Administrator of UNDP Helen Clark to visit Finland


Helen Clark, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, will visit Finland on 19-20 October at the invitation of Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyrynen.

The topics of discussion will include Finland’s initiative for closer development policy dialogue between the United States and the EU, issues related to climate change, and the importance of democracy and good governance for sustainable economic development.

In the UN system, the UN Development Programme is the key actor providing financing for and implementing development aid programmes. The focus of UNDP activities lies primarily in the development of democracy and good governance, prevention of environmental threats, as well as conflict prevention and post-conflict rehabilitation.

The UNDP Headquarters is located in New York and the agency has operations in almost all developing countries. UNDP is one of Finland’s main cooperation partners in multilateral development co-operation. This year, Finland’s general aid contribution to the UNDP budget is EUR 19 million.

Helen Clark has been the head of UNDP since April this year. She is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand and is now visiting Finland for the first time since her appointment to her current position. During her visit to Finland, Clark will also meet Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, MP Pekka Haavisto and representatives of NGOs.