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Administrator's Statement: Commemoration of the First Anniversary of the Bombing of the United Nations Office in Iraq

Knowledge Services: Real-time solutions for a developing world

Communities of Practice: Democratic Governance • Poverty Reduction • Crisis Prevention and Recovery • Energy and Environment • HIV/AIDS

Cross-cutting areas: Capacity Development • Gender in Development • Information & Communications Technology

In Brief:

• Japan to give $1 million for war-affected communities of Guinea – 19 August 2004: Japan is providing US$1 million to help communities in the districts of Forécariah and Kindia in Guinea, host to nearly 500,000 refugees from neighboring war-torn Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire and 320,000 internally displaced persons. The initiative, implemented by UNDP, aims to provide basic social services, stimulate income-generation, enhance agricultural production, restore rural infrastructure and stem HIV/AIDS. More…

• UNDP engages expatriates to help rebuild Somalia - 19 August 2004: UNDP Somalia has launched a new initiative, QUESTS (Qualified Expatriate Somali Technical Support), to facilitate the transfer of expertise by expatriates to Somalia. QUESTS will focus on health, education and agriculture — priority areas identified by local authorities and international organizations. The project will help 10 to 15 Somali institutions assess immediate short-term needs and encourage Somali professionals living abroad to fulfill them on a voluntary basis. More…

• India's fight against AIDS gets boost from private business - 19 August 2004: India's second largest cement manufacturer, Gujarat Ambuja Cements Limited has announced that it is partnering with the International Labour Organization and National AIDS Control Organization to promote HIV/AIDS awareness among its employees and their families. The company's new policy on HIV/AIDS was developed and adopted with help from the Ambuja Cement Foundation and UNDP.

• UNDP Chief praises efforts to overcome flood losses in Bangladesh - 18 August 2004: Mark Malloch Brown, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is visiting Bangladesh this week, meeting with leaders, and observing relief and recovery efforts following the recent flooding. Malloch Brown praised government efforts to overcome losses caused by the flood. To bolster these efforts, UNDP and the World Food Programme are distributing food, hygiene kits, soap and clothes through national and international non-governmental organizations, funded by the UK Department for International Development.

• Indonesia launches voter education campaign - 16 August 2004: Indonesia’s General Elections Commission is preparing a massive televised education programme to encourage its 155 million eligible voters to exercise their rights in the second round of the country’s presidential elections, scheduled for 20 September. Public service announcements will air on 10 TV channels, starting 21 August. The announcements, funded in part by UNDP, will also be broadcast via radio and published in print media.

• African Development Funds of $1.5 million boosts Burkina Faso's fight against HIV/AIDS - 13 August 2004: UNDP recently signed an agreement with the African Development Fund to mobilize US$1.5 million over the next 36 months to provide operational support to civil society groups in their fight against HIV/AIDS. An estimated 440,000 adults and children are infected with the disease. More…

More In Brief...

UNDP is the UN's global development network

It advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground 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 our wide range of partners.

World leaders have pledged to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goal of cutting poverty in half by 2015. UNDP's network links and coordinates global and national efforts to reach these Goals. Our focus is helping countries build and share solutions to the challenges of: Democratic Governance, Poverty Reduction, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Energy and Environment, and HIV/AIDS.

UNDP helps developing countries attract and use aid effectively and integrates information and communications technology for development into its work in democratic governance and poverty reduction. In all our activities, we promote the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women. More about UNDP...