Committee: United Nations Development Programme

Agenda : Global Goals 2030: No poverty and Zero hunger

Name: Lakshay Gothwal

Delegate of Turkey

Agenda : Global Goals 2030: No poverty and Zero hunger

After the 2018 currency crisis impeded Turkey’s downward trend in poverty, the COVID-19
pandemic has presented another major setback for the country’s poverty reduction goals.
When Turkey suffered its first wave of the pandemic, the country lost 2.6 million jobs, which
made up 9.2% of total employment. The pandemic has resulted in a bulk of job losses for
informal and lower-skilled workers and also on August 11, 2021, Turkey faced flash floods that
swept through the Black Sea Coast. A World Bank report found that the impact of extreme
weather events on poverty is even more devastating than previously thought. Each year,
natural disasters cause consumption losses of $520 billion and push 26 million people into
poverty.

Major developments in infrastructure and policies have greately improved poverty rates in
Turkey. The relative poverty rates has been reduced from 23.4% in 2007 to 20.1% in 2017.With
respect to eradicate poverty; a significant improvement was achieved in reducing the rate of
national population living in absolute poverty with the help of achieving of economic growth,
and the increase in social transfer. Talking about Hunger problem in turkey, it was achieved
Remarkable progress in the field of improving child nutrition by virtue of practices aimed at
promoting breastfeeding, supplementary feeding micronutrient supplement
programmes.Additionally, their was a project named “THE ZERO WASTE PROJECT", This was
established in Turkey by country's first lady, Emine Erdogan, in 2017. The goals of zero waste
project in Turkey are to reduce waste by recyling byproducts of agriculture activities and
repurposing hazardous waste. This will result in employment opportunities for 100,000 people
in recyling and an annual income of $2.7 billion. In 2021, first lady EmineErdogan was presented
with first Sustainable Development Goals Action Award of the United Ntions Development
Programme (UNDP) Turkey. Reduction of food waste improves food insecurity and scarcity.
With continued action, poverty rates in Turkey can continue to decrease.
The World Bank is taking steps to respond to increasing poverty rates. In the fiscal year 2020,
the World Bank established the Safer Schooling and Distance Education Project, providing $160
million worth of aid. Two new programs added in 2021 include the Emergency Firm Support
Project, worth $300 million in aid, and Rapid Support for Micro and Small Enterprises During
COVID-19, worth $500 million. The programs aim to preserve jobs for the Turkish people. So
far, this fiscal year, the World Bank has given Turkey $1.5 billion in assistance. Many other
World Bank projects will continue to mitigate poverty in Turkey.

SOLUTIONS :

• Creating Good Jobs - When people have jobs, they have income, and when people have
income, they can more easily get themselves out of poverty.
• Increase access to education- According to UNESCO, if all students in low-income
countries had just basic reading skills (nothing else), an estimated 171 million people
could escape extreme poverty. If all adults completed secondary education, we could
cut the global poverty rate by more than half
• END WAR AND CONFLICT - No war means that budgets allocated to cover the cost of
conflict can be used to deliver public services.
• Don't waste food - Currently, one-third of all food produced (over 1.3 billion tons) is
wasted. If you have leftovers, freeze them for later, or use them as an ingredient in
another meal.
• FOSTERING GENDER EQUALITY - Gender equality is another key solution to global
hunger, in two key areas: agriculture and maternal and child health.
• Produce more, with less - Using an integrated farming approach will not only help
farmers increase their crops' yield, and thus their profits, but can also improve the
quality of their farmland.
Refrences:

• Covid impact on Turkey - https://borgenproject.org/impact-of-covid-19-on-poverty-in-

turkey/
• Achievements - https://borgenproject.org/zero-waste-project-in-turkey/ ,
https://www.tr.undp.org/content/turkey/en/home.html
• Solutions - https://www.concernusa.org/story/solutions-to-hunger/ ,
https://www.concernusa.org/story/solutions-to-poverty/ ,
https://www.borgenmagazine.com/10-solutions-poverty/
• Further information - https://borgenproject.org ,
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/poverty/#tab-aeeaf2d092abd802960