8 July 2010 04:30 pm
The spokesman quoted UN Secretary-General Ban ki-moon as saying he finds it unacceptable that the Sri Lankan authorities have failed to prevent the disruption of the normal functioning of the United Nations offices in Colombo as a result of unruly protests organized and led by a cabinet minister of the Government.
The Secretary-General calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to live up to its responsibilities towards the United Nations as host country, so as to ensure continuation of the vital work of the Organization to assist the people of Sri Lanka without any further hindrance.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN’s global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. It is present in 166 countries working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and its wide range of partners.
In Sri Lanka the UNDP is involved with poverty reduction, the Millennium Development Goals, Energy, Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction, Governance and Peace and Recovery.
UNDP began operations in Sri Lanka in 1967. UNDP’s overarching goal is to support the country in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and the reduction of poverty. UNDP pursues this goal by working closely with the Government of Sri Lanka and supporting its agenda and objectives as captured within the framework of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and in line with the government national development strategy, set out in the 'Mahinda Chinthana: Vision for a New Sri Lanka. (Daily Mirror online)