Issue: 46
They are, a society with a nomadic lifestyle that has become a major part of the Anatolian cultural mosaic, who have brought their rich historical heritage to present day... With their numbers left barely in the hundreths, the Yoruks with their doomed nomadic heritage are now facing the extinction of their oral literature. In partnership with Buğday Derneği and Atlas Magazine, the project involved finding, interviewing, and documenting the tales of the Yoruk communities scattered in the rural parts of Ankara, Konya, Antalya, Mersin and Balikesir. Through these efforts a significant cultural heritage, one that is of the Yoruks, was succesfully preserved. The Yoruk tales told straight from their mouths, and the animation feature based on the Köse tale that the project team brought to life utilizing the stop motion technology, will soon be released on Atlas Magazine’s webpage. We as the New Horizons, caught up with the “Lost Tales” Project Coordinator H. Çağlar İnce about that one year in pursuit of the tales:
What was your main purpose when you initiated the "Lost Tales" project? And why the Yoruk tales?
In tales that have been recited for thousands of years, kids have been tought about life through their interpretation. These tales have helped establish certain virtues in our subconscious at very early ages. One who listens to such tales as a kid might forget the tale itself in the future, but they will not forget the truth whispered by the tale. Tales themselves are magical. They contain wisdom that has not been unlocked, life and human mysteries with their unique cypher. It is this quest, undertaken by thinkers, of decyphering these mysteries that has shed light on the world of tales.
In order to conduct preliminary research for the Lost Tales Project we were accepted as guests at a village with a beautiful view of the Edremit Gulf atop the mountain range of Kazdağları. After a delicious olive-oil cuisine dinner I asked Çağlar, the 10 year old kid of the household and who happens to be my namesake, “We will be back soon, can you find some tales from your nanas till then?” However, Çağlar’s response completely threw me off: “Of course uncle Çağlar, I’ll just get some off the internet right now.”
This situation we faced during the initial field studies of the project has multilayered meanings just like tales. With the rapidly evolving information technologies over the last 20 to 30 years, things like televisions and computers are replacing tales, sealing their faith doomed to be forgotten. As adverts keep our subconscious busy, kids are deprived of the tales of their own societies. Probably the most important factor is that grandmas and grandpas have lost their interactions with their grandkids. Çağlar choose internet over his nana or grandpa.
We pursued a “nana” who was forced to settle down in Karaman 5 to 10 years ago along with the rest of Yoruks of Sarikeçi, and asked why they have forgotten the talse. She answered: “This black box here... We just sit across from it and stare.” What she called black box was a television.
We live in a world where everything in our life can be simplified to numbers, everything can be expressed as the part of an absolute equation. Our income is explicit, where it is going to be spent is explicit. Any necessity that we might think of, its value is preestablished. Even success has a numerical expression. Tales have become books in this consumer world. You buy it, read it, then leave it in the corner. For tales time has stopped, they only exist as books of their time on bookshelves. But this is against the very nature of tales. Because tales nourish and blossom through each teller and its era. Tales follow human through their adventure in history. As people change, so do tales, they are reinvented. This is the real reason that tales manage to keep their “freshness” throughout generations. A tale is an ageless wise.
How did you dig up the tales? What can you say about the importance of tales in Yoruk culture?
It was actually very difficult finding the tales. We traveled far far away through forgotten lands. We searched for the grandmas and the grandpas of tales. We traveled 10 thousand kilometers. We found some beyond the Sultandağı mountain, some in the plains of Konya, some by coast, some under juniper trees on the peaks of snowy mountains. We visited close to 100 places. Drank about an average of 15 cups of tea per person. We documented and recorded about 50 tales. We had discussions over the tales that lasted hours. Our initial travels as a part of the project led us to visit the Yoruks who have switched to a settled lifestlye over the last 59 to 69 years around the regions of Balikesir, Ankara, Konya, Antalya ve Mersin. They accepted us as guests. We listened to their stories from back in the day when they used to migrate atop camels. The real tales we were searching for emerged during these conversations. I said earlier that tales represent the subconscious of a group of people. But we witnessed that the tale itself was the subconscious of the community. The tales only existed in the brains of those over 60 years of age. And they had mostly forgotten because they had not told them in so long. Tales, as Yoruks put it, surface as you “scratch” them. We witnessed the reality of tale telling nanas. They told us that there used to be these tale-tellers that would travel from village to village and pass on their stories. From what we are told tale-telling was an important and respected occupation. Apparently tale-tellers even had apprentices who they would train. Thanks to this the occupation was passed on from generation to generation.
