New head of UNDP for Eastern Europe and Central Asia visits Turkey

November 26, 2018

Mirjana Spoljaric Egger

On her visit to Ankara and Istanbul, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger discusses UNDP’s national, regional and global collaboration with Turkey.

Ankara, 26 November 2018 –Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General and Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS, on her visit to Ankara and Istanbul, discusses UNDP’s partnership with Turkey together with top government officials and business leaders.

In Ankara, UNDP and representatives of the Turkish government today talk about the rapid development of their partnership since the signature of a landmark agreement in 2011.

UNDP supports three pillars of Turkey’s development agenda - inclusive and sustainable growth, democratic governance, and climate change and environmental protection – and is collaborating with Ankara to bring development and humanitarian approaches together more closely under the New Way of Working. UNDP also contributed to the preparation of Turkey’s national development plan, covering the period 2019-2023.

Working with more than 40 Turkish and international institutions, UNDP is for instance helping the country create employment opportunities for Syrians and host communities, providing access to legal aid for disadvantaged groups, promoting renewable energy and helping improve public services.

“Turkey is one of the few countries that is working with UNDP at three levels: the national, the regional and the global,” said Mirjana Spoljaric Egger. “The country is a significant contributor of development assistance globally; hosts the largest number of displaced people in the world; and as a Middle-Income Country, has the experience and know-how to assist other countries as they develop,” she added.

In 2011, reflecting Turkey’s role as a top provider of humanitarian assistance and as OECD’s fastest growing donor, UNDP and the government signed an agreement to take their collaboration to the regional and global level.

Globally, Turkey is a contributor to UNDP core resources, the co-founder of the Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD) and contributes to development projects in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

At the regional level, Turkey is co-funding UNDP’s Regional Programme and hosting the Regional Hub for Europe and the CIS, which was officially opened in Istanbul in April 2015.

In Istanbul, Ms. Spoljaric Egger will open the Istanbul Innovation Days, which will look at the future of collaboration and citizenship in an age of technological disruption, under the hashtag #NextGenGov.

As Director of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS, Mirjana Spoljaric Egger will lead UNDP’s work and teams in 17 countries and one territory, spanning Central Asia, the Western CIS and South Caucasus, and Western Balkans.

Ms. Spoljaric Egger previously served as Head of United Nations and International Organisations Division of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, where she has been instrumental in shaping Swiss UN policies and priorities in support the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. She is the successor of Ms Cihan Sultanoğlu who was appointed as the new UN Representative to the Geneva International Discussions earlier this year.

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Press contacts:

In Ankara, Faik Uyanık, Head of Communications for UNDP in Turkey, faik.uyanik@undp.org

In Istanbul, Nicolas Douillet, Communications Team Leader at UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub nicolas.douillet@undp.org

Biography of Ms Mirjana Spoljaric Egger: http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/about-us/our-leadership.html#Mirjana