The United Nations presence in Turkey is coordinated through the Resident Coordinator system. This system brings together the different UN agencies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations at the country level.

Nine UN agencies are officially represented in Turkey: FAO, ILO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNHCR, UNIC, UNICEF, UNIDO and WFP. The IOM has an office in Ankara and UNODC and WHO also have liaison offices in Turkey. The Bretton Woods institutions - the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - also have offices in Ankara and are part of the UNCT.

THE UN IN TURKEY

Turkey was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945. Today, a total of 14 United Nations organisations are assisting Turkey as it tackles its remaining development challenges, strives to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals and continues its efforts to fulfill the criteria required for accession to the European Union.

Poised between Europe and the Middle East, Turkey is at once a bridge between cultures -- and a country of marked social and economic contrasts. It is an aspirant EU member and a member of NATO.

Sharing a border with Iraq, Turkey also has immediate experience of the refugee, relief and economic issues caused by international embargoes and by war. With several parts of its territory lying in earthquake zones, Turkey has suffered severe natural disasters.

A key barometer of Turkey's progress towards these goals is the country's first Millennium Development Goal Report (2005). This shows that overall, Turkey is well on its way to meeting and even exceeding many of the goals by 2015. However there are still particular challenges. Continued efforts are needed in Turkey to address the eradication of poverty and hunger (goal 1); gender equality (goal 3); child mortality (goal 4) and maternal mortality (goal 5).

The UN agencies in Turkey, including the Bretton Woods institutions (The World Bank and International Monetary Fund) are supporting efforts to meet these challenges in a variety of ways. We are actively assisting in areas such as decentralization, poverty reduction, health, education, promotion of women's and children's rights, refugees, migration, work and labour, food and agriculture, disaster management and drug control.

A brighter future - Several UN agencies in Turkey are helping to improve gender equality and education (Photo: UNICEF Turkey)

Our activities are helping the Government of Turkey and other national stakeholders to integrate the MDGs into its national planning, implementation of programmes and its reform efforts. Since 2002 it is clear that Turkey has made significant progress in promoting democratic governance and economic recovery.

A series of reforms have been passed on issues such as human rights, relations between civil and military institutions, the penal and civil code. Further reforms have brought family law closer to the standards of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and further paved the way for implementing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

After years of highly volatile economic growth, with repeated booms and busts and high inflation, political stability and economic reforms have helped the Government of Turkey to tackle inflation and achieve a significant GDP growth rate.

Implementation of ombudsman system and a separate specialized institution for children's problems are vital for Turkey to promote children's rights, UNICEF officials stressed at “Independent Child Ombudsman” conference held in Ankara on April 9. (Photo: UNICEF Turkey)