At the final leg of our travels we caught up with the still nomadic Yoruks of Sarıkeçi. They were atop the hills around Aydincik in Mersin, going on with their lives mid-winter. The tent life told by the village elders, was before our eyes right down to the goats and camels. This without a doubt the best part of our journey. Because we got to meet the tale-telling grandpas in their own tents and habitats, something that was beyond our imagination. One tale-teller told the story with such enthusiasm that you could see him living the tale. We talked about the old times to tales to problems of today with the Yoruks of Sarıkeçi. Some of these problems were even inlcuded in the Atlas Magazine. The magazine helped them during the troublesome spring migration which was one of the topics of Atlas Magazine’s July 2008 issue.
During your “dig” for tales, have you noticed any change in Yoruks perspective towards them?
During our conversations we saw that the places we visited tales became important once again. After we left we got news that they had found new tales. This was because after we leave the villages hear about our arrival and start talking, and new tales a brewed during these conversations. Apart from this we also noticed that the unions and teachers who have led us to these sources seemed more motivated. Even a single teacher’s decision to give students a homework that requires them to “write a tale that they heard from their grandma and grandpas”, leaves an important mark on the kids and their environments.
How do you plan to share the tales you’ve resufaced?
In our project, we tried to record other aspects of our oral culture along with the tales. All this compiling led to a booklet and a short film. The booklet was published as a supplement to Atlas’s September issue. The name of the short film is “Köse”. Köse, which has been sent to national and international film festivals, is a documentary film, shot using the stop-motion (puppet animation) technique. In this respect, the film is the first in its kind in Turkey.
Founded in 2005, the Life Plus Youth Programme, run by the UNDP in cooperation with and support from Coca-Cola Turkey, was established to support innovative and sustainable project ideas of youth which reflect youth's dynamism and encourages partnerships for addressing development challenges. With this Project, it is aimed to support youth platforms for their innovative approaches to contribute to the efforts for improved conditions in the cities to make their environment healthier, more convivial and more socially livable for increased social interaction and the betterment of community relations as a way to enhance collective well-being and social capital. The Life Plus Youth Programme led Coca-Cola to establish the Life Plus Foundation in August 2009.
[BAGLANTILAR]
Turkey is no exception making noteworthy efforts as it desires to integrate with the Post-2012 regime by ensuring necessary capacities which will be in place towards the new climate deal.
For one thing, the floods in Istanbul and places elsewhere in Turkey in September, which caused huge damage, many casualties and even death, made people more aware of climate change induced natural hazards and drew much needed attention to Turkey’s vulnerability against climate change.
Initiated by the UNDP’s project on Capacity Building for Climate Change Management in Turkey in collaboration with UN Joint Programme on Enhancing the Capacity of Turkey to Adapt to Climate Change took an important step together by bringing all the related parties together on the way to Copenhagen. A joint training on international climate change negotiations and adaptation strategy was organized on 9-11 September aiming to build on the capacities of the Turkish Delegation for the Bangkok meeting which began on 28 September and the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen in December.
The training has shown that there is significant interest concerning the issue of addressing climate among the stakeholders in Turkey, as well as a willingness of the Turkish Government to develop a coherent and comprehensive negotiating position and to pursue it at the international negotiations. Given the complexity of the issues under negotiation, the process required specific sessions on mitigation, adaptation, technology finance and Land use land use change and forestry (LULUCF). Nearly 60 experts from different organizations working on negotiation process came together not only to enhance their capacities on international climate change negotiations and negotiations on the post-Kyoto regime, but also to cooperate on developing the national climate change adaptation strategy of Turkey. Building blocks of Bali Road Map -mitigation, adaptation, technology and financing- were at the heart of the training. Based on the multi-participatory approach, the training also provided grounds for discussions including the participants from universities and the representatives of the accredited national Business and Environmental Non-Governmental Organizations of the UNFCCC.
