Mukadder Gökçe (11), Speaker of the Parliament Köksal Toptan, Sevval Lafci (13) ve UNICEFRepresentative Reza Hossaini Photo: Ümit Bektas UNICEF Türkiye 2008

Turkey’s Parliament sets up Child Rights Monitoring Committee

As the world marked Universal Children’s Day on November 20, the speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey announced the creation of a parliamentary Child Rights Monitoring Committee.

Member states vote to elect non-permanent members to the Security Council

Turkey elected to Security Council

The General Assembly elected Austria, Japan, Mexico, Turkey and Uganda to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms starting on 1 January 2009.

Training of trainers for key ministries

IOM Mission to Turkey has been implementing European Commission funded project titled “Supporting Turkey’s efforts to combat human trafficking and promote access to justice for all trafficked

Michel Sidibé Appointed Executive Director of UNAIDS

Michel Sidibé began his career in global health almost 30 years ago when he became concerned with the health and welfare of the nomadic Tuareg people in the Timbuktu region of his native Mali. What began as a modest consulting role with Mali's Bureau of African Applied Research evolved into a position as country director for the international development federation Terre des Hommes. There he helped to establish some of Mali’s first programmes for resettlement,

UNDAF Mid-term Review

The United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) Turkey comprising the United Nation’s (UN) strategic plan from 2006-2010 underwent a mid-term evaluation during the course

Gender budgeting

Training of Trainers on gender responsive budgeting took place on 18-19 December 2008 in Ankara. TOT is organized through financial and technical assistance provided by UNIFEM. A very well known international expert, Debbie Budlender, conducted the training. Deputy governors and mayors and heads of budget and strategic planning departments of local administrations are the main beneficiaries of TOT, which was organized within the framework of United Nations Joint Programme to Protect and Promote the Human Rights of Women and Girls (UNJP).

Land must regain centre-stage in Climate Change and Development strategies

An estimated twelve million hectares of land are lost each year due to advanced degradation or other environmental damage.

Desertification: A global scourge

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that desertification costs USD 9 billion a year in Africa alone.More than 50 percent of IFAD’s work is in Africa.

IFAD

IFAD was created 30 years ago to tackle rural poverty, a key consequence of the droughts and famines of the early 1970s. Since 1978, IFAD has invested more than US$10 billion in low-interest loans and grants that have helped over 400 million very poor rural women and men increase their incomes and provide for their families. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency. It is a global partnership of OECD, OPEC and other developing countries. Today, IFAD supports more than 200 programmes and projects in 85 developing countries and one territory.

Enthusiastic launch for EU-funded child protection project

A major new EU-funded project to protect the rights of Turkey’s children.was launched on October 31 in Ankara.

YEARBOOK OF THE UNITED NATIONS

The online version of the Yearbook of the United Nations– the world Organization’s flagship reference publication – was launched on Thursday, 9 October at 10:15 a.m. in the General Assembly Visitor's Lobby.

UN Refugee Agency, Ben Affleck and Rolling Stones call help for Congolese Refugees

Minister Faruk Çelik addresses the summit

1st National Youth Employment Summit held

As with almost all countries of the world, in Turkey the high rate of youth unemployment is one of the priority problems needing urgent attention. The youth unemployment rate in Turkey is almost the double of the overall rate of unemployment.

Alliances for Culture Tourism

On 18 November, United Nations agencies (UNDP,UNESCO,UNICEF, UNWTO) in cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of Culture initiated a joint programme, “Alliances for Culture Tourism (ACT) in Eastern Anatolia (Kars)".

UNDP DRR Richardson-Golinski answers questions

BIS hosted the UN

Courtesy of Jean Plantu

Six decades ago on May 29, the United Nations Security Council established our first peacekeeping mission.

UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948

Michel Gaudé, UNHCR Representative with students

Students at Tevfik Fikret High School are briefed about the United Nations

On 31 October, the United Nations Turkey organized a conference at Tevfik Fikret High School. Michel Gaudé, Representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) briefed 300 students on the UN and its activities. This was the first UN event organized at Tevfik Fikret High School.

