UNDP Turkey, in collaboration with UNDP’s IICPSD, conducted a series of training programmes focusing on opportunities in SDG-anchored investing for 117 policymakers, development professionals and finance experts.

UNDP Turkey and UNDP’s Istanbul International Center for Private Sector in Development (IICPSD) completed the fourth Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) investment training in January with the aim to increase investments on initiatives that will reduce poverty and inequalities, and protect the planet.

UNDP sees impact investing as the way to close the gap between the ambitious targets of the SDGs and the financial resources the world has available to pursue them. Since the last quarter of 2021, four trainings have been conducted for relevant stakeholders that focused on the investment ecosystem in Turkey, impact investing, impact reporting and management, investment opportunity areas identified in SDG Investor Map Turkey, and best practices.

Trainings reached policy makers and practitioners from public institutions, development agencies and investment support offices, private sector, investors, entrepreneurs and funders, relevant NGOs and academicians who are key stakeholders for impact investing and helped to strengthen their knowledge, insight and skills on SDG investments and impact investing. A total of 117 participants, 60 percent of whom were women, attended these trainings.

As substantial financing is required to achieve the SDG Agenda by 2030, it is essential to partner with the private sector and expand SDG-related investments. The trainings raised awareness among participants and allowed them to explore why it is important to understand the fundamentals of SDG investments and how to measure and manage the impact investing.

Each training consisted of nine-modules provided information to participants on the sustainable development agenda, SDG-anchored investments impact measurement, reporting and management. In addition to that, participants gained a better understanding on the role of policymakers in building an SDG-friendly investment environment, the role of the public sector in boosting SDG investments, opportunities and risk mitigation strategies in public-private partnerships, financing models and mechanisms in the impact investing ecosystem, integrating impact management and financial management and best practices for each topic.

The trainings were organized as part of the SDG Investment Initiative which was launched by UNDP Turkey and UNDP’s IICPSD in October 2021, aiming to raise awareness of investors and private sector on the potential impact of different investment decisions, and promote standards to measure impact. The SDG investment training modules will also be accessible from the SDG Investments Turkey Platform.