First Lady Erdogan spoke on children's digital safety and sustainability on the margins of the UN General Assembly

Pointing out in her speech at the event that climate change is one of the most visible results of the heavy burden left by human activities on the earth, First Lady Erdoğan said, "The Zero Waste movement has transformed the individual from being a helpless observer in the face of the climate crisis to the leading actor of the solution. It has proven that seemingly small behavioral changes can turn into a social culture when they become widespread, and into a permanent system when supported by the right policies." he said.

First Lady Erdoğan said, "It is our common responsibility to establish the infrastructure that will facilitate people's right choices, to design products that are longer-lasting, repairable and reusable, to develop technologies that will enable circular production and to establish international cooperation for these." he said.

Under her auspices, First Lady Erdoğan attended the event titled "Invisible Architecture: Building Safe Digital Systems for Children - Developing International Standards and Shared Responsibility", organized on the margins of the 81st UN General Assembly, under the auspices of the Ministry of Family and Social Services, in cooperation with UNICEF and the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Violence Against Children.

First Lady Erdoğan, who walked from the Turkevi to the event held at the UN Headquarters, pointed out in her speech at the program that today, children's minds and attention are taken into consideration and they have been turned into a target audience reduced to a user profile.

Emine Erdoğan emphasized that the domination over children should be removed and said, "The responsibility of ensuring the safety of the child belongs to all of us, not just the parents. We must establish a healthy digital ecosystem and ensure that security is the starting point of design, not a feature added to digital systems." He said his words.

Pointing out that joint efforts should be combined instead of individual regulations against technology companies in each country, First Lady Erdoğan said, "At this point, we should develop common global standards rather than differing national practices. We should create these standards together under the umbrella of the United Nations. We should ensure the development of a common understanding of practice among countries with regular monitoring and reporting mechanisms. We should strengthen the accountability of technology companies and digital platforms and lay the groundwork for them to have equal responsibility in the protection of children." he said.

In the program, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, spouses of leaders of Gambia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Lithuania, Burundi, Kenya, Guatemala, Senegal, Romania, Chile, Lebanon and Canada, UNICEF Child Protection Director Sheema Sen Gupta, UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Violence Against Children Dr. Najat Maalla M'jid and Ministry of Family and Social Services and UNICEF Türkiye Child Rights Coordinator Ahmet Yiğit Başoğlu also made speeches.

In addition, the spouses of the leaders of North Macedonia and Kyrgyzstan, Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek, Minister of Health Kemal Memişoğlu and President of the Zero Waste Foundation Samed Ağırbaş, editors-in-chief of television and newspapers and many guests also attended the event.

First Lady Erdoğan said, "Our primary concern should be to move away from the disposable culture shaped around disposable products. We must move to a culture of sustainability that will be shaped around long-lasting and durable products for the well-being of all of us and intergenerational justice." he called.

Stating that Türkiye ranks 5th in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of renewable energy installed capacity, First Lady Erdoğan said, "We aim to increase our solar and wind installed power to 120 thousand megawatts by 2035. We build this target on the principle of producing clean energy with minimum waste. For this reason, we wish to take the zero waste approach even further within the scope of the action agenda of COP-31, which we will host in November. Because zero waste is a reality in every field from production to consumption." "It is the most powerful way to open the door to a transformation." shared his knowledge.

“CIRCULAR ECONOMY IS A MUST FOR OUR FUTURE”

First Lady Erdoğan sent a message to the opening of the "Sustainable Development Impact Meetings" organized by the World Economic Forum in New York.

Stating that the current production and consumption systems are not capable of carrying humanity into the future, First Lady Erdoğan said, "Our planet resembles a plundered mine, the oceans cannot breathe, cities cannot deal with their waste. Therefore, circular economy is not one of the options before us, but a necessity for our future." He included his statements.

Pointing out that ensuring the transition to a circular economy means strengthening sustainable development, expanding recycling, activating waste management and turning to renewable energy sources, First Lady Erdoğan said that they see zero waste as a key to achieving these.