Issue: 22 October 2007 Best practice examples announced Millennium Development Goals introduced New 'Life +' projects New report on CSR in Turkey ICT works intensify
Best practice examples announced In the context of the 2007 National Human Development Report that is being written on Youth in Turkey, UNDP for the first time has selected and awarded best youth projects that have contributed to the enhancement of capabilities of youth. Ankara, October 2007 Best practices were selected from approximately 40 entries by a panel of youth and development experts and representatives from UNDP and the European Union Information Centre on the basis of the projects innovative approach, sustainability, level of partnership, efficiency and impact. While the awarded projects mainly focus on disadvantaged youth groups to improve their access to services, some support youth in solving serious social, economic and environmental problems at the local level; and others focus on increasing respect for differences in the society through cultural and sport activities. But as a whole all projects represent possible solutions that would lead to equitable and socially inclusive paths to development. Regarding the youth projects that are being implemented all across Turkey, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Mahmood Ayub said: I really want to commend the people involved in conducting these youth projects. They increase the capabilities of the youth and provide inspiration urgently needed in our efforts to help youth realize their potential. In order to recognize and award best youth projects, an award ceremony was held on 4 October 2007 in Ankara with the participation of UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative Mahmood Ayub and Lord (Neil) Kinnock, Chair of the British Council and European Commission Former Vice President as well as senior officials of diplomacy, academics, NGOs, representatives of public institutions and the media. The event will be hosted by the British Council in its role as one of the supporters of the national youth report. The stories of the best practice youth projects that have contributed to the change and development of youth will be published in a brochure to be distributed along with the National Human Development Report. The 20 awarded projects owners and their projects are as follows: 1) Youth for Habitat / Youth Assemblies Project: aims to establish Youth Assemblies that aim to build youth s capacities and ensure their participation into decision-taking mechanisms, works to bring together youth NGOs across Turkey, high school and university student bodies and representatives of the youth branches of chambers and unions under one roof. 2) Arı Movement / Youth Net Project: aims to eliminate youth s lack of self-confidence and to encourage them
to take initiatives in issues related to them and their dwellings. The project also aims to improve youth s leadership skills and to create an awareness for their participation. 3) Nature Association / Nature School: aims to train youth who consider taking active roles in Turkey s nature preservation works on nature preservation techniques thus establishing a human resource specialized in this field. 4) Beyaz Nokta Development Foundation / Learning Houses: aims to develop youth s learning skills thus encouraging youth to stand on his/her own feet and to teach them to develop solidarity in achieving their personal goals. 5) Youth Sports Foundation / Youth Social Development Project: aims to improve youth s social capacity, self-confidence and their skills regarding employment issues. 6) Alternative Life Association / Alternative Camp: aims to create conscious for volunteerism, eliminate social exclusion and racism, to ensure self-confidence via sports activities and to provide an alternative vacation model for different disabled groups. 7) Community Volunteers Foundation / ATAK Project: aims to encourage motivation among young volunteers, bring together youth from different cultures thus ensuring societal peace, raise youth s awareness towards society s problems and to encourage youth to take initiative in solving problems. 8) Youth Services Centre / Youth NGOs and Public Coordination Project: aims to improve communication and partnership between youth NGOs and public institutions and among other NGOs and to establish permanent and sustainable youth policies. 9) European Student Forum (AEGEE) / Turkish-Greek Civil Dialogue: aims to establish dialogue and a network between youth initiatives and organizations in Turkey and Greece and to encourage the development of joint projects between Turkey and Greece. 10) Social Responsibility Association / Street League: aims to contribute to youth s personal development who have limited access to sports facilities or who are at a disadvantaged state via football. In this context trainings are given on team work, social unity, positive thinking and self-confidence. 11) Private Sanko Schools / Rumkale, No Longer Alone: aims to raise awareness on history and to encourage students to examine the history, architecture, artistic value, social, physical and religious structure of Rumkale. 12) International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation / Sexual and Reproductive Health Project for Young People at High School Age in Ardahan: aims to improve the sexual and reproductive health status of the young population living in Ardahan. 13) Hand in Hand for Youth / Hand in Hand Towards Love: aims to socially and culturally integrate youth living with their families and youth living in orphanages and to eliminate the feeling of exclusion among orphans by building friendships. 14) Menemen Anatolian Vocational High-School / Walking on Moon: aims to build conscience on art and culture among students and to realize inter-cultural learning. 15) Association for Solidarity for Youth Deprived of Freedom / Child, Adolescent Solidarity Centre: aims to ensure the active participation of children who have a tendency for crime. 16) Access Association / 5th Sense Art Project: aims to increase the participation of people belonging to different disabled groups into art, dance and music. 17) Kemaliye Culture and Development Foundation / Kemaliye International Nature Related Sports Festival: aims to direct youth to have a healthy body and a positive thinking structure while realizing nature related sports, encourage youth to respect the environment and to ensure the exchange of different cultures via international camps and activities. 18) Boğaziçi Univeristy Social Services Club / ÖSS Training Projects: aims to find solutions to the inequality of opportunities in education.
