries that spent fifty years or more in the middle income trap. However, as you stated, Chinese economy existed from this trap in seventeen years. Also Korea completed this transition process in less than twenty years. And the main two factors behind these successful transition processes are qualified labour force and techological developments. Together with Turkey, during the 1950s and 1960s, according to the general assumptions, the countries like Korea and Malaysia existed from this trap particularly by increasing their average education level and changed and qualified their labour forces.
N.H.: Hence, the human development is again the key point. You said techonology, human capital and education as the three crucial elements that make countries exist from the trap. We await the second report impatiently and it should be emphasized that this report brings so many important suggestions. Those who would like to get more information, can visit turkonfed.org to read the report “Way Out from the Middle Income Trap : Which Turkey?”. Thank you Assoc. Prof. Ebru Voyvoda to join our programme.
E.V.: You’re welcome.
N.H.: We have come to the end of this episode of New Horizons which is prepared by United Nations Development Programme UNDP Turkey. This program has been recorded at the studio of Radyo ILEF of Ankara University Communications Department. You can follow our program on iTunes under podcasts, on FM frequency in İstanbul, on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on internet, on nearly fifty Police radios and also on university radios in our broadcasting network and on undp.org.tr. Our user name for social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you soon, good bye!
In this part, we talk about a research called "Governance in Rural Development" which was conducted in Şanlıurfa, by Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV).
New Horizons (N.H.): This is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. In this week's programme, we will talk about a research titled “Governance of Rural Development” which is made by Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey, TEPAV. Our contributors are Ülker Şener and Ragıp Evren Aydoğan, the researchers from TEPAV, Governance Research Programme. Welcome.
Ülker Şener (Ü.Ş.): I’m glad to be here. Thank you.
Ragıp Evren Aydoğan (R.E.A.): Hello.
N.H.: You chose Şanlıurfa to conduct this research in 2012. In the research, you attempted to present how governance mechanisms operate in the rural development and which tools are used in the governance of rural development. Your goal here is to reveal how the rural development tools have been used in Şanlıurfa. You interviewed with nine institutions during the research. I want to ask that why did you choose Şanlıurfa? Let’s start talking with you Ms. Şener.
Ü.Ş.: Why we chose Şanlıurfa is indeed the question also asked by these nine institutions we interviewed with during our research. They all asked that “Why do you choose Şanlıurfa, why are you here, is not there any other city in Turkey to do this research?” We have two answers to these questions: One of them is about a problem in Şanlıurfa’s demographic structure. The other one is Urfa’s economic structure which is related to its demographic structure. Concerning its demographic structure, there is an overall decrease in the rural population in Turkey. According to the data in 2011, the rural population rate in Turkey is 23 percent. However, when we look at the situation in Şanlıurfa, while 40 percent of the population lived in the rural area in 2007, it increased to 45 percent in 2011. Contrary to Urfa, in Turkey the overall rural population was 30 percent in 2007 and then it decreased down to 23 percent.
N.H.: Then we can say that in Urfa, a totally different demographic trend exists and it may be the one or one of few cities in which the rural population is increasing.
Ü.Ş.: I think so. It is probably the only city, but we did not check the numbers in other cities. Secondly, the general problem in Turkey is the aging rural population and the fact that only old people live in rural areas and therefore, economic activities are shaped by these people. However, in Urfa, we do not only see old people in rural areas. On the contrary, a rural population which includes young people is what we see in Urfa. And birth rates in rural areas are much higher than in Urfa. In villages, the birth rate is 4.4 percent and it is also higher than the average birth rate in Turkey. Thus, because of these two distinctive reasons, we have chosen Urfa for our research.
N.H.: We have mentioned about the reasons why you chose Urfa, but if you would like, let’s talk about the background of your research because you made a rural development research and of course, apart from these demographic reasons, there should be other reasons that made you choose this area. Can you please tell us, why did you choose Urfa considering this perspective?
Ü.Ş.: In addition to the demographic structure, economic structure is also important. In Turkey, there is a shift in economy towards industry and service sector. In Urfa, still there is an economy based on agriculture and industry in the region develops in relation to the agriculture sector. By combining the economic and demographic structures, thus, we may answer to the question of why Urfa. The rural development as the background of the research aims to ameliorate the living standards of the disadvantaged groups in rural areas. And the indicators show that within the scope of ameliorating the living standarts in rural areas, Urfa has not been in such a good condition. For instance, while Urfa’s developmental ranking was 42 in 1973, it receded to 72 in 2011. The gap between city and rural areas is huge in Urfa. As we mentioned before, the access to the education facilities is very problematic in rural areas. The poverty rate in rural areas is higher than cities and it is two times more than the average rate in Turkey. Thus, Turkey needs specific policies devoted to the rural development or the problems in rural areas.
