UN Assistant Secretary-General pays four-day visit to Ankara, Hatay and Gaziantep
Ankara, 11 July 2023 - Ivana Živković, Assistant Secretary-General at the United Nations, and Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and Central Asia at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is visiting Türkiye to assess the ongoing post-earthquake recovery efforts and disaster assistance that UNDP is managing in partnership with the Government.
Živković’s agenda in Türkiye includes meetings with Government officials in Ankara and a visit to Adana, Hatay and Gaziantep to see firsthand the work that UNDP is doing to address earthquake recovery needs. This includes equipping container cities with wastewater treatment, drinking-water and laundry facilities, disability-friendly showers and toilets and air-conditioning; extending care services to the elderly and persons with disabilities; providing grants to help small businesses get back on their feet; delivering waste management equipment to hard-hit municipalities; and protecting at-risk cultural heritage monuments.
“Five months after the earthquakes hit, we see a shift in focus from survival to revival,” said Živković. “Our aim at UNDP is to help wherever we can to enable people to resume the routines of normal life. Alongside a safe and secure place to live, this means first and foremost restoring jobs and the livelihoods they provide.”
In Ankara, Živković met on 11 July 2023 with displaced earthquake survivors who are receiving vocational training at an industrial zone in Ankara where UNDP has for years worked in partnership with the Ankara Chamber of Industry Continuing Education Center (ASOSEM) on a variety of innovative job-creation programs. A pilot group of 100 persons displaced by the February earthquakes are now working towards certification in industrial skills that are in high demand both in Ankara and in the earthquake zone. A similar effort under way in Konya will see another 100 earthquake-displaced people receive vocational training.
“The earthquakes have sent shockwaves across the national labor market,” said Živković. “Not only are companies in the earthquake-affected region struggling to find the skilled workers they need to stay in business, but the thousands who have fled the region are seeking new skills to find the jobs they need to support their families, whether they choose to remain outside the earthquake region or return home.”
The vocational training is taking place at the home base of one of a network of eight Model Factories set up by the Ministry of Industry and Technology with UNDP support to improve the competitiveness and technological agility of manufacturing companies. Model Factories work in close collaboration with local chambers of commerce and vocational training centers to improve productivity in the manufacturing sector.
Established in 2018, the Ankara Model Factory was the first facility of its kind to open in Türkiye, followed by Adana, Bursa, Gaziantep, Izmir, Kayseri, Konya and Mersin, with funding provided by the Government, the EU and Germany’s KfW. So far, the Ankara facility alone has assisted 350 companies in improving efficiency through hands-on training, coaching and the unique experience of being able to test out different solutions on a fully operational assembly line. The results have been so positive that UNDP is now working to establish six new Model Factories, in Denizli, Eskisehir, Kocaeli, Malatya, Samsun and Trabzon.
“Turkish industry is a crucial actor in the earthquake recovery,” said UNDP Resident Representative Louisa Vinton. “By cultivating skills that are in high demand, we aim to open up job opportunities for earthquake survivors while helping companies both inside and outside the earthquake zone find the workers they need.”
Before travelling to the earthquake-affected region on 12 July, Živković met with Mehmet Özhaseki, Minister of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change; İbrahim Şenel, President of the Strategy and Budget Office of the Presidency; Mehmet Kemal Bozay, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Çetin Ali Dönmez, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology.
For more information:
Esra Özçeşmeci, Communications Associate for UNDP in Türkiye, esra.ozcesmeci@undp.org
UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in 177 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. For more information: www.undp.org/turkiye.