Issue: 89
Doğucan Muhlis Şenlik (Development)
Tolga Ateşel (Design)
The forum was organized in a city other than New York for the first time owing to the proposal of the Government of Turkey during the ninth session of the forum to host UNFF10 in Istanbul.
This year’s forum with the theme of “Forests and Economic Development” had the overall objective of assessing the progress made on the implementation of the Non-Legally Binding Instrument on all types of forests which was adopted at the seventh session of the United Nations Forum on Forests as well as its four Global Objectives on Forests.
A total of 2500 participants composed of high-level delegates including approximately 50 Ministers from 134 countries in all continents as well as international organizations and NGO’s around the world convened in Istanbul to deliberate over the international arrangements on forests and negotiate on the next steps.
The forum commenced with the opening remarks of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan followed by the statements of forum Chairs and Co-Chairs including Turkish Minister of Forestry and Water Works Prof. Dr. Veysel Eroğlu and UNFF Director Ms. Jan McAlpine after which the Secretary-General Reports on the Forest Instrument (FI) and the four Global Objectives on Forests were introduced.
Importance of forests on addressing global challenges emphasized
Other important subjects that were addressed during the two-week forum were country statements by Ministers; emerging issues of global significance; the Rio+20 outcome and its link to forests and sustainable forest management; the post-2015 UN development agenda.
At the forum, countries acknowledged the vital role and significant contribution of forests for achieving sustainable development and in addressing interconnected global challenges.
In this context, the forum welcomed the progress made on the implementation of the non-legally binding forest instrument but stressed that gaps still remained in implementing it further especially in low forest cover countries, LDCs, Small Island Developing States and African countries and emphasized the need to mobilize enhanced resources.
'UN Forest for People Awards'
The forum was also a host to an inspiring award ceremony for the “UN Forest for People Awards”.
Awards were given to people of all ages, from all over the world in three categories: “forest hero” award - which is attributed to those working in quiet but heroic ways to protect forests; - winning short film and winning photograph.
600 entries and nominations from 68 countries competed under these three categories.
Hayrettin Karaca, founder of TEMA and Atakan Baykal, forest engineer from Turkey also received awards under the forest hero and winning photograph awards respectively.
Five years long project has a unique structure with its multi focal area objectives such as climate change mitigation, sustainable forest management, and biodiversity.
The project aims to promote an integrated approach at the landscape level to the management of high conservation value forests in the Mediterranean to secure carbon pools and biodiversity.
A model for sustainable forest management in the region
At the side event Dr Mahir Küçük, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs said that this new project will be a model for sustainable forest management in the region with its integrated approach and will also strengthen Turkey’s national forestry activities.
He stated that with the outputs of the project and their knowledge and experience on forestry an important step for regional forestry projects will be taken.
Dr Katalin Zaim, Programme Manager of Environment and Sustainable Development Programme of UNDP Turkey stated that UNDP is the largest UN agency working on natural resource management and for 40 years investing in reversing ecosystems' degradation.
Zaim added that UNDP Turkey and Turkish General Directorate of Forestry, the partner of the GEF funded project, have been actively collaborating since 2010 on sustainable forest management focusing on climate change mitigation and adaptation, institutional capacity building, biodiversity and water integration into forest management plans and empowerment of forest villagers.
Ümit Turhan, Division Director of the General Directorate of Forestry stated that in accordance with the international developments, Turkey enhanced forest management concept to more integrated way in order to conserve biodiversity and to combat climate change while improving forest and people relationship and enhancing forest ecosystem services and goods.
He added that through GEF funded new project the forest management planning system in Turkey will be enhanced via integration of climate change mitigation and landscape approach criteria to be tested with demonstration activities.
Project will be implemented in five pilot areas in the Mediterranean region of Turkey
Ulrich Apel, Senior Environmental Specialist of the GEF gave information about GEF’s support to sustainable forest management in Turkey and the region and the importance of Turkey’s approach on sustainable forest management with the multiple benefits in High Conservation Valued Forest
Nuri Özbağdatlı, SFM Advisor of UNDP Turkey gave detailed information about project activities and stated that the project will be implemented in five pilot areas in the Mediterranean region of Turkey.
GEF funded Integrated Approach to Management of Forests in Turkey, with Demonstration in High Conservation Value Forests in the Mediterranean Region Project will be implemented by General Directorate of Forestry and UNDP Turkey within collaboration with Chamber of Forest Engineers, Forest Cooperative Union, GIZ, Nature Conservation Center, WWF-Turkey, Gold Standard.
Further information:
Dr. Katalin Zaim, UNDP Turkey ESD Programme Manager, katalin.zaim@undp.org
Nuri Özbağdatlı, UNDP Turkey SFM Advisor; nuri.ozbagdatli@undp.org
Deniz Şilliler Tapan, UNDP Turkey ESD Programme Communication Expert, deniz.tapan@undp.org
The United Nations Forum on Forests held on April was also a host to an inspiring award ceremony for the “UN Forest for People Awards”
Awards were given to people of all ages, from all over the world in three categories: “forest hero” award - which is attributed to those working in quiet but heroic ways to protect forests; - winning short film and winning photograph.
Five people from all around the world who are working in quiet and heroic ways to sustain, protect and manage our forests have been recognized as forest heros.
Hayrettin Karaca who is the founder of the TEMA foundation that has grown into an international movement that combats soil erosion and protects natural habitats, was also recognized as a forest hero.
5 April was the milestone date for MDGs as only 1000 days had left to realize the MDGs before 2015.
Starting on Friday 5 April and running through to Friday 12 April, the UN worked with governments, civil society and international partners to mark “MDG Momentum: 1,000 Days of Action” in a variety of ways.
“The MDGs are the most successful global anti-poverty push in history,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. “The Goals have helped set global and national priorities, mobilize action, and achieve remarkable results”.
Extreme poverty rate has been cut in half
Since the MDGs were adopted by all UN Member States in 2000, governments, international organizations and civil society groups around the world have helped make tremendous progress to improve people’s lives.
The world’s extreme poverty rate has been cut in half since 1990. A record number of children are in primary school -- with an equal number of girls and boys for the first time. Maternal and child mortality have dropped.
The world continues to fight killer diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS. Since 1990, two billion more people have gained access to safe drinking water.
More focus on vulnerable people
To build on this success and accelerate action, the Secretary-General called on the international community to: increase targeted investments in health, education, energy and sanitation; empower women and girls; focus on the most vulnerable people; keep up aid commitments.
UNDP was the major participant in the MDG Momentum campaign to amplify awareness of MDG achievements and the commitment to continue global progress.
“The more the world can achieve on the MDGs, the more it will be possible to build confidence and support for a bold and ambitious post-2015 development agenda” UNDP Administrator Helen Clark said.
Clark, who has been the UNDP administrator since April 2009, is the first woman to lead the UN’s development network, serving simultaneously as chair of the UN Development Group (UNDG).
"It has been an honour and a privilege to lead this organization, and I look forward to building on our achievements over the next term," Clark said in her statement.
She emphasized that during her second term, sustainable human development and poverty eradication will continue to be at the heart of what UNDP does.
“I will remain firmly focused on MDG achievement and on accelerating efforts up to 2015 and beyond. I look forward to implementing this vision and to making UNDP an ever more transparent, accountable, and effective organization,” she added.