Measles mortality reduction: a successful initiative

Measles deaths worldwide fell by 74% between 2000 and 2007, from an estimated 750 000 to 197 000. In addition, the Eastern Mediterranean region has cut measles deaths by a remarkable 90% — from an

Turkish police officers decorated by United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti

At a dignified ceremony on 25 November at the Police Academy in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, United Nations Police (UNPOL) officers from the Republic of Turkey were awarded the United Nations peacekeeping

Neighborhood school students visit UNIC Ankara

On 21 and 22 October, the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Ankara hosted seventy 5th grade students from the Ahmet Andicen Elementary School. The students were briefed about the UN and its values. Students' interest in the UN was reflected in the various questions they asked, including questions about Turkey's election as a non-permanent member of the Security Council starting 1 January 2009.

Selçuk University Students visited UNIC

A group of students from Selçuk University, Konya, visited the UN Information Centre in Ankara on 21 November. The group, composed of members of Selçuk University International Relations Club, were briefed by UNIC staff on UN activities and priorities.

Students set up UN Corner at Ankara Elementary School

Students at TED Ankara Elementary School decorated a corner of the school's main hall with posters and printed materials provided by the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in Ankara. The exhibit, which ran from 20-24 October, presented information about the UN and its work. The visit to TED Ankara Elementary School was part of a series of educational outreach activities by UNIC Ankara as part of UN week celebrations.

Conference on Human Rights

On 19 December, Gazi University, in cooperation with Soroptimist Association and UNIC Ankara, organized a conference to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

RC Ayub addressed Baskent University students

Baskent University hosts RC Ayub

On 23 October, the United Nations Turkey organized a conference at Baskent University, Ankara. Approximately 400 students were briefed by the Resident Coordinator Mahmood Ayub on topics including the global financial crises, its possible effects on UN activities and the way out of the crises.

"Güler Sabancı at the meeting

UNJP Sabancı Foundation Grant Programme

On 23 October, ‘United Nations Joint Programme (UNJP) Sabancı Foundation Grant Programme Experience Sharing Meeting’ was organized in Trabzon.

World Congress Against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents Comes to a Close in Brazil

The sexual exploitation of children is not inevitable. That was the message coming out of Rio de Janeiro on 28 November where 137 governments have been meeting with children, international organizations, NGOs and private sector

More than 2,000 children die every day as a result of unintentional injury and at least half could be saved

More than 2,000 children die every day as a result of an unintentional, or accidental injury, and every year tens of millions more worldwide are taken to hospitals with injuries that often leave them with lifelong disabilities, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF.

Peacekeeping photo exhibit opens at two universities in Ankara

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of United Nations Peacekeeping, United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) Ankara opened a week long photo exhibit at two universities in Ankara. The exhibit at Atilim University opened on 17 October and the exhibit at Bashkent University opened on 23 October. The exhibit included photos of Turkish military and police that contribute to UN peacekeeping efforts.

UN General Assembly bans smoking

The United Nations General Assembly banned smoking and tobacco sales at UN Headquarters in New York.

Atilim University students stood up against poverty

On 17 October, United Nations Turkey Office organized an event at Atilim University in support of the Stand Up Against Poverty campaign. This was also the first event jointly organized by the UN system in Turkey and Atilim University.

Urbanization must not come at expense of environment, say UN officials

Top United Nations officials have marked World Habitat Day with a call to ensure that the rapid urbanization of towns and cities – which the majority of people today call home – is accompanied by decent living conditions and efforts to preserve

UN and EU experts on violence against women visited Turkey

In one of the first joint initiatives of its kind, the United Nations human rights expert on violence against women and the European Parliament's Rapporteur on Women's Rights in Turkey visited Turkey to assess the quality of assistance and support provided by shelters for women who have been subjected to violence, including

New UNECE Executive Secretary

Rwanda: UN court jails ex-military leader, two others for life on genocide charges

A United Nations court on December 18 sentenced the alleged mastermind behind the 1994 massacre of hundreds of thousands of people in Rwanda and two co-defendants to life imprisonment for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In a trial that began nearly nine years ago, the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) found Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, the highest authority over the Rwandan military in April 1994 when the genocide of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus by Hutu extremists began, responsible for the killing of Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and other leading officials.