Issue: 32
As it was indicated in Turkey’s latest Human Development Report on Youth in Turkey, NGOs working in the area of youth in Turkey do not seem to have sufficient cooperative connections and thus seem to be ineffective when it comes to push for youth policies. However, this scene is slowly changing with the youth NGOs mobilised over the Turkish Human Development Report.
Just after the launch of the National Human Development Report in March 2008, nearly 50 NGOs working in the area of youth had published a joint press release calling for the implementation of the recommendations of the report by the government. They also had decided to establish an NGO platform to further discuss the policies which the government can implement in this area and prepare policy documents and further recommendations. As a first step in this way, the platform members came together in western town of Bursa on 17-21 July 2008 and strengthened their cooperation and bonds further. 26 of the platform members could join the Bursa meeting, which was held in an ancient Turkish Hamam which was restored and modernized by the Osmangazi Municipality in Bursa as a new convention centre. Osmangazi Municipality did not only open its premises for this purpose but also funded the entire organisation. The host of the first meeting was a locally based youth NGO called E-gençlik (e-youth). E-gençlik, an active member of the newly established youth NGOs platform will act as the secretariat of the platform together with another NGO, Genç Birikim Association, from eastern town of Muş.
At the meeting, all participant NGOs agreed to establish commissions to work on policy suggestions for the government. One commission will work on the content while another will work on the organisation of the second meeting of the platform. Another commission will work on the formation of a GENCLINK (Youthlink) website.
At the meeting, there have been trainings aiming at the capacity building of the NGOs. UNDP’s National Human Development Report Coordinator Aygen Aytaç reminded the findings of the report and gave a training on human development approach. Mehmet Arslan, the General Manager of the Youth Services Centre in Turkey gave a training on the previous youth movements in Turkey. Arslan said that NGOs in Turkey are usually using the Human Rights approach in their activities especially due to the EU process, however, human development approach which includes human rights approach but goes beyond it, should be adopted by the youth NGOs. According to Arslan, Human Rights perspective does not see youth as a special category but human development approach allows and in fact as the latest National Human Development Report shows, it gives great importance to youth and sees the youth as the key element of development. Mehmet Arslan emphasised that youth policies based on human development would be more realistic.
The local NGOs competed with each other to host the next meeting of the youth NGO platform and it was at the end agreed that the next meeting would be held in eastern town of Muş in autumn.
Although the Kuyucuk Lake in Kars, Eastern Anatolia is under protection, there are still traces of poaching, degradation of riperian flora due to overgrazing, reed cutting by the villagers and leakage of organic substances into the lake from nearby agricultural areas. Through the support of BTC/UNDP Small Investments Fund, the Yer Gök Anadolu Association (YEGA) is aiming to reverse this with the “Developing Eco-Tourism Possibilities in Kars Kuyucuk Lake” project.
The Kuyucuk Lake is the most important wetland in Kars and also holds the status of being an International Important Natural Region and Protection of Wildlife Region. In this context, the project aims to introduce the natural riches of the Kuyucuk Lake and its neighbouring villages in national and international platforms thus expanding sustainable eco-tourism activities, to create local ownership from the income and publicity brought by these activities and to protect the lake, its birds, surrounding flora and other wildlife with the cooperation of the local people and the local administration.
Although the Kuyucuk Lake region has patches of reeds, the flora of the shoreline is poor and grains and animal feed plants are being cultivated around the lake. However the rich bird community living in the region particularly the rubby shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) and the endangered white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala) make the Kuyucuk region a large potential for eco-tourism. This region houses ten thousands of birds of at least 108 species. Dr. Sean Anderson from the California State University who carried out chemical measurements in the lake’s water in spring 2006 and 2007 stated that this wetland was very hope-inspiring for developing biodiversity and that the region was an excellent candidate for ecologic restoration.