19) Turkey Environment Protection and Greening Institution / Akasya National Youth Environment Summits: aims to bring together NGOs, university clubs or personal initiatives who wish to work in the field of environment and to ensure young environmentalists to have a say in environmental policies. 20) Turkey Re-Autonomy Foundation of Turkey / Educational, Social, Artistic and Sportive Activities Project: targets imprisoned youth aged 12-18 and works so that their imprisonment does not have a negative impact on their development. In the context of the project, educational, social, artistic and sports activities are organized to develop imprisoned youth. Please click here to read the Speech of Mahmood Ayub, Resident Coordinator in Turkey
Millennium Development Goals introduced The introductory meeting of the Localizing the UN Millennium Development Goals in Turkey through the Local Agenda 21 Governance Network Project implemented by TOBB and UNDP was held on 10 September 2007 in Ankara. Ankara, October 2007 In order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, governments, development partners, civil society and the private sector must work together in coherence These words were echoed by Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu, Chairman of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) at the introductory meeting of the Localizing the UN Millennium Development Goals in Turkey through the Local Agenda 21 Governance Network Project implemented by TOBB and UNDP. Among the participants of the meeting that was held on 10 September 2007 in Ankara were mayors, representatives of city councils and representatives of women and youth branches. The overall aim of the one-day seminar was to highlight the importance of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) and achieving them through partnerships with governments, NGOs and especially the private sector, the funding of the project, the project cycle and best practices application principles. In his opening speech, TOBB Chairman Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized the importance of the contribution of the Turkish private sector in sustainable development and stated that the private sector had to play a very important role in transforming development from the local platform to the national and international arena. Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that the private sector should always play an active role in trade and economic development by taking initiatives and should be an element identifying economic policies not adapting to them and said: I believe that this project will shed a light on other projects and partnerships that will be implemented by UNDP. Following Hisarcıklıoğlu s speech, UNDP Resident Representative Mahmood Ayub said: we hope especially to demonstrate the partnerships between local authorities, businesses and civil society can and will result in sustainable development gains for citizens... (Please clickhere to access UNDP Resident Representative Mahmood Ayub s full speech.) The special guest of the event was Professor Dennis Driscoll from the National University of Ireland. Driscoll made a presentation titled: Understanding the Millennium Development Goals, and why the Goals are important for Business. Driscoll explained that the goals are important for businesses for three reasons: a good business environment in which businesses benefit from stable and prosperous societies; managing costs and risks in circumstances where poverty, diseases and environmental degradation all add to the costs and risks of doing business; and taking advantage of new business opportunities. Driscoll also highlighted the importance of corporate
social responsibility (CSR) for businesses and stated that companies should also have CSR not just governments, stakeholders, investors, consumers, NGOs and the media. Driscoll stated that CSR involves labor rights, human rights, environmental concerns, charitable giving, corporate governance and ethical business practices. Technical information on the project such as application rules, duration, funds and best pratices were also taken up at the seminar. TOBB will be establishing a fund titled Best Practices for Localizing the Millennium Development Goals that will be managed by UNDP. The fund aims to support small-scale projects that address specific MDGs at the local level thus having a trigger effect for strengthening partnerships at the local level. Please click here to read the Application Guidelines (Turkish) for the Best Practices for Localizing the Millennium Development Goals.
