UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
Washington Liaison Office

UNDP Compound in Somaliland Bombed
Yesterday´s bombing of the UNDP compound in Somaliland resulted in the death of two UN colleagues; others were severely injured. Once again, UN staff have been killed in the line of duty while working in some of the world´s most challenging situations. UNDP will continue to take action to protect its staff with greater support from member states. Official statement.

The Economic Crisis, Developing Nations and International Financial Institutions
In a press conference on October 23, UNDP Administrator Kemal Derviş discussed the significance of UNDP´s new report "Post-Conflict Economic Recovery: Enabling Local Ingenuity," linked below. During the question and answer session, the direction of the discussion turned to the current financial crisis and its impact on the poor and developing countries. Derviş, an economist and Turkey´s former Minister of Finance, has been speaking out about the need for a worldwide solution to the crisis that includes poor and developing nations, a message that has been resonating with the international community. Edited excerpts from this interview can be found here.  Also see: The Crisis Will Be Especially Serious for the Poor, Le Monde October 17.

"Making the Law Work for
Everyone," released in June
2008, is now available for
down­load in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. The Commission on Legal
Empowerment of the Poor,
hosted by UNDP, aims to
make legal protection and
economic opportunity the
right of all. Legal Empowerment was launched in 2005 by a group of developing and industrialized countries including Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Guatemala, Iceland, India, Norway, Sweden, South Africa, Tanzania and the United Kingdom, and has a mandate to complete its work in 2008. This report is available online here.

"Post-Conflict Economic Recovery:
Enabling Local Ingenuity"
A new report released by UNDP provides new insights on post-conflict economic recovery to establish sustainable economic growth and human development. See the full report.

Corruption, Poverty and Gender
Winnie Byanyima, director of UNDP´s Gender Team, writes about her participation in the launch of a new book, "Corruption, Poverty and Gender," and how UNDP can add value to ongoing efforts to establish a clear line of accountability between women and the government officials representing them. She outlines three important challenges for reducing the poverty implications of corruption for the poor, and for women in particular, in order to bring them into the accountability planning process.