Clark's second term will begin on April 20, 2013.
Innovative mobile technology can help save lives when conflicts and disasters strike in emerging countries, according to experts at a high-level event held in New York in 4 April by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Permanent Mission of Turkey to the United Nations.
Recent disasters have demonstrated that the Government of Turkey and Turkcell –communications and technology company in Turkey– are helping to lead the way in this important area.
In the event, examples of how information technology –particularly mobile phones– has been used in the prevention, response and recovery from conflict and disasters around the world are showcased.
“In countries prone to disaster or conflict, rapid information sharing about preventative measures can save lives and property,” UNDP Associate Administrator Rebeca Grynspan said at the event.
“Mobile technology enables citizens to connect to each other and authorities, spreading critical information in times of crisis,” she added.
Life-saving SOS messages
At the panel discussion staged at UN headquarters, Ms Grynspan also praised Turkcell for its role in the transmission of life-saving SOS messages in the wake of recent earthquakes in Turkey as well as its contribution to post-disaster recovery and fundraising.
Süreyya Ciliv, CEO of Turkcell, said that “Our experience in the Van earthquake proved once more that readiness, decisiveness and speed, when met with the power of mobile technologies can save lives.”
“Money-box for Van”
Turkcell says it helped send more than 10,000 text messages requesting emergency assistance during the quake. In addition, with support from Turkey’s Ministry of Education and in association with Turkish Education Foundation, Turkcell created the “Money-Box for Van” fundraising initiative that raised millions of dollars to rebuild quake-resistant housing for teachers and student dormitories.
“I am confident that this event will give us ample opportunity to learn from Turkey’s and UNDP’s experience,” Ms Grynspan added. “I also hope that these examples will give us food for thought about what can be replicated elsewhere in the world.”
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) hosted on 23 April a special event with philanthropic foundations from around the world to generate new ideas for advancing the global development agenda beyond the 2015 target date for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The one-day meeting, organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the OECD Global Network of Foundations Working for Development (netFWD) and the Worldwide Initiative for Grantmaker Support (WINGS), brought over 60 representatives from philanthropic organizations together with senior representatives from UN Member States.
The role of philanthropic foundations in development
The event provided an opportunity for ongoing dialogue with philanthropic foundations to examine what would motivate and facilitate their engagement in development cooperation post-2015.
It also explored how successful partnerships between the foundations themselves, as well as with Governments, UN agencies, and international and local non-governmental organizations, could be scaled up and replicated.
The thematic agenda of the exposure visit had been identified as gender equality machinery and participation of women into decision-making processes.
The Delegation was provided with the opportunity to interact and exchange information with a number of Turkish stakeholders and actors working on gender equity and equality, who are actively involved both in lobbying and policy-making.
Apart from the UNDP Turkey, the central and local government institutions, Women NGOs and academicians were visited in the scope of the exposure visit, like Ministry of Family and Social Policies, Turkish Grand National Assembly and Equal Opportunities Commission for Women and Men, METU Women’s Studies Centre, Governorate and Metropolitan Municipality of Bursa.
Ms. Najia Afsar, Senior Gender Advisor of the Independent Administrative Reform and Civil Service Commission of Afghanistan, said that “The exposure visit in Turkey offered us the much needed opportunity to learn about techniques of Gender Machinery in Turkey and their effective integration in policies and programmes of the different government ministries and departments.”
While Ms. Nilofar Barikzai from National Institution Building Project of UNDP Afghanistan added “Having observed how innovative practices are efficiently utilized by Turkish government, after taking into account the requirements of the local context, it is now up to us how to apply all that we have learned from Turkey towards promoting substantive gender equality in Afghanistan.”
For the last decade, gender equality and empowerment of women have taken the central stage of all major national policies of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
The Afghanistan National Development Strategy has rendered gender concerns as “collective responsibility” all sectors of the government.
As such, all efforts have been launched to integrate gender sensitive components into line ministries and enhance the capacity of public officials to deliver quality support service to mainstream gender in public activities.
Structured exchanges with the Afghan delegation as a follow up to this event will be organized.
South-South Cooperation project has been executed by Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TIKA) with the support of UNDP Turkey.
Meetings, held in Istanbul, aim to find out the challenges and expectations of both private sector and NGOs in order to strengthen these two sectors’ involvement in Turkey’s development cooperation activities.
First meeting was held on 12 April with the support of UNDP İstanbul Private Sector and Development Center.
In this meeting, private sector representatives and representatives from TIKA, Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Development have met.
IICPSD provided the participants with the best practice examples of both traditional and emerging donor implementations around the world with their keynote speech and presentations.
In the discussion sessions both private sector representatives and the participants from the main policy making public institutions of Turkey’s international development cooperation had the opportunity to discuss on Turkey’s priority areas of international development cooperation and the modalities to cooperate in these areas.
The second meeting was held on 26 April with representatives from different NGOs, again in Istanbul.
The aim of the meeting was to seek for the expectations of Turkish NGOs in their development and humanitarian activities abroad.
At this meeting, Brian Tomlinson who is the author of a research requested by UNDP China on donor and NGO cooperations worldwide and Barbora Lateckova from UNDP Bratislava regional center shared their findings on the modalities, challenges and best practices of working with NGOs from both traditional and emerging donors.
Two meetings provided unique opportunity for public, private sector and civil society representatives to share their vision on development cooperation strategy of Turkey.
The research conducted by the Mediterranean Conversation Society within the framework of “Fisherwomen Project” pointed out that the majority of the fisherwomen are over the age of 40 and these women are not given importance neither by the government nor the society.
“Fishermen Project” is conducted by the support of the Strengthening the System of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas of Turkey Project and GEF SGP- COMDEKS.
170 fisherwomen despite the difficulties
The lack of interest and support leads them to face difficulties more and more each day.
The recent research shows that there are 170 fisherwomen, who work alone or with their husbands, in Gulf of Gökova ant the other South Aegean coasts.
There is problem also in terms of representation
It is also observed that the fisherwomen are not sufficiently represented in the occupational organizations and they are ignored in occupational terms.
For this reason, some legal regulations should be made in fishery policies to provide the occupational sustainability of the fisherwomen and to improve their existing conditions.
Young population denies, family fishing in danger
According to the data obtained from the research conducted by the Mediterranean Conservation Society, the young population living on the coastlines does not want to deal with fisheries.
This threatens the future of the fishing as the family business.
“Ghost Net Hunters” project is being conducted by the support of the Strengthening the System of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas of Turkey Project and GEF SGP- COMDEKS.
“Green fish” will be a guide
The project activities that are being conducted with the partnership of Gökova Sailing Club and Mediterranean Conservation Society are started in Gökova Special Environmental Protection Area (SEPA) to identify the locations of the lost nets.
The locations of the nets, in where they are most frequently lost, are signed on the map with “green fish” by the support of the fisheries cooperatives in the region.
The fishermen who lost their nets accompanied
The locations were visited together with the fishermen, who lost their nets in those areas, and as a result of the efforts 25 new locations were signed on the map.
Next step is diving
The discovery dives will be made according to sea and weather conditions starting from April.
The conditions of the hunting gear and the nets at those locations will be determined and the pre-study to will be done to remove the nets.
“Responsible Fishing” project is being conducted by the support of the Strengthening the System of Marine and Coastal Protected Areas of Turkey Project and GEF SGP- COMDEKS.
