UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis visited Finland
Press release 101/2007
22 May 2007
Administrator Kemal Dervis of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) met with Paavo Väyrynen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Ilkka Kanerva, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Jyrki Katainen, Minister of Finance on 22 May during his visit to Finland. Dervis also paid a visit to the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament and had talks about development issues with senior civil servants of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
During the meetings Administrator Dervis discussed international crisis management, climate change and other priorities of Finland’s new Government. The discussions also dealt with reform of the UN and cooperation between the UN development organisations and the World Bank. Dervis is the UN’s third highest official, after Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro.
“Finland’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals and multilateral cooperation is convincing. Finland’s support to stabilisation of countries in conflict and to combating climate change is also gratifying,” Dervis stated.
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen emphasised that both the UNDP’s activities and Finland’s own development policy activities should stress the principles of ecologically sustainable development.
In discussing the UN reform, Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva said that Finland supports the efforts of Ban Ki-moon, the UN’s new Secretary-General, to strengthen the UN.
The UNDP is the United Nations’ global development cooperation organisation. It strives to promote democratic government and to strengthen developing countries’ capacity to respond to global challenges. The UNDP coordinates the United Nations’ efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals and promotes effective use of development aid at country level. The organisation also plays an important role in crisis prevention and reconstruction.
Additional information: Attaché Hanna-Leena Korteniemi, Department for Global Affairs of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, mobile tel. +358 40 565 1500, and Information Officer Pasi Rajala, UNDP, mobile tel. +358 400 464 393