In the context of the project, awareness is being raised among local people in order to make good use of the income brought by the lake’s worldwide eco-tourism potential and its bird community and village-based sustainable tourism activities are being planned. In this context, evaluation meetings were held with villagers and the date and content of various activities were determined, students of Kafkas University Department of Biology conducted ethno-botany surveys, scientific experiments were conducted on the impacts of animal grazing, bird observations were done every day starting from April and 155 bird species were encountered, film for children and adults were shown, a walking route for bird observing was identified, a visitor centre 100 metres away from the lake was established and accomodation and nourishment opportunities were established for the tourists especially with the participation of women. In the framework of communications and information works, the project was introduced by articles published at the national and international level and by internet (www.kuyucuk.org) (Turkish) and meetings were organized with the governor and local people to identify an eco-tourism strategy in the region.
In the context of the project that will end in October 2008, a bird visitor centre will also start giving service, booklets and calendars will be published, trainings will be provided for children and local people and a Kuyucuk Bird Observation Festival will be organized on 2-5 October 2005. The local people will play an important role on the long-term protection of the lake since they will gain consciousness on the worldwide importance of the lake and earn income from nature-lovers who visit the lake.
Dr. Çağan Şekercioğlu who is the coordinator of the project as well as the founding member of the Yer Gök Anadolu Association, received the Whitley Golden Nature Award in England for this project. Şekercioğlu is an ecologist, ornitologist, eco-tourism specialist and a nature photographer.
[BAGLANTILAR]
“Inclusive Civic Engagement in Legislation Making in Turkey” project, which is implemented by UNDP with the support of the Association of Parliamentarian Consultants, Legislation Association and the Prime Ministry, aims to raise awareness on the importance of civil society’s engagement to law-making and other decision-making processes and encourage active citizentry in order to achieve accountability, transparency, better governance, responsiveness, efficiency and better representation within Turkey.
In this context, a UNDP team visited Mersin and Bursa on 7-8 July 2008 where they held contacts with various NGOs, stakeholders and local authorities in order to find out their perspectives on civic engagement to governance and the constraints they face. During consultations with multiple parties some institutions stated that they had a limited opportunity to ensure that their views are fed into Government and Parliamentary processes while smaller NGOs stated that they felt excluded from decision-making processes. When asked for reasons of their exclusion, NGOs listed various factors such as not being approached by the Government or Parliament, difficulties on finding information on which draft laws are being considered and lack of capacity to respond even if they were to be consulted. In this sense, the parties also discussed different ways in which NGOs can submit their views on draft bills and timescales needed to allow NGOs to discuss issues with their members in order to provide a collective view.
The information gathered from these visits will be used in the planning stage for other consultations that will be realized in other cities in October and November. The results of the meetings will be shared with the Parliamentary Advisers Association, The Association of Legislation and the Prime Ministry and will help shape the methods used for the consultations on draft legislation.
A national conference will also be held in early October to share the findings of these visits. The conference will bring together key actors of the Government, Parliament and civil society as well as international experts. During the conference, good practice of inclusive law making and ways of adapting these to Turkey will be discussed.
The “Inclusive Civic Engagement in Legislation Making in Turkey” project is the first phase of a process that aims to improve civic engagement to law making in Turkey. The project aims to do this through perception analysis, building capacity and technical know-how and building institutional capacity.
The Human Development Dialogue is an initiative that aims to facilitate dialogue on human development and complement ongoing activities that are already taking place in many cities around Turkey.
The website of the Human Development Dialogue provides general information on the human development dialogue but more importantly it also provides information on the events that are taking place. Through this website, it is also possible to access the presentations (and videos) of world renowned speakers on human development.