Daniela Stoycheva from UNDP Bratislava who worked with the Turkish Government regarding Turkey’s position on ongoing climate change negotiations explained ” Turkey has strategy in energy sector and has established targets for renewable energy. But with steadily increasing green house gas (GHG) emissions, Turkey faces enormous challenges in reducing its emissions today and in the post 2012 period”. During the session on Mitigation, Alina Averchenkova, senior analyst, international climate policy, noted that measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of mitigation measures at the national level is critical in order to identify new opportunities, to get recognition for the past efforts that lead to reduction of GHG emissions and to receive international support for future activities. A number of initiatives in this area are already underway in Turkey, as some Experts in some sectors in Turkey have existing experience in using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines providing a good basis for future MRV work. In addition, a session on Land Use Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) was delivered by international expert Charlotte Streck.
As it is stated in Bali Road Map, climate change is linked to economic growth and sustainable development goals and needs and adaptation must be part of the development and planning process. Bill Dougherty from Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) underlined the importance of the efforts on adaptation as well as mitigation and stated that “Adaptation is recognized as a building block together with mitigation, technology and finance in the design of a post-2012 global climate regime”. Dougherty added that there’s a need for comprehensive, well integrated, overarching strategy for Turkey. Dougherty said “Adaptation in Turkey is already happening. Doing it in a planned way is what Turkey needed. Successful adaptation strategies require action at all levels. Turkey is vulnerable against climate change and while developing a National Adaptation Strategy for Turkey is vital to the protect to enhance the well being of its communities in the face of climate variability and change”.
The UN Joint Programme on Enhancing the Capacity of Turkey to Adapt to Climate Change, aims to integrate climate change adaptation into national, regional and local policies within the framework of future development targets of Turkey in terms of sustainability. Developing a national climate change adaptation strategy is run by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in the context of the Joint Programme. Nuran Talu, UNEP National Expert on Adaptation underlined the key vulnerabilities of Turkey and stated that “There are three major climate hazards affecting Turkey; drought, floods, and forest fires. With climate change, these hazards will cause adverse impacts on key sectors like agriculture, forestry, energy, industry, tourism, and also on communities. It’s important to understand Turkey’s vulnerabilities before identifying potential strategies for climate change adaptation. Participatory Vulnerability Assessment will be done in selected sectors to identify the priorities and needs.”
Simulation Training also held for Practising COPs
In additon, group trainings on simulation of the COP event was held on 16 - 17th September Each member of the groups represented a different group/Party of the Convention active in the climate change negotiations. Such role sharing by the delegates enabled an environment ripe for building skills reqiured in responding to the verbal country statements within international diplomacy procudures. Craig Hart the developer of the Climate Diplomate simulation tool which demonstrates the results of country commitments concerning future emissions and temperature levels provided the training.
A few months ago, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame stated explicitly that the continent’s future depends on what comes out of the climate change negotiations.
He argued that Africa needs a strong climate deal, and quickly, so that global emissions can be brought under control as soon as possible. He also called for strong mechanisms to help the continent move towards a low carbon growth path and to strengthen its resilience to unavoidable impacts.
President Kagame hit the nail on the head.
We know that the effects of climate change will hit the poorest and most vulnerable first and hardest. That is why the new climate change deal so many are working so hard for must also be a deal for development.
Fighting poverty and protecting our planet must go hand-in-hand. Receding forests, expanding deserts, changing rainfall patterns, and rising sea levels trap people in hardship and undermine their future. Studies in Ethiopia show that children exposed to drought in early childhood are more likely to be malnourished five years later.
