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UNDP and the Social Solidarity and Assistance
General Directorate of the Turkish
Prime Ministry organized a conference
on Role of the Civil Society in
Poverty Reduction: Risks and Opportunities
for the Poor, on 17 February 2006.
The Conference provided an opportunity
for Turkey’s key agencies
for poverty reduction to identify
areas of cooperation with civil
society in both policy making and
in service delivery.
Mevlut Bilici, General Director opened
the seminar highlighting his agency’s
interest and commitment to work with
the international community. He added
that the General Directorate’s
cooperation with the civil society
is legally well founded, and reflected
in the establishment law of the
Directorate.
Sarah Poole, Deputy Resident Representative
of UNDP, highlighted the importance of
national responsibility in reduction
of poverty and made reference to the
UN Millennium Development Goals Report
of last year, which calls for priority
public investments for effective response
to the needs of the poor.
Geoff Prewitt of the Bratislava Regional
Centre of UNDP made an incisive presentation
advocating for expanded civil society
participation in monitoring assistance
and participatory poverty surveys. Filiz
Bikmen of the Third Sector Foundation
presented the findings of several studies
on public perceptions on the roles of
civil society and state in poverty reduction.
This conference is within the context of
the project entitled “Promotion
of Cooperation in the Area of Social
Assistance”. A web portal
for pooling national experience
in cooperation with the civil society
and other issues has been available
as of 1 March 2006. (www.yoksulluklamucadele.org)
For more information on the project: http://www.undp.org.tr/Promotion%20of%20Cooperation%20in%20the%20Area%20of%20Social%20Assistance.asp
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