in: Pursuing Sustainable Development Goals The Performance of Türki̇ye in the Centennial of the Republic, BİLLUR ENGİN BALIN,HATİCE DİLARA MUMCU AKAN,FERDA KARAGÖZ ÖZENÇ,ÖZCAN GARAN, Editor, Istanbul University Press, İstanbul, pp.3-31, 2024
Türkiye is celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary and implementing policies to promote sustainable
development at the same time. With nearly 82 million citizens, Türkiye stands as a dynamic nation that has a distinct
historical context that shapes the country’s trajectory. As the nation’s accomplishments and potential are reviewed,
sustainable development goals, including the pioneering goal of ending poverty, must be examined. This complex
phenomenon hinders human potential, maintains inequality, and slows the advancement of inclusive and equitable
societies. The UNDP and its partners in Türkiye1
are working towards achieving the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGS) by 2030, and the first goal is to end poverty by that time. After 25 years of steady progress in reducing
poverty, the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed that progress, with the number of people living in extreme poverty
rising for the first time in a generation. In comparison to predictions made before the pandemic, the combined crisis
with the Ukranian war could result in an increase of 75 million to 95 million people living in extreme poverty in
2022 (UN, 2022; 26). When compared globally between the years 2000 and 2016, Türkiye was one of those nations
that has significantly reduced poverty and showed delicate success in eradicating severe poverty (BM, 2019; 35).
Unfortunately, that was a fragile progress and today poverty is still a serious problem in our country. Elimination of
poverty in all its forms and dimensions is an indispensable requirement and the policies aimed at reaching this
requirement will be the focus of this chapter.