Because of climate change, it is estimated that up to 600 million more people in Africa could face malnutrition as agricultural systems break down; an additional 1.8 billion people could face water shortage, especially in Asia; and more than 70 million Bangladeshis, 22 million Vietnamese, and six million Egyptians could be affected by climate-related flooding. Worse, new scientific evidence indicates that ocean temperatures are rising to record levels. That will put further stress on coastal ecosystems and on the people depending on them for their survival.
Now is the time to push through both a vision and actions for a better, cleaner, and more sustainable world for us all.
We have only one planet to live on. We must ensure that the way we live and develop is consistent with keeping its ecosystems in balance. We must collectively find a different, more sustainable, way to grow our economies, and ensure that poor people and nations have the opportunity to create a better life for themselves.
While climate change presents great challenges, it also offers opportunities for us all to move towards sustainable development. If nations can make progress at the Copenhagen climate talks, that will lead to reductions in emissions; the development of less carbon-intensive production and consumption processes; directing climate financing to support global economic growth; and setting the world’s poorer countries on inclusive and sustainable pathways out of poverty.
The climate change negotiations must, at a minimum, take the following three developing country imperatives into account.
First, developing countries must be able to develop and put in place what their citizens need for a decent life. Unless people have at least basic access to water, sanitation, food, and energy, as well as to institutions which work and a way to have a say in the decisions which affect their lives, they will not be able to cope with the additional burden of a changing climate.
Second, people in developing countries need targeted support to develop the capacity to adapt to climate change – from the poor farmer who wants to grow more resilient crops, to the family whose home must be able to withstand increased flooding. This means helping countries to put climate change adaptation at the heart of all their efforts to tackle poverty, with proper attention paid to the needs of more vulnerable groups, including women and indigenous people. Adaptation efforts must be flexible and resilient enough to navigate the challenges which climate change may pose in the future.
Third, developing countries need the support of partners to move along a low-carbon development pathway. They need better access to carbon financing to pay for that, and the skills to put that money to work where it is needed. That includes driving private and public finance towards cleaner investments in energy, transport, and other infrastructure and in industry.
If developing countries are assisted in these ways, they will be able to contribute to global efforts to tackle climate change while also pursuing the development to which their people aspire.
Sealing a new climate change agreement will require unwavering political will, so that national interests do not obstruct achieving what is best for our planet as a whole. If the deal reached is also a deal for development, we could set the stage for future generations to live in greater peace and prosperity across our world. We need to invest up front now, to protect our climate and the lives of all of us and our descendants.
We know what needs to be done, and we know we collectively face choices. We can do nothing, or too little, or our world can take bold actions together to confront the climate change challenge.
This December, in Copenhagen, I hope we will, collectively, summon the courage to act.
Bridging South-South Cooperation and Emerging Donor Roles: Strengthen Turkey’s Participation in International Development Cooperation project, in partnership with UNDP Turkey Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey and Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA), aims to strengthen Turkey’s national capacity by increasing the capacity of TIKA, an institution that coordinates the development efforts in Turkey. We as New Horizons spoke with TIKA President Musa Kulaklıkaya about TIKA’s recent activities in terms of Turkey’s emerging donor status, capacity development and South-South Cooperation project.
What can you say about the institutional existence of TIKA? To be more concise, what is TIKA’s, Turkey’s main institution on development, regional role beyond the borders?
TIKA has the capacity to coordinate many other comprehensive aid institutions in Turkey. This coordination task has been assigned to our institution by the Prime Ministry in 2004. Our geography of activities are Central Asia, Caucasia, Middle East, Balkans and Africa; regions which we share language and culture. Initially we are providing aid to countries with mutual historical, political and cultural backgrounds. These common backgrounds let us answer the needs of these countries much more expeditiously, and this created a nice synergy. As a result of our aid and efforts we possess a tangible presence in the regions where we operate. For example, the total of aid provided in Turkey, in 2008 has reached 780 million dollars. In 2005 however, this figure was a mere 339 million dollars. As we increase our development aid efforts, Turkey in general terms and TIKA in specific terms continues the role of emerging donor in the region.
As we know Turkey is a founding member of Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In terms of Turkey’s cooperation with developing countries, is there an effort to become a member of OECD’s most important body Developmental Aid Committee (DAC)?
