Issue: 23
This year’s theme was “People Living in Poverty as Agents of Change” and marked the twentieth anniversary of the first rally against extreme poverty. The “Stand Up and Speak Out” campaign was also integrated to the commemoration day celebrations as millions of people around the world physically and intentionally stood up against poverty, inequality and in support of the Millennium Development Goals.
Last year 23.5 million people in 110 countries had stood up breaking a World Guinness Record as “the largest number of people to stand up against poverty in 24 hours”. This year however this record has been broken once again with over 38 million people standing up. Regarding this worldwide campaign, Chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty Kumi Naidoo said “it has been very humbling to see what ‘Stand Up and Speak Out against Poverty’ has done and to see such leadership and energy. We hope that soon it will not be possible that governments ignore these demands of people”.
For 24 hours people around the world from all walks of life came together in schools, streets, market places, in front of government buildings, in workplaces and houses of worship and at sports and culture centres to demonstrate their will to combat poverty and to protest the fact that we still live in a world where 50 thousand people die daily from preventable causes. The mass mobilization provided a platform for global civil society to seek more active involvement.
In Turkey for example, UN Turkey staff came together to mark the day by standing up. Moreover, more than 500 students from various private schools and universities in Ankara participated in the campaign. In India, people of all ages all over the country and more than 535 thousand students stood up. Bangladesh participated the campaign with almost 850 thousand people standing up. Over 7 million people and over 3.5 million people were mobilized in the Philippines and Pakistan respectively. As a part of the events to voice their determination to combat poverty, candles and bonfires were lit, giant banners were used, choirs were performed and human chains were formed. It is a hope-increasing sign that most of these events took place in developing countries.
As a part of his Poverty Day message UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon stated that combatting poverty requires a true partnership for development and said, “Today, the world must refocus its attention, and its resources, on the places and people that are feeling left behind. As we do, we must bear in mind that none are more committed to ending poverty than the poor themselves. Often, all they lack is the guidance, the tools, and the opportunities to win this fight”. (To read Ban-Ki Moon’s full message please click here )
According to the United Nations, some 980 million people still live in extreme poverty, or on less than $1 a day. In this context the International Day to Eradicate Poverty is “one day each year when the poor’s voices can be heard and they are given the opportunity to speak for themselves or on behalf of their communities about the adversities, obstacles and hardships they face every single day and the courage it takes to deal with their extreme poverty”.
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty was declared by the General Assembly in 1992 in order to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries, particularly in developing countries.
The “Stand Up and Speak Out Against Poverty” campaign is a drive organized by the Millennium Campaign that is an inter-agency initiative of the United Nations in collaboration with a range of non-governmental organizations, faith-based groups and social movements including the Global Call to Action against Poverty and Guinness World Records.
Here is how Derviş interpreted his feelings regarding the day.
Seven years ago the world came together and committed to tackle poverty in all its forms and work to build a better world for everyone. This vision was encapsulated in the Millennium Declaration and the eight Millennium Development Goals that emerged from it, which include halving the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2015; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment; reducing child and maternal mortality; combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases and ensuring environmental sustainability.
These Goals are underpinned by a commitment to build a global partnership for development, a compact between poor countries that commit to focus on reducing poverty, and the richer world that commits to be an active partner in supporting developing country efforts. The MDGs represent an internationally agreed set of goals that can be achieved if all actors work together and do their part.
Now, at the midpoint towards the 2015 target, it is clear that significant progress has been made in many areas. The number of people living on less than one dollar a day has fallen by roughly 250 million people and so, at the global level at least, it looks like we will meet the goal to halve extreme poverty and hunger. In some regions more children are in school – both girls and boys – and people can expect to live longer and more productive lives.
However this is not happening in all parts of the world. As I saw in my visit to Mozambique, Tanzania and Rwanda last week, while many African countries are making real progress in the fight against poverty, the challenge of achieving the MDGs and other development objectives in sub-Saharan Africa is particularly acute, where only some countries are progressing sufficiently to achieve some of the Goals.
Today, worldwide, more than one billion people still lack access to safe drinking water; 6,000 people die of HIV and AIDS each day; and more than 750 million adults cannot read - half a billion of them women. The impact of climate change also poses a particularly daunting challenge to many developing countries, especially the poorest. But this picture does not have to remain the same. Many of the Goals remain eminently achievable in the vast majority of countries. For this to happen, though, two crucial aspects of the partnership for development must be respected.
