Statement by H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the Expanded Extraordinary Meeting of OIC Executive Committee, 12 August 2014, Jeddah Statement by H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu at the Meeting of Turkey-CARICOM Consultation and Cooperation Mechanism, 18 July 2014, İstanbul Speech of H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Conference on “International Development Cooperation: Trends and Emerging Opportunities -Perspectives of the New Actors”, 20 June 2014, Istanbul Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the 41st Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, 18 June 2014, Jeddah Speech Delivered by H.E. Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu at the Ministerial Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, 28 May 2014, Algeria Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 4th Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, 21 May 2014, Shanghai Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Meeting of Group of Friends of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, 2 April 2014, New York Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the OIC Executive Committee Meeting on the Latest Developments in the Central African Republic, 20 February 2014, Jeddah Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Geneva II Conference, Montreux, 22 January 2014 Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the 16th Session of the D-8 Council of Foreign Ministers, 19 December 2013, Islamabad Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 29th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, 12 December 2013, Yerevan Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 21st Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organization, 26 November 2013, Tehran Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 12th Ministerial Meeting of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) Member States, 25 November 2013, Manama Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the High Level Segment Meeting During the 64th Excom Meeting of UNHCR, Geneva, 30 September 2013 Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Group of Friends Ministerial Meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations, 27 September 2013, New York Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the meeting entitled “LDC Graduation: The Way Towards MDG Acceleration, Sustainable Development and Structural Transformation”, 27 September 2013, New York Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the Global Counter Terrorism Forum Opening Speech by H.E. Ahmet Davutoglu Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, 27 September 2013, New York Address by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 22nd Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, İstanbul, 29 June 2013 Speech Delivered by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the 28th Ministerial Meeting of BSEC, 21 June 2013, Odessa Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the OIC Donor Conference in Support of The City of Al-Quds, Baku, Azerbaijan, 11 June 2013 Speech delivered by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Mali, 13 May 2013, Jeddah Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Somalia Conference, 7 May 2013, London Address by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Third Ministerial Conference of the Istanbul Process, 26 April 2013, Almaty Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, at the Third Review Conference of the Chemical Weapons Convention, 9 April 2013, The Hague Statement by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the 24th Summit Meeting of the League of Arab States, 26 March 2013, Doha Speech Delivered by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, in the University of London School of Economics and Political Science, 7 March 2013, London Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the UN Human Rights Council, 25 February 2013, Geneva Statement by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey at the Ministerial Meeting Preparatory to the Twelfth Session of the Islamic Summit Conference, 4 February 2013, Cairo Speech Delivered by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, at the Ministerial Meeting of BSEC,15 December 2012, İstanbul Opening Remarks by Mr. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey at the Third Ministerial Meeting of the Global Counterterrorism Forum, 14 December 2012, Abu Dhabi
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Address by H.E. Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey on the Occasion of Civil Society Forum UNLDC 4, 8 May 2011, İstanbul

Honorable Secretary-General, 
Honorable Vice President of Gambia,
Honorable Prime Minister of Nepal, 
Dr. Karaman,
Dr. Karki, 
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen, 
 
 
It is my pleasure to welcome you to İstanbul for a “once a decade” event, the Fourth United Nations Conference on LDCs.  
 
The Civil Society and non-governmental organizations are crucial partners for LDCs in their development endeavours.  Taking the importance of our gathering into account, I would like to express that I feel honored to be given the opportunity to address you on this Forum. 
 
I would also like to acknowledge the hard work being carried out by the coordinators of the Civil Society Forum. I am grateful for their efforts to create a Forum, full of participants who are dedicated to advocate the LDCs’ development agenda.      
 
Having said that I wish to welcome the launch of the “Global Civil Society Report and Recommendations” to the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. I thoroughly agree with the report that “development paradigm must change as the dominant approaches to development has failed the world’s pooretst citizens. A genuine partnership is needed.” 
 
I have full confidence that your deliberations during the coming week will be a  significant input for the development agenda of LDCs for the upcoming decade.      
 
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen, 
 
NGOs are key partners in our quest to achieve peace and prosperity for all nations and countries, regardless of their circumstances, region, ethnicity or religion.  
 
Their specialized knowledge and understanding of local populations, regional issues and implications for policy often help enable governments and UN agencies and programmes to deliver aid to those who need it.
 
On the other hand, NGOs have a key role to play not only in helping the needed but also in shaping a new model of development and green growth. Without involving the entire societies, including NGOs, local governments and the private sector, in development efforts, our success in reaching the MDGs and climate change goals will be elusive. 
 
We must admit that the track record of civil society and NGOs has been very impressive: they often work in areas that central governments cannot reach, such as the poor and socially excluded, in providing humanitarian assistance, in mobilizing community support for development, and in the areas of human rights and gender equality, among others. 
 
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
On the policy and advocacy side, NGOs inspire the public to lobby on behalf of developing countries. NGOs have been instrumental in advocating for policy innovation, presenting the evidence and new ideas and approaches to Governments and the United Nations. Campaigning on UN related issues, for example, on poverty and health issues such as HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has not only increased international awareness to these problems but has also helped raise funding and move forward in the international health, economic and social agendas.
 
NGOs can form an invaluable catalytic role in support of UN work on social and economic issues, raising points that others would choose not to raise, advocating fresh ideas and perspectives, new ways of looking at the world. 
 
In other words, the work of the NGOs helps ensure that governments and the international community are aware of the realities on the ground.
 
It is therefore understandable and a welcome development that NGOs have grown considerably in number and importance in the last decades. They have become an unavoidable and inseparable part of international relations, by connecting governments and civil society but also by promoting their own agenda.
 
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
Turkey attaches great importance to the participation of NGOs in international relations and especially in the work of the UN. Our country has long been a member of the NGO Committee of ECOSOC and is currently chairing this Committee.  
 
We believe that a strong civil society can only improve and complement the action of governments and international organizations and as such we fully support the increased participation of NGOs in international relations. 
 
Having said this I would like to reiterate the importance of the ownership of the post-Conference phase by all stakeholders including civil society organizations. I believe that  it is essential in monitoring the delivery of the commitments on the ground. 
 
Thank you.