The United Nations (UN) Assistant Secretary-General and Director, Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ms. Kanni Wignaraja, landed in Vientiane yesterday for her first official visit to the Lao PDR.
Ms. Wignarajal will meet senior government officials to discuss UNDP’s support and contribution to national development priorities, including the 9th National Socio-economic Development Plan-NSEDP and the sustainable development goals.
Deputy Prime Minister, and Ministers of Planning and Investment, Labour and Social Welfare, Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, and representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bank of the Lao PDR and the National Assembly will be on hand to welcome Ms. Wignaraja.
She will participate in the launch of a new programme with the National Assembly, called Strengthening Capacity and Effectiveness of People’s Assemblies System in Laos (STEPS), one of UNDP’s largest governance projects in the region, supported by USAID.
Ms. Wignaraja will also meet with representatives of civil society, organizations of persons with disabilities, women leaders, members of the private sector, as well as UNDP beneficiaries, to deepen her understanding of how UNDP can expand its support for key development initiatives.
She will lead a dialogue on the upcoming 6th National Human Development Report on Youth as drivers of sustainable development.
Ms. Wignaraja is slated to visit key UNDP projects, for instance, in Luang Prabang, where she will meet with the Provincial People’s Council to understand some of the challenges they are facing during the economic crisis now engulfing the country. She will also travel to Vang Vieng to visit a tourist site renovated by the local community, through a cash-for-work programme.
Over four decades of partnership with the Lao PDR, UNDP has supported the government in several areas such as socio-economic development, inclusive growth, enhanced livelihoods, building the resilience of communities across the country, and climate action.
Source: Lao News Agency