Turkmenistan: The modern village as a countrywide model of local governance

Citizens in villages lead development of their community

Grade nine student Annayeva Ashirgul and her 320 classmates now go to school full time.

Before their new school was built in the village of Belek in December 2012, students would go to school in shifts. The old school could not accommodate all the children at the same time, and was in need of major repairs.  

"Classes in the second shift affected the quality of Ashirgul’s learning and organization of her educational process as a whole," says Ashirgul’s mother, Annayeva Bayramgul.

"As any other child, she wanted to have rest from school in the evening, enjoy the company of friends and family, and morning time was never enough for doing school homework."

Georgia: Mobile technology for safe communities

Police patrol the village of Ditsi, 200 metres from the boundary with South Ossetia >> see more photos

anketa#a#non00b#wed1c#7d#pol24ngo2 – sent from the village of Ditsi in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia, this mysterious SMS means that no security incidents have happened in the last week, there was one crossing of the boundary with South Ossetia for celebrating a wedding, the community sense of security is seven on a scale of  one to 10, the police patrolled 24 times, and NGOs two times.

Text messages like this one are the basis of a simple community safety network, established by local residents over the past two years.

Volunteers from each of the 16 villages along the boundary line with South Ossetia send weekly information to this text messaging service and report on incidents as they happen.

In Turkey, an earthy alternative to chemical fertilizers

A student at Aegean University holds a handful of the precious fertilizer. Photo: UNDP in Turkey

Earthworms are providing farmers with an appealing, organic alternative to chemical fertilizers in a part of Turkey that suffers from high levels of land and water pollution - with 45 farmers piloting the use of fertilizer made from earthworm waste in western Turkey’s Gediz River basin.

In recent years the Gediz River has seen rising levels of agricultural pollution – with a high incidence of nickel, copper, zinc and mercury – and many experts forecast water shortages caused by decreasing precipitation.

The area is home to almost 2 million people and one of the country’s most productive and ecologically diverse basins.

Job prospects helping to keep families together in fYR Macedonia

A family business. Photo: Ljubomir Stefanov

"It’s not right to say there’s no work in this country when people have so much potential they don’t realize," says Qerim Dauti.

"We should be trying to create jobs here - finding ways to use the skills we already have, not leaving our homes to find work abroad."

Qerim speaks from personal experience - like so many of the country’s citizens, he once left his life in fYR Macedonia behind to find work a long way from home. For twelve years, he lived in Australia working in the construction industry.

But despite successfully applying for Australian citizenship, Qerim eventually returned to his roots.

"Starting over again isn’t easy," he says. "When I first came back I had to make a living as a taxi driver. I’d gained a lot of skills in carpentry in Australia but I didn’t have the confidence and knowledge to make the most of them so I just worked on the side doing jobs for people informally - but that was no kind of stability."

Kyrgyzstan: Setting ground rules for investment in hydropower

Before construction. Photo: UNDP in Kyrgyzstan

"It’s just plain and dry land for now, but I hope in several years this land will be green and employ hundreds of farmers," says Asan Halbekov showing the 2,000 hectares of land in the village of Toguz-Bulak in the far west of Kyrgyzstan’s Batken Province.

"Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, these farmlands were not cultivated because the pump station stopped working and there was no water. I hope our small hydro power plant and a pump station we’re planning to build will change things."

Asan Halbekov’s coal mining company is among the pioneer private investors in construction of small hydropower plants in Kyrgyzstan.

UNDP regional director on development achievements in the region

Cihan Sultanoglu during her visit to Montenegro, from 7 to 9 May, 2013
>> More photo of Cihan Sultanoglu

Vilnius, Lithuania – Interview with Ms. Cihan Sultanoglu, United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independant States, published on “Vilniaus diena’’ (in Lithuanian) on the occasion of her visit to Lithuania on 13-14 May 2013.

Share your ideas and join our social innovation camp for human rights

Winners of Mardamej, social innovation camp in Armenia

Do you want to change the world? If you are from Armenia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro and Ukraine, and have an idea for promoting human rights and justice, share it by 20 May.

If your idea is selected, we’ll get you to Yerevan, Armenia, for HuriLab, our social innovation camp happening 28 to 30 June.

Solar powered concert rocks Chisinau

CHISINAU, Moldova – 30 April, 2013 – A solar powered concert in Chisinau this past weekend is just the beginning for rock band FurioSnails.

"In 2014, we would like to organize a larger-scale concert powered by renewable energy," said FurioSnails soloist Lilian Severin.

"We intend to promote alternative energy resources. Our desire is that the Republic of Moldova decreases its dependence on foreign energy resource suppliers, and starts producing its own energy out of solar, wind, water and biomass resources."

Gloomy prospects for carbon markets in the region

John O’Brien

Photo credit: UNFPA

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — 29 April 2013 — In 2012, the value of the global carbon market rose to $176 billion and it was not long earlier that analysts had been predicting a trillion dollar market within the next decade. The carbon market was supposed to turn into the world’s largest commodity market and a high price on carbon was supposed to stimulate large-scale new investment in greenhouse gas emission reduction projects.

Communities take action to address climate change

A resident of Aygehovit, Armenia adapts to climate change by installing a hail net

The village of Aygehovit, Armenia experienced a string of 18 hailstorms in the past five years. Hailstones – some the size of chicken eggs – caused $125,000 in losses in this remote area that relies on its vineyards as a mainstay of its economy.