N.H.: At this point, I would like to ask some details about your research to Mr. Evren. You went to the field to analyse the governance mechanisms in rural development and as I mentioned before, you interviewed with nine institutions. Can you please tell us which method did you use to draw the picture of situation in Urfa?
R.E.A.: The coordination was the basic concept in our minds before we started to do this research. Coordination can be understood as horizontal coordination or vertical coordination. We interviewed with public institutions to understand the organizational process of their works in rural development. And we also tried to understand that within these different processes, as if coordination mechanisms are created spontaneously or through a specific strategy, or if they aim to reach a goal to determine the problems or if they manage some policies to find urgent solutions to the problems. Hence, we interviewed one by one with the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture, Rural Development Support Institution, GAP Directorate of Administration whose centre is moved to Urfa, as a part of Social Support System SODES under the Governorship, Chamber of Agriculture and Producers Association.
N.H.: And I guess, you also interviewed with the Development Agency, am I right?
R.E.A.: Yes, you are right. We interviewed with the Investment Office of Karacağ Development Agency whose centre is in Diyarbakır. An important shortcoming must be pointed out. We also wanted to interview with a peasant production cooperative. Within these nine institutions, we tried to find a person or a cooperative which is organized in this way to defend their own rights and to reflect their problems, however, we could not find an institution like that. When we returned to Ankara, we told about this situation with our stakeholders and we learned that there are actually a few cooperatives in Urfa even if they are not very influencial.
N.H.: Then, organization is another problem addition to the other problems you mentioned at first. Therefore, addition to a demographical problem which causes some social problems as serious problems of rural development, there is also the problem of organization in rural areas.
R.E.A.: I will come to that point as a second important problem. At first, the coordination problems of institutions and secondly the issue regarding if peasants as the main target of development policies and the level of development, can be organized and defend their rights or not are the questions in our minds before we began our research.
N.H.: It is possible to reach to your research on tepav.org.tr and as I know, you aim to publish a book about this research. For whom would like to express their personal opinions may use #yeniufuklar hashtag on Twitter. Now, I would like to come to the findings of the research. Can you please explain us the result of the research very briefly?
Ü.Ş.: Actually, this research has more than one result. One of them is directed to rural areas in Turkey that they need to be organized and reflecting their ideas through more efficient ways, because we see that the rural policies are determined in centre, Ankara and then imposed on the rural areas. And Ankara determinies these policies in the context of some basic commitments to the European Union and also to other institutions such as IMF and so forth. Firstly, the problem we detect is that the necessity to determine these policies in rural areas and hence, we want more localization. Secondly, we do not mention just local institutions when we say localization, but also small peasantry and seasonal agricultural workers to provide their inclusion to policy-making process and to make them organize and give them voice. Because development is a human-oriented approach and for us, development is mainly about human development.
R.E.A.: As we mention at the beginning, there are some attempts related to these issues by Chambers and public institutions. However, there is no systematic and formal coordination mechanism. In other words, there are no regular meetings or another organizations that are performed every month regarding the rural policy. These kind of organizations can only be performed for a support policy or after a disaster happened in that year. Thus, there is an informal coordination mechanism and maybe because of a general deficiency, NGOs cannot involved effectively in this process. We see that local administrators and institutions come together under the initiative of Governor. In this respect, these bring a problem of participation similar to the problem of organization. The policies are not determined through specifying a participative mechanism in the scope of rural development in particular and an administrative mentality in general. As Mrs. Şener stated, the policy-making process is operated in the centre that can be Ankara or a policy for Ceylanpınar which is determined by the Provincial Directorate of Agriculture in Urfa.
N.H.: After all, the issue of participation makes us think again the problem of organization. You mentioned coordination and an idea of decentralization as solutions. You criticised the system and is it possible for us to deduce a solution offer by considering your criticisms in a reversed way?
R.E.A.: Yes, of course.