Support from METU
The games and toys, which are in the education set of the project conducted by the Underwater Research Society, are developed by the students of the METU Industrial Design Department.
The designs were made by the Grade 1 Basic Design Studio Lecture Team in a one-week group work, which started with a seminar.
10 different games and toys were designed
In the seminar phase, the experts gave information in marine and human interaction and the children’s perception.
After the seminar, 10 groups, consist of 4-5 students, made 10 different game and toy designs under the light of the information they are given.
The main purpose comes up as to make the children internalize the protection of the environment, obeying the relevant prohibitions and to being responsible fisher.
Designs will be improved in summer
The games and the toys will be continued to be improved in the summer time.
The games and toys will be part of the education set, prepared in the context of the Responsible Fishing Project.
The website has been prepared in the context of ‘Promoting Energy Efficiency in Buildings’ project which is executed by General Directorate of Renewable Energy, affiliated to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with the financial support of Global Environment Facility (GEF) and in cooperation with Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and Ministry of National Education.
The website gives information on energy performance in buildings, energy performance certificate and tips for saving energy as well as information and news regarding to project and its activities.
Moreover it has micro site which gives detailed information on Integrated Building Design Approach (IBDA) and promotes demo buildings designed with IBDA in the context of the project.
The objective of the project is to reduce energy consumption and associated GHG emissions in buildings in Turkey by raising building energy performance standards, improving enforcement of building codes, enhancing building energy management and introducing the use of an integrated building design approach.
For more information: www.surdurulebilirbinalar.net
[BAGLANTILAR]
The global meeting brings together experts from a large number of UN agencies and the World Bank as well as business representatives of Multinational Companies and of the Global Compact local network.
Topics on the agenda include partnering with extractive industries for local growth, business-led skills development programs, engaging the private sector in preparedness and resilience building and country-level approaches to implementing global initiatives.
The National Volunteering Committee currently consist of 17 organisations and 5 individual members representing civil society, the government and the UN and covers number of thematic fields such as education, youth, environment and development.
This variety of members intends to reflect the nature of volunteering itself, which touches all sectors and levels of the society.
The Committee will be a strategic, advisory body that supports the recognition, strengthening and enhancement of volunteerism.
“A time to establish a collaborative committee was right. Across the field of volunteering, there is a shared sense of challenges that should be addressed through collaboration. This committee will support creating an environment where that volunteering can flourish”, says Ulla Gronlund from United Nations Volunteers, which kick-started the process to create the Committee last year.
As a first ever collaborative committee in the field of volunteering, National Volunteering Committee will take an important role in raising awareness about volunteering among citizens and policy makers alike, and about the contribution it makes to the quality and well-being of individuals and communities.
“Volunteering is an essential component of any strategy that recognizes that progress cannot be measured solely in terms of economic return. Such development strategies acknowledge that people are not motivated by self-interest alone but by their deeply held values and beliefs,” Suat Ozcagdas from Social Innovation Centre explains to highlight why volunteering deserves nation-wide attention.
The next few months the Committee will concentrate on developing its internal functioning and strategic plan for the next couple of years.
“We want to be inclusive though, and have therefore reserved couple of empty seats for possible other organisations to join. They can do so until June”, welcomes Hatice Kapusuz from Civil Society Development Centre.
Founding members of National Volunteering Committee:
Community Volunteer Foundation, Civil Society Development Centre, Association of Kırıkkaleli Businessmen and Administrators, Turkish Red Crescent Society, Turkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion For Reforestation and The Protection of Natural Habitats, Educational Volunteers Foundation of Turkey, Center For Social Innovation, Corporate Volunteer Association, You Got the Life Youth Academy Association, Habitat Center for Development and Governance, Labor and Social Security Research and Development Center, Association for Supporting Contemporary Life, Turkey Charity Association, Türkiye Yardım Sevenler Derneği Zonguldak Şubesi. Third Sector Foundation of Turkey, Turkish National Agency, Ministry of Youth and Sports, United Nations Volunteers and Aydın Çetin, A. Duygu Fendal, Hülya Denizalp, Gelnta Achmetoglou, Timur Timothy Tiryaki
Further details:
Burcu Tamgac Morel, United Nations Volunteers
Burcu.morel@undp.org; Tel: 0312 454 1112
The global launch of the ESCAP report called “Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific” took place all around the world, including Ankara on 18 April with the participation of UN Resident Coordinator a.i. Mustapha Sinaceur, Alberto Isgut, ESCAP expert and Associate Prof. Selin Sayek Böke of Bilkent University.
The title of this year’s report was “Forward-looking macroeconomic policies for inclusive and sustainable development”.
Inclusive and environment-friendly growth is the key
Asia-Pacific economies will see subdued growth in 2013 after last year’s sharp slowdown caused by external factors, the United Nations said in the report.
It is also added that efforts to stimulate demand must go hand in hand with macroeconomic course correction to promote broad-based and sustainable development.
Noting that the region’s economic progress has been marked by widening income inequalities and severe natural resources depletion, the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2013 argues that macroeconomic policies can play a vital role in reorienting the region towards a more inclusive and sustainable growth path – a high priority of its post-2015 development agenda.
Inclusive and environment-friendly growth is key to creating new sources of economic dynamism amidst the persisting global uncertainty, says the flagship publication of ESCAP which estimates that economic policy uncertainty in the eurozone and the United States since the onset of the global crisis has shaved 3 per cent off regional GDP – a loss of $870 billion in output.
“The 2013 Survey reminds us that this is no time for complacency, as the need for a more inclusive and sustainable pattern of economic and social development continues to be critical,” United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, Dr. Noeleen Heyzer said in her preface to the Survey.
Limited pick up in growth
The expected improvement in global demand arising from steady growth in the United States and the limited rebound in major emerging economies is projected to help raise developing Asia-Pacific growth to 6.0 per cent in 2013 from 5.6 per cent last year.
Turkey is studied in the South-South West Asia region in the Survey. It argues that the growth in Turkish economy slows as the global economy weakens again, inflationary pressures persist, slight increase in budget deficit is seen and current account deficit raises serious concern about its sustainability.
In Turkey, GDP growth is projected to pick up slightly to 3.8% in 2013, with some loosening of monetary policy, according to the Report.
“New normal” of lower growth underlines need to make development inclusive and sustainable
The Survey cautions that “much lower growth compared to recent years could become a new normal for many regional economies if present economic trends were to continue” and this could cause an estimated economic output loss of about $1.3 trillion by end-2017.
Long-term structural issues, such as rising inequality, energy and infrastructure shortages are compounding the regional slowdown and the Survey says the “structural solution to invigorating the domestic drivers of growth will lie in making the development process more inclusive and sustainable”.
With the region home to nearly two-third of the world’s poor and having more than a billion people with insecure livelihoods, the Survey highlights the economic benefits of social protection.
It makes a first-time estimation of the public investment requirement of a package of social protection and sustainable development policies comprising a job guarantee programme, a universal pension scheme, disability benefits, increased public health spending , universal school enrolment and universal access to modern sources of efficient energy.
Requiring between 5 and 8 per cent of GDP in many Asia-Pacific countries surveyed, this can be self-financed by most countries.
“Now is the time to work for a more inclusive society, highlight the talents of affected people and ensure opportunities for them to realize their potential,” Mr. Ban said in his message on World Autism Awareness Day, which is marked annually on 2 April.