So far in Turkey, three seminars organized by UNDP and the World Bank took place in the context of the Human Development Dialogue. The first seminar given by Professor Paul Gertler who is a Professor in Economics at the University of California at Berkeley took place on 15 May 2008 in Ankara and was hosted by the Middle East Technical University Social Policy Programme. Gertler delivered a speech on impact evaluation to inform social and human development policy design in which he emphasized the importance of impact evaluation for improving and sustaining policies. Gertler strengthened his presentation with a number of examples on how impact evaluation has influenced policy making in significant ways in several countries. Gertler also touched upon conditional cash transfer program in Mexico and the early child development and social decentralization in Argentina and provided evidence on how impact evaluations can contribute to sustainable pro-poor policies.
The second seminar that took place on 20 May 2008 in Istanbul with the support of the Education Reform Initiative under the Sabancı University Policy Center hosted Professor Nicholas Barr from London School of Economics. Barr took up issues of financing tertiary education to promote quality and wide participation. Professor Barr shared international experiences on financing university fees, student loans and higher education finance reforms. Professor Barr also emphasized the role of the government in regulating the higher education “market”.
The final seminar held at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara on 25 June 2008 hosted Dr. Francisco Ferreira from the World Bank who made a presentation on the inequality of opportunity and economic development. Ferreira discussed how external circumstances such as family, background, gender and birthplace, influence opportunities and how taking into consideration the “inequality of opportunity” perspective can affect poverty reduction policies.
The “Young Leaders’ Academy” will develop the capacities of youth and allow them to participate more actively in the society. It will provide youth with functional education and learning skills such as software training, entrepreneurship, leadership, communication skills, project management techniques, English language courses and cultural teachings on gender equality, human rights and climate change awareness thus contributing to the development and implementing of international youth policies.
The overall aim of the academy is to build a youth that is “able” thus increasing their capacity, including them in decision-making mechanisms, making them active solution finders, implementors and entrepreneurs. The academy has already started to accept applications and started its teachings.
In Turkey youth make up 18% of the total population of which 12 million are between the ages of 15-24. This number alone is larger than the total populations of many European countries. More importantly this figure brings along a great advantage of what is called a “window of demographic opportunity”. If this opportunity is used effectively, it could result in national benefits such as high employment and high growth rate.
According to UNDP Resident Representative Mahmood Ayub, Turkey could either hit the jackpot like Southeast Asia, having a successful economic growth due to well-prepared and educated youth or lag behind and sink into poverty and economic problems like Latin America.
Unfortunately out of the 30% studying and 30% working youth, 40% of young people neither study nor work. Ayub warns that after 20 years Turkey will have an older population like the rest of the European countries and the window of demographic opportunity will close. It is therefore critical that Turkey starts to invest in its young people and says “youth is the background of the society”.
Youth for Habitat is an international youth network working in partnership with the United Nations. To receive more information please click here.
Creating Value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor, a new and groundbreaking report recently released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) offers strategies and tools for companies to expand beyond traditional business practices and bring in the world’s poor as partners in growth and wealth creation. Part of UNDP’s Growing Inclusive Market’s initiative, the report draws on extensive case studies and demonstrates the effectiveness—both for human progress and for wealth creation—of more inclusive business models.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently issued a call to action on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), urging an international effort to accelerate progress and to make 2008 a turning point in the fight against poverty. This report demonstrates concrete ways the private sector can join in this vital effort.
The report was also launched by UNDP Turkey and Turkish Industrialist’s and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) in Istanbul on 8 July 2008 with the participation of private sector representatives and various NGOs. Following the opening remarks of TUSIAD Representative Dilek Yardım and UNDP Turkey Resident Representative Mahmood Ayub; the report was presented by Beth Jenkins from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Questions and answers sections as well as panels were organized in which adapting growing inclusive markets in Turkey and recommendations for next steps were discussed.
The poor have a largely untapped potential for consumption, production, innovation, and entrepreneurial activity. But the more business models integrate and include the poor, the more likely companies successfully pursuing revenues will also help in fulfilling the MDGs.
Yet the private sector cannot meet the needs of the poor nor overcome all the obstacles to doing business with the poor alone. The report outlines what businesses, governments, communities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), donors and international organizations can do to ensure the greatest good.
