ROLES OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION WITHIN THE STRUGGLE OF REDUCING POVERTY

1. ROLES OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION WITHIN THE STRUGGLE OF REDUCING POVERTY Yusuf Can Gokmen EGE UNIVERSITY-Int.Relations BIALYSTOK,2010

2. Introduction : What is local administration? Local administrations, with a simple definition, are constitutional foundations which are founded in legal law order for offsetting shared and local necessities of people that live in every kind of size communities within national borders. Comprehensively, Local government refers collectively administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than states. The term is used to contrast with offices at nation state level, which are referred to as the central government or(where appropriate) federal government.

3. Introduction : What is local administration? The institutions of local governments vary between countries , and even where similar arrangements exist, the terminology often varies. Common names for local government entities include state, province,region, department, country, prefecture, district, city, township, town, borough, parish, municipality, shire and village.

4. The European Charter of Local Self- Government The European Charter of Local Self-Government was adopted under the auspices of the Congress of the Council of Europe and was opened for signature by the Council of Europe’s member states on 15 October 1985. The Charter commits the ratifying member states to assuring the political, administrative and financial independence of local authorities. It provides that the principle of local self-government shall be recognized in domestic legislation and, where practicable, in the constitution. Local authorities are to be elected by universal suffrage, and it is the earliest legal instrument to set out the principle of subsidiarity.

5. Local Administrations in TURKEY A Centralised Unitary State Provinces, Districts and Metropolitan Areas

6. A Centralised Unitary State Turkey is parliamentary democracy, founded in 1923, with a strong secular republican constitutional tradition, owing to its origins as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire and the role of the 1922 revolution. The Turkish constitution proclaims it to be a centralised unitary state. In terms of national functions the largely ceremonial presidency is elected on a five-yearly term, with executive power vested in the prime minister and their cabinet. The prime minister is the leader of the largest party in Turkey’s unicameral Grand National Assembly, which consists of 550 members elected under proportional representation on a largely provincial basis.

7. Provinces, Districts and Metropolitans The centralisedcharacter of theTurkishconstitution, themostrecentbeingthe 1982 document, is demonstratedthroughitsprovinces (formerlygovernorates), whichareheadedbygovernorsappointedbythenationalcabinetandanswerabletotheMinistry of Interior. Thesystem is largely a continuation of Ottomantradition in administeringthevariousquarters of theempire, albeitwiththeintroduction of theinfluence of theFrenchprefecturalsystem. Inadditiontoperformingtheexecutivetasks, provincialgovernorsalsoheadtheprovincialassembly, electedeveryfiveyears. Governorsgenerallytakethelead in economicaffairsanddirectionsfromcentralgovernment but provincesalsoplay a role in agricultureandfurthereducation.

8. Provinces, Districts and Metropolitan Areas At thedistrictlevel, theexecutivehead is themayor, directlyelected since 1963. Whilethemayor is directlyelected on a fiveyearterm, theprovincialgovernorstill has scopetointervene in theaffairs of eachmunicipalityundertheirjurisdictionandthemayorsimplyleads a group of seniorlocalofficials in theirtasks. Thedistrictsvary in status, forinstancetheprincipaldistrict of a provincewill be administeredby an appointedvicegovernor, while a village is headedby a chiefratherthan a mayor. Thefunctionsexercised at thislevelarelargelyconcernedwithmatters of civilregistration, land, postsandtelecommunicationsandbasiceducation. Turkey’scapital Ankara is known as itsrepublicancapitalowingtothepre-eminence of theOttomancitadel of Istanbul (alsoknownglobally as Constantinople). IstanbulformstheGreaterIstanbulmunicipality (which is alsoone of Turkey’s 81 provinces), headedbythemetropolitanmayorandthemetropolitancouncil (consisting of 31 districtmayorsandonefifth of districtcouncillors). Istanbul is one of threemetropolitanmunicipalitiesintroducedfollowingtheend of militaryrule in 1984, theothersbeing Ankara andIzmir.

9. POVERTY Povertyrefersbeingunabletoaffordbasichumanneeds, such as cleanwater, nutrition, healthcare, education, clothingandshelter.This is alsoreferred to as absolutepoverty. Relativepoverty is thecondition of havingfewerresourcesorlessincomethanotherswithin a societyorcountry, orcomparedtoworldwideaverages.

10. Three Aspects of Poverty Poverty of Money Poverty of Access Poverty of Power

11. Three Aspects of Poverty Povertyessentially has threecloselyinterrelatedaspects: “poverty of money”, “poverty of access” and “poverty of power.” Thesemaketheworking, livingandsocialenvironments of thepoorextremelyinsecureandseverely limit theoptionsavailabletothemtoimprovetheirlives. Withoutchoicesandsecurity, breakingthecycle of povertybecomesvirtuallyimpossibleandleadstothemarginalizationandalienation of thepoorfromsociety.