Autism is characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills and social interactions and in restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour.
In New York, two panel discussions take place on 2 April to celebrate the abilities of people with autism.
In addition to scholars and civil society representatives, the panels feature Neal Katz, a teenager with autism featured in the film 'Autism The Musical' Fazli Azeem, a Fulbright Scholar from Pakistan who is on the autism spectrum; and Idil Azeem from Somalia, who has a child with autism.
UN Headquarters in New York is also hosting a musical performance by Talina and The Miracle Project, which includes performers with autism.
A resolution on “awareness gap”
In November, the General Assembly held a High-level Special Event on Autism and Developmental Disabilities.
Member States adopted a new resolution encouraging governments to strengthen research and expand their delivery of health, education, employment and other essential services.
The resolution is also meant to help close the “awareness gap” in terms of developing countries' knowledge of autism and how to treat the illness.
In addition to its direct impact on the health of millions worldwide, malaria also has an indirect impact on economies and development in general.
On World Malaria Day (25 April), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has added its voice to the call for accelerated efforts to eliminate the deadly disease.
‘Roll Back Malaria’
UNDP is a founding member of Roll Back Malaria, a public-private partnership which has grown over 15 years to encompass more than 500 organizations focused on promoting high-level political commitment to keep malaria at the top of the global agenda, and monitoring progress towards universal goals.
UNDP, Roll Back Malaria and other UN partners are collaborating to investigate and address the social determinants of malaria, such as housing, income inequality, gender and education.
This multi-sectoral approach with governments and civil society is helping countries increase the effectiveness of their malaria programmes.
The estimated funding required for malaria control is US 5 billion
Malaria control interventions not only save lives but accelerate progress in other health and development goals, including reducing school absenteeism, fighting poverty, and improving maternal and child health.
The estimated funding required for malaria control globally is just over US 5 billion per year, but available domestic and international funds amount to less than half this need.
According to the World Malaria Report 2012, 90 percent of all malaria deaths occur in Africa – the vast majority in children under five.
In this part, we will talk about the relationship between agriculture and rural development in Turkey.
UNDP Turkey: This is the New Horizons podcast of United Nations Development Programme in Turkey. In this programme, we will talk about the relationship between agriculture and rural development in Turkey. And our contributor is Prof. Dr. Bülent Gülçubuk who is a faculty member of Department od Agricultural Economics in Faculty of Agriculture at Ankara University. Welcome.
Bülent Gülçubuk (B.G.): Thank you.
UNDP Turkey: You are also the head of Ankara University Center for Development Studies Research and Application (AKÇAM). 3 billion people including 75 percent of population living in poverty across the world live in the rural areas. In Turkey, 1 out of every 4 people live in rural areas and the most important source of income for these people is agriculture. In this sense, can you explain the relationship between agriculture and rural development?
B.G.: Of course. As you emphasize, all around the world, people in the rural areas have to pursue an agriculture-based life. In fact, our purpose is to create non-agricultural employment opportunities in rural areas, but there are not any successful projects or a country in this sense. As you emphasize, 75 percent of the population living in poverty live in rural areas across the world. This paves the way for a new concept; ruralization of poverty. And there is also a dramatic result that people living in rural areas cannot consume what they produce. The source of income in rural areas is agriculture, but people cannot consume what they produce. Consequently, this situation causes poverty and hunger. Approximately 1.2 billion people in the world live in extreme poverty. 1 billion out of 1.2 billion people live in rural areas and work in agricultural sector. This reveals a contrary structure as to paradigm. As you mention, 25 percent of the population in Turkey officially live in rural areas, however, unfortunately almost 75 percent of the people living in poverty live in rural areas. Poverty in urban areas is 8 – 9 percent, but in rural areas, it increases to 35 – 36 percent. People in rural areas try to earn a living by working in the agricultural sector. Hence, agriculture is not enough to be a source of income for the people in rural areas. To solve this problem, we will enhance agricultural industry, rural industry and create non-agricultural employment opportunities for these people.
UNDP Turkey: So far, we have explained the relationship between living in rural areas and poverty. As you emphasize, on sectoral basis, the poorest 40 percent of people in Turkey is the people living in rural areas and working in agricultural sector. Moreover, the percentage of people working without social security in agricultural sector is also very high. What do you think about the reason that the highest poverty rate is among people living in rural areas?
B.G.: While 75 percent of population living in poverty in Turkey live in rural areas, this is related to the issue of national income. The relation with national income is that per capita income in Turkey is almost 11 thousand dollar. However, this number decreases to approximately 3.500 dollars in rural areas. As almost 90 percent of agricultural enterprises in Turkey are small enterprises, national income for those enterprises is less than 2.000 dollars. But why? The answer is indeed hidden in the concept of “small enterprise”. Small enterprises are very common in Turkey as the number of enterprises under 100 decare per enterprise accounts more than 90 percent and these are small producers who cannot purchase necessary inputs, produce market-oriented products and use their savings on the purpose of production in order to sustain growth for their enterprises. Therefore, they are destined to a chronic poverty. Recently, it is emphasized that poverty rate in rural areas is fixed at the level of 35 percent and it cannot be reduced despite of the policies implied. Why? The first reason is aging rural populations. Aging population cannot use means of production effectively. Small enterprises also cannot use necessary amount of inputs.
UNDP Turkey: Hence, life in rural areas is stuck in the cycle of poverty.
B.G.: Poverty reproduces itself in a sense.
UNDP Turkey: When we say rural development or development, health, education and infrastructure are all included, but here agriculture seems more apperant than others and this explains the reason why we prefer talking about the relation between agriculture and development in this programme. Those who listen to us and want to contribute this discussion, can share their opinions by using #yeniufuklar hashtag on Twitter. You can reach more information on akcam.ankara.edu.tr, the web site of Ankara University Center for Development Studies Research and Application (AKÇAM). Now I want to ask my next question.
B.G.: Sorry but I want to emphasize an important point about social security.
UNDP Turkey: Please tell us about that.
B.G.: As TUİK decleared, the unregistered employment rate in Turkey is almost 45 – 46 percent, however, the agricultural unregistered employment rate is almost 90 percent. For women, this rate increases to 98.5 percent as 98.5 percent of women working in agricultural sector are unregistered. And unregistered means to be out of any social security coverage. 84 percent of men are also unregistered and not included in the social security system. Thus, when you analyse the poverty in rural areas, one of the important findings is that people continue their lives without any guarantees for their future. And this situation draws a picture contrary to the concept of “decent work and decent life” emphasized by the United Nations Millenium Development Goals.
UNDP Turkey: It should also be noted that you are one of the advisors of the United Nations projects in Turkey. One of the difficulties people face in rural areas is that children who start working in agriculture in early ages cannot complete their education processes and this is the reason why they and obtain necessary job skills. What do you think about education and self-improvement issues regarding to the relation between agriculture and rural development?