New 'Life +' projects The third phase of the Life + Youth Programme established by Coca-Cola Turkey and supported by UNDP has commenced as of September 2007. Ankara, October 2007 In the context of the programme 9 new projects that will add a plus to life have been selected. The successful projects focus on education, environment, culture, art and sports and will be implemented in the 2007-2008 term with each project engaging local people of the regions they are implemented in thus building capacity and creating new job opportunities. The projects will be implemented by UNDP and various associations and universities that are the owners of the successful projects and each project will have a maximum of 10 months implementation time frame. Projects that will be implemented in Antalya, Balıkesir, Amasya, Erzurum, İstanbul, İzmir, Manisa and the Nomad villages are in the fields of integrating disabled people into society, agriculture by drip irrigation, reducing pollution, organic strawberry farming, use of puppetry as drama courses in schools, spreading forgotten cultures, introducing new regions for winter sports, tolerating differences and purification of natural water resources. The project applications were evaluated according to technical criteria and representatives whose projects were found successful were invited to a Life + meeting where they attended workshops and received trainings. The applicants were then asked to submit their final applications to the Elective Committee who then identified the successful projects. The selected projects, their owners and the cities they will be implemented in are as follows: 1) The Reality of a Dream by Alternative Life Association / Antalya 2) One Drop Thousand Yields... by Balıkesir University / Balıkesir 3) Bicycle Friendly Amasya by Association of Support for NGOs in Amasya / Amasya 4) Strawberry Flavoured Days by Erzurum Women Entrepreneurship Association / Erzurum 5) Trainer Candidates Are Learning Puppetry by Puppet and Mask Researches Association / İstanbul 6) Lost Tales by Wheat Association / Nomad Villages 7) Olympics Erzurum by Erzurum Youth Association / Erzurum 8) Tsunami: Art Starts to Change the Barriers by Access Association (EDER) / İzmir 9) Youth Initiation for a Clean Gediz by Culture Peace and Environment Association / Manisa The Life + Youth Programme supports innovative, creative, participatory and sustainable projects developed by youth aged 16-26 and encourages youth to design projects that will find solutions to environmental and societal problems. 22 projects have been realized since the establishment of the programme in 2005. The Life + Youth Programme gives 3 thousand
to 30 thousand dollars for each project.
New report on CSR in Turkey A new report on Turkey s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices will be launched on 23 October 2007 in Ankara. Ankara, October 2007 The report on Accelerating CSR Practices in the New EU Member States and Candidate Countries as a Vehicle for Harmonization, Competitiveness and Social Cohesion in the EU provides a comprehensive analysis on the CSR practices in Turkey and aims to advance the implementation of CSR in Turkey. In this context a desktop research recently took place on the CSR activities in Turkey and included the perspectives of the private sector and NGOs etc. In the light of this research and the interviews conducted with companies and stakeholder groups, the National Team of Turkey has concluded the following key findings regarding the situation of CSR in Turkey: There is confusion over the definition of Corporate Social