As UNDP Administrator Kemal Derviş writes, “The power of poor people to benefit from market activity lies in their ability to participate in markets and take advantage of market opportunities. Business models that include the poor require broad support and offer gains for all.”
Why are more businesses not engaging in poor markets?
Market conditions surrounding the poor and their markets can make doing business difficult, risky and expensive. In the report five broad constraints are identified: limited market information, ineffective regulatory environments, inadequate physical infrastructure, missing knowledge and skills, and restricted access to financial products and services. The report also identifies five successful strategies to overcome these obstacles and create a successful enterprise. These are:
As the authors note, “There is room for many more inclusive business models. There is room for more inclusive markets. And there is room for much greater value creation. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, ‘the difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems.’”
What does the report offer?
Creating Value for All showcases 50 case studies by researchers in developing and developed countries. These studies demonstrate the successful pursuit of both revenues and social impact by local and international small- and medium-sized companies, as well as multinational corporations.
In China, a company offered affordable computers and training to rural farmers via a low-cost operating system and software that is easier for customers with limited education, thus expanding its market base.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where the banking sector was decimated by years of war, a mobile phone company responded by offering encrypted short message service technology to allow customers to wire money. The company now has two million customers in the DRC.
In Kenya, owner-operators of healthcare micro-franchises have increased their monthly incomes while treating about 400,000 patients in rural areas and urban slums suffering from malaria and other diseases.
In Mexico, a construction company has helped more than 14,000 Mexican migrants in the United States build, buy or improve a house back home in Mexico. From 2002 to 2006, the company generated US $12.2 million from construction material sales, and since late 2005, 200 houses have been sold.
In Morocco, the subsidiary of a European water and waste company has dramatically increased the percentage of people with access to water and electricity in the shanty towns of Casablanca. By hiring and providing technical and management training to community representatives, the company ensured local oversight. Now more than 30,000 new households are connected to Casablanca’s electricity system, and monthly household expenses for energy in this area have dropped from $17 to $6.
In the Russian Federation, a microfinance NGO transformed into a bank to provide access to commercial capital and reach more clients. In 2006, the bank helped create 4,250 direct and 19,950 indirect jobs. In 2007, its loan portfolio was projected to exceed $60 million with net profits on those loans of more than $2 million.
In addition to examples from the 50 case studies, Creating Value for All offers new tools for interested businesses. A strategy matrix helps find potential solutions to common constraints, while another new tool –heat maps – offers a visual overview of the market or services landscape—and a first look at potential new markets. For example, in Guatemala’s western regions the heat map shows that 13 percent of people living on less than $2 per a day have access to credit, but that this figure drops to less than 8 percent in the country’s eastern regions.
Why are non-profit scenarios included in a private sector report?
The not-for profit sector can be an important player in helping establish private enterprises that eventually do operate for profit. This is not a zero-sum game. Non-profits, governments, donors, and private enterprise all have strengths, powers and knowledge that can facilitate sustainable development, wealth and job creation. All actors in society are encouraged to collaborate to ensure the best solution for the greatest number of people.
What role can governments play in operationalizing this report?
Governments are key players in creating value for all. They have the greatest powers to remove constraints in the market environment, by generating regulation that facilitates competitive business, reducing red tape, ensuring a functional and inclusive financial market and providing access to the legal system for the poor. In addition more collaboration with the private sector and upgrades in infrastructure and education, including training and consumer awareness, can remove basic constraints and make these initiatives more successful. On the other hand, needs of the poorest of the poor cannot necessarily be met by the private sector initiatives and these people will need aid and support at every level.
The Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative, led by UNDP, is a platform to facilitate the engagement of all actors for more inclusive business models so that the pursuits of wealth creation and human progress can work to mutual advantage. It gathers relevant information, highlights good examples, develops practical operational strategies and creates space for dialogue. For more information, please click here.