The first relates to the theme of this year’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty: ‘people living in poverty as agents of change’, where it is clear that developing countries themselves should own their development process and that UNDP’s role is to help build the capacity to empower them to take charge of their own development. It also means that the support we provide will be more effective as it will be given in support of the priorities of poor people, and on their own terms.
The idea that people living in poverty are agents of their own change can be applied at the local level, but also extends through the national level where people can get involved in monitoring policies and reviewing budgets, as well as at the international level where poorer countries must be able to contribute fully to the global institutions and processes that can shape progress in their country.
The second component of the partnership is that while poor people must be in the driving seat of their development, we have also committed to provide them with the necessary support. Implementing the commitments that the international community has already made – on increasing and improving aid, dealing comprehensively with the debt problems facing developing countries, and delivering a trading system that puts the needs of poor countries at its heart - would go a very long way in ensuring that the MDGs can be met. The policies and actions of all countries on issues such as the environment and migration must also be made as supportive as possible of development, lest we give with one hand and take away with the other.
On this International Day for the Eradication of Poverty we should recommit to achieving the MDGs as a whole, and to these two components in particular in the fight against poverty, so that the world can come as close as possible to achieving the ambitious Goals we all set for 2015.
In the context of the competition, over 12 thousand children from 124 countries designed United Nations stamps that illustrated many faces of poverty, concerns for the poor as well as children’s good wishes. The creative artwork of children depicted the existence of inequality and divisions of the world and emphasis was given to concepts of love and compassion. As a means to eradicate poverty, in their artwork, children suggested education, employment, peace and security. 15 year-old Sonja Mohr from Namibia said “Nobody should be imprisoned by poverty and violence. Education and reaching out to each other is the ladder to step out of poverty and into peace on a bright future”.
Following the decisions, 6 of the winning designs will be issued as United Nations stamps in 2008 while 20 designs were awarded Merit Certificates and another 24 designs received Certificates of Recognition. The 50 best designs on the other hand were displayed at the United Nations Headquarters in New York at a special exhibition on 17 October 2007.
The TV spot stars famous football stars and UNDP Good Will Ambassadors Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane. In the film, shot in Paris on 23 April 2007 by Young&Rubicam advertising agency and produced by LDM Productions, Ronaldo and Zidane simply approach anonymous people in streets of various cities and thank them for their efforts to reduce poverty. The aim is to encourage people and institutions to take initiatives and cooperate at all levels to succeed in halving poverty everywhere by 2015.
Regarding the short film director Wim Wenders says: “Being a football fan, I was thrilled to film Ronaldo and Zidane. But I was even happier to do it for promoting one of the Millennium Development Goals. I believe that every one of these goals must be constantly reminded in order to succeed in building a true partnership to achieve them.”
The TV spot is the third one in which Ronaldo and Zidane appear to promote the MDGs in their capacity as UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors for the fight against poverty. “We are half way to the 2015 deadline set by governments for halving poverty,” said Ronaldo and Zidane. This is why, with UNDP and other UN partners we are eager to appeal for intensifying efforts so as to speed-up results.”
“It was a wonderful experience to be directed by Wim Wenders,” say the two soccer stars. “We felt most appropriate to thank people. When it comes to poverty, all actions make a difference. Ultimately, acting on that front is about generosity - that of millions of individuals, but also institutions and governments. We trust the call will be relayed and heard.”
The TV spot has been distributed worldwide for its broadcast.
In the context of the conference the principles of the UN Global Compact were evaluated, the gains that will be received by applying the principles were assessed and the social responsibility concept that has diversified in the modern era’s production, marketing and consumption culture was taken up with its new dimensions.
The opening speech of the conference - of which the participants were important guests such as UN Global Compact Director Georg Kell, UNDP Resident Representative Mahmood Ayub, Corporate Social Responsibility Association Chairman Serdar Dinler and UNIDO Private Sector Development Expert Manuela Boesenhafer - was made by Koç Holding President of Corporate Communication and Information Technology Group Ali Y. Koç. Koç stated that social responsibility of the business world and the private sector is gradually increasing, that these global principles are not just made up of preventing child labour and protecting the environment but that it envisages companies to become more responsible corporate citizens as well. Koç stressed that for this to happen, all companies, starting from theirselves should enforce the adoption of these principles.
Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme Turkey Mahmood Ayub on the other hand stated that it was of critical importance to cooperate with the private sector in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and added that global goals such as reducing extreme poverty, primary education for all, reducing environmental risks and ensuring gender equality could not be realized without the contribution of the private sector.
United Nations Global Compact Director George Kell expressed his gratitude from the leadership that Koç Holding provides in expanding the Global Compact and drew attention to the fact that companies that join the Global Compact also grow in the business world.
At the conference Claude Fussler also made a presentation on his book “Raising the Bar”... While the book translated into Turkish in cooperation with Koç Holding and UNDP was being distributed at the conference, Fussler drew attention to the different applications of corporate social responsibility in various countries.
Koç Holding A.Ş had signed the UN Global Combact that was established to achieve the development goals in the fields of environment, labour rights, combatting corruption and human rights and to realize them in the private sector on 30 March 2006.
The Global Compact that was officially launched in 2000 is a voluntary international corporate citizenship network that brings together the private and the public business sectors as well as various UN agencies and the civil society to meet the challenges of globalization. The Global Compact operates around ten principles in the fields of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption in order to put an end to discrimination of work force and to increase environmental sustainability. The signatories of the Global Compact integrate these ten principles into their business strategies for transparency and sustainable development and prepare regular reports on their stance. Today Global Compact has over 4 thousand participants in 100 countries.
The Global Compact asks companies to embrace, support and enact, within their sphere of influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, labour standards, the environment and anti-corruption.
10 PRINCIPLES OF THE GLOBAL COMPACT
Human Rights
Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights; and
Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses
Labour Standards
Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation
Environment
Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies
Anti-Corruption
Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.
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Among the issues that were taken up at the conference were the impacts of clusters on economic growth and competition, clustering policies, strategies and implementation examples that are being applied in other countries, contribution of clusters to regional and national development policies and development and encouragement of clusters.
The conference was attended by State Minister Kürşad Tüzmen, as well as Holger Schroeder, Counselor at Delegation of European Commission to Turkey, Ulrika Richardson-Golinski, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Muammer Yaşar Özgül, President of the South Eastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Regional Development Administration, Muhsin Altun, Head of Central Finance and Contracts Unit and Süleyman Orakçıoğlu, Chairman of İstanbul Readymade Garment Exporters’ Association.
During the two-day conference, sessions were conducted on creative business environments, cluster governance, national and regional approaches and fashion networks as well as sector-specific sessions on tourism, automotive, agriculture and nutrition and logistics. In this context, experiences, practices, results and best examples were shared with participants.
The II. International Clustering Conference themed “Clusters 2007” is being financed by the European Union. Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade South Eastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Regional Development Administration, General Secretariat of İstanbul Textile and Clothing Exporters’ Associations and Central Finance and Tender Unit are the supporting institutions of the conference that is hosted by Entrepreneur Support Centres (GAP-GİDEM) Project, Fashion and Textile Cluster Project and Development of National Clustering Policy Project.
The clustering approach that was identified as an innovative and successful method to increase economic competition has become widespread especially in the last decade. During this period, several local and regional initiatives that take the clustering approach as a base have been realized and similar initiatives are expected to be realized in the coming years. In this context, national and international clustering maps are being prepared in order to develop recommendations at the political level and central and local administration units are establishing clustering policies to increase the competition of their regions.
The “Conference on Local Administration Reform in Turkey”, organized in the context of the Local Administration Reform Programme funded by the European Union and implemented by the Ministry of Interior with the technical support of UNDP Turkey was held on 30-31 October 2007. Among the issues that were taken up at the conference were the local administration system in Turkey, European principles and standards, accountability and participation in the management of local public services, promotion of civil society dialogue between local authorities in Europe and Turkey and the responsibilities and contribution of local authorities to balanced and sustainable socio-economic development.
The conference was attended by senior officials from both the central and the local administration in Turkey, representatives of international organizations, civil society institutions and academics.
During the conference, an evaluation on Turkey’s strategy regarding the local administration reform was made, the opportunities and threats during the reform process as well as financial and technical support to facilitate the reform process were discussed thus exchanging information and establishing a network between the key actors of public administration.
