REDUCING
SOCIO-ECONOMIC DIFFERENCES IN SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA
Project name:
00015048 Reduction of Socio-economic Disparities in the GAP
Region (GAP Phase 2)
Budget: Approximately
5.4 million USD (overall)
Approximately 1.4 million USD (phase 2)
Timeline: Phase
2: December 2004-June 2006
What's the situation?
Human development levels in the Southeastern Anatolia region
lag behind national levels, while the incidence of human poverty
is much higher and there is continued migration out of the
region. The region faces development challenges in terms of
income level, educational opportunities, gender equality and
socio-economic opportunities and facilities. Migration away
from rural areas increases the population of the urban areas
considerably and this poses additional challenges to providing
public services and job opportunities.
As a result of high
fertility in the region, 41% of the regional population is
younger than 14, and 23% are aged between15 and 24 years.
Children and young people are the most disadvantaged and vulnerable
groups which suffer from lower socio-economic status of the
region. In conditions of poverty, having a large number of
children increases household costs and poor families tend
to force their children to work, sometimes in poor conditions.
In some families, parents are unemployed and children who
work in the streets are the only breadwinners in the family.
These children are open to various social and health risks
such as substance addiction, alcohol, delinquency, etc. and
these risks seriously affect the children's development.
In addition to the problems
resulting from working in the streets, young people aged between
15 and 25 have their own social and economic problems that
arise from lack of education, unemployment, and inability
to express themselves and their identities. The recent migration
trend from the rural areas in the 1990's due to conflicts
in the region caused additional integration problems among
young people.
Women of the region
also suffer from gender inequality. As with other regions
of Turkey, women in south-eastern Anatolia do not have economic
opportunities nor an equal share of public welfare. Because
of cultural traditions, young girls do not equally benefit
from educational opportunities and their economic capacity
is quite limited. Literacy among women is very low and they
can be subject to violence and threatened by "honour
killings".
What is UNDP's mission?
UNDP is working in partnership with a longstanding program
of the Turkish government. The Turkish government developed
the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) in the 1960s as a
project to support the region's economic advancement. The
project itself is an irrigation and energy production project,
which involves building dams and irrigation channels to support
agriculture in the region.
UNDP Turkey has been
working in partnership with the GAP Regional Development Agency
(GAP RDA), the national institution mandated with coordination
of development of southeastern Anatolia. Its aim is to complement
GAP by focusing on socioeconomic development, directly targeting
the people of the region - an aspect not covered in the original
GAP project.
The two-phase program,
"Reduction of Socio-economic Differences in Southeastern
Anatolia", aims to mobilize public resources into the
social development needs of the Region. The program has a
strong focus on human-based development. Phase 1 of the program
has achieved some tangible results such as establishment of
a database of cultural heritage of Mardin, increased communication
among young people, and translation of the Small and Medium
Enterprises (SME) project into an EC funded project (GIDEM).
UNDP Turkey's involvement
has added value by turning an irrigation and agriculture project
into a human development project, which has provided solid
models for the intervention of other international development
organizations in the region.
UNDP Turkey is now working
to increase the capacity of the people who live in the region
to exercise their rights. It is also helping to develop institutional
capacities in the region to address these rights and provide
public services.
How is UNDP doing
this?
UNDP Turkey is working
together with the GAP Regional Development Agency and local
stakeholders in the region. This includes including Governor's
offices, municipalities, relevant public institutions and
non-governmental institutions.
In this partnership,
UNDP helps to:
- Assess development
needs in the region
- Provide support to
develop mechanisms for good governance and development of
institutional capacities at the government and non-governmental
level.
- Provide technical
support for the capacity development of the target group
of people, including women and young people
- Develop NGO's working
on social development.
The Social Development
Program for Youth under the GAP umbrella program provides
platforms where young people have a chance to enhance their
own social and economic development and, through interaction,
build their own identities. These platforms act as mechanisms
for young people to decide their own priorities and to raise
their capacities so as to maximize their own potential.
Womens' NGOs are being
provided with technical expertise on production, design and
marketing. In this way, the production capacities of and networks
among women NGOs are strengthened across the region, resulting
in a higher institutional capacity of women organizations.
How will Turkey benefit?
This program is enhancing the Government of Turkey's regional
development policies in south eastern Anatolia by adding a
human development prespective. The interventions in the region
will continue to contribute to build good models of integrated
regional development with the support of networks established
under the Local Agenda
21 programme at a local level.
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PROJECT
DOCUMENTS and PUBLICATIONS
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CONTACT INFORMATION:
Berna Bayazit
Programme Associate, UNDP
Tel: (90-312) 454 1126
E-mail: berna.bayazit@undp.org
Ferhat Selli
(National Project Coordinator)
Vice-President of GAP RDA
Tel: (90-312) 409 2226
E-mail: ferhats@gap.gov.tr
Gozde Avci (Project
Manager)
Tel: (90-312) 442 23 24/1339
E-mail: gavci@gap.gov.tr
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