TİKA to reach least developed countries

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The TİKA President says it aims to reach the 48 least developed countries. AA photo

Turkey aims to reach out and extend aid to all 48 “Least Developed Countries” (LDCs) in the world, the head of the country’s aid agency said yesterday.

“We have reached out to 30 of the 48 least developed countries in the world. In the year ahead, we will plant our flag by reaching out to all of these countries,” Serdar Çam, the president of the Prime Ministry’s Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), told Anatolia news agency, noting that Turkey’s support to LDCs in 2012 was $279 million.

“We will develop projects in various fields with a message saying ‘We are here too, we are here for making a contribution – although a small one – for healing your wound,’” Çam said.

In the last few years Turkey has been reaching out to different regions in need and has taken a leading role in the redevelopment of these regions, with Africa being the most visible example, according to Çam. Coordination with civil society organizations in these efforts has been maintained, while TİKA and the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) have played a key role in the coordination.

In May 2011, Istanbul hosted the United Nations Conference on LDCs, a category of countries distinguished not only by widespread poverty but also by the structural weakness of economic, institutional and human resources.

There are 33 African, 14 Pacific and one Latin American state among the LDCs countries, many of which suffer from deadly diseases such as malaria, hepatitis and tetanus.