The local authorities conducted a risk assessment together with UNDP and, for the first time, hail nets were identified as the solution. Some 3,000 square metres of vineyards were covered with hail nets. Many see this as a model for other villages facing changes in climate.

The new thinking is not only apparent in Aygehovit. Communities in two other countries – Moldova and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – have come to realize that they are being adversely affected by a changing climate. Supported by their governments and by UNDP, they are developing local solutions to deal with the risks.

Возвышение Юга, как это видится из Восточной Европы и Центральной Азии

Халид Малик и Джихан Султаноглу

English version

Мир находится в процессе глубоких изменений, и страны Восточной Европы и Центральной Азии  безусловно являются большой частью этих исторических трансформаций; многие развивающиеся страны на всех континентах становятся двигателем глобального экономического роста и - что более важно – повышают уровень жизни миллиардов людей.

Мы свидетели появления нового огромного глобального среднего класса: люди во всем развивающемся мире становятся все более образованными, они могут уверенно рассчитывать на долгую и продуктивную жизнь, и они становятся более взаимосвязанными между собой посредством торговли, путешествий и новыми средствами связи.

Developing world reshaping the future, says global Human Development Report

ASTANA/VIENNA - 9 April  2013 - “Never in history have the living conditions and prospects of so many people changed so dramatically and so fast,” says the global Human Development Report for 2013, presented this week in Astana and Vienna.

The Report - The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World - says that the leading countries of the developing world, including key countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, are reshaping global power dynamics in a new era of human development progress.

Being your own boss: Supporting entrepreneurs in fYR Macedonia

Senat Demiri, owns his own carwash, called Hadisa Mala

Senat Demiri is Roma and lives in Shuto Orizari, one of the most economically deprived areas of Skopje.

Mr. Demiri had been without a regular formal job for ten years when he first heard of a programme to help people start and run their own businesses.

"The idea of being my own boss was a big attraction," he says.

The Rise of the South, as seen from Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Khalid Malik and Cihan Sultanoglu

Русская версия

The world is in the midst of profound changes, and the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are very much a part of this historic transformation: many developing countries on all continents are now driving global economic growth and – more importantly – raising living standards for billions of people.

We are witnessing the emergence of a huge new global middle class: People throughout the developing world who are increasingly educated, who can confidently expect long and productive lives, and who are increasingly interconnected globally, through trade, travel, and the latest communications tools.

The Catalan Roma Plan: Lessons for Europe?

Bálint-Ábel Bereményi and Anna Mirga

Visitors at a conference to launch the Virtual Museum of Roma in Catalonia (Miquel Jornet - Xarxa Punt TIC)

BARCELONA, Spain – 4 April 2013 – The successful social inclusion of the Roma of Catalonia is generally viewed as worth emulating in Central and Eastern Europe, where Roma are also a significant minority.

The Catalan Comprehensive Roma Plan (PIPG) is believed to have contributed to the growing employment rates, increasing participation in compulsory education and a significant improvement in housing conditions of the Catalan Roma population – commonly referred to as the Gitano.

Restoring hope in the future for Prespa Lake

"We used to do a lot of things without thinking about the effects on the environment," says Naume Toskovski, an apple farmer in the Prespa Lakes region of fYR Macedonia.

"We didn’t know that dumping apples would pollute the water."

"Perhaps it’s a different story with pesticides and fertilizers – the temptation for farmers is always to over-use these chemicals and we know they are harmful for nature, but we didn’t know just how harmful they were. Until recently we didn’t know of any better alternatives."

The Civil20 Dialogue: shaping discussions in the run-up to the G20 Summit

New York – 21 March, 2013 – For the first time in the history of the G20 Summit, people from around the world are invited to share their views with world leaders.

Launched in mid-January by the G20 Civil Secretariat of Russia and UNDP, a crowdsourcing project called The Civil20 Dialogue is allowing global citizens to influence key policy recommendations that will be presented to the leaders during the G20 Summit, taking place in Saint-Petersburg, Russia, in September 2013.

Roma in the labour market: policy lessons

Roma take part in a vocational training programme in Albania 

Niall O’Higgins

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia – 14 March 2013 –The Roma are arguably both the largest ‘minority’ ethnic group in Central and South-eastern Europe and the one that has suffered most from transition to the market economy. Recent survey data show that, while some progress was made during the 2004-2011 period, Roma continue to experience pronounced labour market disadvantages when compared to majority populations.   

«Юг нуждается в Севере, а Север, во всевозрастающей степени, в Юге», – подчеркивается в «Докладе о человеческом развитии 2013»

Мехико, 14 марта 2013 г.  Страны – лидеры развивающегося мира, в том числе ключевые государства Восточной Европы и Центральной Азии, совместными усилиями меняют глобальную динамику власти в новую эпоху прогресса человеческого развития. Об этом говорится в «Докладе о человеческом развитии 2013», подготовленном Программой развития Организации Объединенных Наций (ПРООН).

Презентация Доклада состоялась сегодня с участием Администратора ПРООН Хелен Кларк и Президента Мексики Энрике Пенья Ньето.

“The South needs the North, and increasingly the North needs the South,” says 2013 UNDP Human Development Report

Mexico City, 14 March 2013—Leading countries of the developing world, including key countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, are together reshaping global power dynamics in a new era of human development progress, according to the United Nation Development Programme’s (UNDP) 2013 Human Development Report.

The Report—The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World— was launched today by UNDP Administrator Helen Clark and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.