Reports - United Nations Development Programme

4. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT RESULTS AND UNDP’S CONTRIBUTION
Change); iii) a national initiative to combat
desertification. According to data provided by the UNDP
Turkey Country Office, in the period 1998-2003 a total of
USD 2.9 million was devoted to funding of these
environmental initiatives.
(i) The National Programme on
Environment and Development (NPED)
and the Johannesburg Summit 2002
Following the broad guidelines set down in the 8th Plan
and in preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg, 2002, the Turkish
authorities mounted a major effort to prepare a
comprehensive and participatory review of Turkey’s
sustainable development challenges and options. This
took place under the aegis of the NPED, jointly managed
by the Ministry of Environment and the UNDP. The
preparatory process involved broad participation of and
dialogue among public, private and NGO stakeholders
who came together in roundtables, workshops and
consultative events, as well as electronically in a Turkish
language “e-group.”
This process is widely credited with “the
establishment of a platform for stakeholders to discuss
vital themes in sustainable development, the completion
of a National Report on Sustainable Development,
compilation of Highlights of Best Practices and the other
printed material to be distributed at the summit.” 57 The
fact that this intense preoccupation with sustainable
development occurred at a time of high financial and
economic crisis makes it all the more remarkable.
Unfortunately, it appears that this level of public
excitement and involvement in environmental issues was
not maintained after the Johannesburg Summit. This
seems largely due to a loss of leadership and staffing
changes in the Ministry of Environment after it was
merged with the Ministry of Forestry by the new
Government elected in November 2002.
The UNDP was directly involved and instrumental
in Turkey’s preparation for the Johannesburg Summit. It
operated in close partnership with the Ministry of
Environment in the context of the NPED to which it
contributed key staff and financial resources. It therefore
shares substantial credit for the success of the process and
the results achieved in terms of increased public awareness
and participation, and in terms of credible publications for
and participation by Turkey in the Johannesburg Summit.
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57. UNDP Turkey website www.undp.org.tr/DEnergyAndEnvironment_D1.asp.
The Turkey ADR mission found wide agreement on this assessment
among interviewees
The UNDP’s post-Summit efforts were hampered by a
number of factors. First, the lack of an effective
ministerial counterpart made progress difficult. Second,
the Assessment Report on the Plan of Implementation of
the World Summit on Sustainable Development, which
was prepared in May 2003 under the UNDP’s guidance,
did not come up with a cogent agenda for next steps of
implementation. 58 Third, the UNDP’s own senior staff
transitions during 2003 meant a reduced capacity to
provide leadership in this area. Fourth, insufficient
budgetary allocations under the project, according to an
internal UNDP assessment, have impeded progress. For
all these reasons, the workshop planned for the review of
the Assessment Report and the preparation of the next
phase of the NPED were substantially delayed and had
not been completed by January 2004.
(ii) Other Initiatives under the NPED:
Support for the Convention on Climate
Change and the National Initiative to
Combat Desertification
Aside from the successful preparation for the
Johannesburg Summit, the most important success of the
NPED and of the UNDP was undoubtedly the support
for Turkey’s ratification in October 2003 of the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change. Under the
aegis of the NPED, workshops were held, research,
partnership and advocacy initiatives carried out and an
expert roster established. The UNDP played a very active
part in advocating Turkey’s ratification. Looking ahead,
there is an ambitious agenda for moving forward with the
implementation of the Convention in Turkey.
Another component under the NPED involves
support for the implementation of the UN Convention on
Desertification in the framework of an integrated
approach that is consistent with the NEAP, Agenda
21 and other regional and international agreements.
The main objective was the development of a National
Action Programme, which has been completed but
remains to be launched. Under the aegis of the NPED,
the UNDP was also successful in convincing the National
Coordination Unit on Desertification to include not only
governmental, but also non-governmental representation
among its membership.
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58. UNDP, “World Summit on Sustainable Development, Plan of Implementation”,
Assessment Report, Ankara, May 2003. While this 200-page report contains a
detailed, itemised comparison of sustainable development intentions under the
8th Five-Year Plan, the National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis, the
National Report to Johannesburg, the NEAP, the National Agenda 21 and the
Programme for Transition to a Strong Economy, it does not offer any real
guidance or priorities for next steps forward.
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