Brende: the United Nations Development Programme crucial to sustainability goals

Oslo. Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende ( Conservative Party ).Photo: Vegard Wivestad Grøtt / NTB scanpix

United Nations Development Programme will be crucial in achieving the new sustainability goals,  Foreign Minister Brende says.

Brende is in New York Wednesday partly to participate in the commemoration of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) turning 50 this year, but he will also lead an important session on war prevention in the United Nations.
50th anniversary marked partly by a ministerial meeting at the UN headquarters in New York.
Although it is the 50th anniversary of UNDP , Brende says that it now will primarily be working on putting together important plans for the future.
– The United Nations Development Programme will be crucial in achieving the new sustainability goals, such as eradicating all extreme poverty by 2030. There is a lot at stake, says Brende NTB in New York Wednesday morning.
He believes that to initiate this work will a great way to mark the milestone of 50 years. Brende will himself lead one of the sessions in conjunction with the celebration.
– It’s about how war and conflict affect development. Take Syria, for instance, which used to be a middle-income country. Refugees in the Middle East often chose to travel to Syria, but five years of war have destroyed everything and led to a humanitarian catastrophe.
UNDP has as main objective to expant the  opportunities of people, and is operating in 177 countries.
– We have made tremendous strides in many areas, including health and education. Without UNDP we would never have gotten this far,  Brende says.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today