This article was taken from UNDP with some additions and changes.
Fast, sustained growth is not a miracle – it is possible for developing countries, as long as their leaders are committed to achieving it and take advantage of the opportunities provided by the global economy. Developing countries also need to know the levels of incentives and public investments that are needed for private investment to take off in a manner that leads to the long term diversification of the economy and integration into the global economy. These are among the key findings of "The Growth Report: Strategies for Sustained Growth and Inclusive Development” recently prepared and published by the Commission on Growth & Development which consists of 21 distinguished practitioners of government, business and policy making mostly from developing countries of which also includes UNDP Administrator Kemal Derviş.
“At a time when industrialized countries are experiencing a sharp slowdown in growth, many of the world’s poorest countries have found growth to be elusive. It is our belief, however, that sustained, high growth can be explained and repeated,” says Michael Spence, Commission Chair and Nobel Laureate in Economics.
“By bringing together (on the Commission) the economists and the policy makers who have had to make the hard decisions for their economies, the Growth Report provides a decision-making framework for achieving inclusive, high growth.” ‘The Growth Report’ identifies some of the distinctive characteristics of high-growth economies that have been able to grow at more than 7 per cent for periods of more than 25 years since World War II and asks how other developing countries can emulate them.
Spence argues: “The Growth Report also kills off once and for all the misguided notion that you can lift people out of poverty in the absence of growth. Growth can spare people en masse from poverty and drudgery. And with India needing to grow at a fast pace for another 13-15 years to catch up to where China is today, and China having another 600 million people in agriculture yet to move into more productive employment in urban areas, growth will lift many more people out of poverty in the coming decades.”
The Report notes the current threat posed by rising food prices, calling for prompt action to protect poorer people from price increases, and warning that malnutrition and reduced incomes will reduce long-term growth prospects.
Actions recommended by the Report to combat food price rises (once the current emergency situation is dealt with) include an end to export bans; more effective safety nets and redistribution mechanisms to protect people vulnerable from sudden shifts in prices; and a revitalization of infrastructure investment for agriculture. The Report also urges that policies that favor bio fuels over food be reviewed and, if necessary, reversed and that reserves and inventories be accumulated to relieve temporary shortages.
In addition, the Report calls for establishing a mechanism to coordinate the policies of the growing number of influential countries and to safeguard the stability of the global financial system. Given the increasing economic importance of new global players, the document argues for a rebalancing of global responsibilities and representation.
Just as the current credit crunch is affecting advanced economies, the Report also stresses the importance of a strong financial system in developing countries and argues for careful supervision of the banking sector to prevent banks expanding credit too far, and the removal of capital controls only in step with the financial market’s maturity.
Other key conclusions of the Report include:
Finally, the Report says that mid-century environmental mitigation targets are impractical, with 10-15 year time spans more feasible so that the true cost of mitigation can be calculated. The report also recognizes that developed countries are the globe’s largest per capita emitters of carbon, and it rejects calls for emerging economies to shoulder the full cost of mitigation until their per capita incomes approach advanced country levels.
According to Michael Spence: “Growth requires leadership, persistence and engagement with the global economy. It also requires advanced economies to play their part as well – bringing an end to the current focus on energy subsidies and bio fuels and an end to protectionist policies which limit developing world access to the global markets that are so central to growth.”
The Growth Report recognizes that countries are not homogenous and one set of policies will not work everywhere. Nevertheless, it highlights focus areas for four sets of countries: African countries, small states, resource-rich countries, and middle income countries where growth has stalled.
Recommendations include:
The Commission is the result of two years work on the requirements for sustained and inclusive growth in developing countries led by 19 experienced policymakers and two Nobel prize-winning economists. Its work has been supported by the Governments of Australia, Sweden, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the World Bank Group.
This article has mostly been taken from the press release prepared by the Commission on Growth and Development.
