UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Washington Liaison Office

UNDP Head Kemal Derviş Announces Departure

On January 8, UNDP head Kemal Derviş announced his decision not to seek a second four-year term as UNDP Administrator.  The Secretary General agreed to his request to resign as of March 1.  Derviş´ decision is entirely due to personal and family reasons. 

The Secretary General requested that nominations to succeed Derviş be made to him by the end of January.

Under Derviş´ leadership, UNDP programs in support of developing countries grew substantially over the last four years and UNDP´s Executive Board endorsed a new strategic plan for 2008-2011. Derviş, in his role as chair of the UN Development Group, also endeavored to increase the effectiveness and coherence of the full UN development system through reform initiatives such as "Delivering as One".  This initiative seeks to ensure more effective development operations among UN agencies by establishing a consolidated presence in the field that includes one national program, one budgetary framework, and an enhanced role for the UN Resident Coordinator. MORE

NOTEWORTHY:
Post-Conflict Economic Recovery – Enabling Local Ingenuity

While countries ravaged by war make the headlines, their recovery from violent upheaval is a story rarely covered.  Yet, economic recovery is a formidable challenge facing these devastated nations, and is the subject of a sweeping new report released recently by UNDP. MORE

ROUNDTABLE:
Click here to see the details and hear audio of the latest event in the UNDP Washington Liaison Office Roundtable Series:

A New Multilateralism?
Prospects for U.S.-UN Cooperation
on Climate Change

Fighting Corruption in Iraq:
UN Office on Drugs and Crime, UNDP Join Forces

US Department of State funds these efforts

In helping Iraq carry out its anticorruption commitments, UNODC and UNDP, with funding from the US Department of State, have formulated a program that will provide the Iraqi government with policy support to comply with the Convention against Corruption and to combat corruption at the governorate level. MORE

UN Capital Development Fund Launches MicroLead with Support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), an independent UN organization affiliated with UNDP, recently launched MicroLead&mdasha $26 million fund that will bolster savings-led microfinance institutions and financial service providers in developing markets. The aim of MicroLead, significantly funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is to support inclusive finance in the least developed countries. MORE