Turk Chosen To Head UN Development Agenda

Turk Chosen To Head UN Development Agenda

New York, Apr 26 2005 Choosing from over 100 nominations by Governments and other institutions, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today named a Turkish former World Bank executive, who was responsible for developing new poverty reduction strategies, to head the UN Development Programme (UNDP) for the next four years.

The <"http://www.undp.org/dpa/pressrelease/releases/2005/april/pr26apr05.html">nomination of Kemal Dervis, 56, now goes before the 191-member General Assembly for approval.

Mr. Dervis was Turkey's Finance Minister from March 2001 to August 2002, when he was credited with leading his country out of a major economic crisis.

He had previously served for 22 years at the Http://Web.Worldbank.Org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,Pagepk:34382~Pipk:34439~Thesitepk:4607,00.Html World Bank, where he was Vice President for Middle East and North Africa and Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, according to <" http://www.undp.org/">UNDP.

In the anti-poverty post he was pivotal in developing the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) initiative, which calls on Governments to involve civil society organizations (CSOs) and development partners in the process of devising national proposals on promoting economic growth.

"I believe Kemal Dervis would make an outstanding Administrator of UNDP," Mr. Annan said in a letter to the President of the programme's Executive Board. "I chose him from an outstanding array of global candidates."

Mr. Dervis' combination of proven practical and intellectual track records in development and international finance "with a passionate commitment to addressing the scourge of poverty" and his managerial skills would enable him to consolidate UNDP's critical role in addressing global priorities - from the 2000 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which seek to reduce a host of socio-economic ills, to crisis prevention and recovery, Mr. Annan said.

He added that Mr. Dervis could build on the successful six-year reform effort implemented by current Administrator Mark Malloch Brown, who, in that capacity, also chairs the UN Development Group (UNDG), but was recently appointed Mr. Annan's Chief of Staff.

UNDP is the largest of the independently funded UN agencies and, under its special General Assembly mandate, leads the UN's work on eradicating extreme poverty and promoting good governance in the developing world. Its staff is active in 166 countries.

Mr. Dervis' current activities, such as participation in the Global Progressive Forum and the Progressive Governance Network, have been aimed at "finding ways to make globalization into a more stable and inclusive process and to further international cooperation," UNDP said.

He is the author of a book published last month called "For Better Globalization," speaks fluent English, French and German, besides Turkish, and holds a doctorate in economics from Princeton University and Master's and Bachelor's degrees from the London School of Economics

ENDS

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