N.H.: We hope that your research contributes to the discussions about these problems and at the end, through strengtenening mechanisms in rural areas, we can reach the ideal system you suggest. Thank you very much. Our contributors are the researchers Ülker Şener and Ragıp Evren Aydoğan from Governance Research Programme, TEPAV. And we have come to the end of this episode of New Horizons which is prepared by United Nations Development Programme UNDP Turkey. This program has been recorded at the studio of Radyo İlef of Ankara University Communications Department. You can follow our program on iTunes under podcasts, on FM frequency in İstanbul, on Açık Radyo (Open Radio) on internet, on nearly fifty Police radios and also on university radios in our broadcasting network and on undp.org.tr. Our user name for social media is undpturkiye. Hope to see you soon, good bye!
In this part, we talk about environmental sustainability which is one of the nine thematic areas of Post 2015 Development Agenda.
New Horizons (N.H.): This is the New Horizons Podcast of United Nations Development Programme Turkey. In this week's programme we talk about environmental sustainability which is one of the nine thematic areas of Post 2015 Development Agenda. Our contributor is Alper Acar, Environmental Sustainability Expert from UNDP. Welcome.
Alper Acar (A.A.): Hello.
N.H.: You also used to work as the Coordinator of the project of Enabling Activities for the Preparations for Turkey 2012 United Nations Sustainable Development Conference. Currently, you are an expert supporting UNDP on sustainable development. If you want, we may start talking about the current situation on environmental sustainability. What have been done in the world and especially in Turkey within the scope of environmental sustainability since 2000s? Where are we now?
A.A.: When we look at in terms of environmental sustainability, compared to the period so-called ecological crisis in the late 1960s, today we see that many issues which we see unrelated before, are actually affecting, feeding, weakening and interlocking each other. Of course, this process is spanning thirty years. Since 1992 Rio Summit where the concept of sustainable development was institutionalized, crucial developments have been recorded at the global stage. As you may know, developments of communication technologies and science have created opportunities for us to improve the quality of human life. But these developments caused some costs such as environmental pollution, loss of ecosystems and biodiversity loss. In fact, when we look at past 20 years, we are in such a period that we face these kinds of contradictions. As you know, there are summits on sustainable development which are organized every ten years. These summits were organized in 1992 in Rio, in 2002 in Johannesburg and recently in 2012 in Rio, which presents a process called the Rio +20. In fact, when we look at the historical sense, they showed us learning processes. Post 2015 Development Agenda is one outcome of these learning processes. In the first Rio Summit in 1992, where the Agenda 21 was accepted, some new concepts such as participation and governance came into our lives. Of course it took some time for international community – nations, countries and institutions - to adopt this participation both in them and in international process. However, we learned. Today we have reached the level where people can say their own thoughts and lead some policies while they were only spectators before.
N.H.: Of course, when we talked about development, the environment was supposed not to be ignored. As you mentioned, addition to the environment, the factors of sustainability and participation were also included in the development discussions. And these topics must be discussed interlocked. It is useful to remind for our audiences that: Post 2015 Development Agenda has been discussing on eleven thematic areas in the global perspective and nine thematic areas in Turkey. Turkey is one of the fifty countries which discuss Post 2015 Development Agenda. The environmental sustainability which is also your field is one of these nine thematic areas. The Millennium Development Goals were set in 2000. And these targets should be maintained until 2015. What are we going to talk about global development after 2015? It is better to approach environmental sustainability in this sense.
A.A.: Some of the issues we are going to discuss after 2015 are clear, but some of them are not. As you know, the deadline for Millennium Development Goals is 2015. There was a road map came out in the last Rio+20 Summit: to determine more sustainable goals which will be valid for all countries in next two-three years. Of course, addition to the goals there must be monitoring mechanisms and indicators. So, we can say that there was a road map came out in order to canalize international funds to well determined fields; set development goals after 2015; act together and collaborate, while evaluating the lessons we learned and the challenges we faced throughout Millennium Development Goals. Of course, these are the definite issues that we are going to talk after 2015. The indefinite part is how to complete this chain of goals. We mentioned a learning process; however, formerly, these kinds of goals were determined by an expert group. Since United Nations realized some hitches in this system, a new period was started which is more open to community through a bottom-up structure. The fundamental aim of these national consultations is to listen to the institutions and people who directly face development problems in their daily lives, so that they could produce solutions. Thus, what we discuss for Post 2015 in terms of content and thematic areas and what must be set as a target will be determined in the end of consultation meetings with stakeholders. Parallel to this, the meetings at international and inter governmental level will continue. However, the fundamental things in this process will be the issues which actually come to agenda, and may lead politicians and scientists.