First of all, we as Turkey do not have any problems in terms of DAC membership criteria. DAC membership requires annual development aid of 100 million dolars. As of now, Turkey has surpassed these criteria. Therefore, Turkey is at a position to be a member of DAC but since political will concerning the issue has not been established, we did not get involved with the required preview process. One can initiate the preview process without the intentions of becoming a member; however, we will complete a different version of this process as a part of the South-South Cooperation Project in partnership with UNDP.
If we take a look at agreements framing international development efforts such as the Paris Declaration, Doha Agreement, Monterrey Consensus, and Accra Agenda for Action, how does TIKA corrolate with these elements?
It is our priority to establish our development strategies by following the international progress on development. As TIKA, we are trying to be a part of all initiatives in this context. We follow all UN and OECD conferences. There’s even a policy dialogue on development and cooperation started through our initiative which aims to host conferences to establish policies between DAC members and non-members. The first one was hosted in Istanbul in 2006. The 4th one will be hosted in Mexico, September 28-29 this year. But there is an aspect where we should reevaluate ourselves: Generally the UN encourages multi-lateral aids. We on the other hand prefer bi-lateral aid efforts, at least for now. More than 90% of our aid efforts are bi-lateral. But in terms of the general international principles you mentioned, we see ourselves as an institution that very compatible and well aware of international developments.
If we return to the topic of South-South Cooperation Project, what do you think this project will contribute to TIKA?
As you know the general conception is that aids flow from North to the South. Therefore this idea aims to create grounds where middle income countries can be a part of the aid efforts. Our goal is to contribute more to the South-South Cooperation Project through activities as a part of this program. In this context, a conference on gender was held in Istanbul last year. Second one will be held in December and it will be about e-government applications. This is another contribution that we expect.
What do you think are TIKA’s priorities on capacity development? In which areas is capacity development needed the most?
TIKA’s activities and fields of activity are growing but its organizational structure is not growing in parallel. Accordingly, we wish for an organizational structure that will work more efficiently against the increasing work-load demand. We are also conducting legislative precedings on the matter. Our main aim is to establish an active and effective organizational structure. We do not have a mecanism that tests the effectiveness of aids within the context of the principles we talked about. Our second aim is to create a system that proves our effectiveness through scientific methods. We have already concluded our initial meetings with the UNDP about the matter.
Generally speaking what are your expectations from this capacity development project? What do you think will change in TIKA as a result of this capacity development?
No external division has ever evaluated TIKA. This is what we are trying to do right now. Evaluate the effetiveness of our work through an external objective perspective. We would like to improve in terms of utilizing effective resources and experts, and we expect our experts to improve their own capacities in this context. Another field of activity that we believe to be important is the establishment of a “Talent Bank”. Talent Bank, a programme utilized by the UN, will be adapted to the conditions of Turkey to make it possible for all sector experts to compile their resumes in one central databank. Sometimes international organizations demand experts from us. Thanks to the Talent Bank, experts in Turkey will be able to promote themselves to abroad, and we will help Turkey find demand in search for experts.
Finally, what kind of challenges within the institution do you plan to overcome with this project?
In a sense we are going to make sure that our employees receive a report on the things they have done. I think this will help boost motivation. I believe that our employees facing promotion anxieties will be more motivated through a change in the hierarchical structure of the institution. In short, I believe it to be a process that will motivate both the institution and its personnel.
By highlighting the challenges faced by the millions of migrants moving across international borders and within their own countries Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development urges governments to lower the risks and costs of migration by adopting a series of reforms.
The launches of the 2009 Global Human Development report will begin in Bangkok, Thailand, on 5 October 2009 with UNDP Administrator Helen Clark and the Thai Prime Minister, Khun Abhisit Vejjajiva. In Turkey, the report will be presented both in Istanbul and Ankara. On 7 October, Olav Kjorven, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of Bureau for Development Policy (BDP), will present the report’s findings in the Civil Society Policy Forum organized by the World Bank Group and IMF Civil Society Team to exchange views on a variety of topics ranging from the global economic crisis and climate change, to governance reform. On 15 October, Francisco Rodríguez, Senior Policy Advisor and Head of the Research Team of the Human Development Report Office, will present the Global Human Development Report at Middle East Technical University (METU) within the Human Development Dialogue speaker series.