Responsibility in the business sector and this confusion reflects itself on the practices of CSR. Private/individual leadership is a strong driving factor of CSR issues in Turkey. Stakeholder engagement is restricted with partnerships or joint projects with NGOs. Multinational companies positively affect the CSR practices in Turkey. CSR in Turkey is supported by external drivers such as international organizations and NGOs. Local initiatives such as NGOs and customers, are needed to be developed and encouraged to create pressure on companies. Corporate Governance Codes announced by Capital Markets Board created a certain level of awareness and understanding for reporting of stakeholder policies and hence implementation of CSR. However, there is still need for further development. As the reporting process is underdeveloped, assurance systems are far from being complete and functioning. Therefore, tools of implementation are a key need for Turkish businesses. Finally, the CSR is widely known as a business case and considered especially on the basis of marketing and reputation. This analysis highlights the potentials of CSR as a tool which could benefit the private sector besides creating the opportunity for sustainable development. By underlining the importance of CSR in the attainment of sustainable development in Turkey, this analysis could be used as a guide on CSR by several different actors ranging from private sector to government says UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Turkey Mahmood Ayub. It not only comprises a picture
of CSR within the international standards but also deeply explains what CSR is about and what it is not. Information on the factors and conditions affecting the CSR practices in Turkey and recommended future activities to shape the approach to CSR in the country could also be found in this publication. The study was carried out under the regional CSR project Accelerating CSR Practices in the New EU Member States and Candidate Countries as a Vehicle for Harmonization, Competitiveness and Social Cohesion in the EU funded by the European Commission and UNDP. In this context a regional study report titled Baseline Study on CSR Practices in the New EU Member States and Candidate Countries has already been published by UNDP that represents an essential stepping stone in the promotion of CSR in new EU Member States and candidate countries and provides a map of relevant CSR actors and initiatives, assesses their level of engagement and dialogue with companies, evaluates the level of implementation of CSR practices among companies as Regional Director for the Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS Kori Udovicki says. It flags up particularly good practices and outlines the areas where efforts of all actors is still needed. Taking into account the need for contribution from the private sector for the achievement of Millennium Development Goals by 2015, making the business world incorporate CSR into their strategies has become extremely significant for UNDP in the global context. Accordingly, UNDP Turkey has been acting as the leading agency in promoting CSR in Turkey through the United Nations Global Compact initiative since 2002. In Turkey, UNDP over the last two years has embarked to work with private businesses to help Turkey achieve its development goals, specifically through Corporate Social Responsibility promotion. CSR network is developed with the aim of facilitating the implementation of CSR principles and to establish ties with other networks in Europe in order to exchange innovative practices and lessons learned. Many companies, particularly large sized Turkish businesses and the subsidiaries of multinational companies run their CSR projects by allocating approximately 2.5% of their revenues for the social projects and initiatives.
