UNDP chief begins official visit to Brazil

Helen Clark, the administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), on Wednesday kicked off a two-day official visit to Brazil, and she is expected to sign a strategic partnership framework agreement between UNDP and the Brazilian government, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky announced in the United Nations.

"UNDP Chief Helen Clark today begins a two-day official visit to Brazil, meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as well as other government officials," Nesirky said at a daily news briefing.

"During her visit, she will also sign a strategic partnership framework agreement between UNDP and the Brazilian government," the spokesman said. "South-South cooperation initiatives and continued action for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals are among the top priorities for the agreement."

The United Nations is expected to host a summit in September to review the progress and difficulties in the global efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals, a series of internationally accepted targets to reduce poverty, boost education and improve gender equality by 2015.

Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand, became the UNDP administrator in April 2009. She is the first woman to lead the UN agency.

UNDP is the UN global developmental network. It is on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

Source: Xinhua