HDI-D AND SDGs PROJECT ADVISORY BOARD MEETING

Sustainable Development Goals take on a different dimension with the project launched by UCLG-MEWA and Human Development Foundation (INGEV). The project on the matching of The Human Development Index – Districts (HDI-I), which aims to measure and monitor human development at the local level, with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its dissemination in the MEWA region is expected to bring up the HDI-I to the international agenda.
The HDI-I’s first phase was initiated in 2016 by INGEV and covered 150 districts with the highest population within the metropolises in Turkey. Following the study conducted in 2017, the number of districts covered reached 186 with the inclusion of all districts in 3 metropolises. Previously conducted based on 56 variables under the indexes of governance, social inclusion, economic status, education, health, social life, environment and transport, the project, this time, is matched with the sub-goals of the SDGs.
The first phase of the project started with the Advisory Board Meeting held on 19 November 2019. The meeting held in Istanbul under the auspices of Marmara Municipalities Union of Turkey was attended by representatives from the central government, local governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and academia. The meeting opened with the speeches of Mehmet Duman, UCLG-MEWA Secretary General; Vural Çakır, President of INGEV, and M. Cemil Arslan, Secretary General of the Marmara Municipalities Union as the host organization. Prof. Dr. After Murat Şeker, Faculty Member at Istanbul University, shared the research scope and methodology of HDI-I with the Advisory Board Members, which was followed by the interactive discussion. Through the group studies carried out under the titles of “Human Development Index-Districts,” “Human Development Index-Metropolises” and “Relationship Between Human Development Index & UN Sustainable Development Goals,” the Advisory Board Members discussed the project’s methodology.
The next phase of the project will continue with the preparation of an analysis report on the relationship between HDI-I and SDGs.