The topic of the 2009 Human Development Report (HDR09), migration both within and beyond borders, has become an increasingly prominent theme in domestic and international debates. The starting point is that the global distribution of capabilities is extraordinarily unequal, and that this is a major driver for movement of people. Migration can expand their choices– in terms of incomes, accessing services and participation, for example -- but the opportunities open to people vary from those who are best endowed to those with limited skills and assets. These underlying inequalities, which can be compounded by policy distortions, will be a theme of the report.
Time is running out. The current state of the global economy, experiencing its severest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, is likely to hinder progress towards the countdown to 2015.
The report titled Strengthening the Global Partnership for Development in a Time of Crisis issued by the United Nations Millennium Development Goals Gap Task Force explains that global poverty-fighting commitments are more important than ever in a world facing economic, food and climate crises.
Strengthening the Global Partnership for Development in a Time of Crisis identifies gaps in reaching the MDGs in detail and provides recommendations to all major stakeholders on how to address these gaps. According to the report, the areas in need of special attention concern Official Development Assitance (ODA), aid to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and aid as a share of national incomes, market access, debt relief to Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCS), access to essential medicines and access to technology.
In terms of Official Development Assitance (ODA) where a $50 billion in additional ODA per year by 2010 was pledged, the current standing is at $20.7 billion which is more than the 2004 level. However, there is still a gap of $29.3 billion in additional annual ODA, an amount that can be achieved if OECD donors budget is increased $34.7 billion dollars per year in nominal dollars over the current level by 2010.
Aid to least developed countries (LDCs) is also lagging behind its $53 to $71 billion commitment at $31.9 billion. In order to reach the target numbers, the report recommends that ODA to least developed countries should increase by $21 billion to $39 billion. Similarly, the percentage of aid as a share of national incomes for developed countries is 0.4% below the commitment of 0.7%. The report recommends that donors should meet the intermediate target for ODA set at 0.5% by 2010 and increase aid to 0.7% of their national incomes by 2015. Furthermore, the report also encourages donors, including emerging donors and recipient countries to accelarate progress towars the harmonization and alignment of aid, management of results and mutual accountability of aid resocurces.
The gap in market access concerns the commintment to establish an “open, equitable, rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading and financial system” as issued in the UN Millenium Declaration of 2000. The report argues that a gap exists in concluding the Doha Round of trade negotiations and suggetss that World Trade Organization (WTO) member states must strengthen commitment to an early conclusion of an ambitious and development-oriented Doha Round.
Whereas 40 countries are eligible for enhanced debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HPIC) initiative, 35 have reached the HPIC decision point receiving debt-relief of $54.3 billion. 24 of the 35 countries, have recieved an additional $23.6 billion through the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) while 9 countries are classified as being at low risk of debt distress. 13 countries, however, are stll at high risk of debt distress. Consequently, the report advocates the completion of HPIC and MDRI initiatives and ensuring that all debt relief is additional to ODA.
Affordable essential medicines availabe to all in the developing world is an agreed target within Millenium Development Goal 8. Today, however, the median prices of essential medicines in developing countries are on average, 2.5 times higher than international reference prices in the public sector and 6.1 times higher in the private sector. The report indicates that this gap can be bridged by deploying a private-public sector colloboration to make essential medicines available at affordable prices.
Another agreed target within Millenium Development Goal 8 is access to the benefits of new information and communications technologies in the developing countries. The report draws attention to the striking disparities in technology usage among the developed and developing countries. In 2007, for instance, while 100% of the population was subscribing to cellular mobile service in the developed world, the same percentage in the developing world remained at a mere 39%. Similarly, whereas 13% of the population in developing countries was using the internet in 2007, in developed countries, internet usage stood at 64%. The price of broadband internet services in 2008 was $289 (PPP)• in developing countries, almost ten times the $28 (PPP) charged for the same services in developed countries. The report advises that access to mobile cellular telephony and internet service in developing countries should be sharply improved.
