Turkey shares its experience with emerging donors at TİKA – UNDP Workshop: “Future of Skills”

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) İstanbul Regional (Europe and Central Asia) Hub jointly organized a workshop, namely “Future of Skills”, on 24-25 October in İstanbul.

The event brought together some 50 experts from emerging donor countries’ institutions working in the field of development assistance including colleagues from UNDP and TİKA staff members. The workshop also served as a part of ODA capacity building series carried out by UNDP since 2014.

In today’s world there is a critical shortcoming in developing skills that can match the rapidly shifting landscape of work, especially in developing countries. Hence, in international development cooperation, skills development has received a significant attention and investment based on the assumption that it can reduce unemployment, raise incomes and improve living standards. “Future of Skills” Workshop was designed to provide an opportunity to exchange and learn about the changing nature of work and future trends of skills development that contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals.

In different sessions future of skills was discussed through experiences, best practices, innovation and lessons learnt by TİKA, UNDP, Austrian Development Agency, UNITAR, EBRD, IICPSD, TAV, Microsam – a Macedonian company, European Training Foundation and other organisations.

Some of the countries represented at the event are Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Hersegovina, Czech Republic, Estonia, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Uzbekistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia.

Every year TİKA provides skills development trainings and experience-sharing activities for thousands of people from developing countries across the world, most of whom are public service providers. TİKA aims at facilitating both youth employment and quality service-delivery in the public field, and a specialised department at TİKA carries out many projects in a wide range of fields from ICT to emergency health care, from media to tourism by transfering knowledge, technology and Turkish expertise.

This event is expected to help increase the quality of ODA activities by donors in the Region as well as create a fertile ground for future partnerships among emerging donors, particularly in the field of skills development.