with a sustainable system whereby they will be self-sufficient. It is important that such population be equipped with basic skills to enhance their employability. In this context, actions will continue to scale up Turkish language training to equip Syrians with language proficiency, provide special purpose courses for occupational and technical skills, encourage Syrians to participate in on-the-job training programmes, and provide vocational and legal guidance/counselling services. On the other hand, recognizing that the refugee crisis cannot be resolved merely by the efforts of our country and humanitarian aid at national level, our country will continue its efforts to increase awareness of the international community regarding irregular migration flows triggered by the Syrian crisis. It will continue to lead international initiatives to improve the situation of refugees, including Syrians under temporary protection in our country, and eliminate factors that trigger irregular migration to avoid new humanitarian crises, and globally share the burden and responsibilities for refugees. In this context, our country will continue implement the Global Compact on Refugees adopted in 2018 by the UN General Assembly, and will participate and co-chair the first Global Refugee Forum in 2019. Accordingly, we call on all stakeholders to implement the Compact and invite them to participate in the Forum at the highest level and to declare significant pledges for refugees at this Forum. 48 TURKEY’s 2nd VNR 2019 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS “Strong Ground towards Common Goals”
PROGRESS TOWARDS SDGs AND NEXT STEPS
- PROGRESS TOWARDS SDGs AND NEXT STEPS Significant progress was achieved in our country on many targets related to reduction of poverty, elimination of inequalities, implementation of effective social policies, increasing access to basic services including particularly healthcare, energy and clean water. This chapter reviews the implementation performance of Turkey for each SDG with highlights on policies, legislation, prominent developments and areas needing improvement. Prominent developments on each SDG are reviewed by defining certain focus areas and associating the goals with such areas. The focus areas as listed below also lay down the framework for aligning the national policy priorities of Turkey with the Agenda 2030. Table 8. SDG Focus Areas Poverty reduction Empowerment of vulnerable groups Access to adequate food and meeting nutrition needs Increasing agricultural productivity and resilient agricultural practices Conservation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge Programmes for protective healthcare services Improving healthcare service provision and infrastructure Access to quality education Equal opportunities for education Vocational education and lifelong learning Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women Prevention of violence and abuse against women Promotion of opportunities for women to participate in social, political and economic life Reproductive health and rights Access to drinking water and sanitation services Effective management of water resources Preventing water pollution and improving water quantity and quality Access to energy for all Increasing renewable energy share in total supply Improving energy efficiency Development of clean energy technologies and infrastructure Economic growth Employment Reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure Inclusive and sustainable industrialisation Innovation
Strengthening economic and social equality Global mobility Cooperation with international economic and financial institutions Inclusive and sustainable urbanisation Safe and affordable transport Spatial planning and regional development Protection of natural and cultural heritage Sustainable management of resources and waste Sustainability reporting Sustainable tourism Adaptation to climate change Mainstreaming climate action into policies Awareness raising and capacity increase Climate finance 50 TURKEY’s 2nd VNR 2019 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS “Strong Ground towards Common Goals”
Prevention of marine pollution and protection of ecosystem Sustainable production and stock management of aquaculture products Conservation and sustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems Conservation of biodiversity and genetic resources Prevention of crime and violence Equal access to justice Effective governance Capacity-building Finance Technology Trade International partnerships Public-private partnership 5.1. SDG 1. END POVERTY IN ALL ITS FORMS EVERYWHERE Substantial progress was achieved in the last 20 years concerning the goal of eradicating poverty. Turkey is among the countries that made most progress in eradicating poverty. Both economic growth and improvement in the social protection system contributed to this outcome.
POLICIES In addition to NDPs and strategic plans of relevant public institutions, key policy documents on SDG 1 include the National Employment Strategy, National Youth Employment Strategy, Productivity Strategy and Action Plan, Climate Change Strategy, and International Development Cooperation Programme. The key components of the policy framework in line with SDG 1 are as follows: • Improving the quality and quantity of protective and preventive services to avoid the risk of poverty, • Alleviating destructive effects of poverty, improving social assistance and social service system, • Increasing the participation of disadvantaged groups, notably women and young people, to economic activities and implementing employment policies targeting these groups, • Facilitating the access to opportunities for groups at risk of poverty and social exclusion, • Increasing the participation of civil society and enhancing the role of local administrations in combating poverty, • Ensuring the coordination between the information systems of social assistance and social service, • Conducting social adaptation analyses, • Increasing the impact of taxes and social transfers that reduce income inequality and poverty. LEGISLATION A series of legal and institutional regulations that helped to reduce poverty were issued between 2000 and 2018 in Turkey. Some of the significant developments include the restructuring of the social protection system, introduction of the Social Assistance and Solidarity Incentive Fund for this purpose and bringing together other units concerning vulnerable groups under the Ministry 51 TURKEY’s 2nd VNR 2019 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS “Strong Ground towards Common Goals”
of Family, Labour and Social Services (MoFLSS). In addition to
the restructuring of the social protection system, important
legal regulations were issued such as consolidation of social
security institutions and provision of health insurance to the
whole population by means of the implementation of Universal
Health Insurance.
Significant progress was achieved in the legal infrastructure
concerning the extension of social assistance and services
targeting poor and disadvantaged groups by means of the
Regulation on Social Service Centres and the Regulation on
Social and Economic Support Services. These regulations
aim at reducing and even eradicating poverty with the help of
services and assistance offered to citizens in need. In addition,
the international conventions and social security conventions
to which our country is a signatory support the efforts for
eradicating everywhere for all.
IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS AND IMPROVEMENT AREAS
SDG 1 is assessed on two focus areas: i. Poverty Reduction
and ii. Empowerment of vulnerable groups.
With respect to poverty reduction; a significant improvement
was achieved in reducing the rate of national population
living in absolute poverty with the help of achieving of
macroeconomic stability, economic growth, and the increase
in social transfer. According to the data by Turkish Statistical
Institute (TURKSTAT), the rate of individuals living on less than
$1.25 per day is 0.06 (6 in ten thousand) as of 2015, which is
negligible. Therefore, Target 1.1 “to eradicate extreme poverty
for all people everywhere”20, has been achieved in Turkey
(for $1.25).20 Another limit specified for absolute poverty is
living on less than $4.3 per day, and the rate of such poor
population was 2.6% in total with 0.6% in cities and 5.1%21 in
rural areas in 2013. As of 2017, the rate of population living on
less than $4.3 per day receded to 1.58%.
Regarding the rate of those living on less than 60% of the
median income (relative poverty), progress was made in the
last decade. The rate of relative poverty dropped from 23.4% in
2007 to 20.1% in 2017. Thus, the policies that target vulnerable
groups, being formulated according to the differences between
rural vs. urban, child vs. adult, and women vs. men, are
20 Since the indicator which is used in measuring extreme poverty and represents the segment of population who live on less than $1.25 a day dropped under 0.01%,
TURKSTAT has not measured since 2005.
21 TURKSTAT has not produced any absolute poverty data concerning urban vs rural difference since 2013.
continued to be developed with the perspective of the Agenda
2030.
Figure 3. Poverty Gap
Diversifying and increasing the amount of social aids and
the steps taken to improve the social assistance system
have contributed to poverty eradication. In addition, pro-
poor policies followed in sectors such as employment, social
security, education, healthcare, and housing have significantly
contributed to this achievement. The total public assistance
expenses was 0.83% of 2006 GDP, and 1.15% of 2018 GDP
respectively.
Projects aiming to improve employment, facilitate the access
to education for girls and persons with disabilities, create
new job opportunities in rural areas, and encourage social
beneficiaries to join the labour force are implemented to
reduce absolute and relative poverty. An example for local
practices could be Multipurpose Community Centres (CATOMs)
that are located in poor neighbourhoods inhabited by rural-
urban migrants and in provinces in the GAP region. Activities
are undertaken in these centres to improve social and financial
status of women and children.
Social assistance and support provided by various institutions
and organisations were brought together under the Ministry
of Family, Labour and Social Services as the focal body that
executes relevant programmes. The poor segments are
provided aid for food, fuel, education, childbirth, and family
expenses to raise their living standards. The number and
variety of social assistance and support have been gradually
Poverty Gap by Equivalised Household Disposeable Income
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
33.6%
28.4%
27.9%
29.6%
28.7%
29.2%
29.2%
26.7%
27.2%
26.8% 26.5% 25.8%
Poverty Gap (60%), %
52
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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
“Strong Ground towards Common Goals”
increasing since 2003. The increase in aid for education and food aimed to prevent the intergenerational transmission of poverty particularly during this process is remarkable. In addition, assistance programmes started to help various groups in society such as military families in need, individuals with chronic illnesses, and orphans. Evaluation and monitoring processes of social assistance are operated through an online system, namely, the Integrated Social Assistance Information System. The system facilitates the application processes and improves to reach people really in need. Irregular migration and internal migration increase the risk of poverty particularly in urban areas where poverty concentrates. Social assistance and support programmes are implemented to eliminate the risk in question and meet the needs of poor foreign nationals, particularly Syrians, which are under temporary protection and living outside the camps, in collaboration with national and international organisations.22 In the context of empowerment of vulnerable groups, their integration into the labour force is considered important to combat poverty. As enhancing the labour force participation of women needs special focus, an amendment to the Labour Law in 2016 that allowed working women/men to work part-time following the end of statutory leave until the start of month following the start of mandatory primary education age was made. In addition, part-time work was allowed for 60 to 360 days following the birth; and it was decided to make payments of part-time work from the Unemployment Insurance Fund for the non-work time during the part-time work to those who meet the criteria for premium. Many projects targeting disadvantaged groups are implemented in Turkey. In this respect, policies to improve social protection systems and measures have been further developed. 22 See Chapter 4.4. EMERGENCY SOCIAL SAFETY NET (ESSN) PROGRAMME SDG Targets 1.1; 1.2; 1.3; 1.4; 1.5; 1.a; 1.b; 2.1; 2.2; 17.1; 17.3; 17.6; 17.9; 17.13; 17.14; 17.15; 17.16; 17.17; 17.18; 17.19 Executing Entity Turkish Red Crescent, World Food Programme (WFP) Start & End Dates 2016-Ongoing ESSN Programme aims to present an off-camp solution to the refugee influx and enable refugees to access public services. Under ESSN, monthly aid is paid through “Kizilay Card” from the national social assistance system to the most vulnerable refugees in Turkey to meet their basic needs. The card is loaded 120 TL (22 USD) every month per registered person in the family who may use it to meet their own needs such as rent, food, medicine or withdraw cash. Additional monthly assistance of 600 TL (109 USD) is provided to approximately 6,000 beneficiaries with severe disabilities. As of January 2019, with a total budget of approximately 1 billion EUR and 1.53 million beneficiaries, it is the largest humanitarian cash aid programme. It is funded by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Operations (ECHO). 53 TURKEY’s 2nd VNR 2019 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS “Strong Ground towards Common Goals”