UNDP Chief Helen Clark to visit from 13 to 17 March

New Delhi, 12 March 2012: Helen Clark, United Nations Development Programme Administrator arrives in New Delhi on Thursday 13 March 2012 on a five‐day official visit.

During her visit, Helen Clark will witness the signing of the ‐UNDP Partnership Framework Agreement that seeks to take cooperation and partnership between the two entities to the next level by enhancing South‐South cooperation in support of other developing countries.

Helen Clark, the former Prime Minister of New Zealand was appointed UNDP Administrator in 2009. This is her second visit to India in her current capacity. While in India she will meet senior leaders including the Minister of External Affairs, Mr. S. M. Krishna, the Minister of Rural Development, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, Minister of Environment and Forests, Ms. , and Minister of Tribal Affairs and Panchayati Raj, Mr. V.Chandra Singh Deo,.

During her visit Helen Clark will interact with women leaders who are influencing policy and action at local and national levels. She will also have an opportunity to see first‐hand some of their work.

To commemorate India’s leadership in embracing the human development approach Helen Clark will present the inaugural India Human Development Awards instituted by UNDP and the Planning Commission. Titled Manav Vikas, the awards are in recognition of India’s rich body of work in national, state and district Human Development Reports (HDR) and its emergence as the world’s largest producer of sub‐national HDRs.

At the culmination of her visit Helen Clark will deliver the 12th D.T Lakdawala Memorial Lecture on, ‘Why Equity and Sustainability Matter for Human Development‘, organized by the Institute of Social Sciences and sponsored by the Planning Commission. Previous lecturers have included nobel laureates Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz. Over 70 senior UNDP managers from the Asia Pacific region will meet in New Delhi during this period. Interactions with Indian leaders and regional experts will help to update their understanding of the emerging challenges that confront the region so as to better position UNDP to respond to the rapidly evolving development scenario.

About UNDP

UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. With offices in more than 160 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

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