The Least Developed Countries 2008 Report states that although the least developed countries (LDCs) have achieved their strongest growth performance in 2005 and 2006 exceeding the 7% target, this growth has failed to translate into poverty reduction efforts and has only slowly improved the well-being of LDCs. The report stresses that this is due to wrong types of growth and development models that only allow limited segments of the population and underlines that LDCs should have greater control and flexibility over how foreign aid they receive is used so that it has the greatest positive impact. The 2008 Least Developed Countries Report titled “Growth, Poverty and the Terms of Development Partnership” prepared by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was launched worlwide on 17 July 2008 as well as in Ankara, Turkey.
The launch of the report in Ankara was attended by various diplomatic missions and the media. During his opening remarks, UN Coordinator and UNDP Turkey Resident Representative Mahmood Ayub said “it’s a tradegy that a lot of promises have been made but very little has been delivered”. Ayub stressed that the report was very comprehensive and timely. Comprehensive in a way that it covers the issues of trade, finance, trends in poverty, progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), impact of global food crisis on LDCs and development partnership and timely due to the approaching meetings in September on the MDG status and the status of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and also due to the rising concern of the impact of rising commodity prices on LDCs.
Following the opening remarks, UNCTAD Economic Affairs Officer Rolf Traeger made a presentation on the content and the results of the report (Please click here to view Trager’s presentation). Traeger reminded that more than a quarter of the UN member countries are LDCs and explained the basic message of the report. Accordingly, there is rapid growth among LDCs but this growth is not sustainable and is not inclusive, there is a need for a different development model and there is weak country ownership that constrains policy making. Traeger stated that there is uneven growth among LDCs and that income per capita grew by less than 1% in one thirds of LDCs and added that this was a very weak performance. Traeger stated that Asian LDCs followed a more benign growth trajectory than African LDC and island LDCs.
Traeger explained the growth factors in LDCs as foreign dynamics rather than domestic growth, increased overseas development assistance, debt relief by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other donors and commodity boom such as exports of petroleum, metals, gold and copper. Traeger stressed that these factors however were not allowing LDCs to have a sustainable growth as it caused high economic vulnerability to external shocks, high dependence on commodities and volatility of commodity prices, high reliance of external savings and an undynamic productive and export structure. Traeger stated that LDCs need a development model that would shift them from commodity-price led to “catch-up” growth.
Commenting on LDCs progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, Traeger stated that although the rate of extreme poverty had decreased since 1994, one thirds of the population of these countries was suffering from extreme poverty while those who live on more than a dollar a day but less than two dollars a day made three fourths – 75% - of the total population. Traeger stressed that poverty was higher in countries depending on oil and mineral exports in particular most African LDCs. Traeger said “the overall message is that most LDCs are off track and won’t be able to meet the MDGs by 2015”. Traeger also shared the report’s evaluation on developing partnerships and the role of aid management as well as the report’s overall recommendations.
During the launch of the report, LDCs Coordinator at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Kenan Tepedelen also delivered a brief speech on Turkey’s role as an emerging donor country not only in the region but increasingly in Africa as well, explained Turkey’s activities in supporting LDCs and provided recommendations for the international community. Tepedelen provided facts and figures on Turkey’s assistance and stated that Turkey had provided 600 million dollars official development assistance to LDCs in 2005 while it provided 750 million dollars in 2006. Tepedelen said “improving relations and cooperation with LDCs is an important element of Turkish foreign policy” and provided a brief history of the Turkish International Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) which is Turkey’s major channel for international development assistance.
Today forty-nine countries are currenly designated by the United Nations as “least developed countries” and include various countries from Africa (33), Asia (10), Pacific (5) and the Caribbean (1). A country is designated a “least developed country” based on its gross national income, Human Assets Index that consists of indicators on nutrition, health, school enrolment and literacy and Economic Vulnerability Index which includes indicators on natural disasters, trade shocks and economic smallness etc.