ICT works intensify No English version available. Kuzey Amerika daki ve Avrupa daki hemen hemen bütün Türkiye temsilcilikleri, artık konsolosluk işlemlerini sanal ortamda yapıyor. Ankara, October 2007 Fotoğraf: Tuğçe Togay UNDP ve Türkiye Dışişleri Bakanlığı ortaklığında 1 milyon 200 bin dolarlık bir bütçeyle Mayıs 2006 da başlatılan Dışişleri Bakanlığı nın Hizmet Sunumunda Etkinlik Artışı için E-Konsolosluk Modülünün Yaygınlaştırılması Projesi nin kapsamında UNDP, Dışişleri Bakanlığı na yurtdışındaki ofisleri arasında iletişimi güçlendirmesi için destek veriyor. Gelişmiş ve gelişmekte olan ülkeler arasında azalan dijital aralık devlet hizmetlerinin daha verimli, üretken, kolay gözlenir ve daha az zaman alması için sanal platforma taşınmaları gereğine yol açmıştır. Bu kapsamda projenin genel amacı Dışişleri Bakanlığı nın yurtdışında yaşayan Türk vatandaşlarının kullanımı için internet bazlı elektronik bir yönetişim modülü geliştirmek yoluyla Bilgi ve İletişim Teknolojileri (BİT) altyapısını ve sunulan hizmeti güçlendirmektir. Bu bağlamda UNDP nin sunduğu arttırılmış teknik kapasiteyle e-konsolosluk ofisi için gerekli olan mekanizma hayata geçirildi. Bu kapsamda UNDP mali destek sağlıyor ve UNDP BİT uzmanları Dışişleri Bakanlığı ve onun yurtdışındaki misyonlarındaki bilgisayar terminallerine bilgisayar donanımı ve yazılımı kurmakla ve sistemin kullanımıyla ilgili eğitim vermekle sorumlular. Şu ana kadar modül Kuzey Amerika daki Türkiye Büyükelçiliği ne ve tüm konsolosluklara ve Avrupa daki büyükelçilik ve konsoloslukların %90 ına kuruldu. Sistem ayrıca Suudi Arabistan (Riyad, Cidde), Suriye, Tokyo ve Pekin e de kuruldu. Proje Aralık 2009 yılına kadar sürecek ve bu zamana kadar modülün Balkanlar ve Asya daki tüm Türkiye Büyükelçilikleri ne kurulması bekleniyor. Bu modül sayesinde, yurttaşlar birçok konsolosluk hizmeti için çevrimiçi başvurabilir, gerekli belge ve formları isteyebilir, ödemelerini internet üzerinden yapabilir ve en önemlisi başvuru süreçlerini kolayca takip edebilirler. Modül kapsamında geliştirilen bir altprogram ise yurttaşlara pasaportlarını yenileme tarihlerini hatırlatma gibi rutin duyurular yapıyor. Program aynı zamanda yurtdışında yaşayan vatandaşlar hakkındaki istatistiki bilgilerin toplanmasını da kolaylaştırıyor. Proje kapsamında açılan web sitesi Türk Dernekleri hakkında bilgi sunuyor, günlük haberleri veriyor ve Türk gazetelerini içeriyor. Geliştirilmiş E- Konsolosluk Portalı tüm dünyada kurulduğu zaman, Türkiye deki elektronik kamu sektörünün kullanımı artacağı için iyi yönetişim için bir model oluşturacak. E-Konsolosluk çalışmaları dış verimliliği arttırmayı amaçlıyor, ancak iç verimliliği arttırmayı hedefleyen bir başka önemli proje ise Haziran 2001 yılında başlatılan BelgeArşiv uygulamasıydı. Bu sistem Türkiye deki Dışişleri Bakanlığı ofislerinde belgeleri sanal bir sistemde hazırlamak, onaylamak, kaydetmek, iletmek ve arşivlemek için hazırlanmıştı. Sistem,