B.G.: We do not define education just completing eight-year or 4+4 education. If education cannot open a new door into new opportunities, improve job skills and prepare people for future, it becomes all about reading and writing. As you mention in the beginning of the programme, 1 out of every 4 people in Turkey live in rural areas and almost 35 percent of these people are poor. And 75 percent of the people in the world are poor. 25 percent of the population in Turkey live in rural areas in villages, but only 1 percent of university students come from villages. This creates a structure that blue collars in Turkey come from rural areas while white collars come from urban areas. We see this situation as a problem for the future. If people who want to improve their capacities and find a job in non-agricultural sector, do not complete the necesseary education, they have to attain life-long learning process. They also stay weak in terms of the social mobility. On the other hand, migration from rural to urban areas causes a threat for labour force in urban areas because people from rural areas are cheap labour which is ready to work in unqualified jobs and thus, causes a decline in the wages of people living in urban areas. And that triggers a conflict between those people which is called as “labour conflict”.
UNDP Turkey: Of course, it is a problem not just for Turkey, but for every country having similar characteristics with Turkey.
B.G.: A problem for every country which cannot make provisions against this situation.
UNDP Turkey: It should be emphasized that the human development can be achieved fully only by breaking this vicious circle. You have already mentioned the main obstacles for agriculture and development in rural areas in Turkey. What kind of agricultural growth can provide rural development?
B.G.: Actually, Turkey has no problem with agricultural growth. Public authorities and decision makers remark that Turkey is the sixth largest agricultural economy in the world and the largest agricultural economy in Europe. However, the growth does not maintain any improvement in development both for rural areas and for Turkey in general. As we mentioned before, although Turkey is the sixth largest agricultural economy in the world, the average national income in rural areas is less than one-third of average national income. It seems like we are unable to carry out a grassroots movement for development. To do this, the most crucial services for a person such as education, health, infrastructure, viable environment and organization should be maintained to benefit from growth as a tool for development. If the only problem in Turkey is growth, it has already been solved as Turkey has been achieved higher growth rates than the average growth rate in the world for ten years. However, Turkey has been ranked 90th – 92nd in Human Development Index prepared by UNDP.
UNDP Turkey: Yes, it was ranked 92nd.
B.G.: Therefore, growth does not yield the same results for development. What we should do is to provide mechanisms that support inputs for small producers in rural areas and to provide social activities especially in education, health and then, to implement programmes for youth and women which give them opportunities to be able to receive required job skills in order to translate growth into development.
UNDP Turkey: It should be also underscored that you are the head of Rural Development Specialization Commission for the 10th Development Programme of Turkey. The last question is that the problem of food security and the lack of resources are of vital importance especially for the people working in agriculture and it seems that these issues will be the parts of post 2015 development agenda. How do you evaluate this situation, especially for Turkey?
B.G.: In fact, the concept of food safety is more argued in the world, however, the food safety is a more superior concept. What is food safety? It is access to food for healty, standard and quality consuption. But, in countries like Turkey that poverty is at higher level in rural areas, food security becomes a more apparent concept. What is food security? It is access to food to stay alive. From this perspective, Turkey is both a lucky and unlucky country. It is lucky because the number of people living under poverty line has been decreased gradually. It is unlucky because 12 million people in Turkey have difficulties in accessing healthy food. Unfortunately, the large majority of these 12 million people live in rural areas. Again, TUİK declares that almost 23 million people in Turkey are under threat from poverty. And that’s why the concept of food security comes into prominence. As we emphasized before, Turkey is the sixth largest agricultural economy in the world and the largest agricultural economy among European Union countries and thus, these kind of problems should be eradicated in such a country. Therefore, unless agricultural growth yields the same results for development, Turkey continues to have problems such as food security, hunger, poverty, discrimination and unregistered female employment.
UNDP Turkey: Thank you very much, Bülent Gülçubuk. Our contributor is Prof. Dr. Bülent Gülçubuk who is a faculty member of Department od Agricultural Economics in Faculty of Agriculture at Ankara University. 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 recent developments in the national consultations process that is carried out in Turkey within the framework of post 2015 development agenda.
UNDP Turkey: This is the New Horizons podcast of United Nations Development Programme in Turkey. In this programme, we talk about recent developments in the national consultations process that is carried out in Turkey within the framework of post 2015 development agenda. The national consultation process which began in the last quarter of 2012, has come to the final stage. First draft of final report was prepared and in early March 2013, an information meeting was held to present the draft. Kadir Topbaş, the representative of Turkey in the High Level Panel established by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Shahid Najam, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative participated in the meeting. Representatives of United Nations agencies in Turkey and non-governmental organizations and academicians also attended the meeting. In the meeting, where there has been a high level of participation, featured recommendations constituted during the ongoing national consultation process were presented and what kind of global development agenda should be determined after 2015 was discussed. Shahid Najam, who made the opening remarks of the meeting, explains the national consultation process in Turkey:
Shahid Najam: The national consultation process in Turkey has been globally considered as exemplary for having been inclusive and owned by the stakeholders for reaching out through online discussions and social media to wide range of people for carrying out the advocacy work aligned with the ‘Future We Want’ campaign launched by the Secretary General for organizing eleven thematic meetings and four regional meetings engaged government representatives and NGOs and private sector and local CSOs. For organizing five university tours to benefit from the perspective of the youth, students and scholars, for arranging the Instagram for exhibition project to seed creative vision of future by amateurs and artists alike and for capturing the voice of the poor the marginalized and men and women in streets through street interviews.
UNDP Turkey: National consultations have been carried out by over sixty countries including Turkey as an important part of this process. A final report collecting the featured recommendations related to nine thematic areas will be prepared at the end of the national consultation process that has encouraged so many people and groups from different parts of the society to join this process. Final report, which is being prepared right now, will be submitted to United Nations to be used in determining post 2015 development agenda. Shahid Najam evaluates the contribution Turkey will make to post 2015 global development agenda:
Shadid Najam: We believe that the contribution from Turkey will constitute a substantive input to the post 2015 development framework. To date more than 4000 people have participated and contributed to the process, this is the physical interaction that I am talking about. Voicing their ideas for better future for themselves and for those around them and mark the challenges we need to overcome in the coming years. The key recommendations of Turkey’s outcome documents that will feed into a global report is being coordinated by the United Nations Development Group. These national consultations have provided us a real platform for open and honest discussions. Divided interest and level of participation are eloquent evidence of the passion and commitment and the degree of concern and care we share for the future generations and for the survival of the planet earth. Our challenge is now to translate this passion and commitment to concrete the development framework for the post 2015 world.
UNDP Turkey: Post 2015 development agenda will be the future global development agenda after Millenium Development Agenda. Through the question “what future we want”, post 2015 global development agenda is theoretically determined by all the people around the world. In addition to the national consultations, global meetings organized by High Level Panel in which Kadir Topbaş, the Mayor of Metropolitan Municipality, the president of the United Cities and Local Governments, the Union of Municipalities of Turkey and United Nations Advisory Committee of Local Authorities has also participated as a member of the panel, still continues. High Level Panel including David Cameron, Prime Minister of United Kingdom and Queen Raina of Jordan as members has organized three different meetings taken place in London, Liberia and Indonesia. Kadir Topbaş reflects his observations during these meetings:
Kadir Topbaş: First I want to thank you to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to invite us and lots of honorable people all over the world as the panelists of post 2015 development agenda. In the meetings we have attended and in the regions we have been to, we have discussed how we can save people from poverty and related problems they face, what kind of informations and experiences we have and which steps we have to take to minimize the challenges in the world and to be hopeful for the future by means of bringing the findings of consultations that you and all other people have contribute to the agenda.