Given the above recommendations, a major theme emerging from the 2009 MDG Gap Task Force Report, Strengthening the Global Partnership for Development in a Time of Crisis is that implementation of the full range of global commitments can effectively advance economically and environmentally sustainable growth that mitigates climate change while addressing the political, economic and public health deficits associated with extreme poverty.
The Task Force was created by the Secretary-General of the United Nations following the discussion of the Policy Committee on 1 May 2007 (Decision No. 2007/22) to improve monitoring of the global commitments contained in the Millennium Development Goals. The main purpose of the Millennium Development Goals Gap Task Force is to systematically track existing international commitments and their fulfillment at the international and country level in the areas of official development assistance, market access (trade), debt relief, access to essential medicines and new technologies.
The Task Force integrates more than 20 UN agencies, including participation from the World Bank and the IMF, as well as the OECD and WTO. The United Nations Development Programme and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat (UN/DESA) are lead agencies in coordinating the work of the Task Force. For a list of all the agencies, please click here.
[•] Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) theory uses the long-term equilibrium exchange rate of two currencies to equalize their purchasing power.
To assist in this endeavor, the Department of Public Information’s (DPI) Outreach Division has developed and shared talking points to serve as the basis for the presentations as well as the "UN4U - The United Nations works for you" project which lists 14 core UN activities such as poverty eradication, health, children and youth, climate change, gender equality and sustainable development.
In approaching the high school's principals, DPI expressed that it is vital for young people to know about other countries and cultures and to understand the value of similarities and differences. Through this program, high school students will gain a greater appreciation for the work of the United Nations, and a commitment to making their individual contributions as global citizens.
Projecting the UN as “our organization”, the UN4U project aims to instill a sense of participation and ownership among high school students by informing them about the history and the structure of the UN and suggesting ways in which they can contribute to the organization. The first of the two campaigns advocated in this year’s UN4U initiative is Seal the Deal! for which students are encouraged to sign the climate petition, help spread the campaign message by downloading the logo and other resources, look for Seal the Deal! On Facebook, and join the debate on Twitter.
The second campaign concerns the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) where the students will be informed about what the UN is doing with regards to the 8 individual goals. Among the various campaigns, the World Food Programme’s (WFP) Fill the Cup campaign to provide school meals in developing countries is highlighted as an example of what the UN is doing to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (Goal 1). Micro credit in Tajikistan offering loans to migrant wives is presented as a measure to promote gender equality (Goal 3), Nothing but Nets to save children lives by preventing malaria through the donation of bed nets is an initiative to reduce child mortality (Goal 4), Maternal care in Mynmar bringing mobile clinics to women in Myanmar following the devastating cyclone Nargis to improve maternal health (Goal 5), the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – the largest international public health effort in history leading to a major decline in polio around the world as a way of combatting HIV/AIDS and other diseases (Goal 6), Plant for the Planet: Billlion Dollar Tree Campaign to encourage people, communities, business and industry, civil society organizations and governments to enter tree planting pledges online with the objective of planting at least one billion trees worldwide each year in order to ensure environmental sustainability (Goal 7).
UN4U, launched with the strong support of the Secretary-General for the first time on 24 October 2008, has become an annual event.
UNICs are planning a variety of activities to mark UN Day 2009. These activities range from lectures at schools and universities, Model UN programmes, concerts, exhibitions and film screening to cultural events open to the public. Centres will also reach out to the media by translating and placing the Secretary General’s message and organizing discussions and interviews for television and radio.
Towards the end of October, UN representatives will visit TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Bilkent International School, Lycée Charles de Gaulle Ankara, Reha Alemdaroğlu Anatolian High School and TED Konya College to give presentations about UN activities and projects in Turkey to raise awareness and bolster participation in the numerous UN campaigns.
Editor: Aygen Aytaç
Assistant: Ece Ergen
Interns: Aylin Yardımcı, Ersev Özer
© 2009 UNDP Turkey
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