UN, Sri Lanka discuss ties
The United Nations (UN) and the Sri Lankan Government today had discussions on future ties between the world body and Sri Lanka.
Haoliang Xu, the UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director, UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, who is on a four-day visit to Sri Lanka, met with Kshenuka Senevirathne, Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, to discuss Sri Lanka’s engagement with the UN and UNDP, the External Affairs Ministry said.
The External Affairs Ministry said that the meeting provided the opportunity to explore common interests that would further strengthen UNDP’s partnership with the Government of Sri Lanka.
On arriving in Sri Lanka the UN official had said he hoped to assess the human development progress in Sri Lanka.
Xu will undertake a visit to UN / UNDP supported development projects in the Northern Province, focusing on livelihood recovery and socio-economic development.
“UN’s work in Sri Lanka has shifted largely towards more development-focused programmes. While understanding the impressive progress made so far, I also look forward to better understanding the human development priorities of the country as well as how we as the United Nations could strengthen our support to achieve these priorities,” he said.
Xu further added that his visit will in particular focus on UNDP’s Programme in Sri Lanka, in the areas of access to justice, gender equality, socio-economic development, empowerment and disaster risk management. (Colombo Gazette)