UNDP Turkey: Nine thematic areas are discussed in the national consultation process in Turkey. These areas were chosen in line with the development problems of Turkey and meetings with high level of participation have been organized for each of them. Sibel Kalaycıoğlu, rapporteur of national consultations for thematic areas tells:
Sibel Kalaycıoğlu: Inequalities, health, education, growth and employment, environmental sustainability, food security and nutrition, governance, conflict and fragility and population dynamics. It It was decided that the thematic areas should be these nine topics. Apart from these nine thematic areas, early childhood development or childhood development which were discussed in the meeting UNICEF organized in Istanbul, will be integrated in the process as a new emergent thematic area. And in the national consultations process, we see that all these thematic areas are not independent concepts and they are intertwined.
UNDP Turkey: Which thematic areas did become prominent in the meetings? Which themas are indispensible for post 2015 development agenda? Sibel Kalaycıoğlu answers these questions:
Sibel Kalaycıoğlu: One of the prominent thematic areas is gender equality, the other is social groups including youth and disabled and elderly people, however, gender equality has become a major area which intersects all other thematic areas. Another issue is about the importance of education. In Turkey, people always think that education is an important issue. Thus, every discussions in all consultation kicked off by talking about education. But what we mean by emphasizing education is more about quality, not quantity. Quality and enhancing equality of opportunity are the two prominent issues related education. In that sense, social, economic and environmental as three dimensions of sustainable development should be considered together within their connectedness to each other.
UNDP Turkey:Those who listen to us and want to contribute this discussion, can share their opinions by using #yeniufuklar hashtag on Twitter. UN representatives have leaded the consultations to discuss nine thematic areas and in the meeting, they reflect their experiences and opinions they gained during the consultation process. Beginnig with the opinions of Dr. Ayman Abulaban, UNICEF Turkey Representative:
Ayman Abulaban: So we would like to see some focus on girls access to education, on women access to employment, access to health, education and employment of the disabled and right base access to social assistance and I think we would like to see even more also about what has been said about children themselves as subject of inequalities.
UNDP Turkey: Dr. Maria Cristina Profili, World Health Organization Turkey Representative, tells:
Maria Cristina Profili: Without health or without healthy people we cannot sustain development and also as a beneficiary as well as an indicator and I think the main summary of all these recommendations is that we need to target the universal health coverage in order to improve life, healthy life expectancy.
UNDP Turkey: Ozan Çakmak, who represents International Labour Organization (ILO) emphasizes the concept of purple job:
Ozan Çakmak: The most prominent issues in the consultation of ILO are, as you said, purple jobs which support women employment and gender equality not only for gender mainstreaming, but also for implementing women friendly policies in the labour market. Also youth is another important issue addressed in the meeting.
UNDP Turkey: In behalf of United Nations Development Programme, Dr. Katalin Zaim participated in the meeting.
Katalin Zaim: In the environmental chapter that the economic, financial and indicative monitoring evaluation is strongly highlighted. We would like to see the integration of the other chapters at the end of this and also summarizing and recommended to the UN because if you just take the sector separately then of course the sustainability will not be achieved and more integrated and more elevated to a macro level recommendation should come out from the report truly.
UNDP Turkey: Dr. Zahidul Huque, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative in Turkey, explains the perspective of UNFPA on the process of post 2015 development agenda:
Zahidul Huque: We can see a lot of synergies between thematic groups and a lot of inter linkages between thematic groups so when this document is finalized and I think it is very important to link each of those sections very carefully so we could avoid the redundancies and also make sense of the whole document.
UNDP Turkey: In this episode, we share the recent developments in the national consultations carried out in Turkey to determine post 2015 development agenda. You can follow recent developments in post 2015 development agenda on 2015sonrasiturkiye.org. You can share your opinions related to this topic by using #yeniufuklar or #2015sonrasi hashtags on Twitter. 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 the issue of combatting climate change in post 2015 development agenda.
UNDP Turkey: This is the New Horizons podcast of United Nations Development Programme in Turkey. In this programme, we will talk about the recent developments in global consultations and combating climate change in post 2015 development agenda. Today, our contributor is Dr. Nuran Talu, the president of Global Balance Association. A new global development agenda will be determined to replace Millenium Development Goals which will be expired in 2015. National consultations are still being carried out in over sixty countries around the world including Turkey. In that sense, which paradigms should be maintained as the core of post 2015 development agenda? Dr. Nuran Talu, the head of Global Balance Association tells:
Nuran Talu (N.T.): Nearly all nine thematic areas, which are determined by the United Nations within the framework of the post 2015 development agenda, are my fields of interest for 30-35 years now as environmental issues are all cross-cutting issues. If we talk about food and food shortage, these problems are all connected to climate change and once again we can start talking about environment. Inequality is also an issue which is related to loss of natural resources and social dynamics. Social issues like about health and education are also closely connected to the rights of nature. These are all projections on to each other not only in the world but also in Turkey. Among the issues which are addressed in the discussions of post 2015 development agenda and in national consultations in Turkey, decision-makers and politicians express their primary concern for the ecological disaster.
UNDP Turkey: Nuran Talu says that all thematic areas which are discussed in the process of post 2015 development agenda, are connected to each other and they deeply affect each other. Especially climate change with its growing adverse effects has become very important in that sense. But what does ecological disaster mean? How can we combat ecological disaster after 2015?
N.T.: Ecological disaster is not only about extinction of natural resources, nature or biodiversity, but as I mentioned before it is also about economic policies. As a country or as regional or international organization, if you cannot establish a sound political economy within the framework of your post 2015 development agenda, it means that you waste your capital and fail to maintain growth and development. Besides we do not mention a thing that you have to consume. We also mention the rights of nature, for example simply a right of a river to flow naturally.
UNDP Turkey: In other words, combating climate change is one of the most prominent issues in post 2015 development agenda. But why?
N.T.: Because climate change is more than an environmental problem. Its importance is underestimated when it is accepted as just a simple environmental problem. It is a problem within social and economic policies. I am not sure that details are necessary, but there are so many examples in Turkey. For countries like Turkey which have rich natural resources and biodiversity, adaptaytion to the adverse effects of climate change is more necessary than just reducing the level of greenhouse gas emission to combat climate change. We have to take necessary steps to protect our natural wealth against man-induced climate change.
UNDP Turkey: Turkey is one of the countries which has carried out national consultations within the framework of post 2015 development agenda. Did Nuran Talu attend these national consultations meetings? If so, what are her observations? Which issues have been the most prominent ones?
N.T.: I mostly attended the meetings organized in Ankara including evaluation meeting. One of the prominent issues has been the local governments as global issues are currently discussed. I recall my memories about Rio meeting, not Rio+20 but Rio Summit in 1992 in which I had the chance to participate as a government bureaucrat. Therefore, I also had the chance to follow all the process. In Rio Summit, the motto “think globally, act locally” was aroused and today it is still effective and it is indeed much more effective than before while local governments or huge populations living in the cities tend to grow more and more which highlights the importance of creating sustainable cities. The thing we should not forget that cities with high level technologies, as they are named smart cities, are not necessarily ecological at the same time.
UNDP Turkey: Global and national consultations which have been carried out to determine post 2015 development agenda, still continues and so many things have been covered so far. How does Nuran Talu evaluate this process?