hem Ankara daki hem de yurtdışındaki personelin telefon rehberi, ülke raporları, anlaşmalar, kitapçıklar ve standart formlar gibi günlük işlerinde kullanmak için gereken bilgilere ulaşmak üzere bir Bilgi Bankası nı da içeriyor. Bunlar gibi daha birçok proje, UNDP nin Türkiye deki yoğun bilgi teknolojileri çalışmalarının parçaları. Tüm bu çalışmalar Türkiye nin küresel hesap verilirliğini arttırmak, temel hizmetlerin sunumunu geliştirmek ve yerel kalkınma fırsatlarını güçlendirmeyi amaçlıyor. UNDP nin Microsoft ve Habitat için Gençlik Derneği ve Yerel Gündem 21 desteğiyle uyguladığı bir diğer proje ise 2005 yılında başlatılan Bilenler Bilemeyenlere Bilgisayar Öğretiyor Projesi. Proje Türkiye Yerel Gündem 21 Programı kapsamında kurulan yerel gençlik meclisleri üyelerinin ve özellikle çeşitli illerdeki dezavantajlı gençlerin iletişim ve temel bilgisayar becerilerini geliştirmeyi amaçlıyor. Proje kapsamında 40 gönüllü seçildi ve eğitici olabilmeleri için eğitimler verildi. Bu genç eğitmenler daha sonra kendi şehirlerine dönerek diğer gençleri eğitmeye başladılar. Haziran 2005 Şubat 2006 tarihleri arasında 1200 genç insan bilgisayar kullanıcısı oldu. Projenin ikinci etabı 2006 yılında bu sefer 45 gönüllüyle başladı ve genç kızların eğitimine öncelik verildi. Bugüne kadar 5 bin genç eğitim gördü. Projenin 2008 yılı sonunda sona ermesi beklense de bir üçüncü etabın olacağına dair umutlar sürüyor. Benzer bir şekilde UNDP nin Kasım 2006 yılında Cisco Sistemleri, Habitat için Gençlik Derneği, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi ve Türkiye Bilişim Vakfı ortaklığında uyguladığı Bilişimde Genç Hareket Projesi Türkiye nin çeşitli bölgelerinden yüzlerce genci bilişime dayalı sosyal ve ekonomik bir hayata katılımlarını sağlamayı ve bilişim ve internet teknolojileriyle donatılmış genç insan kaynağı eğitmeyi amaçlıyordu. Proje kapsamında 124 eğitmen eğitildi ve sertifikalarını almalarının ardından bu genç eğitmenler diğer genç insanları eğittiler. Proje 16-26 yaş grubu arasındaki sosyo-ekonomik açıdan dezavantajlı gençler üzerine yoğunlaştı. Eğitimler Ankara, Hatay, İstanbul, İzmir, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Yalova, Malatya ve Elazığ da gerçekleştirildi. Proje Ağustos 2007 de sona erdi. Türkiye nin kalkınması için Türkiye deki BİT kullanımının güçlendirilmesi gerektiğinin farkında olan UNDP nin Bilgi ve İletişim Teknolojileri başlıklı 2004 Ulusal İnsani Gelişme Raporu da bilişim ve iletişim teknolojileri üzerine yazılmıştı. Ülkeler BİT in eğitim, sağlık, ekonomik fırsatlar ve yoksulluğun azaltılması üzerinde oynadığı önemli rolü küresel çapta kabul ederler. Temel kamu hizmetlerini genişletmek ve bu hizmetlere erişim sağlamak, kamu verimliliğini geliştirmek ve şeffaflığı genişletmek bir ülkenin BİT gelişmişliğine bağlıdır. Bu gerçeklerin ışığında 2004 Türkiye Ulusal İnsani Gelişme Raporu e-yönetişimi ve Türkiye de internet kullanımını bütünsel olarak incelemiş, yoksulluk, insani gelişme ve eğitim kavramlarını ve bunların BİT ile olan ilişkilerini soruşturmuş ve uygulanması gereken politikalarla ilgili önerilerde bulunmuştu. Şu ana kadar yapılmış ve yapılmakta olan girişimler ve projeler sayesinde Türkiye BİT kullanımında çok daha yüksek seviyeye ulaştı. Amerika da Brown Üniversitesi nde 2007 yılında 198 ülkenin kamu kuruluşlarının internet hizmetleri üzerine yapılan bir araştırmaya göre, Türkiye; Almanya, İsviçre, İtalya ve İspanya gibi ülkeleri geride bırakarak Avustralya yla beraber sekizinci sıraya yerleşti. Araştırmanın kapsamında 198 ülkeden 1687 web sitesi incelendi. Yapılan incelemeler, sağlık, eğitim, dışişleri, içişleri, hazine, enerji, ulaşım, savunma, turizm ve telekominikasyonla ilgili
Bakanlıklar ın ve yasama, yürütme ve yargı organlarının websitelerini kapsıyordu. İnternet hizmetlerini değerlendirmek için kullanılan 24 kriterden bazıları hizmetlerin engelliler tarafından erişimi, yayınlara erişim, kişisel sistemler, güvenlik sistemleri ve iletişim sistemleriydi. 2006 yılında 27inci sırada bulunan Türkiye 19 basamak atlamayı başardı ve bugün ilk 10 da yeralıyor.
