Who We Are

UNDP Turkey aims to find practical solutions to Turkey's development challenges together with the Turkish Government and other partners. The agency supports Turkey’s national development priorities, social and economic reforms, and efforts towards the achievement of the MDGs. The head office of the agency in Turkey is in Ankara and it has project offices in different provinces.

What we do in Turkey

UNDP supports the implementation of Turkey's development agenda through policy advice, project implementation, advocacy and knowledge management in three core areas:

• Democratic Governance Portfolio

With the EU accession process of Turkey, the momentum of administrative, judicial and institutional reforms has increased. Turkish government declared its commitment to the reform process of the country that aims democratization, strengthening of rule of law, more transparent and accountable public system and fostering human rights in the country. In conformity with its National Plan for the Adoption of the Acquis (NPAA), Turkey has committed itself to legal and institutional changes that will contribute to its adjustment to the EU. Important steps have taken in the form of legislative amendments, yet implementation and required restructuring of many of the institutions remain an important challenge for the country.

In its intervention responses to the evolving needs of the country in the field of democratic governance, UNDP Turkey has achieved a strategic positioning in some areas including the security sector governance, judicial reform and access to justice, community participation and empowerment of the disadvantaged groups, promotion and protection of human rights in the country and anti-corruption. In all these, human rights based approach with its emphasize on accessibility, transparency, accountability, responsiveness and representativeness for all is sought.


• Poverty Reduction and Regional/Rural Development Programme

Turkey is a middle income country and it does not have significant poverty related challenges particularly on food poverty and reducing non-food poverty. However, the existing regional, gender and other disparities show that there is still some room for development work, towards a more equitable income distribution, social inclusion and policy implementation. Local economic development, through increased competitive strength is a priority of the government agenda.

Contributions of UNDP Turkey on this area is geographically dispersed across the country and include partnerships with various institutions such as the Southeast Anatolia Project Regional Development Administration (GAP RDA), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of Industry and Trade and Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency, TIKA. UNDP Turkey provides support on policy development and implementation on income generation and employment for all, based on the experience on competitiveness and local economic development.

• Environment and Sustainable Development Programme

Turkey's vulnerable ecosystem has been placed under increasing stress by high population growth, rising income level and energy consumption. In Turkey, as elsewhere in the world, environmental problems such as water shortages, land degradation, lack of clean and affordable energy resources severely hinder efforts to achieve sustainable development. In addition to these problems climate change poses a threat to the achievement of the MDGs and related national poverty eradication and sustainable development objectives. To help Turkey find solutions, UNDP works closely with a number of government agencies, municipalities, private sector partners and NGOs, to integrate environmental and sustainable development principles into national and regional development policies and plans.

UNDP helps to combat environmental degradation by promoting projects that address climate change adaptation and mitigation, renewable energy, energy efficiency, land degradation, water management, sustainable development, biodiversity and protected areas and chemicals. UNDP also facilitates market transformation through clean technologies and creation of green jobs, strengthening economic competitiveness with a territorial approach and improving capacities for disaster preparedness and early warning.

For more information, please visit: www.undp.org.tr

Special Thanks to: Sarah Poole and Pembe Mentesh with the UNDP/NY.