N.T.: Important messages have been come out as so many people have been talking about so many different things in the meetings organized in local or regional, national and global levels. We have collected the messages which are really important and confirmed what we have said before after a feverish and profound process that is carried out by international officials, UNDP officials in Ankara and all other people giving voluntary contribution. Now decision-makers and politicians should pay attention to the issues addressed by the public in the process of post 2015 development agenda and if necessary, they should adopt new resolutions, policies and implementations to achieve the goals of post 2015 development agenda.
UNDP Turkey: At this point, can we say that post 2015 development agenda is an important progress in order to solve the development problems?
N.T.: We always go through this kind of processes which started with the Rio Summit in 1992 was a process like this. We discussed what has happened in the past twenty years and what we want to change for the future. As a result we made many decisions. This is the process that we are going through. It is obvious that the world cannot solve in one night all these crucial problems such as population growth, issues on education, intercontinental inequalities, poverty and loss of natural resources. I always think that these kind of processes are positive and constructive developments, however, they are sluggish. Although this is the case, it is an important opportunity to make use of as a country which is selected to be involved in this process. Post 2015 development agenda has been discussed with the involvement of decision-makers and prominent persons both in Turkey and in the world. This is a real opportunity. I want to emphasize two things that we have to put into effect in order to make use of this process: First, we have to give up all political concerns. The second one is that we have to change our minds. For example, changing all our consumption patterns is a very important step to ease the way of reaching our developmental goals.
UNDP Turkey: In this episode, we talked about the issue of combatting climate change in post 2015 development agenda. Our contributor was Dr. Nuran Talu, the president of Global Balance Association. You can follow the recent developments in post 2015 development agenda on 2015sonrasiturkiye.org. You can share your opinions related to this topic with #yeniufuklar or #2015sonrasi hashtags on Twitter. We have come to the end of this episode of New Horizons which is prepared by United Nations Development Programme, UNDP Turkey. This programme 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 Police Radio which rebroadcasts New Horizons Podcasts in about 50 provincial cities 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 youth in post 2015 development agenda.
UNDP Turkey: This is the New Horizons podcast of United Nations Development Programme in Turkey. In this programme, we will talk about youth in post 2015 development agenda. Global development agenda is being determined by the consultations all around the world. Global and regional and also national consultations are still carried out in over sixty countries, including Turkey. In that sense, how do young people participate in this process? Will issues related to youth be included in the post 2015 development agenda? We will try to find the answers of these questions with Elif Kalan from Habitat Center for Development and Governance. First of all, what does this center do? What has been done by the center to contribute the process of post 2015 development agenda? Elif Kalan explains:
Elif Kalan (E.K.): For many years, Habitat has been working together with both United Nations Development Programme and the other UN Agencies. Especially in Turkey, we undertake projects with the collaboration of Ministry of Development and private sector to improve youth participation in the decision-making process, computer literacy and financial literacy on some issues related to the youth and capacity development. We organized a youth workshop in December 2012 in Ankara to support the process of post 2015 development agenda which has been carried out globally and also in Turkey. It lasted for two days. In this workshop, we discussed how the post 2015 development agenda should be shaped for the sake of youth. At the same time, we tried to contribute to other two areas related to Ministry of Development and Ministry of Youth and Sports. Eighty-two youth representatives from fourty-three institutions participated in the workshopes. These institutions are non-governmental organizations working on youth, youth councils and public youth centers.
UNDP Turkey: Why are the national consultation process in Turkey and the process of determination of global development agenda important for the issues related to youth? Elif Kalan says:
E.K.: This is a very important process for us as participation is a part of this process. It is impossible for us to not to contribute this process which is being carried out globally and in the countries in particular and also open to the participation of people. Therefore, we managed this partnership with the United Nations which ended up with a very useful process of communication.
UNDP Turkey: Which topics were discussed in this meeting?
E.K.: We formed round tables for each nine thematic areas. Small workshops were conducted where issues are discussed at the same time together with an expert from the United Nations and a facilitator from Habitat. Expert from the United Nations gave general information about this process and about thematic areas (youth). Then, we discussed these problems and came up with many suggestions within the youth perspective in Turkey. We have lists of all suggestions for each problem. We realize that youth can be evaluated together with the other groups and also it can be discussed as a seperate issue. For example, unemployment is a problem and youth unemployment is also a problem, but female unemployment and other youth groups’ unemployment are problems one by one and we realize that all these should be dealt in an inclusive manner. Actually, we see that people face inequalities in access to education and health services.
UNDP Turkey: So young people had seen that inequality, especially in employment, towards young people is the most prominent problem.
E.K.: Disadvantageous position of young people in employment was revealed. At this point, entrepreneurship is an important point that can support youth employment while especially during time of crisis, young people are the ones who are fired at the first place. Maybe it is not an alternative, but it is offered that one of the possible implementations in this area is to support youth entrepreneurship both socially and financially while they set up their own business.
UNDP Turkey: Were the issues related to education and quality of education mentioned in the meeting?
E.K.: Yes, they were. Education system does not help to ensure youth employment and thus, it is emphasized that it is more like a superficial system that cannot lead young people to be engaged in their field of interest. Another issue, which was discussed in the meeting, is that there is no special education towards young teachers to improve their capacity. We have suggestions addressing that formal education methods – one of the non-formal education methods - should be involved in the education system to increase the participation and the quality of education.
UNDP Turkey: Elif Kaçan talks about some suggestions they agree on:
E.K.: It is suggested that personel development process should be supported by non-formal education methods which promotes participation of people in the system instead of implementing the curriculum strictly. Improving the opportunities that young people can work in their field of interest starting from middle school is also offered. It is like doing intership while you are studying under a consultancy service.
UNDP Turkey: As the name of the association, Elif Kalan work at, is Habitat Center for Development and Governance, the governance is one of the thematic areas which are being discussed within the framework of post 2015 development agenda. What is the importance of governance for young people and the youth?
E.K.: Actually, governance is one of the most important reasons why we are involved in this process. There are many things done in this area in Turkey. Young people are organized and interested in volunteering more than ever before, but this is not known so much. It might be featured more in the media to make it more visible and heard because young people are very organized in universities all over Turkey. They also found their own associations. Youth are also organized in youth councils within city councils. If we strengthen these mechanisms, we can provide high level of participation in these processes. Hence, we can shape the agendas like post 2015 development agenda that will affect our future. In this sense, we support both of these processes.
UNDP Turkey: Those who listen to us and want to contribute this discussion, can share their opinions by using #yeniufuklar and #2015sonrasi hashtags on Twitter. Does Elif Kalan believe that the youth problems will be included enough within the post 2015 development agenda?
E.K.: Yes, I do. Currently, bricks are being put to build this wall of development agenda. When this wall will be finished, we will see lots of bricks representing youth because youth is a cross-cutting issue. And also it is statistically foreseen that in 2030, sixty percent of the population living in the cities will be under 18. In a country like Turkey, youth population is decreasing, but youth population in disadvantaged parts of society is in fact increasing. It is also the case in Turkey and these countries started making provisions against these problems.
UNDP Turkey: In this episode, we talk about youth issue within the post 2015 development agenda. And our contributor is Elif Kalan from Habitat Center for Development and Governance. You can follow the recent developments in the post 2015 development agenda on 2015sonrasikalkinmagundemi.org. You can share your opinions related to this topic by using #yeniufuklar or #2015sonrasi hashtags on Twitter. 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 will talk about population dynamics in Turkey.