MDG Journalism Awards The Latin America and MDG 2007 Journalism Awards contest organized by UNDP and the Inter Press Service (IPS) news agency that seeks Latin america s best news articles on the Millennium Development Goals and that aims to encourage the regional media finalized on 28 September 2007 with seven winners. Ankara, October 2007 Among 466 articles registered as of the July 15th close of the call for the award from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatamala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Netherlands Antilles, Uruguay and Venezuela, the first prize and the USD $5000 prize money went to the series Working Children written by a team led by Marcela Turati, reporter of the Mexican newspaper Excelsior. The series describes how hundreds of children risk their life in Mexico s farming fields. Rebeca Grynspan, UNDP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean and one of the juries of the contest said The reports submitted to the contest are a representative sample of what is done today by Latin America journalists around the MDGs and the great effort and creativity they are investing on it. Mexican writer Carlos Monsivàis who was also part of the jury, on the other hand defined the articles as productive and moving and said they are truly exceptional...the level of observation, sharpness, narrative skill and respect for the rules of investigative journalism... The second prize worth USD $2500 was awarded to Bruna Cabral de Vasconcelos and her team for the series of articles about health and gender entitled Faces of Maternity published by the Brazilian newspaper Jornal do Commercio. The third prize was shared by Zòsimo Camacho and his team of the Mexican magazine Contralinea for the series Dying in Poverty and Paulo Aurelio Mortinelli and his team of the Brazilian newspaper Correio Popular for the series Mata Atlantica, the forgotten forest. Each team received USD $1000. The fourth prize was awarded to César Enrique Bianchi for the article The Small Comcar published in the Uruguayan newspaper El Paìs. The fifth prize on the other hand was shared by Humberto Padgett Léon for the article Extreme Violence at School of Emmequis magazine from Mexico, and César Antonio Rivera Irìas for the series Tolupanes, Haven for the Abandoned of the newspaper El Heraldo from Honduras. The fourth and fifth place winners did not receive and prize of economic value but all awarded articles will be published in a book. The jury was made up of a five-member international jury consisting of the Mexican writer Carlos Monsivàis, Cuban author Leonardo Podura, the President of the Foundation for Free Press of Colombia Marìa Terese Ronderos, the CEO of IPS Mario Lubetkin and the Regional Director of the UNDP for Larin America and the Caribbean Rebeca Grynspan.
While informing their decisions the jury said we consider that the Award s result is exceptional due to the great number of stories submitted, the quality of the information included and the accuracy and forceful arguments of the articles. The jury also congratulated the applicants on exercising a kind of journalism capable of creating awareness on the main issues associated with the MDGs.
Search for new markets The 13th Adiyaman Textile and Ready Wear Clusters Meeting convened on 24 September 2007 in Adiyaman. Ankara, October 2007 The meeting of which the main subject was exportation organized in the framework of the GAP GIDEM Project implemented in cooperation with UNDP and South Eastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Development Administration was attended by officials of the GAP GIDEM Adiyaman Office, representatives of local administrations including the governership and municipality, GAP Regional Development Administration Directorate officials, deputies, chambers and unions, associations, NGOs and leading textile companies in Turkey. Attention was drawn to the fact that 36 new factories has opened since the clustering activities that started in 2004 and that employment was created for 4650 people. The importance of exportation and the importance of opening produced goods as a result of clustering activites to domestic and foreign markets were highlighted. Coordinator of the Adıyaman GAP GIDEM Office Hamit Doğan stated that the clustering activities that started in 2004 had given its fruits but that the most important element of this success was that all public and private institutions as well as the civil society had worked in coherence, partnership and in a well-communicated way. Following the meeting, visits to various textile factories in Adıyaman as well as a visit to Adıyaman Textile Education Centre were organized. In the last decade, clusters are gathering attention as a tool that accelerates economic competition and national and regional governments are establishing cluster policies in order to increase the competition. The GAP-GIDEM Project has been continuing since 2002 with the financial support of the European Union. The overall aim of the project is enhancing small and medium sized enterprises in the South Eastern provinces of Turkey and supporting initiatives taken in the region. The project also aims to increase the administrative capacities of the small and medium sized enterprises in the region through business development services such as education, information and consultancy thus paving the way for realizing local development initiatives.