The Local Administration Reform Programme aims to support the Local Administration Reforms of the Turkish Government by increasing the capacities of key stakeholders (Ministry of Interior including Governorships, Local Authorities and their Unions at regional and national level) through policy dialogue, training, municipal partnerships and networking thus facilitating the implementation of reforms introduced by new legislations. The programme increases knowledge and understanding of EU local administration system and the modern management of local public services. With the programme, the Ministry of Interior will be able to develop instruments that will improve budgetary procedures, financial management and service management through pilot projects in selected local administrations and improve effectiveness of human resources in local administrations through courses for municipal staff.
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The advance seminar titled “The Gender Issue Within the Scope of the Competence, Duty and Responsibility of the Senior Inspectors of the Ministry of Interior” was organised by UNDP and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
During the seminar organised in the context of the “Support to Human Rights Education of Senior Inspectors of the Minstry of Interior” Project executed by the Ministry of Interior and UNDP, issues such as required measures for the prevention of violations against women, women’s rights and activities achieved in the light of the latest amendments in the legislation regarding honour and custom killings were taken up.
The seminar was attended by experts of their fields such as Prof. Dr. Yakın Ertürk, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women; Esengül Civelek, General Director of the General Directorate on the Status of Women; Fatma Karakoç, Head of Department in the General Directorate on the Status of Women; Erdal Vural, representative of the Turkish General Directorate for Security; Greg Mullan, a senior expert of the Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland as well as representatives of civil society organizations and international organizations.
During the two-day seminar, insights on women’s rights within the scope of the Human Rights Law and Turkey’s adaptation to the UN and the European systems were provided, Turkey’s system was compared with international laws on human rights and experiences from different countries were presented. During the seminar Prof. Dr. Yakın Ertürk communicated the responsibilities of the State as regards to the “prevention, protection, punishment and compensation” duties of senior inspectors and civil administrators.
Senior expert of the Police Ombudsman in Northern Ireland (PONI) Greg Mullan provided information on the need for the establishment of PONI, its expected benefits, functions and procedures related to the handling system of complaints. Mullan also talked about the follow-up mechanism of whether penalties for punished officers are being executed.
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In order to increase public awareness on the protection of dolphins, the year 2007 was announced as the Dolphin Year. In the context of the dolphin themed activities, 6 activists from Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and the Ukraine were given “Black Sea Medals” for their work and services in the protection of the Black Sea. In the context of this year’s celebrations folkdances, concerts and special performances were organized.
The International Black Sea Action Day was realized in partnership with the Commission on Protecting Black Sea against Pollution Resident Secretariat and the GEF/UNDP “The Black Sea Ecosystems Recovery” Project (click here to obtain detailed information on the project) and with the support of the Union of Black Sea Region NGOs (KASTOB) in order to draw the public’s attention to the importance of regional cooperation for the protection of the Black Sea. All regional institutions, NGOs, governments and municipalities working in this area participated in the regional activity that is being celebrated simultaneously by the countries that have coasts to the Black Sea.
With the “Black Sea Medal” that is being awarded for the second time this year, supporting works that improve the Black Sea’s ecosystem and works to convert it back to its previous situation is aimed. The medal encourages those who have pulled the weight and also stresses the importance of individual efforts as well.
With the signing of the Protecting Black Sea against Pollution Agreement (Bucharest Agreement) in 21 April 1992 and the Black Sea Strategic Action Plan on 31 October 2007 by Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and the Ukraine that surround the Black Sea, the International Black Sea Action Day is celebrated every year on 31 October by the Black Sea countries. This year, regional activities were sponsored by the “Every Drop Matters” projects that is a joint water initiative of UNDP and Coca-Cola Turkey.
The biological diversity of the Black Sea has declined dramatically in the past 40 years. Reduced levels of oxygen of the water due to algae produced in polluted waters by untreated wastes, overfishing, industrial wastes, a recent invasion of alien jellyfish carried by commercial ships and other pollutants brought by the Danube, Dnieper and Don rivers to the Black Sea have resulted in dangerously reduced numbers of sturgeon, salmon, grey mullet, sprats, horse mackerel and goby. Mackerel and swordfish on the other hand have already become extinct. Dolphins who are seen by fishermen as the cause of reduced numbers of fish and whose hunting ban they are lobbying to lift are in grave danger as well. Apart from the pollutants, tens of dolphins suffocate as a result of getting stuck in the nets thrown by fishermen. But it is a known fact that dolphins are a symbol of a healthy sea and that where there are dolphins, there are fish!
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