UNDP Turkey: This is the New Horizons podcast of United Nations Development Programme in Turkey. In this programme, we will talk about ‘Economic and Social Survey of Asia and Pacific 2013’ report prepared by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) and its notes about Turkey. And our contributor is Assoc. Prof. Selin Sayek, Chair of Economics Department at Bilkent University. Welcome.
Selin Sayek (S.S.): Thank you.
UNDP Turkey: The Report was launched all around the world, including Ankara, on 18 April. And you presented your notes in the launching meeting organized in Ankara. First, I would like to give some highlights from and informations about the Report. For those who do not hear it before, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP) prepares a report annually, named ‘Economic and Social Survey of Asia and Pacific’ report. This year’s title was ‘Forward-Looking Macroeconomic Policies for Inclusive and Sustainable Development’. It is important to emphasize that in this Report Turkey was also included in Asia and Pacific region. It is indeed unusual that Turkey is included in this region. The region is home to nearly two-third of the world’s poor and having more than a billion people with insecure livelihoods. Although there are countries like China and India with high level economic growth in the region, the Report points out that economic growth does not necessarily lead to an inclusive and sustainable development. This is a very short summary of the Report. According to the Report, what is the main reason of this situation? What is the reason of the situation that economic growth does not lead to an inclusive and sustainable development?
S.S.: Over the past few decades, the main goal in all over the world has been enlarging the cake. The economic goals have never been on redistribution of resources, macroeconomically speaking. Although we have been discussing these issues in academic environments, the policies implemented by governments have generally been about bigger economic gains. There were not any active policies implemented for redistribution of these gains. We started to talk about the issues related to social sciences such as environment, health, education and inclusiveness that should be included in these kind of programmes starting with this report and beforehand for the last two years within the framework of developmental goals set and leaded by the United Nations. In this sense, the Report is very important. It says that let’s not just make the cake bigger, but also do something to share it and implement proactive government policies. In other words, let’s not only think that these will come along eventually but create a suitable environment where states and governments can play a more active role in implementation of these kind of policies.
UNDP Turkey: So the Report says that as the cake is getting bigger, we should redistribute and canalize it to the society in a proper way. In the Report, there are also assumptions for 2013 based on the data of 2012. The growth rate in the region was 5.6 percent in 2012. It is foreseen that the growth rate will be 6 percent in 2013. This low growth rate could become the new normal in the region. Thus, this low growth rate will be normalized which can cause $1.3 trillion economic output loss by end-2017. What do you think about these assumptions in the Report?
S.S.: Actually, I agree with these assumptions and the basis of these assumptions is the fact that the contribution of developed countries to world economy will be limited due to the global crisis. This assumption becomes more realistic. The crisis in the European Union and slow recovery of the United States mean that the markets to which these countries in the region can export their products are getting smaller. Therefore, it is pointed out in the Report that if the markets in developed countries are getting smaller, instead of accepting this new norm, we should create new opportunities of cooperation in the region to increase the growth rate. As you mentioned that 6 percent growth is not enough for a region with high level of poverty.
UNDP Türkiye: The Report explains that this growth rate should not be accepted as the norm as it is not an efficient growth.
S.S.: It should not be.
UNDP Türkiye: In other words, the Report highlights the factors that are slowing down the economic growth in Asia and Pacific Region, the uncertainties that the countries in the region face, big gaps in the developmental issues and infrastructure and the risks related to climate change. If we look at the situation in Turkey, - it should be emphasized again that Turkey is counted as a country in Asia and Pacific Region – does Turkey share the same fate with the region?
S.S.: It is assumed that the growth rate in Turkey will be lower than 6 percent in next year. The same assumption is also made in the report and we all agree with this assumption. However, Turkey is different from these countries due to its geographical position and different economic structure. Turkey has an economic structure more similar to the Central European countries. But Turkey and the countries in Asia and Pacific Region have some common structural problems, such as equality in education and health and environmental insensibleness. The difference is that Turkey is not suffering from the same high level poverty. Even though Turkey has income inequality, the situation is better than the general situation of Asia and Pacific countries. I should say that it would be much better if the growth rate in Turkey were 6 percent, but it is assumed that it will be 4 percent. And the reason for this rate is our deeply rooted relations with the European Union. I mean the countries in Asia and Pacific Region are affected by the crisis in Europe as a global crisis, however Turkey is affected much more deeply as a a country with high volume of economic relations with Europe. So because of the structural problems which are similar to the problems in the region and the effects of crisis in Europe, the growth rate is assumed to be less than 6 percent in Turkey.
UNDP Turkey: In the report, the coopearations and developmental collaborations in the region are presented as a recipe for the problems. Do you think these can be a solution for Turkey?
S.S.: Of course, they can. It is also mentioned in the government’s programme. It seems that Turkey has a great potential to establish commercial relations with the region. It is obvious that Turkey and Asia and Pacific have relations in terms of trade and foreign investments that will be strengthened in the future. But I think these relations should not replace the relations with the European Union, these should go hand in hand.
UNDP Turkey: Therefore, the Report implies that the growth in the economy is not sufficient in its own. It is offered in the report that the economic growth should be turned into a sustainable and inclusive growth by investing in social sectors, thus it will turn into a welfare source for every citizen. There is a policy package presented in the Report involving six items. The package includes a social protection package and it offers investments leading to sustainable development. Moreover, the Report says that Turkey can realize this policy package with its own national resources. It is assumed that these investments will not cause any macroeconomic problems. What do you think about it? How should Turkey evaluate this policy package and what are the other options suitable for Turkey instead of implementing this package?
S.S.: The main principles of this policy package are inclusiveness, increase in social security and inclusion of environmental consciousness in decision-making processes. In this sense, this package is very suitable for Turkey. According to the Report, Turkey will need 6 percent of its GDP to realize this policy package and they say that it is possible to provide this amount. However, it should be considered that Turkey has a high current account deficit. Thus, Turkey has been making its investments by borrowing money from outside. If you say that we need an extra 6 percent of financial resource, Turkey needs to develop new packages to support its domestic sources or take a risk of borrowing more and more money from abroad. After all, I think that this package is very good as it emphasizes on economic issues which are very important in social sense, such as education, health and environment. Turkey can implement this package, however, it should also determine some policies to cover the expenses of this package.
UNDP Turkey: We have talked about the ‘Economic and Social Survey of Asia and Pacific 2013’ report prepared by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP). You can download the Report on undp.gov.tr and you can also find a Turkish summary on our website. Those who want to contribute this conversation can share their opinions via #yeniufuklar hashtag on Twitter. The Report was launched all around the world, including Ankara, on 18 April. Assoc. Prof. Selin Sayek, Department Chair of Department of Economy at Bilkent University, also attended this meeting and we discussed the Report together with her. Thank you so much to join our programme.
S.S.: Thank you.
UNDP Turkey: 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!
Editor: Faik Uyanık
Assistant: Nazife Ece
Intern: Gülşah Balak
Contributors to this issue: Berna Beyazıt, Burcu Morel, Deniz Tapan, Gökmen Argun, Leyla Şen
© 2013 UNDP Turkey
All rights of New Horizons are reserved to UNDP Turkey. Any use of information should be accompanied by an acknowledgment of New Horizons as the source citing the URL of the article.