12. Measuring Poverty Theextentandnature of poverty, as definedbyitsthreeaspectsanditsimpact on marginalizingandalienatingsegments of the urban society, aredifficulttomeasure. UNDP’sHumanDevelopmentIndex is an attempttocompileandcomparealltheaboveaspects of poverty. As theHumanDevelopmentReport of 1999 shows, theextentandnature of povertyvaryconsiderably in countries of AsiaandthePacific, andthat of urban povertyvariesconsiderablybetweencountries, betweenruraland urban areas, among urban areaswithin a particularcountry, amongneighbourhoods of a given urban areaandevenwithinneighbourhoods. Povertyalso has a genderdimension. Inmostcountries, thepoorest of thepoortendto be householdsheadedbywomen. Evenwithinthefamilyunit, thepoverties of money, accessandpowervarybased on gender, withwomenandfemalechildrensufferingmorethantheirmalecounterparts. Thustomeaningfullymeasurepoverty, disaggregated data andinformationareoftenneeded, which in manycountries do not exist.

13. Globalization and Its Impacts on the Urban Poor Whiledevelopingcountrieshavebeenstrugglingtoalleviatepovertyforsome time now, theyarealsofacingnewchallengesposedbyglobalization. Therearetwofundamentalandinterrelatedglobalizationtrendssweepingtheregion at present: globalization of economiesandglobalization of information. Boththesetrendsarefundamentallychanging not onlytheeconomies of thecountries of AsiaandthePacific, but alsotheirenvironments, culturesandsocieties. Thesetrendsarelikelytoaffectthe urban pooradversely as theythreatentowidenthegapbetweenthe “haves” andthe “have-nots” in society. Thosewithcapitalandaccesstoinformationandtheabilitytotranslatethatinformationintoeconomic, politicalandsocialgain, willbenefitfromglobalization.

14. Globalization and Its Impacts on the Urban Poor • Governmentbudgetcuts, particularly in areassuch as educationandhealth, havereducedthelevel of servicesavailabletosome of thepoor. • Theremoval of mostsubsidieswillprobably not adverselyaffect a majority of thepoor since they do not haveaccesstothem in thefirstplace. Whatwillperhapsindirectlyandadverselyaffectthepoorarethemassivelay-offsthataccompany “right-sizinggovernments” andprivatizinggovernment-ownedfirmsandenterprises.

15. Globalization and Its Impacts on the Urban Poor • Moreover, integration in the global economyalsomeansincreasedvulnerability of economiestodownturns in global markets. • Globalization of informationmeansgreaterexposuretoconsumerismandhigherexpectationsamong urban populations, which, giventheabovetrends, areunlikelyto be met for a majority of the urban poor. Higherexpectationsthatremainunachievable can becomecausesforsocial, ethnicandreligiousviolence.

16. Actions at theRegionalLevel 1 • Mosteffortstoalleviatepovertymust be taken at thenational, sub-nationalandlocallevels. Regionaleffortsshouldconcentrate on supportingefforts at thecountrylevel. Moreover, theseeffortsshouldconcentrate on actionsthateithercannot be done at thenationallevel, such as exchange of experienceandinformation, or on actionsthat, because of economies of scale can be done moreeffectively at theregionallevel, such as comparativeresearchor norm setting. Giventhesetwocriteria, theseregionalactionsaresuggested: • Furtherrefiningdisaggregatedindicators on urban povertythatwouldenablepolicy-makerstomeasureandunderstandboththeextentandnature of urban poverty;

17. Actions at theRegionalLevel 2 • Documentinganddisseminatinginnovations, networkingandpromotingexchange of experienceandinformationamonggovernmental, non-governmentalandcommunity-basedorganizations as well as researchandtraininginstitutions on variousaspects of urban poverty, toencouragelearningfromeachother; • Undertakingcomparativeactionresearch on cutting-edgeissuesandalternativedevelopmentapproachessuch as integratingtheeconomies of thepoorintotheformal global economy, decentralizedcommunity-basedwastemanagementsystems, andcommunity-basedsafety-nets, usinginformationtechnologies in capacity-building of localgovernments, amongothers;

18. Actions at theRegionalLevel 3 • Promotingdebateanddiscussionamongnationalandlocalpolicy-makers on cutting-edgeissues, approaches, policiesandstrategiestoalleviatepoverty; and • Advocatingsuchissues as decentralizationanddevolution, partnershipsamongorganizations of thepoorandother urban actors, security of tenureandgoodgovernance.

19. Thanks For Your Listening