N.H.: It is aimed to have different views of everyone who has something to say and to suggest for the future, before Post 2015 development agenda is determined. Ensuring environmental sustainability is the seventh of eight Millennium Development Goals. When we look at Turkey, we can say that it is sensitive in terms of preventing extreme poverty -the first goal-, women’s empowerment and women’s representation- third goal- and environmental sustainability -seventh goal- which is also your field. We have talked about current situation a bit and let us continue with Rio+20. We can say that the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in June, is a milestone for the development discussions. In this conference, it is decided that sustainable development goals are going to be replaced by Millennium Development Goals. Let us talk about a little bit of this process related to the Post 2015 Development Agenda. How does the consultation process run in Turkey?
A.A.: The consultation process in Turkey run through nine thematic areas as we have mentioned before. Of course, these areas will be discussed by private sector, academia and non-governmental organizations which are the stakeholders of this process in the sense of its subject. After that, people’s opinion at the local level will be taken. Of course, the main philosophy here is to help individuals and groups to raise their voice. This process will be completed in early 2013, after all the opinions are taken. Then, these will be gathered as a report and included in the intergovernmental negotiation process. And the next process is going to be the initiative of politicians or government officials.
N.H.: 1,5-2 years after Rio+20, the new development agenda will be shaped globally. Recently, you also organized a thematic meeting on environmental sustainability in Ankara. What are your observations during this meeting? Who participated and what kind of outcomes were achieved?
A.A.: We can say that both global community and national organizations reached a common mind. If you ask how we managed to built this link: there are some issues that Rio+20 brought into our lives and these issues will be the main topics to discuss in the next 2-3 years. One of them is the sustainable development goals. One of the most important outcomes of Rio+20 is to have some indicators to complete the gross national product to be able to measure prosperity. Because as you may know, gross national product is just a financial term. Nevertheless, anyone who has money, may not be happy, live in a healthy environment or have no chance to make his own choices. Thus, a new process which is going to complete this kind of gross national product approach has begun.
N.H.: So, that will define how we measure the development and progress.
A.A.: That is right. Another main problem is about the financing of sustainable development. So, we will set some goals but what are we going to do in terms of funding? As you know, the financial crises that the world has been facing recent years disrupt many things. National community will discuss what might be the innovative funding sources. A progress which aims that information and technology will be shared at the international level is going to begin. When we look at the workshop that we had in November, we see that, in fact the solution suggestions and opinions of stakeholders are parallel to these outcomes. For example, we discussed both the affects of socio economic policies on sustainability and the challenges for the implementation of environmental sustainability policies. It is not enough to talk about problems: we said that if we want to change things, we need to discuss the opportunities that we have. So, we tried to look at the events within the framework of our opportunities that we have. Then we tried to formulate what may be the main messages that we need to take into our agenda. To conduct particular common goals is also the opinion of our stakeholders. Again, throughout the recommendations of our stakeholders, there is a need determined to have some indicators to be able to measure prosperity. Of course, the financial problem was also the topic since it is always an issue. We also take the suggestions of participants about local politics. There were some very interesting things came out there, too. I would like to mention these a little bit. There are some national institutions such as sustainable development committee or council in some countries. They provide coordination and orientation in this kind of policies. Some of the participants said that, this kind of local organizations must be a part of municipal councils. That was a very nice suggestion. Then we discussed what may be the tasks of stakeholders in this dynamic agenda. For example, there is need for a mechanism which must be established for non-governmental organizations to be able to follow some national activities. That is also another good point.
N.H.: As we mentioned earlier, there are environment, sustainability, participation and governance in the agenda. The sustainable development, which is also your field, includes all of these. The consultations on nine thematic areas continue in Turkey. For who would like to participate these consultations may contribute to discussions by using #2015sonrasi tag on twitter. There is also a website called 2015sonrasiturkiye.org. You may participate to questionnaire and contribute to global development agenda discussions. There is also a photo contest on Instagram to raise the awareness. It is possible to participate in this contest via 2015Sonrasi.org. The contribution of Turkey will be presented to United Nations in early 2013. The high level panel from fifty countries will evaluate these results. This discussion is going to continue during 2013 and 2014. The Post 2015 Development Agenda is going to be determined after these. Our contributor today is Alper Acar, Sustainable Development expert from UNDP. We have come to the end of this episode. 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 Police radio, 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 soon, good bye!
Editor: Faik Uyanık
Assistant: Nazife Ece
Intern: Gülşah Balak
Contributors to this issue: Deniz Tapan, Pelin Kihtir Öztürk
© 2013 UNDP Turkey
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