Povert reduction programs in Turkey and their effects

Poverty is one of the bigest problem in many countries including that Turkey. Turkey began to fight poverty as officially in a time of late as mid1990s. First time, a Special Commission as a part of the eight development plan was established in order to develop a strategy to investigate the issues of poverty and mitigate the effects of povertyIn the fight against poverty, the traditional approach of Turkey is the family assistances because of the lack of the systematic social assistance schemes. However, reducing the functionality of family on reduction of risk, Turkey has begun several initatives in order to fight against poverty. The most important of these initiatives is Social Assistance and Solidarity Fund was established in 1986 as a result of increasing response against 1980 stabilization program.Poverty and income inequality is very high level in Turkey compared to OECD countries. İn the period between the 1985-2005, the general trend of poverty has increased in Turkey, albeit at a small level. Turkey did not succeed in fighting poverty during this period. İn 2008, the poverty rate is %17 in Turkey. Poverty is more prevalent in rural than urban. The risk of poverty is proportional to household size, inversely proportional to educational level.. However institutionalization of poverty reduction efforts, the fight against poverty has gained momentum in Turkey. Social Assistance and Solidarity Fund is the most important actors in this regard. İn this contex, Social Assistance and Solidarity Fund aims to provide inter-agency coordination with future projects. So that, it will assume a more active role in the fight against poverty.KEY WORDS1.Poverty2.Poverty Reduction3.Measuring poverty4.Microcredit5.Social Assistance and Solidarity Fund